In the time of Jesus (Yeshua), the "evening" sacrifice in the Temple was actually performed in the late afternoon, at about 3 pm. But earlier, in the time of the Old Testament (the Tanakh), it was still performed "between the evenings" (after sunset but before nightfall; Num. 28:4; for other evidence of an evening service, see Psa. 92:2,3; 1 Chron. 9:33, 23:30). The focus of the evening sacrifice, as with the morning sacrifice, was the time of prayer after the lamb had been slaughtered (Acts 3:1). This is when a priest entered the Holy Place (the Sanctuary) of the Temple to offer up incense at the golden altar of incense. Meanwhile worshippers stood outside in one of the courts or prostrated themselves (kneeling down with face to the ground) to pray. This time of prayer, lasting about half an hour, was followed by the priestly blessing (Num. 6:24-26). The blessing was spoken from the stairs of the Holy Place by the same priest that offered the incense. This sequence of prayer followed by priestly blessing is reflected in the psalm itself (see notes below).

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Look!¹

Bless^#2 YAHUEH³
All you^# servants of YAHUEH
Who stand⁴ in the House⁵ of
YAHUEH
At night.⁶

Lift up your^# hands⁷ of holiness⁸
And bless YAHUEH.
May YAHUEH bless you*⁹ from Zion,
The maker of heavens and earth.

¹ Or, behold.
² A "#" indicates the second person plural in the original Hebrew. The servants of Yahueh mentioned in the next two lines (those worshipping in the Temple at night) are being exhorted to bless God. In the time of Yeshua, spoken blessings had assumed a standardized form. But at the time this psalm was written, centuries earlier, the blessing of God (blessing directed toward God) was a more extemporaneous type of prayer and spoken blessing.
³ The personal name of God.  Its pronunciation is uncertain, replaced with "Adonai" when read by the Jewish people, and printed "Lord" (sometimes in all caps as "LORD") in most English Bibles.  This is one of several possible reconstructions.  For more on God's Name, click here.
⁴ In the Temple, worshippers and priests stood in the presence of the Lord, as servants standing before their master (Deut. 10:8, 18:5,7; 1 Kings 8:11; 2 Chron. 29:11). For this reason, prayer was usually performed standing.
⁵ In the Hebrew Bible, the Temple of the LORD in Jerusalem is called the "House" of the LORD. This referred to the entire Temple compound, including the inner Sanctuary building as well as the surrounding courts with their colonnades. See the artwork above, which shows the Temple in the time of Jesus (the Second Temple).
⁶ Literally, "In the nights" in Hebrew. The Septuagint (ancient Greek) version has instead, "In the courts of the House of our God." This may be a scribal error, confusing this verse with the very similar opening to Psalm 135 (Psa. 135:2).
⁷ The primary position for prayer was standing with hands raised. This dates back to Moses himself (Ex. 9:29,33), if not earlier. Solomon also prayed with his hands raised at the dedication of the Temple (1 Kings 8:22). This was the primary position of prayer in Christianity for the first eight centuries after the time of Jesus. Hands were also raised by the Jewish priests in pronouncing the priestly blessing (see note 9 below).
⁸ Or, "holy hands." This is the verse Paul was referring to when he told Timothy to teach Christians "to pray, lifting up holy hands" (1 Tim. 2:8). The Septuagint (ancient Greek) version, which is followed here by most modern translations, reads instead "lift up your hands to the holy place (sanctuary)." Whether or not this was the original reading, it certainly was the practice since Solomon's time for prayers to be said standing with hands raised, facing the Sanctuary (the Holy Place) of the Temple. In the artwork above, the Sanctuary is the tall building at the back of the inner compound, just to the right and above the title. This was the innermost building of the Temple complex. The Holy of Holies was located in the back section of this same building.
⁹ A "*" indicates a second person singular in the original Hebrew. This change of person (from plural in the preceding lines to singular here) helps to distinguish the last two lines from the rest of the psalm (see poetic analysis). The language is that of the priestly blessing of Num. 6:24-26, which was pronounced over the worshippers after the prayers were completed. The sequence in this psalm, first of group prayer (or blessing) directed toward the Sanctuary, followed by a personal, priestly-style blessing of the worshippers, is the same as that found in the Temple service itself.

For more information about the services in the Temple, see Alfred Edersheim's classic, The Temple, listed in our Bookstore.