1745. That 'I have lifted up my hand to Jehovah' means the Lord's frame of mind is clear from the meaning of 'lifting up the hand'. Lifting up the hand to Jehovah, as is well known, is an action of the body corresponding to an affection of the mind. In the sense of the letter things that are interior, or belonging to the mind, are expressed by means of external things that correspond, but in the internal sense it is the internal things that are meant. Here therefore 'lifting up the hand' is the mind or affection of the mind.

[2] As long as the Lord was in a state of temptations He spoke to Jehovah as though to another; but insofar as His Human Essence had been united to His Divine Essence He spoke to Jehovah as to Himself. This is clear from many places in the Gospels, and also from many in the Prophets and in David. The reason is quite clear from what has been stated already about that which was inherited from the mother. Insofar as this remained He was so to speak absent from Jehovah; but insofar as it had been eradicated He was present with and was Jehovah Himself.

[3] The Lord's conjunction with angels may serve to illustrate the point: sometimes an angel does not speak from himself but from the Lord, and at such times he does not know otherwise than that he is the Lord; but at those times his externals are Lying dormant. It is different when the externals are active. The reason for this is that the angels' internal man is the possession of the Lord, and to the extent that things which are their own do not get in the way, it is the Lord's and indeed is the Lord. With the Lord however complete conjunction, or an eternal union with Jehovah, was effected, so that His Human Essence as well is Jehovah.

The Lord in essence is perfect love expressed as perfect wisdom. He created us so that He could love us, give us love and wisdom of our own, and thus be united with us. This is the ultimate blessing, for us to receive His love and wisdom and to be together with Him, and all other forms and meanings of "blessing" flow from it. This flow, however, takes many different forms in the Bible. When people receive the Lord's blessing, it illustrates how His love and wisdom flow into us in forms that fit the spiritual state people represent in the Word. When people bless the Lord, it indicates an acknowledgment that life and all its gifts come from Him and shows a desire to accept them and be conjoined. When people bless each other, it represents the desire to share good desires and true ideas as much as possible.