Slices
Prepare
‘Bless the Lord, Oh my soul, oh my soul, worship his holy name.’* Think about the reasons you have to bless the Lord, and sing them with fervour as you come into God’s presence.
Bible passage
For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A psalm. A song.
1 May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face shine on us –
2 so that your ways may be known on earth,
your salvation among all nations.
3 May the peoples praise you, God;
may all the peoples praise you.
4 May the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for you rule the peoples with equity
and guide the nations of the earth.
5 May the peoples praise you, God;
may all the peoples praise you.
6 The land yields its harvest;
God, our God, blesses us.
7 May God bless us still,
so that all the ends of the earth will fear him.
Explore
This psalm, to be accompanied with guitars, violins and any other stringed instrument you can name, is a lovely poem asking God to bless his people. The first verse is a reminder of the blessing in Numbers 6:24–26 – the priestly blessing – and the psalmist clearly longs for everyone, everywhere, to praise the Lord. Two reasons are given: the justice and guidance of God (v 4), and the blessing of harvest (v 6), which we’re celebrating again around this time of year. There’s also a sense that the blessing of God on his people, when it comes, is to be a witness to the world, a testimony to the love of God for his people (vs 2,7).
Paul wrote to Timothy twice, and both letters open with Paul asking for the blessing of ‘Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord’ (2 Timothy 1:2) to be upon his dear son in the faith. That’s something we might well consider beginning with next time we’re in touch with someone!
Respond
With the immediacy of multiple types of communication available to us today, we may sometimes plunge straight in without any opening ‘Hello, how are you?’ preamble. Take time to write a card or letter today, just asking God to bless someone.
Deeper Bible study
May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine upon us.1
This short psalm starts with a shout of praise and a petition for God’s blessing, but it is also an evangelistic psalm, praying that the whole world would be filled with God’s love. Every verse talks of God’s relationship with the whole globe. Centuries later, Jesus would give the great commission, commanding that the gospel be taken to all nations.2 Count yourself among that great crowd of believers worldwide who know the Saviour, praise him for his good news and share the gospel so that the harvest may be abundant.
We must also thank God for all who have preached the gospel to the nations. It is believed that the apostle Thomas came all the way to India in ad 52, to a people he did not know and to an area very strange to him, to preach the good news to my ancestors. He came to India before Paul went to the lands of the Roman Empire. Thomas had a much more difficult time. He went to a different people and preached to them in a strange language, Tamil. God gave him the gift of tongues, as he never used a translator. God was with Thomas and blessed his ministry, as he obeyed his heavenly call. Everywhere he went he preached the gospel, planted a cross and built a church. Many temples whose priests had been converted became churches. Because of his ministry, the community of the Syrian Christians was established in Malabar or Kerala and I stand before you today because he converted my ancestors. There is a tradition in my family that we are descended from a Nambudri official of a local Rajah’s court, who was converted by Thomas.
Pray for missionaries, especially Indian missionaries ministering in remote areas among tribal people, learning a new language and culture, translating the Bible and suffering many hardships.
Pray for all missionaries and praise God for their work.
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Jeremiah 25,26; John 10
Pray for Scripture Union
In Ethiopia the political, economic, and social crisis is worsening making it impossible for SU Ethiopia to work effectively. Pray that God will bring peace and that the government will look with favour on the movement’s request for some land.
