Gen 24:27, And he said, "Blessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken His lovingkindness and His truth toward my master; as for me, the Lord has guided me in the way to the house of my master's brothers." 
	We have followed through the Old Testament with respect to the fact that God is to be blessed by His people. This is not just a statement to be made when we are excited about being a Christian. It is a fact that is to be in place whenever we think about the truth that God is the Lord God Almighty. We are not to just seek to bless Him when the things in our lives are going well. We are to want Him to be blessed every moment of every day in this life that He has created. 
	The reality is that simply and singly because He is God, He is to be blessed. This is irrespective of the course of our finding things easy or difficult. It matters not our circumstances in any fashion because we are never to be the focal point or the determining factor in this heart’s longing. We are to function fully in the complete certainty that, as His people, our hearts are to seek His blessing at every juncture of our walk on this earth and for all of eternity. 
	We saw this last time with our consideration of Job and all that befell him. It mattered not whether he had plenty or had lost everything including his health and well-being. Rather than curse God and die, he blessed God. He did not blame God for the sorrows, but proclaimed that God was to be blessed, period.
	Now we enter into the New Testament, beginning with Luke 1:67-75. This is the passage which follows the birth of John the Baptist. Zacharias, John’s father, was struck mute until John was born. After neighbors questioned the choice of the name, since no one in the family had ever borne that name, Zacharias’s tongue was loosed and we have the following: Luke 1:67-75, And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying: "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, For He has visited us and accomplished redemption for His people, And has raised up a horn of salvation for us In the house of David His servant —  As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from of old —  Salvation from our enemies, And from the hand of all who hate us; To show mercy toward our fathers, And to remember His holy covenant, The oath which He swore to Abraham our father, To grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, Might serve Him without fear, In holiness and righteousness before Him all our days. 
	Please note that it is because he was filled with the Holy Spirit that he began to speak. And, the first words were words of praise to God including this recorded prophesy which begins, "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel… He was privy to the truth that his son would be the servant of the long awaited Christ, the Savior. All those long years of waiting for the Anointed One were about to be completed in the promised salvation of God. Therefore God was to be blessed. 
	I wonder if any of us could imagine the force with which Zacharias so fully desired God to be blessed. Think of how many prophets had foretold the coming of the Christ. Think of all those thousands of years in which Israel had awaited the Savior and King. Yet here, in the birth of this son, Zacharias, by the ministry of the Holy Spirit, could see the end of the waiting. The entire course of the history of Israel, of the world, of all of creation was about to be forever changed. God was now bringing forth the expected and long-awaited and sought after redemption, of which John would be the herald. It was utterly fantastical to realize that God had so established this promise to be fulfilled in that very day. No wonder Zacharias absolutely declared that "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, For He has visited us and accomplished redemption for His people, And has raised up a horn of salvation for us In the house of David His servant… He has accomplished redemption and for that He is to be blessed for all His faithful regard to His Word and to His chosen people.
	Our next passage is in the Second Letter to the Church at Corinth, 2 Cor 1:3-5. 2 Cor 1:3-5, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort; who comforts us in all our affliction so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ. 
	The Apostle Paul begins this letter with the fact that God the Father is to be blessed as the Father of mercies and of comfort. Please note that this is not dissimilar to the fact presented by Job. The Apostle Paul does not hesitate to state that …the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance… We are not to look at the Christian life as something that is easy and will never cause us anguish or hardship or trauma. Rather, we are to expect such and in abundance. We will be beset with all manner of trials and tribulations that will show that we are, in fact, Christians to the very core of our beings. We should be expecting such to be the course of our walk on this earth. 
	But, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort; who comforts us in all our affliction… Despite the fact that we are going to face all the suffering that this age can muster in its vile hatred for Jesus Christ, and for us, His Body, God will supply all comfort in exceeding abundance. He will see us through everything in His grace and His mercy and His loving kindness. Because of the marvelous reality of Who God is and how He will cover our every affliction with Himself in His presence and His comfort, He is to be blessed.
	The Apostle also encourages us to bless God in the letter to the Ephesian church. Please turn to Eph 1:3-12 and read together with me. Eph 1:3-12. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon us. In all wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fulness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things upon the earth. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. 
