Articles
May The Lord Bless You...
May The Lord Bless You...
Michael Hite
This coming weekend the Singing Youth of Denver will come and do a concert for us here. This group has been around for a long, long time and one of their traditions is to close the concert by getting all of the current and previous members of the group to come together and sing "The Lord Bless You and Keep You." The harmony of all those voices and the power of the words of that song are so encouraging. The words of that song are drawn from Numbers 6:22-27 in which the Lord gives Moses a blessing that Aaron and his sons are to speak to Israel. While the song we sing rearranges the order of the thoughts a bit the message remains intact and the original text from Numbers is a wonderfully powerful and comforting thought:
"The Lord bless you and keep you;
The Lord make His face to shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift His countenance (face) upon you,
And give you peace.
So they shall speak invoke My name on the sons of Israel, and I will bless them."
It makes me wonder how often we speak words like that to the church today? To be reminded that the Lord will bless you (bring good things into your life) and keep you (preserve, watch over, or guard you) should offer us peace in a world filled with chaos and confusion, shouldn't it? Peace is a calmness of heart in the face of conflict and difficulty. In a time when so many lives are filled with anxiety, stress, heartache, and overload, being reminded of the Lord's watchful care and protection should help bring us that calmness of heart. Being reminded that God wants to shine His face upon us should offer us peace.
In a recent Wednesday night study of Ruth, I was struck by Boaz saying similar words to Ruth - "May the Lord bless you, my daughter..." (Ruth 3:10). Boaz wanted to reassure Ruth that the Lord would watch over her and bring good things into her life. But the most powerful part of Boaz praying the Lord's blessing upon Ruth is found in the fact that he saw himself as the way the Lord might bless her! He doesn't just say "may the Lord bless you" and leave it to the providence of God to see how the Lord might do that. Rather, he determines that he can be the source of that blessing himself and continues by saying "Now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you whatever you ask" (Ruth 3:11).
Boaz saw himself as the instrument God could use to bring blessing and peace into Ruth's life. Certainly, God can and will bless others through His providential working. But maybe YOU, like Boaz, are the providential working He intends to use! Maybe YOU are the blessing He has sent into their lives.
Let us be more diligent to pray the Lord's blessing upon His people. Let us take the time to help them remember that peace comes when we are reminded that the Lord will bless us, keep us and shine His face upon us! But at the same time, let us NEVER forget that maybe He put us into their lives to be that blessing and to help keep, guard, and preserve them. Endeavor to be the instrument through which God blesses and keeps His people much like Boaz did and be at peace knowing that the Lord will make His face to shine upon you too!
