Blessing – Understanding it and Praying for it - The London Institute ...

Blessing – Understanding it and Praying for it
As part of the PrayerWorks initiative from the London Institute for Contemporary
Christianity, Antony Billington (Head of Theology at LICC) reflects on what the
Bible says about ‘blessing’ – what it tells us about God and the way he works, and its
implications for our response in praise to God and in praying for others.
The language of ‘blessing’ is used in everyday speech more than we might imagine.
Most often it has to do with something that contributes to a person’s happiness or
wellbeing. ‘Bless you’, we sometimes say after someone has sneezed, a practice which
appears to be related to asking God to protect someone, traceable back at least to the
first century AD. Or maybe we wish our friends ‘every blessing’ when we sign off
emails. ‘Count your blessings’, a well-meaning person urges us when we’re feeling
sorry for ourself. Indeed, on some occasions, we may consider we have been ‘blessed’
by someone’s kindness, or something good happens to us and we describe it as a
‘blessing’ – perhaps even an ‘unexpected blessing’ or ‘a blessing in disguise’. Whereas
on other occasions, truth be known, something is more of a ‘mixed blessing’.
Then, perhaps, a superior at work says she is happy to give her ‘blessing’ to a
project we’re working on, or a father gives his ‘blessing’ to the marriage of his
daughter to her future husband. Some of us may say a ‘blessing’ before a meal. Or, we
may attend a church where services end with a ‘blessing’, or even where bread and
wine is ‘blessed’ before it is distributed. More controversially, we’re aware of ongoing
discussions about whether it is appropriate to ‘bless’ same-sex partnerships in
churches.
What ‘blessing’ means differs from context to context, a variation which is
reflected in the Bible too. In Scripture, the concept of blessing is related especially to
the Hebrew root brk in the Old Testament and the Greek eulogia in the New
Testament. Even limiting ourselves to occurrences of these, words related to ‘blessing’
appear over 400 times in the Old Testament and 65 times in the New Testament –
constituting an important biblical theme.
In our exploration of the significance of blessing, we begin (where else?) with
God himself.
1. Blessing comes from God
The Bible is clear that God is the source of every blessing, which are his to give and
administer. God operates out of love and grace towards his world and his people, and
we are to understand blessing as an expression of his favour. In particular, blessing is
bound up with two major aspects of his work – creation and covenant.
(a) The creator God
In Genesis 1, having first declared them ‘good’, God then blesses the creatures
he has made – fish in the sea, birds in the sky, people on the earth (1:22, 28; 5:1-2).
Blessing in this case relates to their capacity to be fruitful, to multiply and flourish in
their allotted space. In addition, humans – as God’s image-bearers – are called on to
steward the earth, to exercise loving rule over other creatures. That God’s blessing
remains on humanity even after the entrance of sin into the world is seen in its
restatement to Noah after the flood (Gen. 9:1-3), where blessing is God’s generous
giving of good things to his creatures and ongoing provision for them, with Genesis
8:21-22 promising the unending cycle of times and seasons. God’s continual care for
the created world is also reiterated in the New Testament (e.g., Matt. 5:45; 6:25-33;
Acts 14:17; 17:25; James 1:17).
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So significant is this theme that one biblical scholar, Claus Westermann, made
a distinction between blessing as God’s ongoing activity in sustaining creation
through natural processes, and deliverance as God’s isolated acts of saving his people
through remarkable events. Arguably, as we shall see, God’s acts in creation and
salvation shouldn’t be distinguished too sharply, but it’s still worth noting that God is
present not just in his mighty acts of ‘saving’, but in the ongoing results of his activity
of blessing humanity and his constant sustaining work in all realms of life. To be
sure, the Bible tells of a series of events in which God works powerfully on behalf of
his people, but he is as much a part of our ongoing existence in the giving of life, the
bringing up of children, and the cycle of the working week. God’s blessing in these
realms is continuous and often unnoticed, but no less real for that.
