Genesis 27:38 Daily Devotional & Meaning – Bless Me, Even Me Also, O My Father
- Benjamin Michael Mcgreevy
- 6 days ago
- 8 min read
Daily Verses Everyday! Day 148
“And Esau said unto his father, Hast thou but one blessing, my father? bless me, even me also, O my father. And Esau lifted up his voice, and wept.”
This verse is one of the most heartbreaking moments in the chapter. Esau stands before Isaac, not as a mighty hunter, not as a man of the field, not as the strong son who could bring home venison, but as a wounded child before his father. All of his strength seems to collapse into one desperate plea: “Hast thou but one blessing, my father?” He cannot believe that there is nothing left for him. He cannot accept that the blessing he expected has already been given to Jacob. So he asks again, almost as if searching for a crack in the door: “Is there only one blessing? Is there nothing left for me?”
The repetition makes the pain even stronger. He says, “my father,” and then again, “O my father.” Esau is not merely asking for land, wealth, or power. He is crying out for his father’s favor. He wants to hear words spoken over him. He wants to know that he has not been completely passed over. He wants his father to bless him too. Underneath the request is a deeply human longing: “Do I still matter? Am I still loved? Is there anything left for me?”
That is what makes this verse so powerful. Esau’s grief is not abstract. It is personal. He is not discussing theology from a distance. He is living through loss in the presence of the father who loved him. His voice breaks. His heart breaks. And Scripture says, “Esau lifted up his voice, and wept.”
Those tears are real. We should not read them lightly. Esau’s sorrow is not pretend. He is devastated. The blessing he expected has been given away. His brother has deceived him. His father cannot undo what has been done. The future he imagined has been altered in a moment. And now the only thing left for Esau to do is weep.
Yet this verse is also complicated, because Esau’s tears do not erase the earlier choices of his life. He cries now over the lost blessing, but Genesis 25 showed that he had already despised his birthright. He had treated the birthright as if it were nothing compared to a bowl of lentil stew. He had exchanged covenant privilege for momentary satisfaction. He had said, “Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me?” In that moment, he acted as though the spiritual inheritance did not matter. Now, when the blessing connected to that inheritance is gone, he grieves bitterly.
This is a sober warning. Sometimes people do not feel the weight of what they are throwing away until they feel the pain of not having it anymore. Esau did not treasure the birthright when it was before him, but he mourned the blessing when it was beyond him. He did not value the holy thing in the moment of temptation, but he wept when the consequences arrived.
There is a difference between regret and repentance. Regret says, “I hate what this cost me.” Repentance says, “I hate the sin that dishonored God.” Regret mourns the loss. Repentance turns from the rebellion. Esau’s tears are painful, but Scripture later uses him as a warning. Hebrews 12:16-17 says that Esau sold his birthright for one morsel of meat and afterward desired to inherit the blessing, but was rejected, finding no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.
That passage does not mean Esau was emotionless. It means his emotion did not become true repentance. He wept over the blessing he lost, but the text does not show him humbling himself before God over the birthright he despised. He cried to Isaac, but we do not read of him crying to the Lord. He wanted the blessing restored, but we do not see him seeking a transformed heart.
This is deeply searching. Many people are moved to tears when life falls apart, but tears alone are not the same as surrender. A person can cry because sin hurt them without truly hating the sin itself. A person can grieve because they lost comfort, opportunity, reputation, or blessing, while still not turning to God in humility. Esau’s weeping warns us that emotion is not always repentance. Brokenness over consequences must become brokenness before God.
At the same time, we should not use Esau’s failure to excuse Jacob’s deception. Jacob sinned. He lied to his father. He pretended to be Esau. He used his father’s blindness for his own advantage. He took the blessing through disguise and deceit. Esau’s earlier disregard for the birthright does not make Jacob innocent. One person’s sin does not cancel another person’s responsibility.
This whole chapter is filled with brokenness. Isaac tried to bless Esau even though God had already said the elder would serve the younger. Rebekah tried to accomplish God’s promise by manipulation. Jacob lied his way into blessing. Esau grieved what he had previously treated lightly. Everyone is tangled in sin, favoritism, impatience, and unbelief. The result is not peace, but weeping.
Esau’s question, “Hast thou but one blessing, my father?” also shows the scarcity of blessing in this moment. In this family, blessing has become something fought over, guarded, stolen, and lost. It feels like there is only enough for one. Jacob has received it, and Esau feels empty-handed. The blessing has become the center of rivalry between brothers.
