In the first chapter of Genesis God made Adam and Eve and He blessed them telling them to be fruitful and multiply.  In the next chapter God rested on the seventh day of creation and blessed it.  After Noah’s flood, God blessed Noah and his sons and told them to be fruitful and multiply.  Later in the book of Genesis, God blessed Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  Without a doubt, God blesses people. 

Psa 5:12  For You, O LORD, will bless the righteous; With favor You will surround him as with a shield.

It’s easy to see how God can bless people.  God is our creator and so of course He can bless people in many different ways. 

Yet, in many places in the Bible, for example the Psalms, it talks of men blessing God.  How can we bless God?  God has given us everything that we have.  God doesn’t need anything from us.  What does it mean for us to bless God?

The Hebrew word to bless is barak.  According to Strong’s concordance and according to the lexicon Brown-Driver-Briggs, the word barak comes from a root word meaning; to kneel; by implication to bless God (as an act of adoration), and to bless man (as a benefit): -bless, congratulate, kneel, praise, thank.  The meaning of barak tells us:

When God blesses a man, the man receives a benefit of some kind from God.

When a man blesses God, it is an act of adoration, or praise or worship.

How do we bless God in practical terms?  Let’s look at some examples of how people blessed God in the Bible.

Psa 16:7  I will bless the LORD who has given me counsel; My heart also instructs me in the night seasons.
Psa 16:8  I have set the LORD always before me; Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.

If we set the LORD always before us, then we are putting God first.  So, one way we bless God is by putting God first in our lives.

Psa 34:1 I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

We bless God by praising God.  If we praise someone, we honour him, we show him respect, we say complimentary things to him, and we thank him.  

Psa 96:2  Sing to the LORD, bless His name; Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day.

We bless God by singing to Him.  When we sing hymns to God, we are blessing God.

Psa 100:4  Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.

We bless God by thanking Him. 

Psa 103:1  Bless the LORD, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name!

We bless God by a whole-hearted effort of all that we are.  To bless God with all that is within us is really saying the same thing as the greatest commandment in the law, which is:

Mat 22:37  You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’

Psa 103:2  Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits:

We bless God by remembering what God has done for us.

Psa 103:20  Bless the LORD, you His angels, Who excel in strength, who do His word, Heeding the voice of His word.

We bless God by paying attention to what God tells us in His Word, the Bible.

Psa 103:21  Bless the LORD, all you His hosts, You ministers of His, who do His pleasure.

We bless God by doing what pleases Him, by obeying Him.

Psa 104:1  Bless the LORD, O my soul! O LORD my God, You are very great: You are clothed with honor and majesty,

We bless God by recognising that God’s greatness.

Psa 104:35  May sinners be consumed from the earth, And the wicked be no more. Bless the LORD, O my soul! Praise the LORD!

We bless God by recognising that God is just, that in His time, He will deal with the wicked and remove them.

These are just some of the ways in which we can bless God.

In conclusion, to bless God means to worship Him.  Here are some of the ways in which we bless God.

• putting Him first in our lives.
• praising Him. 
• singing to Him. 
• thanking Him. 
• a whole-hearted effort of all that we are.
• remembering what He has done for us.
• paying attention to what He tells us in His Word.
• doing what pleases Him, by obeying Him.
• recognising that He is very great.
• recognising that He is just.