Even so, the opening chapters of Genesis also show how sin results in rebellion
against God, estrangement of men and women from each other, and the ensuing
struggle to live and work in a fallen world. It becomes apparent that sin is allpervasive
as well as destructive, and brings about death. What now of God’s intention
to bless? All this provides the backdrop for what follows with the call and promise to
Abraham, the beginning of the story of salvation, where God’s blessing on humanity
becomes particularised in a chosen people.
(b) The covenantal God
To be blessed is not only to benefit from God’s ongoing gifts in creation but to
enjoy special relationship with God. God’s desire and intention to bless his people is
bound up with the covenant relationship he establishes with them, beginning with
Abraham.
The promise to Abraham
The promises to Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3, given against the backdrop of the
curses announced in the previous chapters (3:14, 17; 4:11; 5:29; 9:25), mark a new
turning point in God’s dealings with the world. Judgment is not the last word: God
does not reject the nations, but chooses one family to bring blessing to the nations.
Thus begins the first episode in a long story in which God progressively works out his
plan of restoration – a plan which includes creation itself. In this way, God’s promises
to Abraham may be read in conjunction with Genesis 1 – as a reaffirmation of his
original blessing on men and women. It is Abraham and his descendants who will
become God’s instruments to bless the world. From this one man and his family,
God’s blessing (‘bless’ words appear five times in Genesis 12:2-3) will flow to all
nations.
It’s not clear in 12:2 whether Abraham is commanded to be a blessing or told
that he will be a blessing; either way involves the transmission of blessing to others.
There is also ongoing debate as to whether 12:3 should read ‘all families will be
blessed through you’ (passive) or ‘all families shall bless themselves by
you’ (reflexive). As it happens, similar phraseology elsewhere in Genesis (in 18:18;
22:18; 26:4; 28:14) suggests both will be case, and the upshot is the same one way or
the other – God’s blessing will be extended to the nations through Abraham.
The link with worship
The deliverance of God’s people from Egypt and the establishment of his
covenant relationship with them at Sinai leads into the building of a sanctuary to
facilitate preservation of that relationship. Through the sacrificial cult, Israel was able
to dwell in harmony with God and enjoy his ongoing blessing – mediated through the
priests. So it is that at the conclusion of the first service of worship, Aaron blesses the
people (Lev. 9:22-23), and the levites are set apart for this as an ongoing task (Deut.
10:8; 21:5; 2 Chron. 30:27). God’s blessing is thus bound up with appropriate worship
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and sacrificial offering. With the priest’s blessing comes the guarantee that
atonement has been successful, making the final blessing an essential component of
the worship, confirming God’s favourable attitude to his people, serving as a
reminder that his presence is with them, to bless them.
The priestly blessing is specified in Numbers 6:22-27:
‘The LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you are to bless
the Israelites. Say to them:
“The LORD bless you and keep you;
the LORD make his face shine on you and be gracious to you;
the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.”’
“So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”’
The source of the blessing is clear: it is the Lord himself – seen in the threefold
repetition of his name in the blessing itself, and confirmed in the final phrase (‘So
they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them’). This strong link
between God’s covenant name and the blessing of his people is also promised in
Exodus 20:24, where it is connected with appropriate means of atonement. Although
the blessing comes only through the Lord God, it is the priests – in a functional and
representative role – who mediate it to the people. It may be seen as a prayer for
God’s blessing and protection, his approval and grace, his attention and peace – a
prayer which is promised to be effective – ‘I will bless them’ (6:27).
