King David wrote a psalm, in which
He tells his soul to bless the Lord.
In other songs he said to “praise”,
A somewhat different choice of word.

We know to praise, for He is great
And sits enthroned in majesty;
By His own power, He self-exists,
No start, no end; eternity.

With just His words, He made the earth,
And shaped its features with His hand;
He made the sea, and in its midst
The pillars set for solid land.

He made the sun and formed the moon,
And put them into place,
He breathed out stars and galaxies
And flung them into space.

A perfect world He gave to us,
But we did not give rightful praise.
We spurned Him, turned our backs on Him,
And broke this world that He had made.

Yet in His great and boundless love,
He puts away our wickedness,
Extends His mighty hand in mercy,
With gentleness, to give, and bless.

Yes, “praise” we know, is due to God,
But why would David say to “bless”?
For “praise” is simply to declare
His mighty deeds, His holiness.

But “bless” means more. Praise goes one way,
To one who merits it.
To bless someone implies there is
A boon, or benefit.

And so it is that when one blesses,
The one who’s blessed should bless him too;
To bless the Lord is right, in turn,
When He has blessed both me and you.

And God has blessed us, this we know.
But He is great, and we are small;
What can we give? He lacks for naught;
How can we bless the Lord at all?

He’s told us how, through David’s pen:
“Forget not all His benefits.”
Then let us do so, and recall
The things that He has done for us.

Recall, and then give thanks:

For every breath of air you take,
For every step on earth you make,
For every act, He gives you strength.
Remember, and give thanks.

For every friend, and member of
your family, given from above;
For every joy of human love --
Recall, and cherish Him.

For mercy and forgiveness, given,
To you, unworthy before heaven,
For all your sins, that have been cleansed,
And for the one who was so driven
To give his life, and bear a wrath
That justice would have put on you,
So you could live, be blessed by Him
For this, the greatest gift of all --
Remember. Give yourself to Him.

For life, for love, for warmth, for food,
For every comfort, every good,
For grace, forgiveness, mercy, love,
For joy renewed by God above,
Remember Him. Give thanks.

Yes, God has need of nothing more,
And everything is His,
So He may seem to you, so poor,
Impossible to bless.

But God has joy when we return
His blessing by our gratitude;
Yes, He delights in us, when we
Give Him our thanks for all His good.

So we indeed can bless the Lord.
He has blessed you.
Bless Him.