God bless you! Gesuntite! As you hand the person the hanky, the word you say is a custom because at one time people thought that you could sneeze out your soul. The blessing of God is not just a meaningless polite phrase. God’s blessing was given to his people.
I think that if you’ve been going to church your whole life you’ve heard the Aaronic benediction thousands of times, some of you could probably say it back to me, but is it just a pious wish or polite phrase to end a service? On this Trinity Sunday we will take a closer look at our triune God using the blessing that God gave his people.
Our text from Numbers 6 is broken down into three strophes, or phrases. The first is The LORD bless you and keep you. My mind pictures a soccer practice where the whole team is lined up around the goal, waiting to launch shots at the goal. You and I dear friends are the goal of the devil and every temptation that he launches our way. We would be a wide open net, if it weren’t for God the Father, our goal keeper. He keeps us safe from every evil. Nothing gets past him, not one shot, unless he allows it to go through – and even these can only be blessings for us.
These are seasonal allergies, wood ticks, timing belts in car engines, the price of gas. All of these hardships we don’t think of as blessings, but they are. You have God’s promise that everything that comes from his hand is for your good. Maybe the hardship you bear is a consequence of a sin you have fallen into. In that case it is a wonderful blessing that reminds you not to sin again! I can’t always see how these events can be blessings for you, but just as I trust that my God is three persons yet one loving God, I trust that the ear infections that my son suffers are not curses, they can’t be. God cursed Jesus in my place. No, God has said he will only bless me. Heavenly Father, thank you for these hardships, now please take them away or give me the strength to endure them. One of the greatest blessings that we have is that we are kept safe by our Lord, God the Father. The LORD bless you and keep you.
Want to hear more? Watch this week’s message taken from Numbers 6, God Bless You!
Book(s): Numbers
Tag(s): Trinity
Speaker(s): Fred Guldberg