The Blessing

The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.(Numbers 6:24)​ As we enter a New Year, we want to bless others as we are blessed. Abraham was told that he would be blessed in order to be a blessing to the nations. The people of God are blessed in order to be a blessing to the world in which we live. Our worship will alternate between receiving and celebrating the blessings that God bestows on us, and how we might be a blessing to others.  The Aaronic Blessing has been used for centuries in the Jewish and Christian tradition, and, in Church of Scotland, it has been used as the words of blessing sung by the congregation over a child at baptism. Like many traditions, this repeated practice can dull the full meaning of the words and phrases. We are invited to savour again the full riches of all that God promises in this ancient blessing.