Blessing

“ God's blessing then, must ever come first. 'We love Him because He first loved us.' Ours is but the echo of His, but the acknowledgment of the divine act, which must precede our recognition of it as the dawn must come in order that the birds may wake to sing.
Our highest service is to take the gifts of God, and with glad hearts to praise the Giver.
Our blessings are but words. God's blessings are realities. We wish good to one another when we bless each other. But He does good to men when He blesses them. Our wishes may be deep and warm, but, alas! ”

“ Let them show by their lives a consciousness of the great blessing conferred by those from whom they received the Gospel. As recipients of such goodness, let their hearts and lips ever be ready with the happy declaration: "God be praised!" ”

“ In each event of life, how clear
⁠Thy ruling hand I see!
Each blessing to my soul more dear,
⁠Because conferr'd by Thee.
In ev'ry joy that crowns my days,
⁠In every pain I bear,
My heart shall find delight in praise,
⁠Or seek relief in pray'r. ”

“ So one wants never to forget so great a blessing, but always to hold it before one's eyes, in holy and sweet gratitude, seeing how immeasurably God loves us: who did not shrink from giving His only begotten Son to the opprobrious death of the Cross, to give us the life of grace. ”

“ Encouraged by this hope, we beseech God Himself, with the earnest desire of our heart, to grant you, Venerable Brethren, every gift of heavenly blessing, through Her in whom He has placed the fullness of all grace. ”

“ The praise of the lip may be insincere; the blessing of the heart cannot be.
THE THREE-FOLD BENEDICTION: verses 24-26. "The LORD bless thee, and keep thee:
"The LORD make His face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:
"The LORD lift up His countenance upon thee, and give thee peace."
We have dwelt upon the meaning of blessing—the moving of the heart towards an object of affection and complacency, and noticed that this is naturally accompanied by gift or ascription, as the case may be. When love overflows, loving words, loving embraces, or loving gifts instinctively follow. ”

“ What, then, shall I say to you who are my Lord's beloved? How shall I speak with a tenderness and generosity equal to his desires, for he would have me speak right lovingly in his name. Enrich yourselves out of that which is your Lord's. Go a spiritual gleaning as often as ever you can. Never lose an opportunity of picking up a golden blessing. Glean at the mercy-seat; glean in private meditation; glean in reading pious books; glean in associating with godly men; glean everywhere; and if you can get only a little handful it will be better than none. ”

“ I bow my knees to the God of all grace, and say, “Not unto me, not unto me, but to thy name be all the glory.” And what can I say more? It well becometh the just to be thankful. Gratitude, blessing, and praise is the sacrifice of the heart and lips, which is due to God. The Lord be pleased to maintain this spirit in our minds. Gratitude is sometimes excited and led out by the retrospect we take of the Lord’s dealings with us, and discerning his love and wisdom in all his dispensations, however gloomy for the time ”

“ And these, and these only, will witness the blessing pronounced by the royal psalmist, where he saith: “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.” ”

“ Not only that, but all the worlds will be blessed through him, as evidenced by what is written, 'And Your pious ones will bless You.' They illustrated this with what is written, 'Your pious ones will bless You.' The intention is that the pious ones, those who have merited the attribute of kindness and adorned themselves with it in their service out of love, will draw blessing and nobility until the end of thought. ”

“ Entering into it in a very special manner, and taking possession of it, as the time for His rejoicing in His creature, and manifesting the fulness of His love in sanctifying him, He has made the dispensation we now live in one of Divine and mighty blessing. And He has at the same time taught us what the blessing is. Holiness is blessedness. Fellowship with God in His holy rest is blessedness. And as all God’s blessings in Christ have but one fountain, God’s Holiness, so they all have but one aim, making us partakers of that Holiness. ”

“ That the blessing is commanded upon each particular person: The Lord bless thee. They must each of them prepare themselves to receive the blessing, and then they should find enough in it to make them every man happy. Blessed shalt thou be, Deut. ”

“ And chiefly do I now praise and glorify Thee, and will praise and glorify Thee all the days of my life, with the best thanksgiving and blessing of which my lips are capable, with all the love which my inmost heart can contain, and with gratitude which knows no bounds, for Thy supreme and tender condescension in openly showing to Thy disciples the five sacred Wounds, Which Thou hadst preserved in Thy most holy and glorified Body after Thy blessed and glorious Resurrection ”

“ The best performances in the praising of God's name, even those of the angels themselves, fall infinitely short of what it deserves. It is not only exalted above our blessing, but above all blessing. Put all the praises of heaven and earth together, and the thousandth part is not said of what might and should be said of the glory of God. ”

“ He has, in his word, pronounced a blessing upon his people; and we are bound to believe that that blessing does accordingly rest upon them, though there are not the visible effects of it. Hence we may conclude, that God's people, though they may lie under the reproaches and censures of men, are surely blessed of him, who blesses indeed, and therefore can command a blessing. ”

“ And a little provision, with an abundant blessing upon it, will be more serviceable, as well as more comfortable, than a great deal without that blessing. God's people have a special blessing upon common enjoyments, and that blessing puts a peculiar sweetness into them. ”

“ Grant to thy servants an increase of that blessed gift of grace which is wrought into the soul by thy regenerating Spirit, that so the whole creature may be resigned unto thy will, human love be subservient to that which is heavenly, and all its thoughts, hopes, and actions be directed to thy glory, with whom is its source, and from whom its blessing cometh: Two pray unto thee as one, one in heart, one in interest, one for time, one for eternity. So may it ever be, O Lord! our Maker and our guide, our protector and our friend. ”

“ It is our duty to improve upon every blessing the Lord gives to us. ”

