Today’s word, me•vo•rach, blessed, is a passive noun (name). Here, the blessed person is depended upon the actions of the other who blesses him or her. This is why being ‘blessed’ needs the goodwill of others and, of course, the blessing of God, the only one who that can allow or decline a blessing.
“Now therefore let it please you to bless the house of your servant, that it may be before you forever; for what you bless, O Lord, it shall be blessed forever”
But blessing, and this is very important, may be granted or withdrawn from a human being and can never be questioned when it comes to God. He ought to be blessed (praised) by humans at all times, regardless of the circumstances. You remember the story of Job who was suppressed to the limit just to get him to withdraw his blessing from the Lord (and worse than that…). But Job did not fail. The principle of blessing (praising) the Lord ‘regardless of what’ comes to test during the Jewish burial ritual. The closest relative of the deceased says the words of Job over the open grave:
“the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord”
This is a public declaration of trust in the Lord, even in the most difficult moments when the Lord takes the most beloved relative.
The blessing (praising) that humans give the Lord is, then, unconditional, and not as people do with others, applying the reciprocal rule, “I’ll be good to you if you are good to me.” Furthermore, the Lord is blessed for eternity:
“Hallelujah! Praise, O you servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord. Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and for evermore”
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