Written by Kathryn Kircher - Heartland Church of Fort Wayne Illustrated by Rhonda Bailey The Blessing: Part 1 Read: Numbers 6:22-27 Recently, my heart has been captivated once again by these powerful words of blessing God gave to speak over His people. A new musical setting was recently written for this passage—perhaps you’ve heard it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zp6aygmvzM4 In many places around the globe, Christians from different churches have joined together to sing this song as a way of blessing their nations and demonstrating unity in the face of the COVID19 epidemic. Believers from every corner of the earth are invoking this ancient blessing. Here’s a version from Malaysia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9vJw3tZ7E0 And what a rich blessing it is! Each of its three couplets carries a unique expression of God’s desire to benefit His people. Let’s start with the first pair: “The Lord bless you and keep you.” “Bless” We throw this word around with good intentions, expressing our hope that others will experience good things. But what does it really mean? The Hebrew word here is בָּרַךְ (baw-rak'), which literally means “to kneel.” At first that doesn’t seem too helpful, but if you ponder that image awhile, it paints a vivid picture. We can “kneel” as we give and receive benefits, to and from God and others. Our kneeling—whether it’s literal or simply in our hearts—acknowledges that whatever benefits are being bestowed all ultimately come from one source: God’s hand. And those benefits come in myriad shapes and sizes. בָּרַךְ (baw-rak') is used 330 times in the Bible and it includes things like:
Why don’t you take a moment right now to pause and kneel in gratitude for some of the specific ways you’ve experienced God’s blessing? “Keep” Here’s another Hebrew word that paints a vivid picture: שָׁמַר (shaw-mar') carries the idea of guarding and protecting by creating a hedge of thorns. But similar to the word for “blessing,” there are many facets to the meaning of this Hebrew word. It’s used 440 times in the Bible, but let’s look at just a handful of the ways that God’s hedge of protection might be expressed:
What are some of the specific ways the Lord has “kept” you? Take a moment right now to remember and savor these times of blessing. Comments are closed.
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