So—how do you bless the Lord? Isn’t He the One who blesses you? We’re going to talk about that today.
Psalm 100 is the “Thanksgiving Psalm,” and at the end of verse four, it says, “Be thankful unto Him, and bless His name.” In other words, a thankful spirit will cause us to want to bless the name of the Lord.
Now we generally think of blessings as that which God does for us. When we experience good times or when we enjoy abundant provisions, we say, “Thank you Lord, for your many blessings.” But Psalm 100 is saying that there is a way in which we, in turn, can bless the Lord.
This word “bless” is a Hebrew word that literally means “to bend the knee; to kneel down.” Thus it has the idea of showing honor and adoration by kneeling down on one or both knees.
In ancient and medieval cultures (as well as some modern situations), when a subject of the kingdom would enter the presence of the king (or queen), that person would bow and kneel on one knee as a gesture of respect and honor. Actually the practice of kneeling when we pray to God is a carryover from this custom. Thus, we bless the name of God when we kneel before Him. We show adoration and praise for who He is; we are saying that His name is worthy of all honor. So, that is how we bless the name of the Lord. We kneel down in our heart as we enter His presence, and maybe we really do get down on our knees.
Say—do you kneel when you pray? Not a bad idea.