Can A Person Bless God Or Bless His Name?

by Lydia Mbalachi | 13 May 2024 08:46 pm05

Question:

We often hear people say, “We bless the Name of the Lord” or “We bless God.” But is it really possible for a human being to bless God or His Name? Or is it only God who can bless people and bless their names?

Answer:

Yes, God can bless a person’s name — and at the same time, we can also bless the Name of the Lord. The confusion usually comes from how we understand the word “blessing.”

The word blessing means “to add value, honor, or privilege to something or someone that did not have it before.” That value or honor can come in the form of a gift, a position, or a title.

When a person gives another a gift, we often say “he blessed that person.” Likewise, when someone is given honor or a special opportunity, we can say “he was blessed.”

In the same way, God can bless us with opportunities, honor, or gifts. But we, too, can bless God by giving Him honor, praise, or offering Him something of value. This act of giving God honor is what the Bible calls “blessing the Lord.”

The greatest gift we can give God — the blessing we can offer Him — is our very lives, together with the praise of our lips.

Perhaps you’re asking: “Where in Scripture do we see people blessing the Lord?”

2 Chronicles 20:25–26

“So Jehoshaphat and his men went to carry off their plunder, and they found among them a great amount of equipment and clothing and also articles of value—more than they could take away. There was so much plunder that it took three days to collect it.

On the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Berakah, where they praised the Lord. This is why it is called the Valley of Berakah to this day.”

Do you see? Verse 26 says they “praised the Lord” — and how did they bless Him? Through praise.

 2 Chronicles 20:18–19

“Jehoshaphat bowed down with his face to the ground, and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell down in worship before the Lord. Then some Levites from the Kohathites and Korahites stood up and praised the Lord, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice.”

The same truth is confirmed again in the Psalms:

 Psalm 63:3–4

“Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.

I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands.”

So, when we worship in spirit and in truth, our praises actually bless the Name of the Lord.

Psalm 96:1–2

“Sing to the Lord a new song;

sing to the Lord, all the earth.

Sing to the Lord, praise his name;

proclaim his salvation day after day.”

Job also understood this:

Job 1:21

“The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.”

But remember this important truth: even if you or I do not bless the Lord’s Name with our words or with our lives, we take nothing away from Him. He is already being worshiped by multitudes of angels in heaven. The loss is only ours. God will always remain God — worthy of worship and glory — even without us!

2 Timothy 2:12–13

“If we endure, we will also reign with him.
If we disown him, he will also disown us;

if we are faithless, he remains faithful,

for he cannot disown himself.”

The Lord bless us.

Maranatha!

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Source URL: https://wingulamashahidi.org/en/2024/05/13/can-a-person-bless-god-or-bless-his-name/

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