The shortest psalm of the collection, and the second shortest in the whole psalter after Psalm 117, Psalm 134 concludes the pilgrimage with a view of the people inside the temple worshipping Yhwh.
This psalm has formal links to the preceding psalm, with its opening הנה (hinneh, look, behold, hey!), as well as by continuing the topic of blessing coming from Yhwh from Zion. Furthermore, the second-last stich of Psalm 133 was "for there [Zion] Yhwh commands blessing", while the second-last stich of Psalm 134 is "Yhwh shall bless you from Zion."
Blessing
The psalm looks very similar to the following psalm, especially in the NIV translation, as they both begin with "Praise the LORD." Of course, while the NIV tends to elide words like הנה and the like, it is present in 134 (and 133) but not in 135. Furthermore, "Praise the LORD" in 134 is actually "Bless (ברכו) the LORD" (and throughout the psalm) while 135 begins with הללו יה (hallelu yah, praise Yah). In fact, הלל (to praise) does not occur at all in the psalms of ascent. ידה, a near synonym, does, as does ברך, but הלל is noticeably absent. If we were to translate more formally, 134 would begin "Look--Bless Yhwh," which is quite different to "Praise Yhwh."
That said, I understand why the NIV chose to eschew "bless" in favour of "praise" (Goldingay actually chooses "worship" in 134:1,2, with "bless" appearing in 134:3). what does it mean to bless - if by "bless" we understand something like "bestow favour upon" - Yhwh? This is something Yhwh does to his people, not his people doing to him. Goldingay justifies his translation of "worship" by pointing to comparative philology - there is a related root in Arabic and Ethiopic which means to kneel. So it could be that this is a homonym, such that "bless" and "kneel" sound and look the same, but the reader (or singer) understands that when directed heavenwards it takes the latter meaning, while when directed earthward it takes the former.
The noun "בֶּרֶךְ" does appear, probably meaning "knee", often in the context of childbirth - people give birth upon their knees, newborn babies are placed upon knees. The verb ברך, however, is harder to discern. The tagging in my Accordance Bible Software has three hits for ברך meaning "kneel", which are Gen 24.11; Ps 95.6; 2 Chr 6.13. Genesis is fairly unambiguous - it's camels doing the kneeling. The instance in 2 Chronicles is in apposition to ברך as knees, as mentioned before: וַיִּבְרַךְ עַל־בִּרְכָּיו (and he knelt upon his knees). However, this instance, as well as Ps 95, could both arguably be "bless", without needing the recourse to the verb "kneel."
All this is to say that the idea of people blessing Yhwh isn't that straightforward, but that doesn't mean it's not what the text is saying. If Yhwh's blessing his people looks like bring gracious to them and filling them with good things, then what does it hurt to with the same for Yhwh? It might be theologically deficient, but just as the angels declare that God is gracious and merciful, and as people pray that his be the kingdom, then the use of ברך to mean "bless" seems less weird and indeed normal.
Maker of heavens and earth
The final phrase of the psalm, and indeed of this collection, is "maker of heavens and earth." This occurs two other times in the collection (and once just outside it, 115:15) and each time without the article (it never says "the"). A similar phrase occurs in 135:6 but is significantly different, while 146:6 is more similar to our occurrence.
Looking at this phrase within the songs of ascent, it is interesting to see what is made of Yhwh being the one who made heavens and earth. In both 121:2 and 124:8 it is the creator of all who is Israel's help: 121:2 my help comes from Yhwh, creator...; 124:8 our help is in the name of Yhwh, creator...
Knowing that Yhwh is the sole source of Israel's help provides content to what is lacking in this psalm. What does his blessing consist of, when Yhwh blesses you from Zion, he who is the creator of heaven and earth? It consists of help. And that is why his people bless him, because he returns blessing of help.
At night
This idea of Yhwh the creator who is Israel's helper is amplified when considering the potential referent of the puzzling time stamp a the end of the first verse: "בלילות" (at night). Now, it is in the plural, so it could mean "nightly," which is how some commentators take it. The temple attendants who maintain the fires and candlesticks and things, so there is always someone in attendance. But following Gunkel in the desire to link every psalm to some festival or other, it is worth noting one of the key night-time festivals, Passover. Remembering Yhwh's rescue of his people from slavery in Egypt, the sacrifice of the lamb or goat, and the meal eaten in haste with unleavened bread, this was held at night time. Although this festival was supposedly forgotten until the time of Josiah, it came to be a crucial festival in the yearly cycle, with its obvious application to any circumstance in life which resembled Israel's Egyptian slavery. The period of the Babylonian exile, the rule by Persia and then the Seleucid/Ptolemaic to-and-fro, were all reminiscent of that time and memories of that time were conjured up to give them assistance in their time of need.
So when the priests worshipped Yhwh at this night-time festival, they could call upon Yhwh to help them in their time of need. They could remind themselves of need to depend on Yhwh alone for rescue and to return their worship with blessing.
Holy
One final note is the use of קדשׁ (qodesh, holy) in v2. This has been translated variously as "in the holy place," "in holiness," and "holy," modifying "hands." I think the first is probably correct (holy place - sanctuary), although I would like there to be a particle, "in," which isn't there. This makes me prefer "lift your holy hands," which I can only find in the Bishop's Bible (16th Century), so there are probably good reasons against this option.
As such, the holy place here, along with the servants of Yhwh standing in the house of Yhwh links again with the mention of Aaron in the preceding psalm. These two final psalms signal the end of the pilgrim's journey, whether real or imagined (cf 126:1). The journey from afar (120:5) has now concluded at the sanctuary, where the connection between Yhwh and his priests, the priests of the people, is concluded.
Psalm 134 as Christian Scripture
In many ways too much talk of the temple can be discomfiting for Christians. We tend to skip over those bits and move straight to Jesus and to the language of completion. And yet, if we look at a letter like Hebrews, the language of temple was still meaningful for the early Christians. The connection between the temple and heaven was always important, and points us to the satisfaction we should know in God reaching out to his people in Jesus. The blessing of Yhwh in the temple is returned most perfectly in the person of Jesus. Those who called out "how long O Lord?" received their answer in John the Baptiser and in Jesus whose way he prepared.
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