Praise and Blessing

 

Praise 5

 

          I am always looking for things that motivate God. I do not mean to imply that God needs me to motivate Him as if He were drifting down a lazy river at the local waterpark. But He chooses for reasons He determines to bless some people more than others. I want to know what those reasons are.

          Last year, I taught a series in my Sunday School class about the blessing of God. I may turn it into a blog series. In the process, I learned a few things about the blessing of God and what it includes. The term most often translated as bless in the Old Testament implies prosperity, a gift or present, favored of God, and benefit in the original language. A similar, albeit not entirely accurate, definition is the word favor. Expanded, it becomes the word favorite. In a sense, the blessing of God is when God makes me His favorite, bestowing His lovingkindness upon me. For thou, Lord, wilt bless the righteous; with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield. (Psalm 5.12)

          Some form of the word bless is used 475 times in Scripture. Confining ourselves only to Psalms, we discover eight precious things the blessing of God includes.

          First, the blessing of God includes gladness. For thou hast made him most blessed for ever: thou hast made him exceeding glad with thy countenance. (Psalm 21.6) In my book on the Sermon on the Mount, I dwell at some length upon the beatitudes that open the greatest sermon ever preached. Each one begins with blessing, and each blessing carries a strong connotation of happiness. I talked to my doctor yesterday about our church, and I described it to him as a happy church. And it is. Our church is not perfect, but we are blessed by the Lord with gladness.

          Second, the blessing of God includes peace. The Lord will give strength unto his people; the Lord will bless his people with peace. (Psalm 29.11) In 2021, I wrote on peace for about five months on this blog. You can find those posts under the tag peace in the word cloud on the right side of this blog. Peace is a wondrous thing. The presence of peace means the absence of worry, frustration, comparison with others, or conflict. The presence of peace does not mean that things never go wrong, but rather that when they do, we are calm. Peace is the security of knowing who we are and Whose we are.

          Third, the blessing of God includes deliverance from trouble. Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble. (Psalm 41.1) Elsewhere, Eliphaz informs us man is born unto trouble as the sparks fly upward. (Job 5.7) Getting into trouble, trouble of all sorts, comes naturally to us. So how do we get out? We scheme, struggle, fight, plan, analyze, spin, and do many other things to do so. Yet God oftentimes delivers us from it out of the goodness of His great heart. What a blessing!

          Fourth, blessing includes protection from our enemies. The next verse to the one referenced above says The Lord will preserve him, and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth: and thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies. (Psalm 41.2) It is not my locks and guns that protect me and my family from crime; it is the blessing of God. It is not my native wisdom as a pastor that has allowed me to serve twenty-five years without a lawsuit against any church I have pastored; it is the blessing of God. I do not have a public relations firm to protect me against online slander; the Lord blesses me by doing it Himself. And when Satan would come after me and mine it is not my crucifix that protects me; it is the blessing of the Lord. 

          Fifth, blessing includes strength. Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee; in whose heart are the ways of them. Who passing through the valley of Baca make it a well; the rain also filleth the pools. They go from strength to strength. (Psalm 84.5-7) It is a blessing that He gives me strength for my daily tasks and more strength for different projects along the way. It is the blessing of God that He enables me to carry my burdens and gives me strength to help others I know carry their burdens as well.

          Sixth, blessing includes rest. Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O Lord, and teachest him out of thy law; That thou mayest give him rest from the days of adversity. (Psalm 94.12-13) Rest restores. Rest enables us to, once again, join the fray.

          Seventh, the blessing of God overflows onto our children. Praise ye the Lord. Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord, that delighteth greatly in his commandments. His seed shall be mighty upon earth: the generation of the upright shall be blessed. (Psalm 112.1-2) Last night, I picked up my phone to discover one of our young men on the other end of the line. After a lengthy deliberation, he yielded to the Lord's call upon his life. I got emotional and, through a choked voice, informed him that serving God is the best life, just a wonderful life. But we do not want an extraordinary life just for ourselves. We dearly, almost desperately, want one for our children. Well, how can we get that? If we get God's blessing on our lives, it will overflow our lives onto our children.

          Lastly, blessing includes domestic tranquility. For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee. Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants round about thy table. Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the Lord. (Psalm 128.2-4) Perhaps the most significant contributing factor to the misery of men is what happens under their roof.

To make matters worse, they often seek to drown that misery in alcohol, drugs, work, hobbies, parties, etc. Beloved, it does not have to be that way. Your home is meant to be an earthly paradise, a place of genuine refuge from the pressures of life, a source of deep happiness. And when God blesses you, that is precisely what your home becomes.

          Now then, having spent a few minutes perusing Psalms, I can honestly say I want to be blessed by God. That is not a selfish statement; it is an entirely scriptural one. These blessings fall not just on us but flow through us to those around us. So what causes that blessing? What moves God to pour out His blessing on His people? I will grant you that some of what God does in this respect is done unconditionally, but for much of it, there are conditions attached. If I can discover those conditions, find out those reasons, and supply them, He will be motivated to bless me.

          A quick perusal of Scripture identifies at least a dozen reasons God blesses people, including obeying Him, loving Him, being thirsty for blessing, because someone else is being blessed and you get the overflow, tithing, faith, following godly advice, assembling with God’s people, accepting chastening, fearing God, and being one of His people. 

          I do not believe that list is exclusive. In other words, you do not have to do each of those things to receive a blessing from Him. Indeed, some of them overlap, and there are others in Scripture that I have not mentioned, but I look at these as I look at prayer promises. They are keys that open various doors in Heaven filled with beautiful things.

          Today, however, I want to point you primarily to one key, one method you can use to motivate God to pour out some of these beautiful blessings on you and yours – praise Him. Praise motivates God to show Himself strong on your behalf. Praise motivates God to favor you. Praise motivates God to place His rich hand of blessing on your life. 

          Here is the proof:

Psalm 67.1 God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause his face to shine upon us; Selah.

2  That thy way may be known upon earth, thy saving health among all nations.

3  Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee.

4  O let the nations be glad and sing for joy: for thou shalt judge the people righteously, and govern the nations upon earth. Selah.

5  Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee.

6  Then shall the earth yield her increase; and God, even our own God, shall bless us.

7  God shall bless us; and all the ends of the earth shall fear him.

          Do you want gladness, peace, deliverance from trouble, protection from enemies, strength, rest, blessing on your children, and domestic tranquility?

          Praise Him.