The Authorized Blessing: Why the Father Smiles on You

0:00Welcome to followed by mercy with Austin Gardner. This is where we talk about God's grace and mercy that meets us and follows us even in our lowest moments and lifts us to hope again. No matter what's been broken, here's love still heals. So let's move from pain to praise together because surely goodness and mercy does follow me and pursue me all the days of my life. God has been so good to me. One of the things I've been studying is how many times God's people, the leaders, the pastors, the prophets, the priests, the elders, were to bless God's people. It's something I think is kind of lost in our churches, lost on me, and so I've just done a little study of it. I do remember when I was a kid and some of the churches I went to, I grew up in a Southern Baptist church. So the pastors would walk out and hold their hands up on both sides and walk down the aisle and they would repeat a blessing over the people and I just remember thinking it was kind of weird. I didn't understand what was going on, but it was so biblical

1:00what they were doing. And so I just want to share with you a little bit today from the blessings of God from number 624 through 26. That's the Old Testament. You know, sometimes we think of God as being really harsh in the Old Testament and then full of grace in the New Testament. But he's actually God is love all through the Bible. God is good, all through the Bible. And anytime you want to understand what God looks like, you look at Jesus and you'll see God and what God looks like. And so I just thought I'd run you through this little thought right here. The Lord bless thee, bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace. I cannot imagine a pastor standing up in front of our people and saying, boy, I want God to bless you all this week and I want God to take care of you, watch over you and keep you and I want God to make His face shine on you and I want God to be gracious to you and I want God to lift His countenance upon you and I want God to give you peace.

2:00I think we'd be thinking to ourselves, man, He's going to live raw or is He telling us to live right and do right and don't do this and don't do that. What's happening in the passage? Well, God speaking to Moses and Moses is to tell Aaron and his sons the priest I want you to say this blessing over the people of Israel. You shall bless the people of Israel. This isn't a prayer, it isn't a wish. It is God authorizing blessing over His people. Now, I know it's going to shock you but I'm going to over the next few days share I think with you more about this but these blessings are a new testament idea too. We'll get to that. This is one of the most famous blessings in the Bible and it shows us God's heart for His people. God has a desire to bless His people and it actually shows us what true blessing is. So the main idea of this passage of Scripture is that God is blessing His people. That's what I want you to get a hold of and understand here.

3:00God is asking His man to tell them that He is protecting them, that God's presence goes with them and that they have God's peace. The main idea is that the greatest blessings is the presence and favor of God. Third, three great lines here. Protection, favor, peace. And everyone on begins with the Lord and everyone goes longer and deeper. The Lord, Yahweh, I am, is repeated three times. All the emphasis is upon the fact that it is God and God alone that is blessing. The point is that the Lord bless you and keep you. That means He bless you, that means He gives you life. It means that He gives you favor. It means that He gives you what's good. That's Old Testament blessing includes fruitfulness and provision and protection and relationship. And it's all coming from God and God told the man to put that on His people. The meaning of keep is to guard, to protect, watch over.

4:00So God, watch over you and protect you till we meet again. It's like a shepherd protecting his sheep. It's like the Lord keeping you from evil in Psalm 127. God is our protector. That's what's being talked about. Our safety doesn't come from money or power or security because from God watching over us. We can pray this today. The Lord bless my family and keep us. That includes physical protection, spiritual protection and protection from sin. We know God likes it because He told a priest to pray it over them. Did He said, the Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you. That is amazing, isn't it? That's amazing. The Lord make His face shine on you. God's favor. It's ancient culture. It's Old culture that we don't have. But it's when the face of the king looked at you and blessed you. If he looked at you with favor, you would be faith. If he looked at you in anger, you'd be in danger.

5:01So when God's face shines, it means that God approves us and favors us. And God is close to us and God is intimate with us. The light that lift up the light of your face upon us, O Lord, Psalm 46. It's the idea that God smiles upon His people. And then He says, be gracious to His people. That means to give them undeserved kindness, grace. That means mercy from God. Israel didn't deserve blessing. Neither do we, but God chooses to be gracious. Because God is gracious. In fact, it's when He gives His name. He says that. How does all this connect to Jesus? The greatest example of God's grace is Jesus Himself. John 116 and 17 says from His fullness, we've all received grace upon grace. Through Jesus, we receive forgiveness and mercy and a relationship with God. Most of us today need not more success, not more possessions. We need to grace a God. We can pray for His blessing.

6:02Lord, please let your favor rest on us. The Lord lift His countenance upon you and give you peace. Number 626. Lift up His countenance that God turning His attention towards you, Him facing you, Him looking at you with care. It means God noticing you. That's powerful because sometimes we feel forgotten, unseen, unnoticed. But God sees us, gives us peace. The word for peace is shalom. Shalom means more, it's more than no conflict. It means wholeness and well-being and completeness and harmony with God. True peace can only come from God. Jesus said, my peace, I give to you. Peace comes through a relationship with Jesus Christ. Many people today lack peace. They have anxiety and fear and stress. But God offers shalom through Jesus. And He tells them to bless them that way. So how are you going to use this today in your life and in your ministry?

7:04I want you to speak it as a prayer. You can pray this blessing over your family and over your children and over your church and over your friends. Lord, bless them and keep them today. You can speak it as encouragement. You remind people that God desires to bless His people. And God wants to protect us. And God wants to show us grace and God wants to give us peace. The blessing ultimately points to living and relationship with God. The greatest blessing is not material. It's the living God Himself. Walking with a experiencing His presence. So there's some beautiful teachings here. God's heart towards us is to bless, protect, show grace, give peace. And the ultimate of that is Jesus Himself. Through Jesus we receive God's favor, God's grace and God's peace. So today we can pray. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift His presence, His countenance upon you and give you peace. I just want you to know today that God wanted His men, His preachers, to say that to the church.

8:09I wonder how our people would feel if they heard. God wants to bless you. We reject that almost like it was a prosperity gospel. But it's Old Testament. God wants to bless His people. God loves you today. I want you to take it with you. And I want you to never forget it. You are loved. God bless you. God causes face to shine upon you. God notice you and pay attention to you. God keep you and take care of you. God protects you. Because that's what He wants us to say to you. God bless you. Thanks for listening to Followed by Mercy with also Gardener. If today's message spoke to your heart, share it with someone who needs to know God hasn't given up on them. Remember, your pain isn't the end of your story. In Jesus, it can become praise. Thank you.