I want to share something that's been on my heart lately: blessing Israel. The Bible is pretty clear that God chose Israel out of all the nations to reveal his glory. It's like they were hand-picked for a special purpose – to be a model nation and a channel of blessing for everyone else, for "all the families of the earth."
It's incredible to think about God's mercy, preserving a remnant of the very people who crucified Christ. It really shows how overwhelming his grace is. It makes me want to pray for that remnant, to lift up all the people of Israel in prayer, and declare blessings over them. After all, the Scriptures tell us that those who bless Israel will be blessed.
And while we're at it, let's not forget to pray for and bless all the other nations too. There's so much need in the world, and we can all make a difference by lifting each other up in prayer.
And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; As yet they shall use this speech in the land of Judah and in her cities, when I shall bring again their captivity; The LORD bless thee, O habitation of justice, mountain of holiness.
In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land:
And he will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee: he will also bless thy children, and the fruit of thy land, thy corn, and thy wine, and thy oil, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep, in the land which he swore to thy fathers to give thee.
And Aaron lifted up his hand towards the people, and blessed them; and came down from offering the sin-offering, and the burnt-offering, and peace-offerings.
Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee: for to thee, and to thy seed I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham thy father;
And he blessed them that day, saying, In thee shall Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh: and he set Ephraim before Manasseh.
And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among the people: all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the LORD hath blessed.
Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee, and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth beneath, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb:
In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments, and his statutes, and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it.
Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry to her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received from the LORD'S hand double for all her sins.
And it came to pass from the time that he had made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that the LORD blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake: and the blessing of the LORD was on all that he had in the house, and in the field.
And it shall come to pass, that as ye were a curse among the heathen, O house of Judah, and house of Israel; so will I save you, and ye shall be a blessing: fear not, let your hands be strong.
A Song of degrees. They that trust in the LORD, shall be as mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth for ever.As the mountains are round Jerusalem, so the LORD is around his people from henceforth even for ever.
And the LORD will take away from thee all sickness, and will put none of the evil diseases of Egypt (which thou knowest) upon thee; but will lay them upon all them that hate thee.
Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things.And blessed be his glorious name for ever: and let the whole earth be filled with his glory; Amen, and amen.
Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and nations that knew not thee shall run to thee because of the LORD thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel, for he hath glorified thee.
The LORD shall cause thy enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways.
It hath pleased them verily; and their debtors they are. For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister to them in carnal things.
For thus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me to the nations which wasted you: for he that toucheth you, toucheth the apple of his eye.
And the scripture foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel to Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.
If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her skill.If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.
For it was little which thou hadst before I came, and it is now increased to a multitude; and the LORD hath blessed thee since my coming: and now when shall I provide for my own house also?
For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed, but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the LORD that hath mercy on thee.
The LORD hath been mindful of us: he will bless us; he will bless the house of Israel; he will bless the house of Aaron.He will bless them that fear the LORD, both small and great.
And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed: because thou hast obeyed my voice.
And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth; and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
And the LORD thy God will put all these curses upon thy enemies, and on them that hate thee, who persecuted thee.
But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:
Save when there shall be no poor among you; for the LORD shall greatly bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it:
Thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I will lift up my hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people: and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders.
For the LORD hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his habitation.This is my rest for ever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it.
A Song of degrees. When the LORD turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream.Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing: then said they among the heathen, The LORD hath done great things for them.
And say to them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they are gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land:And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all:
I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the LORD, keep not silence,And give him no rest, till he shall establish, and till he shall make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.
Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee; be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother's sons bow down to thee: cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee.
There is a river, the streams of which shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High.
For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.
Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them extend the curtains of thy habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes;For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.
He hath remembered his covenant for ever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations.Which covenant he made with Abraham, and his oath to Isaac;And confirmed the same to Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant:
A Psalm or Song for the sons of Korah. His foundation is in the holy mountains.The LORD loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob.Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God. Selah.
And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his first-born.
And I will make them and the places around my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in its season; there shall be showers of blessing.And the tree of the field shall yield her fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase, and they shall be safe in their land, and shall know that I am the LORD, when I have broken the bands of their yoke, and delivered them out of the hand of those that subjected them to service.
The LORD will increase you more and more, you and your children.Ye are blessed of the LORD who made heaven and earth.
Thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I will lift up my hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people: and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders.And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow to thee with their face towards the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.
Hear the word of the LORD, O ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth his flock.
To the chief Musician, A Psalm or Song of David. Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered: let them also that hate him flee before him.As smoke is driven away, so drive them away: as wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.
For from the rising of the sun even to the setting of the same, my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered to my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the LORD of hosts.
And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mount of the LORD'S house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it.And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave to him (for he is thy life, and the length of thy days) that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD swore to thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.
Ascribe ye strength to God: his excellence is over Israel, and his strength is in the clouds.O God, thou art terrible out of thy holy places: the God of Israel is he that giveth strength and power to his people. Blessed be God.