The priestly blessing is alluded to in several psalms (e.g., 29:11; 115:12-15;
134:3). Psalm 67, for example, begins: ‘May God be gracious to us and bless us and
make his face shine on us’ (67:1). But the blessing, in this case, is sought not for its
own sake or for the sake of Israel, but for all peoples, as seen in the next line of the
Psalm – ‘so that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all
nations’ (67:2) – with the Psalm expressing the hope that God’s blessing will become
a global reality. While Psalm 67 reflects on the ‘blessing’ part of the priestly
benediction, Psalm 121 echoes the ‘keeping’ part, with forms of that word appearing
six times in this Psalm of Ascent. The Lord watches over his people not just on their
occasional journeys, or even on the physical ascent to the temple in Jerusalem, but
‘now and forevermore’ (121:8).
The blessing promised in Numbers 6 is reinforced by the account of Balaam in
Numbers 22-24. The king of Moab hired Balaam to curse the people of Israel
(22:4-6); but each time Balaam opened his mouth, he blessed them instead of cursed
them (Num. 23:8, 20; 24:9-10). Balaam, in spite of his skills and renown as a
prophet, was powerless to bless or curse Israel without the Lord’s direction (cf. Deut
23:4-5; Josh. 24:9-10; Neh. 13:1-2). It’s a strong indication that no magic or rituals
will make a difference; the authority to bless belongs to the Lord who cannot be
coerced.
The way of obedience
According to Exodus 23:25-26 and Deuteronomy 7:11-15, God promises to
bless his people if they are obedient to him and provide them with everything
necessary for their well-being in the land. The blessings are articulated more fully in
Deuteronomy 28:1-14 (cf. Lev. 26:1-13), providing a picture of the blessed life as
bound up with the provision of food and water, children and crops, farming and
fertility, defeat of enemies and long life in the land. The establishment of the
covenant flows out of God’s undeserved love for the people (Deut. 7:7-8), but the
promise of blessing seems conditional on ongoing obedience to the covenant
stipulations (7:11-15; 11:8-15; 28:2), while disobedience causes a breakdown of the
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covenant, with curses replacing blessings (27:26; 28:15-68). At the very least, this
shows that the old covenant people of God were not simply passive recipients of
blessing, but were called on to follow God’s standards in everyday life.
Even so, this is not a mechanistic system of reward and punishment so much
as an expression of the consequences of staying within and straying from the
covenant stipulations which ordered their relationship with God and each other.
Keeping or breaking God’s requirements does not set in motion a series of blessings
or punishments applied by fate, but from the hand of God with whom they were in
covenant relationship. This is not an early version of ‘prosperity’ theology: the way of
obedience does not have to do with earning blessing from God so much as the means
of living within the sphere of his ongoing blessing.
The invocation of blessing
So far, we have focused on God’s blessing of the created world and his
covenant people, but we also see in Scripture examples of people praying for God’s
blessing on other people. We have already noted that priests were called to
pronounce blessings in the Lord’s name, but others were also able to do so, effectively
invoking God’s blessing on someone else – ‘May God Almighty bless you and make
you fruitful’ (Gen. 28:3).
In some cases, a blessing could be as simple as a greeting (Gen. 47:7; 1 Sam.
13:10; 15:13; 2 Kings 4:29) or a parting (Gen. 31:55; 47:10; 2 Kings 19:39), or it could
be as significant as a father invoking God for the continuation of blessing from one
generation to another (Gen. 27:27-29; 48:15-16; 49:25-26). There are examples of
leaders blessing their people (Deut. 33:1; 2 Sam. 6:18; 1 Kings 8:14, 55), of family
members blessing a woman about to be married (Gen. 24:60), of a mother blessing
her son (Judges 17:2), of a blessing for fertility (1 Sam. 2:20-21). In each case,
blessing appears to involve praying for, even invoking, wellbeing, health, and
prosperity from one party to another. Such blessings are different from regular
prayers in that they are addressed to fellow men and women rather than God, but
they still function as requests or desires for God to bless, and he is still understood to
be the ultimate source of the blessing.
It should come as no surprise that many of the blessings occur in the context of
family life, expressing hopes for the safe birth of children, fertility of crops, increase
of herds, defeat of enemies, and length of days. Even so, within the context of the
biblical story as a whole, such blessings were significant for the ongoing survival of
God’s covenant people precisely so that God’s plan to bless the nations could be
brought to its completion.
