Restore us, God Almighty; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved. – Psalm 80:7

Today's Scripture Reading (September 26, 2025): Psalm 80

I enjoy visiting a local congregation that traditionally sings the Aaronic Blessing over their children before dismissing them to their Children's time, which typically occurs during the adult message portion of the service. The words to the Aaronic blessing are

The Lord bless you
    and keep you;
the Lord make his face shine upon you
    and be gracious to you;
the Lord turn his face toward you
    and give you peace (Numbers 6:24-26).

I admit that I sometimes struggle with the word "blessed." What do we mean when we say "bless?" In common usage, we have taken this word and made it to mean almost the same thing as "charmed." You are lucky. You are wealthy, good-looking, or maybe you have nice hair. You didn't have to struggle to attain your success. You have led a life of which most of us can only dream; you are blessed. Except that the actual meaning of the word doesn't include any of that. The root of the word "blessed" is simply "something that has been placed in the care of the divine." The opening lines of the Aaronic Blessing, which are supposed to be pronounced continuously over Israel, are actually written in typical Jewish parallelism. In other words, both segments of these opening lines convey the same message. "The Lord bless you" carries the identical meaning as "The Lord keep you."

Our reality is that we serve a God who can't wait to bless us. Most of us will never be wealthy. Most of us will experience health issues. Most of us will go through times of emotional and physical distress. But even in those times, we can be blessed, because we can be assured that God is carrying us through to the end. Our lives have been placed in his hands, and no matter what happens here, our circumstances won't change that one fact. And one of the most important times to remember that we are blessed is precisely when we are going through a struggle. In fact, I would advise you to watch some of the Christian Saints that surround us because I want to emulate them. Even though life deals a blow, they continue on, knowing that they are secure in the hands of their God.

The Psalmist understands this concept perfectly. He asks God to "make his face shine on us, that we may be saved." Essentially, the request is that God would bless us and keep us, so that the struggle does not defeat us. Our salvation is something that has been placed into the hands of God, and so we need God's blessing. 

So let me speak the Aaronic blessing over you and your day. Know that it comes from a God who can't wait to bless you.

May the Lord bless you and keep you;
May the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you;
May the Lord turn his face toward you … and give you peace.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Psalm 81 & 82