Psalms 133-134
Dear RTB’ers,
Only six verses today – not a lot to choose from! But for me one verse clearly stands out, Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! (v. 133:1) Unity is good and pleasant, but disunity brings bitterness and discord. Sadly, when I think of disunity, divisiveness, our political realm (to me) is most prominent. No further comments there. But unity in the church…? Do we have that? Yes, I think so, in our basic beliefs. That is, I think that most people in our major Christian denominations would agree on the Nicene Creed and the Apostles Creed. Denominational differences seem to arise from worship preferences and on social issues. Again, no further comments there.
I’d rather dwell on blessing, which we see in Psalm 134. “Bless the Lord” appears in each of the first two verses, with blessings on us in the third verse, May the Lord bless you from Zion, He who made heaven and earth! Every Internet source that I looked at expressed divine overtones for bless and blessing. Here’s a dictionary definition: “To bless is to hallow or consecrate by religious rite or word.” (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bless) A less formal statement says that to bless someone means “…to ask for divine care, protection, or favor…”. https://www.google.com/search?q=bless+mw+definition&sca_esv=8886e09268ba5536&rlz=1C1GCEA_enUS1185US1185&biw=1536&bih=695&sxsrf=APpeQnt687cJBcpL9Z5d7zDCZYIC_NpVHg%3A1789712546142&ei=otisaueUCIGL9u8P8uiJ-Ac&ved=2ahUKEwjn7b_kvveWAxWBhf0HHXJ0An8Q4dUDegQIBhAM&uact=5&oq=bless+mw+definition&gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAiE2JsZXNzIG13IGRlZmluaXRpb24yChAAGEcY1gQYsAMyChAAGEcY1gQYsAMyChAAGEcY1gQYsAMyChAAGEcY1gQYsAMyChAAGEcY1gQYsAMyChAAGEcY1gQYsAMyChAAGEcY1gQYsAMyFxAuGNwGGLgGGNoGGNgCGMgDGLAD2AEBMhcQLhjcBhi4BhjaBhjYAhjIAxiwA9gBATIXEC4Y3AYYuAYY2gYY2AIYyAMYsAPYAQEyFxAuGNwGGLgGGNoGGNgCGMgDGLAD2AEBMhcQLhjcBhi4BhjaBhjYAhjIAxiwA9gBATIXEC4Y3AYYuAYY2gYY2AIYyAMYsAPYAQFIkxdQ5whY3wxwAXgBkAEAmAEAoAEAqgEAuAEDyAEA-AEBmAIBoAILmAMAiAYBkAYNugYECAEYGZIHATGgBwCyBwC4BwDCBwMzLTHIBwmACAE&sclient=gws-wiz-serp So, when the psalmist asks for the Lord to bless us, he is asking for the Lord’s care, protection, favor. I like that. Thus, when I end RTB posts with “Blessings.”, I am essentially asking for the Lord’s blessing, for His care, protection, favor on each of you. Yes, I like that. I’ll continue with that closing from here on, but adding an exclamation mark instead of a period!
Blessings!
Fred