The Talk Place

Does anybody really bless God nowadays ?

We might sing "Bless the lord O my soul" but is it something we should be doing in other ways as well ?

What does it mean to bless God anyway ?

Some definitions of a blessing are :
A sense of Praise.
A sense of Happiness,
Or a sense of Congratulations.
The Bestowal of good, usually material.
It's the Opposite to a curse.
It's a formula of words (or a Eulogy).

For me the most descriptive of these meanings is the "Bestowal of Good or the giving of gifts".

In a human sense this is material gifts.

In a spiritual sense this is the giving of things less tangible, such as the beatitudes  (Matt 5: 3-12).

When applied to God, it has a sense of  "may that which is good be given to God."

It is in this sense that we are presented with one of a number of  challenges.

When we bless God we are trying to give something good to Him.

If we pray that God may be blessed we are asking that Good gifts be given to, or bestowed on Him.

In saying that God is blessed we are saying that we attribute God with being gifted.

When we say God is blessed we are saying that he has many things about Him that are Good.

That is He is blessed with good things.

He has good attributes.

Another way of saying that someone is gifted with a good nature is to say that they are. "Blessed" with a good nature.

In the same sense, if we say that God has attributes that are desirable, we can say that He is blessed.

When we say that someone is gifted with the ability to make things, we say they are blessed.

So surely God is Blessed in such a way, as He is the creator of the universe.

God has given us so many blessings (Pr.10:22, Matt 5:3-12 - The beatitudes).

You only need to read Eph.1:1-14 to see the extent of the gifts He has given us .

Free Grace lavished ; wisdom imparted ; Christ Himself .

What can we give God.

We can give him praise.
That is, we can thank him. 1 King 1: 48 & Ps.28: 6f.

Isn't thanking God a gift.

So here is our second challenge.

To bless God by thanking him for all the good gifts that he has given us.

Now Giving praise has a sense of thanks about it yes.

But it's more than that.

It's telling others how good someone is.

Praising someone up, is building them up before others .

We tell people how impressed we are with them, how we admire what they do or did or what sort of person they are.

By doing this we are increasing their value.

Someone who is valued by us and who we continue to praise, has their value increased in the eyes of others.

Increasing someone's value is another word for Glorifying them.

When we Glorify someone we Honor them.

When we Honor and Glorify someone aren't we giving them a gift ?

We do this with noise and gestures and we usually do it with great joy.

We can do this in words as in Rom.9:5b "May God supreme above all, be blessed forever."

It can be done in poetry or song.  

Thou art worthy,
Thou art worthy,
Thou art worthy O Lord.

To receive Honor,
Honor and Glory,
Honor and Glory and power,

For thou has created,
Has all things created,
For Thou has created all things.

And for thy pleasure,
They were created.
Thou art worthy O Lord.

So here is our third challenge.

To praise God in such a way as to give him Honor and Glory .

But there is yet another challenge when it comes to Blessing God.

When we speak of someone with Honor, do we always make a great to do about it ?

No !

Often someone we have great respect for, we speak of, in very reverent terms.

So in this challenge:

When we bless God we should speak of God with such reverence that all those around us would know how special He is.

All these things are part of praise.

But Blessing is more than just praise.

Because there are many other gifts we can give God.

We can give Him our money.

We can give Him our time or we can give our lives.

But Herein lies the greatest challenge.

Because God is Holy, only a gift given in the right spirit is a blessing.

If we don't give to God freely and joyfully with only the expectation that God is to be Glorified.

Then our gifts are as filthy Rags.

This is what it means to Bless God.

It means to give him Honor, Reverence, Glory and to acknowledge his power, through our words and our songs and daily lives.

And to do all this freely and joyfully.

So is Blessing God something we should be doing in ways apart from singing?

Yes it is !

God is indeed worthy and we should look for ways to Bless him all the time.

We should be writing that poem that Honors Him.

We should be singing that song that praises Him.

Yes we should feel free to say "Praise the Lord" in a moment of Joy or relief.

It is a good thing to find ways to praise God up to others. It is a true gift to God when we find something that Glorifies Him. God The father is deserving of being revered.

Lets renew our commitment to God in such a way that He might be Revered, Honored and Glorified.

Lets renew our commitment to Bless God.

Fairdinkum.