Verse 1. - Behold. The word calls attention to an immediate need - something that is to be done, and to be done at once. Bless ye the Lord. This must mean "for us" - "on our behalf." Thank God for having brought our journey to a prosperous end. All ye servants of the Lord, which by night stand in the house of the Lord; i.e. ye special servants of the Lord, priests and Levites, now standing within his courts, and engaged in his worship. The temple was never left without a body of priests and Levites, to keep it and sing praises in it.
Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the LORD.
Verse 2. - Lift up your hands. The attitude of prayer and praise (Psalm 63:4; Psalm 119:48; Psalm 141:2). In the sanctuary; rather, towards the sanctuary; i.e. towards the holy of holies. Others render, "in holiness." And bless the Lord (compare the first clause of ver. 1).