Blessing God

 June 8, 2023

“Behold, bless the Lord, 

All you servants of the Lord, 

Who by night stand in the house of the Lord! 

Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, 

And bless the Lord. 

The Lord who made heaven and earth 

Bless you from Zion!”

—Psalm 134:1-3 

The Bible is like a diamond mine. The most precious gems aren’t lying around on the surface. You have to dig for them. Sometimes I have to look at a Scripture for awhile before it yields its treasures to me. I think that’s why every so often before something important, we read, “Behold…” In other words, “pay attention!” Sometimes, Linda thinks I needed such a word, but that’s another story.

This psalm is short and to the point; simply put, it’s an admonition to praise God, especially when coming to his house to worship. Our praise and worship actually blesses God, but we don’t do it nearly as much or as often as we imagine. We come to church, sing a few songs, listen to a sermon and some prayers, receive communion, and go home. And on the drive home, we discuss whether or not the music “spoke” to us or the sermon moved us. The underlying presumption to that a kind of talk is that such is the purpose of our gathering. That presumption is completely wrong. We haven’t necessarily worshipped when we are moved emotionally; if it’s all about emotion, the focus of our attention is ourselves. We can hardly call it worship when we ourselves are the center of attention.

This psalm gives us the remedy for such false notions: Start by shifting your focus to God—“Bless the Lord!” Twice we are told to do so. The message is clear: Worship precedes blessing. Let me say it again: Worship precedes blessing! Seeking the blessing is not the same as seeking God himself, and doing the former can prevent us from doing the latter. In such a situation, any “blessing” we receive is only an illusion, a caricature of reality. Start by blessing God; his blessing will then come to you.