blessing

psalm 145:1
i will extol you my God and king, and bless your name for ever and ever.

we often sing songs in worship about blessing God's name. i distinctly remember one particular time when we did and this woman came up to me after the service a bit upset about the song. "how can we possibly bless God?" she asked. "isn't God so much greater than us, and shouldn't he be the one doing the blessing?"

i thought that was an interesting question, and one that reveals a lack of understanding about what it means to bless. but i heard this verse from psalm 145 last week, and it really got me thinking about what it means to bless God's name. here was/is my train of thought. choo choo.

a child doesn't really do much of anythign if she says to her parent, "i bless you, mom and dad." i mean, it would be pretty cute, no doubt about it, but it doesn't really mean much if it isn't backed up with something more than words, some real blessing.

and so how can a child not just say a blessing, but be a blessing? i think that a parent is blessed when their child makes them proud by living round full lives; lives of joy; lives of passion; lives of gusto; and lives of obedience. to be a blessing to God - to bless the Lord and bless God's holy name - is to live that kind of life. saying or singing, "i bless you, o lord" doesn't really mean a whole lot to God. But living that out does.

but there is an advantage to keeping it on our lips, like the psalmist. saying it constantly, in the car, in the shower, as we fall asleep, before we eat and after we wake up, keeps it on our minds and in our hearts. writing it, speaking it, singing it, reading it, painting it, typing it, meditating on it, and hearing it reminds us of the way to live to make our blessing be more than an empty saying, but a full and vibrant living that blesses our God.

blessings,
greg.