“ 'He that cometh to God must believe that He is a rewarder of them that seek Him.' Not on the strong or the fervent feeling with which I pray does the blessing of the closet depend, but upon the love and the power of the Father to whom I there entrust my needs. ”

“ A man in the clear experience of the blessing will never think of “ramming” it down people; but will, with much secret prayer, constant meditation and study, patient instruction, faithful warning, loving persuasion, and burning, joyful testimony, seek to lead them into that entire and glad consecration and that fullness of faith that never fail to receive the blessing. ”

“ If thou hast blest others in one way, I murmur not nor complain: but out of thine infinite store, give me also such a blessing as may be convenient for me;" then God hears the prayer, then he gives the blessing, and gives it so richly, and makes it bear so evidently the mark of his love, that they who were last are become first ”

“ That we need desire no more to make us happy than to be blessed of the Lord, for those whom he blesses are blessed indeed. 2. That blessings out of Zion, spiritual blessings, the blessings of the covenant, and of communion with God, are the best blessings, which we should be most earnest for. 3. It is a great encouragement to us, when we come to God for a blessing, that it is he who made heaven and earth, and therefore has all the blessings of both at his disposal, the upper and nether springs. 4. We ought to beg these blessings, not only for ourselves, but for others also ”

“ God can raise great nations out of dry ground, and can make a little one to be a thousand.
2. I will bless thee; either particularly, with the blessing of fruitfulness and increase, as he had blessed Adam and Noah; or in general, "I will bless thee with all manner of blessings, both of the upper and the nether springs: leave thy father's house, and I will give thee a father's blessing, better than that of thy progenitors." Note, Obedient believers shall be sure to inherit the blessing.
3. I will make thy name great ”

“ How abundant, incomparably valuable, are Thy gifts and blessings! With grateful hearts we render thanks unto Thee for all the gifts of mercy, all the largesses of love, all the boons of wisdom, all the blessings of grace vouchsafed in the year that has passed. Humbly, gratefully reverently, worshipfully we render our thanks unto Thee, we place our living hearts at Thy sacred feet, and we dedicate our adoring souls to Thy Holy Spirit! ”

“ The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all, Amen. Observe, Spiritual blessings are first and especially to be sought for ourselves and others. The favour of God and peace with him, as in itself it is the best and most desirable good, so is it the cause of all other, and what puts sweetness into every mercy and can make happy even in the want of all earthly things. ”

“ Therefore, because thou art the great trustee of divine grace for the use and benefit of the children of men, therefore God has blessed thee for ever, has made thee an everlasting blessing, so as that in thee all the nations of the earth shall be blessed. ”

“ I think the habit of asking the blessing of God on the prayers you are about to offer, and the truths you are about to hear, is a great help in reminding you immediately that you are with the Lord in His holy temple.' 'Won't you teach me a little prayer to say, that I may do as you do?' I asked. ”

“ They hope God will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him, not as if he were about to go from them, and they could be content with any blessing in lieu of his presence, but behind him, that is, "After he has ceased his controversy with us, he will bestow a blessing upon us;" ”

“ When the love of God fills the heart of a saint, he will pray,—and God will hear, and the blessings of heaven will come to him as softly and as sweetly as the zephyrs of even. Where there is humility, and faith, and prayer, the Lord delights to bless. ”

“ For just as I was going along full of kindly thoughts, and had turned into the sign of (I think it was) the 'Sun' to drink wine and leave them my benediction--
LECTOR. Why your benediction?
AUCTOR. Who else can give benedictions if people cannot when they are on pilgrimage? Learn that there are three avenues by which blessing can be bestowed, and three kinds of men who can bestow it.
(1) There is the good man, whose goodness makes him of himself a giver of blessings. ”

“ At this very time, I have still to renew my requests daily before God, respecting a certain blessing for which I have besought Him for eleven years and a half, and which I have as yet obtained only in part, but concerning which I have no doubt that the full blessing will be granted in the end.... The great point is that we ask only for that which it would be for the glory of God to give to us ”

“ Pour down Thy blessings, O Lord, upon all our friends, relatives, and benefactors. Help the poor and sick, and those who are in their last agony. O God of mercy and goodness, have compassion on the souls of the faithful in purgatory; put an end to their sufferings; and grant to all those for whom we are particularly bound to pray, eternal light, rest, and happiness. ”

“ IV. The proof of the excellency of brotherly love. Loving people are blessed people. For, 1. They are blessed of God, and therefore blessed indeed: There, where brethren dwell together in unity, the Lord commands the blessing, a complicated blessing, including all blessings. It is God's prerogative to command the blessing, man can but beg a blessing. Blessings according to the promise are commanded blessings, for he has commanded his covenant for ever. Blessings that take effect are commanded blessings, for he speaks and it is done. ”

“ Pardon our sins, O my God. which, for the love of Thee, we sincerely detest; purify our hearts, sanctify our souls, and bestow a blessing on us like that which Thou didst grant to Thy disciples at Thy ascension into heaven: grant us a blessing that may change us, consecrate us. unite us perfectly to Thee, fill us with Thy spirit, and be to us in this life a foretaste of those blessings which Thou has prepared for Thy elect in Thy heavenly kingdom. ”

“ God pours his blessings out upon us, but the blessing is not to end with itself. Remember these words: "Freely ye have received, freely give." Seek to be blessed of God, that you may pass the blessing on to others. ”

“ Whom God blesses he increases; that was one of the earliest and most ancient blessings, Be fruitful and multiply. God's blessing gives an increase—increase in number, building up the family—increase in wealth, adding to the estate and honour—especially an increase in spiritual blessings, with the increasings of God. He will bless you with the increase of knowledge and wisdom, of grace, holiness, and joy; those are blessed indeed whom God thus increases, who are made wiser and better, and fitter for God and heaven. ”