This month we have been looking at Benedictions, God’s words of blessing for His people. Have you been drawn to commit to memory any of the Scriptures we’ve looked at? Let’s wrap up this series with a review of the verses of benediction we have read thus far before concluding with one of my favorites.
Benedictions of the Bible
We began the month with one of the first blessings of the Bible, given to the priesthood of Aaron to say over the Israelites. These beautiful words convey God’s desire to extend His goodness to His people.
May the Lord bless you and keep you.
The Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you.
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace. (Numbers 6:24-26)
In a post about the God who equips, Ali reminded us that God gives us the ability to do His will and “will not ask anything of us that He will not help us do.” She wrote, “Until God supports me and directs me– until He equips me — I can’t do His will. On the other hand, with God’s help ‘through Jesus,’ I am able.
Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. (Hebrews 13:20-21)
Jaime explored musical harmony as the metaphor for life within the Church. I found it clarifying to read her words: “Living in harmony with anyone is deeply challenging because we are regularly confronted by and forced to choose between our own selfish desires and the needs or wants of another.” Harmony results from putting the needs of others around us ahead of our own desires.
May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 15:5-6)
Elaborating on how benedictions give us words to bless others when we don’t know what to say, Lisa shared that her Pastor’s closing each service with Philippians 1:9-11 has guided her in praying for others.
And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.” (Philippians 1:9-11)
“God wants the overflow of everything He pours into us to spill out onto others,” Cheli wrote. “Essentially, we are filled up to spill out.” The benedictions exemplify this as we receive God’s blessings and use God’s own words to pronounce His goodness upon others.
“So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:17-19)
Last week in a post on the God of hope, I shared my experience with hope in the midst of physical pain. “When the roots of hope reach deeper down to living water from the God of hope, our hope is not vulnerable to circumstances. That hope flourishes regardless of circumstance.”
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” (Romans 15:13)
He is Able
Our evening family prayer time has always been quite a circus, but with my youngest no longer a toddler, I am daring to add a little more structure and reverence. While my attempt to add candle light was short lived (we are still too wiggly for that, it seems), the benediction has stuck. My favorite part of the day may now be the last moments of our evening together as one of us reads words of encouragement over the family. I find the simplest way to memorize Scripture is simply to say or hear it every day, and so we use one passage until it is deeply in all of our hearts, before changing it out for another.
Tonight as we ended family prayers, my 7-year-old son read Ephesians 3:20-21:
Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Ephesians 3:20-21)
It is my hope that these truths sink in deeply. After we have lifted our hearts and concerns to the Lord, what joy it is to be reminded: He is able. Able to do far more than all that we ask, or think! (I love those additional words. There is no limit to His power!) And that power? It is more than available to us. It is presently at work within us. What grace. It is my hope that as we lay down to rest each night, my family’s faith and hope will be nourished by those words of truth.
In a church service, the benediction is part of a liturgy — words and actions that are part of a meaningful routine which shapes our hearts and our faith. Is there a Scripture we have looked at this month that you want to make a part of your daily life? One you want to commit to heart and have on hand for when you don’t know what to say or how to pray? Which of these would most nourish your faith right now?
