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REFLECTION

Bless the Lord! is the theme for our reflection. To bless the Lord means to praise, exalt, and worship Him. Specifically, it means to express sincere and humble adoration to God. Blessing the Lord is acknowledging the mighty deeds of God as we assume a humble posture before Him. In Judges 4, we are told that because Israel did what was evil in the sight of God, He sold them into the hands of Jabin the King of Canaan and His commander Sisera who had ruled over Israel for twenty years. The Israelites cried for help and God chose Deborah, a judge of Israel to play a pivotal role together with Barack in overcoming Sisera and the Canaanite army and finally destroying Jabin the King of Canaan. In Judges 5, Deborah and Barak sang to bless the name of the Lord for granting them victory over the oppressors of Israel, “That the leaders took the lead in Israel, that the people offered themselves willingly, bless the LORD! “Hear, O kings; give ear, O princes; to the LORD I will sing; I will make melody to the LORD, the God of Israel…My heart goes out to the Israel commanders who willingly offered themselves among the people. Bless the LORD. Tell of it, you who ride on white donkeys, you who sit on rich carpets and you who walk by the way. To the sound of musicians at the watering places, there they repeat the righteous triumphs of the LORD, the righteous triumphs of his villagers in Israel.” (Judges 5:2-3,9-11)

Dear friend, it is important to develop the habit of blessing the Lord as worshippers because He uses ordinary people like us to do extraordinary things to the glory of His Holy name. The glory and power of God abide with those who bless His Holy name. We must spend time daily to exalt or praise His name in acknowledgement of the wonderful and mighty things He continues to do in our lives. The Lord has won so many battles for us just like He won it for the Israelites through Deborah and Barack. The Lord has given us victory over sickness, unemployment, disappointment in relationships, spiritual attacks, depression, failure in business and many more to the extent that when we begin to count our many blessings; naming them one by one, it will surprise us what the Lord has done! No wonder the Psalmist having experienced the providence of God, wrote ” Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s” (Psalms 103:1-5)

Truly, we are blessed! Dear friend, we owe God songs of praise and adoration, giving testimony before others about what the Lord has done and continues to do in our lives. If there is something we owe God then it is His praise. God continues to bless us spiritually, materially, and financially through His grace and providence and all we are required to do is to continually bless Him through our songs of praise, words of exaltation and declaring to the world what the Lord has done in our lives. It is for this reason, the Psalmist joyfully exclaimed “I will declare your name to my people; in the assembly I will praise you. You who fear the LORD, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, honour him! Revere him, all you descendants of Israel! (Psalms 22:22-23) It is now our turn to bless the Lord by declaring His name to all people, bless Him at your workplace, bless Him as you travel, bless Him before your customers, bless Him at the Market, bless Him in midst of your family and friends and finally bless Him until your last breath on earth for we are beneficiaries of His grace and providence.

In summary, we have discovered that we have the responsibility as human beings and also every reason as beneficiaries of God’s grace, to bless Him, for the victories and immeasurable blessings He continues to bestow upon our lives.

PRAYER

Almighty God, may I never be ungrateful and forget to bless You for Your love, mercy and protection over my life and that of my family, friends, congregants and even my enemies. May the Holy Spirit empower me to live a life of praise, always praising and declaring Your Holy and Mighty name to the world. Amen.