Blessings to speak over others, the psalms that say who is blessed, and prayers for favor, taken from the text of the psalms.
Blessing runs in two directions in the psalms. God blesses people, and people bless God, as in bless the LORD, O my soul. Some psalms are blessings you can say over another person: may the LORD bless you from Zion. Others describe who is blessed, starting with the first verse of the book. None of them treats a blessing as a formula. Each ties it to God, and many tie it to how a person lives.
The picks run from blessings to say over someone, to the verses that call a person blessed, to prayers for favor, and finally to blessing God in return. A note below covers a psalm for birthday wishes. Tick any verse to add it to a printable sheet.
Most of these verses speak to you, so they can be read aloud over a friend, a child or a congregation.
May God be merciful to us, bless us,and cause his face to shine on us. Selah.
God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause his face to shine upon us; Selah.
A prayer for mercy, blessing and God's face shining on us. It is close to the blessing in Numbers 6:25: The LORD make his face to shine on you.
May the LORD bless you from Zion,even he who made heaven and earth.
The LORD that made heaven and earth bless thee out of Zion.
The last Song of Ascents ends with a blessing: may the LORD bless you from Zion. The two verses before it ask the servants of the LORD to praise him.
May the LORD bless you out of Zion,and may you see the good of Jerusalem all the days of your life.
The LORD shall bless thee out of Zion: and thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem all the days of thy life.
A blessing that covers all the days of your life. Verse 6 carries it on to seeing your children's children.
May the LORD increase you more and more,you and your children.
The LORD shall increase you more and more, you and your children.
May the LORD increase you more and more, you and your children. The next verse adds: blessed are you by the LORD, who made heaven and earth.
The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in,from this time forward, and forever more.
The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.
The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in. It covers leaving and returning, from this time forward, which suits someone setting out.
May he grant you your heart’s desire,and fulfill all your counsel.
Grant thee according to thine own heart, and fulfil all thy counsel.
May he grant you your heart's desire and fulfill all your counsel. Psalm 20 speaks to you from its first verse to its fifth, as a blessing on another person.
The book of Psalms opens with the word blessed. These verses describe the blessed person rather than wishing a blessing on someone.
Blessed is the man who doesn’t walk in the counsel of the wicked,nor stand on the path of sinners,nor sit in the seat of scoffers;
Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
The first word of the book. The blessed person is described first by what they avoid, and in verse 2 by what they delight in.
Blessed is he whose disobedience is forgiven,whose sin is covered.
Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
Here the blessing is being forgiven. The heading attributes the psalm to David, and verse 3 describes what keeping silent about sin did to him.
Oh taste and see that the LORD is good.Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.
O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.
Taste and see comes before the blessing: blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. The KJV has trusteth in him.
Blessed are those whose strength is in you,who have set their hearts on a pilgrimage.
Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee; in whose heart are the ways of them.
Blessed are those whose strength is in God. Psalm 84 calls people blessed three times, in verses 4, 5 and 12.
These verses ask for God's favor or describe it. None of them ties it to a ritual.
For you will bless the righteous.LORD, you will surround him with favor as with a shield.
For thou, LORD, wilt bless the righteous; with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield.
Favor pictured as a shield that surrounds. The verse names the righteous as the ones God blesses.
For his anger is but for a moment.His favor is for a lifetime.Weeping may stay for the night,but joy comes in the morning.
For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.
Favor is set against anger: the anger lasts a moment, the favor a lifetime. The same verse says joy comes in the morning.
Remember me, LORD, with the favor that you show to your people.Visit me with your salvation,
Remember me, O LORD, with the favour that thou bearest unto thy people: O visit me with thy salvation;
A personal request inside a psalm about a whole people: remember me with the favor you show to your people.
For the LORD God is a sun and a shield.The LORD will give grace and glory.He withholds no good thing from those who walk blamelessly.
For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.
Sun and shield, grace and glory. The line about no good thing withheld is tied to those who walk blamelessly.
Bless is also something people do to God. In these verses the direction is reversed.
Praise the LORD, my soul!All that is within me, praise his holy name!
Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.
The KJV reads bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. The WEB has praise the LORD, my soul.
So I will bless you while I live.I will lift up my hands in your name.
Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.
Blessing God is tied to a lifetime and to a gesture: so I will bless you while I live, I will lift up my hands in your name.
Psalm 20:1 to 5 is written to another person and reads naturally as a birthday blessing: may the LORD answer you in the day of trouble, send you help, and grant you your heart's desire. Psalm 128:5 to 6 wishes someone good all the days of their life and a sight of their grandchildren. Psalm 90:12 asks God to teach us to count our days, and Psalm 121:8 looks ahead to every going out and coming in.
Psalm 67 opens with a prayer for blessing close to the one in Numbers 6: may God be merciful to us, bless us, and cause his face to shine on us. Psalm 134:3 and Psalm 128:5 are short blessings to say over someone.
No. That blessing is in Numbers 6:24 to 26. Psalm 67:1 echoes it: may God be merciful to us, bless us, and cause his face to shine on us.
Psalm 5:12 says the LORD will surround the righteous with favor as with a shield. Psalm 90:17 asks let the favor of the Lord our God be on us, and Psalm 106:4 asks remember me with the favor you show to your people.
Psalm 1 describes the blessed person as someone who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, delights in the LORD's law, and is like a tree planted by streams of water.
Psalm 67, Psalm 128 and Psalm 20 are all written as blessings. They ask God to bless, and they do not promise a result from reading them.
Psalms of Thanksgiving and ThankfulnessPsalms for Money, Prosperity and Financial NeedPsalms for Family and HomePsalms for Work and SuccessPsalms about God's LovePsalms About Giving