What does it mean to bless God? Why is it important to bless God?

Psalm 103:1, 20-21Let all that I am praise the Lord; with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name. . . . Praise the Lord, you angels, you mighty ones who carry out his plans, listening for each of his commands. Yes, praise the Lord, you armies of angels who serve him and do his will!

The Old Testament uses the same Hebrew word to refer both to God’s blessing us and to our blessing God. Here, and in the rest of Psalm 103, the Hebrew term that means “to bless” is translated by the English word “praise,” which helps us understand what blessing God looks like. As creatures we have nothing to offer God that God actually needs. Rather, when we bless or praise him, we are telling ourselves and others who God is by highlighting his goodness to us.

Psalm 16:7I will bless the Lord who guides me; even at night my heart instructs me.

Here the psalmist gives us a helpful reminder that acknowledging God’s guidance of us is always a good response to God, even when the thought occurs when we are alone at night.

Nehemiah 9:5The leaders of the Levites . . . called out to the people: “Stand up and praise the Lord your God, for he lives from everlasting to everlasting!” Then they prayed: “May your glorious name be praised! May it be exalted above all blessing and praise!”

Blessing God is a little like telling the sun that we appreciate all the light and warmth that it delivers. Just like the sun doesn’t need our encouragement, God doesn’t need our blessing. Rather, blessing God benefits us who do it, for in that moment we are doing what we were designed and created to do. Blessing, worshipping, and loving God expresses our deepest purpose.

Psalm 134:1-2Oh, praise the Lord, all you servants of the Lord, you who serve at night in the house of the Lord. Lift up holy hands in prayer, and praise the Lord.

Speaking to God about his goodness to us deepens and broadens our awareness of and appreciation for his goodness. When we fail to bless the Lord, we are falling short of our full humanity.

James 3:7-9People can tame all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and fish, but no one can tame the tongue. It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison. Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God.

Our capacity to communicate is near the heart of what it means to be human. Our tongues can produce speech that falls anywhere on the continuum between exalted praise to God and demeaning, hateful words to others. The highest, holiest, and most noble use we can put our tongues to is blessing God and our fellow creatures.

1 Peter 1:3All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead.

The practice of blessing God always reminds us who we are in relation to him. We don’t praise God so that we can continue to receive his blessing; rather, praise is the proper response to who he is and all he has done.