Jump Start # 1015

Psalms 134:1 “Behold, bless the Lord, all servants of the Lord,  who serve by night in the house of the Lord!

I find our passage from Psalms 134 to be unique and interesting. It comes from a very short Psalms—it’s only three verses long (42 words). Of those few words, God is referred to 6 times. This is a specific Psalm. It’s written for the night shift. It is directed toward those who would stay up through the night and watch and protect God’s house. Third shifters—they are a special breed. Not everyone can do it, and most only do it because their jobs demand it.

I have a third shifter living with us. My youngest son is a nurse in a hospital—ICU, third shift. He comes in and is ready for bed when we are up and ready to begin the day. He, like many in the medical field, works twelve hour shifts. Sometimes there are long gaps between the days he works. That’s when he really gets his days and nights mixed up. I couldn’t keep his hours. There are a few days that we hardly see him. There are other professions that demand the night shift. It’s hard. The world revolves around day time. Things happen in the day time.

Third shift people have two unique difficulties. First, is being with the family. It’s hard when a mom or a dad must work third shift. When the kids are running and playing, the third shifter is trying to sleep. Their schedules cross and they do not have much time for each other. Second, it’s hard to worship God when you work third shift. I admire those who come to services straight from working all night. You can tell that they are doing all that they can to stay awake. It’s a challenge. It would be so much easier to just go home and go to bed, but there they are. What a great example.

There are two great lessons to be seen in all of this:

First, God is awake all the time. He never tires. He never takes a day off. He’s never not at the helm of the Universe. Daytime prayers and nighttime prayers are heard just the same. The God who watches over us as we sleep is ready for us when we awake and are ready to tackle the world the next day. God is always there. That’s a great thought. Whenever you are, God is there. No matter what the time, God is there. I’ve been to stores before, just moments after they locked the door and closed for the night. Too late. Missed it. Left disappointed. You won’t have that experience with God. In the middle of the night, while some are working, most are sleeping, there are times when we are awake. Can’t sleep. Thoughts are racing through our minds. Anxious moments fill our hearts. Our thoughts turn to God. Prayers go upward. God hears. God is there. I thought about some who were out in the woods hiking or hunting and their prayers are heard just as well as those in the city. God is never closed for us. We don’t have to take turns, not with God. All of this is amazing to me. There is nothing else like this. What a great God we have.

Second, God wants all of us to continue to seek Him, praise Him, bless Him and follow Him. The night shifters as well as the day shifters. The single guy as well as the family man. The retired person as well as the busy businessman. The college kid and the old guy. All of us. God wants us seeking Him, following Him and praising Him. Dayshift or nightshift isn’t an excuse for not praying, following and connecting with God.

How special that God gave a Psalms directed toward those who guarded and stood over His house all through the night. When the day shift began and those who stayed up all night went to bed, few thought of the service that they provided all through the night. God did. God saw, remembered and recognized the great work of standing and watching through the night. The next day, when service to God would begin by priests, all would be as it should because of those dedicated night watchmen. They were doing a service for others and God blessed them for that.

Today, while most of us are up and at it, there will be some who will just be going to bed. Their work ended when we started. Give thought to those folks who patrol our streets, keep us well in the hospitals, who monitor and make sure that we have water and electricity and all the zillion things that we take for granted. There are those who stay up through the night so we can have that. Bless them. Especially, bless our brethren, who juggle work, family and worship while working the night shift.

Roger