Bless the Lord, Oh my soul?

[Equites_Christi]

I have seen a deal of language like this and it makes me wonder.

How do we bless the Lord, the source and dispenser of all grace?

How do we glorify God, who is glory itself?

How do we make holy God, who is holiness?

Seems like all this is saying to try to hold a lantern to the sun; I’m confused as to what humans - or anything for that matter - could possibly do to ‘enhance’ God, who is already perfect.

Instruction/comments welcome!

 

[tonyrey]

In the Gloria at Mass which dates from the sixth century we say or sing:

“We praise you.
We bless you.
We adore you.
We glorify you.”

This is immediately followed by:

“We **give you thanks **for your great glory”.

We cannot literally bless, glorify or make God holy but we can make Him blessed, glorious and holy in our minds and in the minds of others by expressing those sentiments. If we are overcome with gratitude and love for God we do not always express ourselves logically and coherently. Our words cannot fully convey the depth of our emotions and we want to convey how blessed and adorable God is without knowing how. The hallowed words of the Mass used for more than fifteen hundred years in churches all over the world are the most fitting we can find…

 

[CatholicOf94]

My thesis is that in the Scripture when God “blesses” men they are thereby helped and strengthened and made better off than they were before, but when men “bless” God he is not helped or strengthened or made better off. Rather (with C.A. Keller in THAT, I, 361) man’s blessing God is an “expression of praising Thankfulness” (ein lobendes Danksagen), when the OT speaks of blessing God it does not “designate a pro*cess that aims at the increase of God’s strength” (THAT, I, 361). It is an “exclamation of gratitude and admiration” (THAT, I, 357).

This is not at all a strange semantic phenomenon. If God is the primal and inexhaustible “blesser,” then he must be above all others in a “blessed” state—the fullness and source of all “blessing.” If this is so, then a most natural burst of praise would be “You are blessed!” That this recognition and joyful exclamation of God’s blessedness should then be described as “blessing God” is not unusual. Other analogies, though not exact, would be our expressions like: "I magnify the Lord" or “Let us exalt his name.” Both of these expressions properly recognize and give joyful expression to God’s magnificence and his exalted status. They do not mean that we make God larger or higher. So to bless God means to recognize his great richness, strength, and gracious bounty and to express our gratitude and delight in seeing and experiencing it.

 

[Boxcar]

When Daniel 3:57-88,56 Bless the Lord, from the furnace puts us in a frame of mind w/all creation. The word Blessing means,Adoration in Praise and Thanksgiving in surrender. Adoration is the Answer I believe

I have seen a deal of language like this and it makes me wonder.

How do we bless the Lord, the source and dispenser of all grace?

How do we glorify God, who is glory itself?

How do we make holy God, who is holiness?

Seems like all this is saying to try to hold a lantern to the sun; I’m confused as to what humans - or anything for that matter - could possibly do to ‘enhance’ God, who is already perfect.

Instruction/comments welcome!

 

[Alfred_Hili]

When Daniel 3:57-88,56 Bless the Lord, from the furnace puts us in a frame of mind w/all creation. The word Blessing means,Adoration in Praise and Thanksgiving in surrender. Adoration is the Answer I believe

Dear Jesus my Lord and Master, God of the Universe, my body is so fragile yet my soul longs for you. Thank you for becoming man, dwelling among us, and dying on a cross to redeem us and to offer us eternal life with You in heaven. Please help me to resist temptation and to live according to your will. I offer myself to You, body and soul; do with me what You will.
This is my simple way of blessing God !