Psalm 20
Bless! Living the Transformed Life
April is typically the monh we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus and His power to transform our lives when we put our faith in Him. Jesus was sinless so death could not hold Him. The death he died was our death. When we believe in Jesus and put our faith in Him we receive the Promise of eternal life and are given the transforming power of the Holy Spirit to be with us. We no longer live under the curse of death but under the blessing of new life in Christ, and that should bring about a change in what we say and do. Today we will look at blessing others.
Our words have power. In this Psalm David is pronouncing a blessing on those of us who are reading this Psalm. Our words have great power and can be very destructive. Proverbs 18:21NIV says, “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”
We live in a culture that seems to like to destroy with words by pronouncing curses. Sadly, it is easy to get caught up in all the negative talk and find ourselves going right along with it. When this happens we end up looking like everyone else and really have nothing to offer that hasn’t already been offered. James tells us that with our tongue we praise God, but then with the same tongue, curse men, and this should not be. (James 3:10&11) The Bible tells us to praise God and to speak a blessing on men. (Numbers 6:24&25)
In the book of Ruth we see this demonstrated when the land owner, Boaz, shows up at the field where his workers are harvesting his grain. Boaz greets the men with “The Lord be with you” and they reply back to him “The Lord bless you.” (Ruth 2:4 NIV) The blessings they spoke to one another were designed to bear fruit. Here is an example of what I am talking about.
I used to deliver plants for a local greenhouse. As I drove up and down the freeway in and out of traffic and handled heavy racks of plants I needed the Lord to be with me. At the end of the pay period I would like to collect a paycheck. I need the customers and my employer to be blessed by the Lord in order to get paid. The Lord is the one who makes the plants grow we are just stewards in charge of the health and welfare of the plants from seeding to delivery. All of us in this business needed to do our part but without God’s blessing there could be all kinds of problems which could result in finger pointing, cursing, and loss.
Praising God and speaking words of blessing helps to keep us from falling into pride which blinds us from seeing God. When pride comes we become little gods and the cursing is soon to follow when things don’t go our way.
Next month we will be reading the book of Proverbs. There are many examples in Proverbs regarding the use of words starting around Chapter 10 and continuing through Chapter 25. As you come across them I want to encourage you to make a list of them and make a note whether they were an example of blessing or cursing and take heed.
For homework today meditate on 2 Corinthians 5.
Grace and peace to you today as you celebrate the greatest blessing ever given.
Pastor Dave