bless the LORD

so my Scripture reading today had me in psalm 134-136. they can kinda be summed up like this: 134 - bless the LORD. 135 - praise the LORD. 136 - give thanks to the LORD (for His steadfast love endures forever).

the last two are pretty straightforward, but the one that gave me pause is the first one, "bless the LORD." i was struck by the question, "how can i bless the LORD?" who am i to bless the God of the universe? what is it that He could need from me?

well, i decided to do a bit of digging... seems the hebrew word is "barak" (which is a great help if you know hebrew). the common english translation is "to bless, to kneel." that is a little helpful... part of my following through on this command is the concept of kneeling - an acknowledging of subordination and servanthood.

but i kept thinking about that word "bless." it's one of those words that i can toss around and use contextually, but do i really know what it means? hence, dictionary.com came in handy. here's what i found: "to honor as holy, to glorify: bless the LORD."

still a lot more thinking and meditating to do, but it's a definite start... me blessing Him is about proper placement. "He must become greater, i must become less." oh LORD, be foremost in my thoughts today that i might honor and glorify YOU through everything that i do!