Bless: An Act of Honor
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What does it mean that we are to serve the Lord?
Paul gives us a couple of ideas:
1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Or we could run to Christ Himself in Matthew as he washed the disciples feet, healed the sick, and surrendered to the direction of the Father.
Let’s consider how the all consuming picture of service and worship in the N.T. flows forth from the concept of the Psalms of Ascent.
A Song of Ascents.
1 Come, bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord, who stand by night in the house of the Lord!
2 Lift up your hands to the holy place and bless the Lord!
3 May the Lord bless you from Zion, he who made heaven and earth!
Bless the Lord!
Bless the Lord!
1 Come, bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord, who stand by night in the house of the Lord!
Notice the time of day they are standing by the house: night...
Worship is all encompassing...it’s at night, in the morning, and all the day.
I love how the Hebrew in verse 1 tends to lead us to a deeper connection to the overall worship. The Word translated “who stand” Hamadim in its literal form is to stand in position/go up before/to stand respectfully.
It is a clear picture that this is not some sort of night guard duty apart from Spiritual connection and worship.
It is the readiness to do whatever the Master purposes.
8 At that time the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord to stand before the Lord to minister to him and to bless in his name, to this day.
30 And they were to stand every morning, thanking and praising the Lord, and likewise at evening,
33 Now these, the singers, the heads of fathers’ houses of the Levites, were in the chambers of the temple free from other service, for they were on duty day and night.
Notice that this worship is not about works, it is not performance, it is not worthiness...this is about the goodness of God.
He is the worthy One.
Then in vs. 2
2 Lift up your hands to the holy place and bless the Lord!
The act of worship becomes submissive and surrendering.
Look at the idea here: lift up your hands to the holy place.
Notice Psalm 28:2
2 Hear the voice of my pleas for mercy, when I cry to you for help, when I lift up my hands toward your most holy sanctuary.
then in 1 Tim. 2:8
8 I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling;
It is the utter contention of the Psalmist that we should gather without discord and with our hands lifted to honor the King/Lord.
He is worthy of praise and we should do no less than those holy angels:
8 And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”
We can easily not that this in not a singular act of worship, but a complete surrender in worship.
1 Praise the Lord! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens!
We thank Him, we praise Him, and we exalt Him.
So firstly,
Bless the Lord!
Secondly,...
Receive His Blessing!
Receive His Blessing!
3 May the Lord bless you from Zion, he who made heaven and earth!
Here we have the words of the high priest, in simplified form.
But the thought is that as the people left the Temple Mount, the Priest would proclaim this blessing over them.
24 The Lord bless you and keep you;
25 the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
As the priest acknowledged the glorious position of God, they also acknowledged His hand on His people.
Walking Away, But In...
Walking Away, But In...
As you go, go with His blessing.
As you live, live to bless Him.
