In Num 6:23 Aaron was told to bless the people of Israel by saying: ‘May the Lord bless you and protect you. May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord show you his favor and give you his peace.’ Last week we unpacked this blessing in order to re-word it for Cottonwood. Some folks have asked for a copy of the new blessing. Here we go…
The Explanation: (Words in parenthesis contain a definition of the Hebrew words. Remember that the Hebrew words are more broad, or general than our own, creating a picture of what they want to convey.) ‘May the Lord bless (make you what He designed you to be) you and protect (put a hedge about) you. May the Lord smile on you (May He face you and make your face light up) and be gracious (bend in compassion) to you. May the Lord show you His favor (lift His face/glory to you) and give (appoint) you His peace.’
Our Cottonwood Blessing: May the Lord make you what He designed you to be, and may He put a hedge of protection around you. May His face be reflected in yours, and may He bend in compassion to you. May the Lord lift His face to yours and appoint peace for your life.
Blessings,
Dan
You cannot contain the length of life, but you can control it's width - is that a Chinese proverb? A great truth anyway.
ReplyDelete"what a great prayer to pray for our church body. for friends and especially our children."
ReplyDelete