Hymns: The Blessing

In this series, I take a brief look at some very modern worship songs as an old guy who should really be 18 and living in 1980, but I find myself here in 2025. I blame those guys on the Starship Enterprise 😃. But now that I’m here, I’ll need to adjust.

Today’s Hymn is The Blessing. It was released in 2020 and became a global sensation during the COVID-19 pandemic.

You can find the lyrics in the WorshipTogther.com site and on the video on the right above.

I found a Malaysian version and an Irish blessing using a different song (Be Thou My Vision). I don’t know why they didn’t ask me to sing in the Irish Blessing. Maybe my beautiful voice would have made the rest of them sound bad 😃.

The Blessing is based on this passage from the Old Testament, known as the Aaronic blessing:

Numbers 6:24-26
“‘“The Lord bless you
    and keep you;
²⁵ the Lord make his face shine on you
    and be gracious to you;
²⁶ the Lord turn his face toward you
    and give you peace.”’

It doesn’t really say much more than that, but it reminds me a little of how Peter spoke of how the gospel would spread throughout the world and down the generations when he gave his first sermon on the day of Pentecost. He spoke of the death and resurrection of Jesus. Many in the crowd would have supported the execution of Jesus, but now they saw that he really was the Messiah by their knowledge of the resurrection and the presence of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 2:37-39
³⁷ When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” ³⁸ Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹ The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

There’s actually even more versions of The Blessing. I’ll list some here – I’m sure that there’s even more still. I suppose most were made during the COVID lockdown. I didn’t really know this song until recently, and it’s only now that I’m discovering the impact of the song. It’s quite astonishing.