Ascend, Week 11. April 6, 2025. Psalm 134. Behold, bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord, who by night stand in the house of the Lord! Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the Lord. The Lord who made heaven and earth bless you from Zion! ASCEND. To move upward, to rise from a lower level To go up, to occupy ASCEND. Authority and Anointing. Seek and Serve. Community. Endure and Establish. New. Never. Now. Dwell and Deliver. “The trip to Jerusalem acted out a life lived upward toward God, an existence that advanced from one level to another in deepening maturity…” - Eugene Peterson Psalm 134 - Worship. Serve. Worship. Receive. Psalm 134:1. Behold, bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord, who by night stand in the house of the Lord! To bless the Lord is to declare Who He is and what He has done, through praise & thanksgiving. Bless the Lord. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name! - Psalm 103:1  I will bless the Lord at all times, His praise shall continually be in my mouth! - Psalm 34:1  It is good to give thanks to the Lord and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High. - Psalm 92:1 We are to bless the Lord : 1. Continually. 2. Confidently. 3. Corporately. 1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. Hebrews 13:15 Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. Humility (NTCC Core Value) We carry the same attitude as Christ and embody a life of service. Matthew 25:40 ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’ Acts 13:36. For David, after he had served ]his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep, was buried with his fathers, and his body decayed. Acts 16:25 But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Psalm 134:2. Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the Lord. 4. We are to bless the Lord : Completely. 1 Timothy 2:8 I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting. A Spirit Filled people is marked by devotion. God is the SUBJECT and OBJECT of our worship. Worship is ABOUT Him and FOR Him. Psalm 141:2 Let my prayer be counted as incense before You, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice. Psalm 134:3. The Lord who made heaven and earth bless you from Zion! The Lord’s blessing to us is a Confirmed Covenant. Ephesians 1:3-4 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love. Yahweh - the covenant keeping God of all grace. The (divine) exchange (where we bless God and God blesses us) is quite unequal. To bless God is to acknowledge gratefully who He is; but to bless man, God must make of him what he is not, and give him what he has not. - Derek Kidner The Lord’s blessing to us is a Confirmed Covenant. 1. It’s Personal. Numbers 6:24-26 The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. The Lord’s blessing to us is a Confirmed Covenant. 2. It’s to be Practiced. 3. It’s to be Proclaimed. 4. It’s to be Participated in.