We say, “Bless you!” when someone sneezes, meaning “I wish you good health.” But what does it mean to “bless the Lord?” David answers this question for us, when he further stated, “His praise shall continually be in my mouth.” The word “praise” is a synonym for “bless,” which can also include the meaning, “to worship,” or “to glorify.”
The Jewish prayer before the breaking of bread at mealtime begins with this word, “bless” (“baruch”). However, rather than asking God to bless the food, their prayer blesses the Lord Himself for giving them bread. The prayer in Hebrew is: “Barukh atah Adonai Elohaynu melekh ha-olam ha-motzi lechem min ha-aretz. Amein.” (“Blessed art Thou O Lord, our God, King of the Universe who bringeth forth bread from the earth. Amen”).
In this psalm, David declared his intent not only to “bless” and “praise” the Lord, but to do it “continually” and “at all times.” In other words, he declared his resolve to bless the Lord not only when he had bread to eat, but also when he was hungry and no bread could be found. Or as Job said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD” (Job 1:21).
What kind of day are you having today? Are you blessing the Lord in it regardless?