Biblical Ways to Bless God in Worship and Prayer
To "bless God" in a biblical sense primarily means to offer praise, thanksgiving, and adoration for His character and works [1, 12]. This act of blessing God is distinct from God blessing humanity, where He bestows gifts and favors [1].
Biblical expressions of blessing God include:
- Praise and Thanksgiving The Psalms frequently call believers to praise God and come before Him with thanksgiving [2, 3, 4, 13]. For instance, Psalm 69:30 states, "I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving" [3]. Similarly, Psalm 150:1 exhorts, "Let the Lord be praised. Give praise to God in his holy place" [2]. This praise is due to God's majesty, glory, excellency, greatness, holiness, wisdom, power, goodness, mercy, and loving-kindness [8].
- Glorifying God To bless God is also to glorify Him [9]. This is commanded in scripture and is due to Him for His holiness, mercy, truth, faithfulness, and wondrous works [9]. Glorifying God can be accomplished by praising Him and relying on His promises [9].
- Lifting Hands in Worship In worship, lifting hands is an ancient gesture associated with blessing and praising God [14]. Psalm 63:4 illustrates this: "Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name" [14].
- Calling on the Lord The act of calling on the Lord is another way to bless Him, often associated with seeking His presence and invoking His name [11].
- Singing New Songs Believers are encouraged to "make a new song to the Lord," with His praise being central in the assembly of His saints [6].
The concept of "Hallelujah" or "Alleluia" directly translates to "praise the Lord," encapsulating this core idea of blessing God through adoration [5, 7]. Jesus' teaching on prayer, particularly the Lord's Prayer, emphasizes the hallowing of God's name, which aligns with blessing and glorifying Him [10]. This highlights that blessing God is not merely an emotional response but a conscious act of acknowledging His divine nature and works [10].
Sources
- Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Bless — (1.) God blesses his people when he bestows on them some gift temporal or spiritual (Gen. 1:22; 24:35; Job 42:12; Ps. 45:2; 104:24, 35). (2.) We bless God when we thank him for his mercies (Ps. 103:1, 2; 145:1, 2). (3.) A man blesses himself when he invokes God's blessing (Isa. 65:16), or rejoices in God's goodness to him (Deut. 29:19; Ps. 49:18). (4.) One blesses another when he expresses good wishes or offers prayer to God for his welfare (Gen. 24:60; 31:55; 1 Sam. 2:20). Sometimes blessings were uttered under divine inspiration, as in the case of Noah, Isa”
- Psalms “Psalms 150:1 (BBE) — Let the Lord be praised. Give praise to God in his holy place: give him praise in the heaven of his power.”
- Psalms “I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving. -- Psalms 69:30”
- Psalms “Let’s come before his presence with thanksgiving. Let’s extol him with songs! -- Psalms 95:2”
- Hitchcock's Bible Names “Hitchcock's Bible Names: Hallelujah — praise the Lord”
- Psalms “Psalms 149:1 (BBE) — Let the Lord be praised. Make a new song to the Lord, let his praise be in the meeting of his saints.”
- Hitchcock's Bible Names “Hitchcock's Bible Names: Alleluia — praise the Lord”
- Torrey's Topical Textbook “Torrey's Topical Textbook: Praise — God is worthy of -- 2Sa 22:4. Christ is worthy of -- Re 5:12. God is glorified by -- Ps 22:23; 50:23. Offered to Christ -- Joh 12:13. Acceptable through Christ -- Heb 13:15. Is due to God on account of His majesty. -- Ps 96:1,6; Isa 24:14. His glory. -- Ps 138:5; Eze 3:12. His excellency. -- Ex 15:7; Ps 148:13. His greatness. -- 1Ch 16:25; Ps 145:3. His holiness. -- Ex 15:11; Isa 6:3. His wisdom. -- Da 2:20; Jude 1:25. His power. -- Ps 21:13. His goodness. -- Ps 107:8; 118:1; 136:1; Jer 33:11. His mercy. -- 2Ch 20:21; Ps 89:1; 118:1-4; 136:1-26. His loving-k”
- Torrey's Topical Textbook “Torrey's Topical Textbook: Glorifying God — Commanded -- 1Ch 16:28; Ps 22:23; Isa 42:12. Due to him -- 1Ch 16:29. For his Holiness. -- Ps 99:9; Re 15:4. Mercy and truth. -- Ps 115:1; Ro 15:9. Faithfulness and truth. -- Isa 25:1. Wondrous works. -- Mt 15:31; Ac 4:21. Judgments. -- Isa 25:3; Eze 28:22; Re 14:7. Deliverance. -- Ps 50:15. Grace to others. -- Ac 11:18; 2Co 9:13; Ga 1:24. Obligation of saints to -- 1Co 6:20. Is acceptable through Christ -- Php 1:11; 1Pe 4:11. Christ, an example of -- Joh 17:4. Accomplished by Relying on his promises. -- Ro 4:20. Praising him. -- Ps 50:23. Doing all ”
- Matthew (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Matthew 6:9: 6:9-13 The Lord’s Prayer is similar in form to a common Jewish prayer (the qaddish). Jesus gave this prayer to his followers as a succinct expression of their new faith. 6:9 Pray like this: In contrast to the vain repetition of pagan prayers (6:7-8), “the Lord’s Prayer” is a model of simplicity. • Jews rarely addressed God as Father, but Jesus did so in every prayer but one (Mark 15:34). • may your name be kept holy: God’s name is profaned by the sin of his people (Isa 29:22-24; Jer 34:15-16; Ezek 39:7; Amos 2:7).”
- 2 Timothy (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on 2 Timothy 2:22: 2:22 those who call on the Lord: Cp. Ps 99:6; Joel 2:32; Acts 2:21; 9:14, 21; 22:16; Rom 10:12-13; 1 Cor 1:2. • with pure hearts: Cp. 1 Tim 1:5.”
- 2 Corinthians (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on 2 Corinthians 1:2: Grace be to you,.... This salutation is the same with that in the former epistle, and is common to all his epistles; See Gill on Rom 1:7. . 2 Corinthians 1:3 co2 1:3 co2 1:3 co2 1:3Blessed be God,.... This is an ascription of praise and glory to God, for he can only be blessed of men, by their praising and glorifying him, or by ascribing honour and blessing to him: and in this form of blessing him he is described, first by his relation to Christ, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ: whose Son Christ is, not by creation, as angels and men, nor by adopti”
- Psalms (Nonconformist/Puritan) “Matthew Henry on Psalms 95:1: The psalmist here, as often elsewhere, stirs up himself and others to praise God; for it is a duty which ought to be performed with the most lively affections, and which we have great need to be excited to, being very often backward to it and cold in it. Observe, I. How God is to be praised. 1. With holy joy and delight in him. The praising song must be a joyful noise, Psa 95:1 and again Psa 95:2. Spiritual joy is the heart and soul of thankful praise. It is the will of God (such is the condescension of his grace) that when we give glory to him as a being infinite”
- Psalms (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on Psalms 63:4: Thus--literally, "Truly." will I bless--praise Thee (Psa 34:1). lift up my hands--in worship (compare Psa 28:2). in thy name--in praise of Thy perfections.”