The Night Shift

The night shift.  It has been a while since I have had a job that required me to work the night shift.  I have had a couple over the years though.  When I worked at a local grocery store, Big Bear, I almost always worked late evenings and into the night.  I even occasionally worked on the stock crew, stocking the shelves, which happened after the store closed at midnight and into the morning, just before the store opened again.  I could handle the evenings better, but nights were tough.  As the volume of customers decreased throughout the evening, cleaning up work began to get ready for the next day.  When it was busy, time seemed to go by quickly and taking care of the customers was the focus.  But when all of that slowed down, staying motivated was a challenge.  And the overnight work, even staying awake, was a challenge.  The men over night would play loud, upbeat music to even get through the night and work.  As a nurse, working overnight was a challenge because most of the time, the patients were asleep.  Again, staying awake and motivated to work was a challenge.  Why do I say all of this?  Listen to our psalm for today: “Now bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord who stand in the Lord’s house at night.  Lift up your hands in the holy place and bless the Lord!  May the Lord, Maker of heaven and earth, bless you from Zion” (Psalm 134:1-3).  There was work at night that needed to be done in the Lord’s house.  Lights needed to remain lit.  Things needed to be attended to.  The crowd was gone.  The work that others would see, some might say that was the important work, had ceased for the day.  But there is a call to evening worship, and the psalmist does not say, try to make it through the night and stay awake if you can.  No, the psalmist says “bless the Lord” and “Lift up your hands” and “bless the Lord”.