A number of these themes are combined nicely in the book of Ruth, which
shows the significance of blessing at the heart of the ongoing life of the covenant
community. The story begins with a parting, with Naomi urging her widowed
daughters-in-law to return to their homes in Moab and effectively praying a blessing
on them (1:8-9). In doing so, she commits their future to God, seeking his kindness
for them, and praying that God will grant them the security that comes from being
married rather than the vulnerability that would come with widowhood. The next
blessing occurs in 2:4, as Boaz greets his harvesters with ‘The LORD be with you’, and
they reply with ‘The LORD bless you!’ Although this may be no more than a greeting
(but what a greeting!), it’s a lovely reminder of God’s presence in the everyday, with
the use of God’s name to invoke his blessing in daily life and work, in the meeting and
leaving of friends. In his first encounter with Ruth, Boaz prays a blessing for Ruth’s
wellbeing because of her faithfulness to Naomi (2:11-12), words which are picked up
again in his blessing of her in 3:10 as she dares to seek Boaz, as her next of kin, to
take responsibility for her wellbeing. 2:19-20 then records Naomi’s reaction to Ruth
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when she returns from the fields with a supply of grain – ‘Blessed be the man’ – with
a prayer seeking God’s blessing on Boaz. Then, after Boaz and Ruth are married,
those who witness the occasion seek God for the provision of children and the
building up of their household (4:11-12). When a child is born, the women bless God
in thanksgiving for dealing kindly with Naomi (4:14-15). Naomi’s desire for Ruth to
find security in a husband’s house (1:9) has come true. In a story shot through with
covenant faithfulness, the blessing she sought has come about in the blessing from
God of a family from whom will come king David (4:18-22), from whom will come
Christ himself (Matt. 1:5). Here is one snapshot of the Old Testament story which
traces the transmission of God’s promise of blessing from Abraham through the
generations to all nations.
That we are blessed by God means we acknowledge that God is Lord of
creation and covenant, the one who freely gives us all good things. That we bless
others is an expression that they too might enjoy what we have received. In
relationship with God, we are blessed by him, a blessing which overflows from us to
others which is then offered back to God in thanksgiving and praise.
2. Blessing flows through Christ
The New Testament links God’s blessing with Jesus, quintessentially expressed in
Ephesians 1:3:
‘Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us
in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.’
‘Spiritual’ here may mean ‘of the Spirit’ – the blessing that comes by the Spirit – in
which case, this blessing is triune-shaped: the Father blesses us through the Spirit in
Christ, the three-in-one God working to bring about our salvation. Paul goes on to
catalogue God’s amazing blessings – which come to us only because of the death of
Christ, which brings about redemption, the forgiveness of sins (Eph. 1:7).
Already, then, it should be clear that while God continues to provide for the
material wellbeing of his people, the New Testament has nothing like the same
emphasis as the Old Testament on blessings in terms of material prosperity. With the
coming of Christ and the inauguration of the new covenant, God’s provision of
blessings in the form of fertility, descendants, long life and good health, give way to
‘every spiritual blessing in Christ’ – blessings to be experienced now, and which will
be experienced in full with the final kingdom, blessings which the old covenant could
only foreshadow.
Blessing is now to be understood as mediated through Jesus Christ. For the
Christian, then, Jesus becomes the focal point of blessing from God – in the
fulfilment of blessing and in the invoking of it.
(a) Blessing fulfilled
It’s not too far into the early church period before Peter preaches that God has
blessed us by sending his servant Jesus in fulfilment of his promise to Abraham (Acts
3:24-26). Paul elaborates on this in his letter to the Galatians, showing how God’s
promise to Abraham to bless all nations is now fulfilled in Christ (Gal. 3:6-14; cf. Heb.
