He shall receive the blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation. -Psalm 24:5
Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the LORD: we have blessed you out of the house of the LORD. -Psalm 118:26
Ah, blessings. Everyone wants to be blessed. But in Psalms 24 and 118, we see a pattern: blessings do not stand alone.
How do we obtain blessing? In these Psalms, blessing is what comes after purification. Blessing is what comes after chastening. God help the preacher, or the Christian, who is quick to quote Psalm 118:25 ("send now prosperity") out of context.
Why is it that we don't want to share in the sufferings of Christ, but we long to experience His blessings? Friends, we can't have one without the other.
Our Lord takes this one step further: He gives a definition of "blessings" that we don't often hear from postmodern pulpits or Christian media. Jesus says, "Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of Man's sake" (Luke 6:22).
Let's long for that. Chastening from the Lord, and criticism from men.
Lord, take us there.
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