	Please note that the Apostle is telling us all the things that God has done which deserve blessing from the hearts and minds of His people on this earth. There is that tremendous aspect of what we have received in Christ. However, the full focus is on the fact that it is God the Father Who has so blessed us with everything in the giving of His Son. We are incapable of fully realizing all that will be revealed of the glory instilled into us by the death and resurrection of His Only Begotten Son. 
This splendid and magnificent catalogue is the very briefest of delineation of what God has purposed in His Heart. It will all be revealed to the whole of creation by the victory of Christ over all the powers of death and sin. Yes, we are part and parcel of that triumphant conquest, but it is God, the Father, Who is to receive all the blessing for the great love with which He so loved you and me and all those who believe upon Jesus and are redeemed. 
This is the culmination of the prophecy of Zacharias, with which we began our morning’s consideration. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, For He has visited us and accomplished redemption for His people, And has raised up a horn of salvation for us In the house of David His servant… For all that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit have done in regard to the keeping of the every jot and tittle of the Promise fulfilled in Christ Jesus, God is to be blessed and praised and glorified.     
Next please turn to 1 Peter 1:3-9. In this passage, the Apostle Peter, as well, declares that God’s excellencies in what He accomplished are to bring God all blessing. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls. 
	Again, there is the realization that we will face the testing of our faith by the fires of this realm. But blessed be God for He will prove Himself mighty in the every instance and circumstance unto His glory and His honor and His praise. The key is that He has caused us to be the partakers of this great hope and inheritance. It is one thing to earn the right to get something through hard work and efforts that we put forth. However, in Christ, God the Father has not put any burden upon us to have to manufacture or to generate any worthiness to be saved. He has done all the work and He has chosen us in Christ from before the foundations of the world were laid to be included in this vast and living hope. 
On that basis of His grace and His Mercy and His entirely giving up everything for our sakes, He is to be blessed above all. We are to bless Him with rejoicing and with celebration of the so great love with which we have been so freely and unwarrantedly loved. It is nothing that we deserve or could ever hope to accomplish in any measure. It is only by the grace of God that we are saved. For that unmerited salvation of our souls we do … greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory… with every hope of blessing Him to the utmost.
Our final scripture of consideration in this study is Rev 5:11-13. Rev 5:11-13, And I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing." And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, "To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever." 
Once again, we are brought back to the reality that it is not our good or bad experiences on this earth which should cause us to seek to bless God. Rather, we are to join with all of creation in singing the praise and the honor of the Altogether Lovely One by Whom salvation has been made available through His body and blood. 
There is certainty in the fact that God will be blessed with all the outpouring of amazement and astonishment at what He chose to do in the salvation of mankind. The angelic hosts and the rest of the creation will give God; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit all the glory for the great things that He has done. 
However, as the recipients of so this great a salvation, we should not be settling for that future time of seeking to bless God. We should find that our lives, in whatever state of anguish or rejoicing, will proclaim the truth that God deserves all blessing and honor and glory right now!  
We will join in with all creation at that day in heaven, but wouldn’t it be marvelous to bless God even this very instant in our day-to-day journey through this life that He has given us? Can we so seek to set aside our selfish and self-centered goals and ambitions to bless Him? Can we show forth heart-felt gratitude in some measure of understanding of all that God has done? 
As has been stressed over and over again, we are not the focal point or the reason that God is to be blessed. If we can begin to set our mind on Him, if we can begin to search out some understanding of what it cost God, the Father, to set His salvation into place, then we can begin to bless Him right now! All that God has done, in His so great Love, throughout the entire history of mankind reveals the awesome and unparalleled reason to bless His Holy Name, now and forevermore. So be it!
And he said, "Blessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken His lovingkindness and His truth Amen.

This morning’s benediction is 1 Chron 29:10-13. "Blessed art Thou, O Lord God of Israel our father, forever and ever. Thine, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth; Thine is the dominion, O Lord, and Thou dost exalt Thyself as head over all. Both riches and honor come from Thee, and Thou dost rule over all, and in Thy hand is power and might; and it lies in Thy hand to make great, and to strengthen everyone. Now therefore, our God, we thank Thee, and praise Thy glorious name. Amen.