6:13-20; 12:17). He has done this because, in his death, Christ has borne the
consequence of the curse of the law. Paul refers to Deuteronomy 27:26 and 21:22-23
in Galatians 3:10-13, reminding the Galatians of the penalty of breaking the law and
so falling outside the sphere of God’s blessing. Christ redeems us from the curse,
extending to Gentiles the blessing promised to Abraham, enabling Jew and Gentile
alike to enjoy relationship with God. Once again, to read the blessings and curses of
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Deuteronomy 28 as if they were timeless principles is to confuse the covenant God
made with the nation of Israel in that particular time and place in salvation history
with the unconditional promise to Abraham now carried forward and fulfilled in
Christ.
(b) Blessing invoked
Echoing the language of Exodus 19:3-6 (in calling Israel to be a priestly
kingdom, a holy nation, for the sake of nations), Peter is likewise clear that God was
finally fulfilling his promise to bring the Gentiles into the blessing too (1 Pet. 2:9-10).
That blessing gives them the privileges – and responsibilities – that went with the
covenant. Hence, Israel’s call – their identity and role with respect to the world – is
now taken up by the church, by all followers of Christ. God’s mission to bless all
nations continues to be worked out through us, his chosen people – wherever we may
find ourselves ‘scattered’ (1 Pet. 1:1).
We are able to bless others because we ourselves have been blessed.
Blessing of Christ
The language of blessing is found in the early chapters of Luke’s gospel (1:42,
68-69; 2:28-32) woven in with promises of God’s redemptive presence in the coming
of Christ. Then, at the end of the gospel, in words that are reminiscent of the priestly
blessing in Leviticus 9:22, Christ blesses his disciples:
‘When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands
and blessed them. While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up
into heaven. Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great
joy. And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God.’ (Luke 24:50-53)
Somewhat ironically, Luke starts with a priest, Zechariah, unable to complete his
service in the temple (1:21-22) and ends with Jesus giving a priestly benediction. He
has made the sacrifice which brings about the forgiveness of sins to be preached to all
nations (24:46); now, as he departs in order to send the Spirit to be with them and
equip the disciples, he blesses them for the mission that lies ahead.
Blessing through Christ
It’s possible that an echo of the priestly benediction might be heard at the start
of Paul’s letters, in the regular greeting – with the ‘grace and peace to you’
reminiscent of the final sentence of the priestly prayer, ‘And be gracious to you... and
give you peace’ (Num. 6:25-26). If this is the case, Paul’s frequently-added words
‘from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ’ in his greetings reinforce the source
of the blessing. Grace and peace provide more than just a convenient greeting, but
summarise the blessings of the gospel – which come through Christ.
Even if this is too much of a stretch, the benedictions or doxologies at the end
of some of the New Testament letters function as blessings (e.g., Rom. 16:25-27; 1
Cor. 16:23; 2 Cor. 13:14; Gal. 6:16, 18; Eph. 6:23-24; Phil. 4:23; Col. 4:18; 1 Thess.
5:28; 2 Thess. 3:18; 1 Tim. 6:21; 2 Tim. 4:22; Titus 3:15; Philm. 25; Heb. 13:20-21, 25;
1 Pet. 5:14; Jude 24-25). 2 Corinthians 13:14 is perhaps the most well known of these:
‘May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the
fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.’
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This is instructive in itself, reminding us, like Ephesians 1:3, that grace is available
only through Jesus Christ, is grounded in the love of God, and is mediated to us by
the Holy Spirit.
Hence, blessing is to be understood not only in theological terms (its source in
the creator-covenant God), but in christological terms, coming to us as a result of
Christ’s work. It is only in Christ that we understand what it means to blessed by God,
and it is only because of Christ that we can bring to others his blessing (Rom. 15:29)
and are able to bless, rather than curse, even those who persecute us (Luke 6:27-28;
Rom. 12:14; 1 Peter 3:9).
