Can you explain the 29 Word Blessing?

This week's topic is answered by Hayden Collins. 

This can be a very interesting study to get into because we may either hear this quoted a lot, or we may hear the popular worship song called “The Blessing” (Highly encourage you to listen to it). Wherever you may hear this, you may think, " What is this truly talking about? As a huge fan of the song that quotes this, I’ve begun studying this question more deeply as I prepare this study!

The Lord bless you. Many times, we may hear that “God has blessed me,” and it’s mostly in the context of something good from a human perspective happening in their life. When we think of being blessed with a life of comfort and ease, that definitely isn’t for our greater good. God knows how we need to be blessed, even when we don’t. The truth is, the Lord wants to bless his children, but it may not be what we think it should be. The Lord bless you in this time, for they may have meant to give them a good harvest, peace, or even children of their own, and that was considered being blessed. Oftentimes today, we take these kinds of things for granted and instead credit them to doctors, technology, etc. The Hebrew word for “bless” is to kneel or to show great respect, and when I hear this, I picture God kneeling down to our level as a Father would to give his children a gift.

“And keep you.” To be kept by the Lord is a blessing! When I think of people who don’t truly believe in Christ, they are kept in their greed, idolatry, pride, and willful sin. Instead, for people who truly believe in Christ, they get to be kept by the Lord! Some translations of this part say “to protect”, which is still a blessing! This can also be taken in a way that God keeps you as his child! Even when we don’t feel we should belong, when we continually come back to Him, we are told that we are kept by God in the midst of our struggles. What a God we have who wants to keep and protect us even when we fall short of his glory! 

The LORD make His face shine upon you. This is alluding to the sun shining on the earth to take care of the earth and comfort it. We can all imagine a father disciplining his child and getting him out of his presence, and then receiving them back to see their face! This is how God receives sinners who come to Christ! A look of approval from the Lord is the only approval that we should seek. This look of approval gives a deep sense of joy, calm, and peace when we try to seek the approval of everyone but God. Oftentimes, we want to seek approval from the wrong places, and instead God wants us to seek HIS approval and not man’s.And be gracious to you. The idea here is that they ask the Lord to give them mercy and care for His people. At this time, they were still having to make sacrifices and give burnt offerings for the forgiveness of sin. Even in the same way, we do this today when we ask God to give us mercy when the work has already been done! When we repent of our sins, we no longer have to beg and try to plead with God out of fear or desperation. Hebrews 4:16 says, “'Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” This reminds us that even though the work is done, he still wants a relationship and a reliance on Him!

The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. A major problem in the Christian social media space is that many “influencers” will tell millions of people to speak this blessing, and they will be blessed. This is trying to force God’s hand and is not the reality of this text. The reality is from this is that God’s plan is much better than ours. Praying and meditating on this doesn’t guarantee the life we all want, but it shows a reliance on God in the good, AND the bad. The reality of this text is that God’s plan...” and “Quite honestly, what God wants is US. When we put our faith in anything but him, there are going to be consequences. Many people want peace, comfort, and the Lord in their favor, but are we doing it to please ourselves or because we really need it?

To listen to the song, click the link 
https://youtu.be/tNk_xCa7zaQ?si=PKC6xxNjJGKKFO21