Chapter 8: Blessing God

The final chapter of the book The Power of Spoken Blessings is called "Blessing God." I must confess, this sounds crazy to me. How can I bless God??!!! I don't feel that I have anything to offer that would "bless" God.

But as we examine Scripture, we see example after example of His mighty people of faith blessing Him. David's words in Psalms offer the most examples of blessings for God. Look at these verses:


Psalm 145:2

Every day I will bless You,
         And I will praise Your name forever and ever. 

Psalm 16:7
I will bless the LORD who has counseled me;
         Indeed, my mind instructs me in the night.


Psalm 144:1
Blessed be the LORD, my rock,
         Who trains my hands for war,
         And my fingers for battle; 

Psalm 28:6

Blessed be the LORD,
         Because He has heard the voice of my supplication.

Psalm 31:21
Blessed be the LORD,
         For He has made marvelous His lovingkindness to me in a besieged city.
 
Psalm 68:19
Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burden,
         The God who is our salvation. Selah. 



Psalm 68:35
O God, You are awesome from Your sanctuary
         The God of Israel Himself gives strength and power to the people
         Blessed be God!


Psalm 18:46
The LORD lives, and blessed be my rock;
         And exalted be the God of my salvation, 


Blessing and exalting God is why we were created. He is jealous for the reputation of His Name. When we bless the Name of the Lord we are fulfilling our purpose. 

We understand the concept of giving Him thanks for blessings. And during times of peace and ease, it is difficult to express our gratitude. Beyond thanking Him, though, is speaking a blessing for God. In a way, it makes me flinch. It seems arrogant. But if we recognize Him as the Source of all blessings, then when we bless Him we are simply giving back what is already His. As He continually pours out blessings on us, we are commanded to bless Him with what we receive. Once again, I had not really ever thought of this as part of my purpose here. Praise and worship, yes. Blessing God? Hadn't ever come up.

Another example from Scripture of this principle is Job. As the Lord allowed the evil one to test Job, taking away everything that the world says matters, the plan was to bring Job to the point of cursing God. Job did just the opposite! Instead of cursing, he blessed God.

Job 1:20-21
Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head, and he fell to the ground and worshiped.

He said,
         "Naked I came from my mother's womb,
         And naked I shall return there
         The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away.
         Blessed be the name of the LORD." 

Job's circumstances made no difference in the posture of his heart. Having God was enough for Him. (And since that is all any of us can really have, it is wisdom to "possess" nothing else. But that is for another discussion.)

In my mind there is a slight distinction between "bless" and "praise". And that may be the only place the distinction exists. But it seems there is a distinction in the way David phrases this verse:


Psalm 145:2

Every day I will bless You,
         And I will praise Your name forever and ever. 

I somewhat understand praising the Lord. We praise the Lord as we declare His attributes. We bring Him glory by declaring Who He Is through praise. Holy, Mighty, Merciful, Loving are all truths about His Nature. But it seems for me to offer a blessing to God is to give Him something that carries with it a benefit. And that is what I have trouble wrapping my mind around: that I may offer God something that benefits Him. To think that I can speak blessings over the Holy One makes my brain explode! 

I have been trying to learn to regularly speak blessings over my children and that, even though it is still a little awkward, doesn't even come close to how it feels when I say the words: "I bless You, Lord."  Awkward!! Is it just me? 

To say, "Blessed is the Lord" (blessed being an adjective) is a no-brainer, because He is Blessed. But to bless Him, an action verb, seems completely impossible. And yet, that is what David did.

Bill Gothard says it this way:

     David knew that God's name is "exalted above all things," (Psalm 138:2) so he made this commitment to God: "I will bless Your name forever and ever." (Psalm 145:1) And he gave his own heart this counsel: "Bless the Lord, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name!" (Psalm 103:1) God wants us to bless Him with our total being and to never stop doing it.

     David's final word in the book of Psalms is this counsel to everyone in all creation: "Let all flesh bless His holy name forever and ever." (Psalm 145:21) 

The Power of Spoken Blessings, p. 80

Okay, that is the last official chapter in the book. But for me, my journey to understand the power in our spoken blessings has just begun. I would love to hear what He is showing you about these things. It is so helpful to wrestle with things together. And to testify to His Faithfulness builds up the Body.


I also wanted to mention, as the official "book review" ends, that there is a list of verses in the back of this little book that is very helpful. These are verses from the New Testament that lend themselves well to adaptation as spoken blessings. Even if you don't get a copy of the book, it would be really helpful to start a list of verses for speaking blessings over others. It will help me to keep my focus on developing this discipline. I want my words to always be seasoned with Grace and blessings. 


To be continued . . .

Previous posts on this topic:
Spoken Blessings
Spoken Blessings, Part II
But How Do We Actually Speak Blessings?
Unexpected Benefit
Chapter 6: Blessing Our Children
A Light Bulb Flips On
Blessing Our Enemies
Chapter 8: Blessing God