3. Blessing enlivens our praying
The topic of ‘blessing’ is not always included in treatments of prayer. This is arguably
an oversight, as an appropriate understanding of blessing might inform and enliven
our prayer life – as individual Christians and as local churches – in different ways.
(a) Words of petition
Blessing one another in prayer is a way of acknowledging that all good things,
which build us up and make us fruitful, come from God. In blessing, we are
expressing trust in God’s character and his love, not presuming on it, but asking him
to continue to demonstrate his power in our lives and the lives of others, whether in
the ongoing ‘mundane’ events of life or for the more ‘extraordinary’ needs of healing,
rescue, provision, and direction.
This involves the recognition that God, in his grace, allows us to be the
instruments of his blessing on others. Invoking God’s blessing on someone else thus
serves as a particular kind of petition, with the implication that we are praying for the
Lord to bless that person. In keeping with examples from Scripture, such prayers may
be addressed to the person rather than God, but we are nonetheless asking for God’s
blessing on them. It might be particularly appropriate to bless someone at special
times, perhaps of pastoral need, or during sickness, or in the context of a
commissioning – but not exclusively so. We will want to seek God’s blessing on others
in line with God’s creative and life-giving purposes, in a way that exercises trust in his
ongoing provision for us. This means we will be cautious about identifying his
blessing solely with the ‘spectacular’ – the miraculous and special interventions –
rather than with his constant presence within which the whole of life is lived, the
ordinary as much as the extraordinary, the routine as much as the remarkable.
Moreover, since Jesus is now the focal point of God’s blessing, our prayers of
blessing for others will take their cue from him – his commandments, his call, his
love. And so we may pray for others the blessing that comes with participating in his
death (1 Cor. 10:16; cf. Mark 10:38-39), for empowerment to bless those who
persecute us (Luke 6:28; Rom. 12:14; 1 Pet. 3:9), for the joy and confidence that
comes through knowing that every spiritual blessing comes from him (Eph. 1:3).
(b) Words of power
We know from personal experience that words are powerful. Positive,
affirming words build up, while negative words tear down. The power of speech to
shape someone’s self-perception – a child, a spouse, a friend, a colleague – for good
or for ill, is enormous. A recognition of the power of words can, however, lead to a
mistaken view of blessing which suggests that to say something is to make it happen,
the presupposition being that the person who utters a blessing has the authority to do
so effectively. But we should be clear that blessing is not a magical formula for
victorious living, still less a guarantee of material prosperity; nor is it about twisting
God’s arm into doing something.
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It has sometimes been supposed that Old Testament curses and blessings
operated with a view of language where the speakers believed that their words had
causal, or even magical power. The story of Isaac blessing Jacob rather than Esau, for
instance, suggests the blessing cannot be taken back once it has been spoken (Gen.
27). Is a magical control of the future implied?
We are helped here with the recognition of what is sometimes called the
‘performative’ nature of language, the acknowledgement that words perform certain
actions. The phrase, ‘I now pronounce you husband and wife’, or ‘You’re fired’,
spoken by an appropriate person in an appropriate context, are not merely making
statements about things but doing things. ‘Bless’ is also an example of performative
language where something is done in the saying. But just as the words ‘I do’ or ‘I give
and bequeath’ or ‘You’re fired’ only carry force in particular contexts where particular
social mores are in place in which the words are accepted as carrying force, so also
blessing is only effective when spoken with appropriate conventions in place. Genesis
27 is a striking example of this: Isaac disposes of his estate in the form of a blessing
which is considered legally binding and can’t be taken back. The ‘power’ is not
inherent in the words themselves so much as in the social conventions of their use,
and has nothing to do with magic or fate.
The primacy of God in blessing means that it his power that counts, rather
than any supposed power inherent in the words themselves. Praying words of
blessing has no power apart from the activity of God himself to bless. For us, this is
an encouragement that prayers for blessing don’t depend on the right use of a special
formula, but on the promise and guarantee of God’s own word. It also means we can
be confident that we won’t go far wrong if we bless others in line with Scripture –
with the grain of God’s ongoing care for creation, in alignment with his desire for
covenant relationship with his people, and in tune with his work of redemption
through Christ.
