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Post by charliedale on Jul 12, 2012 15:29:21 GMT -5
After the scholarly question about Jude, I have a little more basic question that I've wondered about for years.
How do I bless the Lord as some Scriptures command me to?
What does Paul mean by statements like "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ"?
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Post by Mike Miller on Aug 2, 2012 16:15:19 GMT -5
When "bless the Lord" appears in the Old Testament, the word used is for pronouncing or bestowing a blessing on someone. However, those instances where the Lord is the object of the blessing, the form of the word means to speak good things to or about God. In other words, like in Psalm 103, the psalmist urges himself to declare great things about God, not forgetting any of the good God has done for him.
In the New Testament, the phrase you mentioned occurs 3 times, and each time the word carries the same kind of meaning as the Old Testament word. It means to speak well of. In other words, Paul (2 Corinthians 1:3; Ephesians 1:3) and Peter (1 Peter 1:3) are basically declaring that God is worthy to be praised.
So, to bless the Lord means to declare His goodness, greatness, majesty, and everything else you can say to highlight how wonderful He is.
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