(c) Words of praise
If God comes first – as the source of all blessing – we bless people and things
in relation to him. Blessing food, for instance, is a shorthand way of praising God for
it. We are not thanking the food itself, or invoking God to make sure it tastes good,
but acknowledging him as its ultimate giver.
In fact, many of the occurrences of ‘bless’ words in the Bible are used by men
and women back to God himself. Having received God’s blessing, the community of
faith blesses God in return – not to grant him favour in the way he does for us, but to
give thanks. Throughout the Psalms, in particular, the people are called to ‘bless’ the
Lord because of how he has blessed them, and the primary way they bless him is
through praise (e.g., Ps. 28:6; 31:21; 34:1; 41:13; 68:19; 72:18; 89:52; 100:4; 103:2;
104:1; 106:48; 124:6; 135:21; 144:1; 145:1-2, 10). In addition, in 1 Chronicles 29:10-11
and 20-22, David ascribes glory to God, declaring how great he is (29:11); when he
calls on those gathered to bless the Lord, their response is to bow their heads,
worship and offer sacrifices to God (29:20-22). In this case, blessing the Lord affirms
him as Lord and pays him honour.
As much as we might seek God’s blessing for ourselves and for others, to follow
the pattern of Scripture also involves blessing God – as an expression of individual or
corporate praise, giving thanks to God, praising him, acclaiming him as Lord.
(d) Words of preparation
In both the Old Testament and the New Testament, the blessing of the
congregation of God’s people appears to be significant. Some church traditions echo
this in giving considerable place to blessing in their gatherings – in greetings, before
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and after the sermon, during communion, and so on. Perhaps especially for those less
used to blessing in a congregational context, there may be a place for acknowledging
the significance of the benediction as a crucial component of the gathered worship –
as that which sends people on their way in service to Christ. The final blessing serves
as a bridge from the gathering to the life outside the four walls of the church building,
not merely marking the end of the worship service, but connecting the gathered
worship to the scattered lives of the worshipping people beyond the weekly gathering.
The benediction – appropriately used – prays for God’s providential care and
powerful equipping of his people as we move from the gathering into everyday life,
asking that God will bless us as we do so.
‘Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought
back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with
everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him,
through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.’ (Hebrews 13:20-21)
For further reading
Keith Grüneberg, Blessing: Biblical Meaning and Pastoral Practice, Grove Biblical
Series 27 (Cambridge: Grove Books, 2003).
A helpful booklet-length treatment.
Patrick D. Miller, They Cried to the Lord: The Form and Theology of Biblical Prayer
(Minneapolis: Fortress, 1994).
A full and rich exploration of different types of prayer, especially in the Old
Testament, with a useful chapter on blessing and cursing.
Christopher Wright Mitchell, The Meaning of BRK “To Bless” in the Old Testament,
SBL Dissertation Series 95 (Atlanta: Scholars, 1987).
A scholarly work which divides the uses of the brk root into three categories: God
blessing man, man blessing man, and the use of brk in the praise of God.
R. Scott Osborne, The Book of Blessings (Xulon Press, 2007).
Available as a free download – .
A book which focuses on speaking blessings based on Scripture,
using the language of the Bible, gathering biblical references modified in order to
create blessings, divided into discrete areas such as blessing for courage, for joy, for
faith and trust, etc.
Claus Westermann, Blessing in the Bible and the Life of the Church, Overtures to
Biblical Theology, trans. Keith Crim (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1978).
Something of a classic in the area, describing blessing in different traditions within
Scripture.
Antony Billington
Head of Theology, LICC
Draft 1 – December 2011
LICC • St Peter’s • Vere St • London • W1G 0DQ • 020 7399 9555 • mail@licc.org.uk • www.licc.org.uk