But the deeper tragedy is that this rivalry existed in a family that should have trusted the promise of God. The Lord had already spoken. God was not confused about which son would carry the covenant line. God did not need deception to fulfill His word. Yet because the family did not rest in God’s promise, they tore one another apart trying to control the outcome.
This is what happens when people try to seize by the flesh what God intended to give by grace. The promise of God becomes surrounded by fear. The blessing of God becomes treated like a prize that must be stolen before someone else gets it. Instead of waiting on the Lord, people scheme. Instead of trusting the Lord, people manipulate. Instead of walking in truth, people hide behind disguises.
Esau’s tears show the aftermath of that kind of household. Deception may seem successful in the moment, but it leaves people weeping behind it. Jacob received the blessing, but his family was broken. Rebekah got the outcome she desired, but she would lose the nearness of the son she loved. Isaac’s plan failed, and Esau’s heart shattered. Sin promises control, but it produces sorrow.
There is also something painfully relatable about Esau’s cry: “bless me, even me also.” This is the cry of a person who feels overlooked. “Me also.” It is the cry of someone standing in the shadow of another. “Do not forget me. Do not leave me out. Do not send me away empty.” Many people know that feeling. They know what it is like to watch someone else receive what they longed for. They know what it is like to feel second, unwanted, or unseen. Esau’s words give voice to a deep ache in the human heart.
But Scripture does not only show us Esau’s ache; it also directs us toward a greater hope. Earthly fathers may be limited. Isaac could not give Esau the covenant blessing once it had been given to Jacob. Isaac could not undo the past. Isaac could not restore what had been lost. But God is not limited in the same way. The grace of God is not exhausted after blessing one person. God does not run out of mercy. He does not have only one blessing in Christ.
This is where the gospel shines with great beauty. In Genesis 27, Esau asks, “Hast thou but one blessing, my father?” In Christ, the answer is no. The Father has not only one blessing for one son while all others are left outside. The Father has given the true Son, Jesus Christ, so that many sons and daughters may be brought into glory. The blessing of God in Christ is not stolen, scarce, or uncertain. It overflows to all who come by faith.
Jacob received blessing by pretending to be the beloved son. Believers receive blessing by being united to the true Beloved Son. Jacob came disguised in Esau’s garments. Believers come clothed in the righteousness of Christ. Jacob obtained blessing through deceit. Believers receive blessing through grace. Jacob’s blessing caused division in the family. Christ’s blessing creates a redeemed family from every tribe, tongue, and nation.
This does not remove the seriousness of the warning. Esau still stands before us as a man who despised spiritual privilege and later wept over what he lost. His life calls us to treasure what is holy while it is before us. Do not treat the things of God as common. Do not trade eternal treasure for temporary appetite. Do not assume that today’s disregard will have no tomorrow. A bowl of stew can look powerful when the flesh is hungry, but it becomes bitter when the soul wakes up to what was lost.
The verse also calls us to seek repentance early. Do not wait until consequences crush you to care about obedience. Do not wait until the blessing seems gone to value the birthright. Do not wait until tears are all that remain. Turn to God now. Treasure His word now. Walk in faith now. Honor what He has given now.
Yet for the one who feels like Esau, weeping and asking, “Is there anything left for me?” the gospel gives real hope. If your sorrow is becoming repentance, if your regret is turning into humility before God, if you are no longer merely mourning consequences but are turning from sin and seeking mercy, then Christ is not empty-handed. There is grace for the broken. There is mercy for sinners. There is forgiveness for those who come to Him.
Esau lifted up his voice and wept because he felt the blessing had passed him by. But the message of Christ is that sinners do not have to stand outside forever. Jesus opens the way to the Father. He is the true heir, the true blessed Son, and He shares His inheritance with all who belong to Him.
Genesis 27:38 is therefore both a warning and an invitation. It warns us not to despise spiritual things until it is too late. It warns us that tears over consequences are not the same as repentance before God. It warns us that deception and unbelief bring sorrow into families. But it also invites us to see the greater blessing found in Christ. Esau cried, “Bless me, even me also, O my father.” In the gospel, the repentant sinner may come to the Father through the Son and find that grace has not run dry.
The blessing of Isaac seemed limited. The blessing of Christ is abundant. Isaac could ask, “What shall I do now unto thee, my son?” But God answers sinners with something far greater: “I have given My Son.” And in Him, there is blessing enough for all who come by faith.
If you would like to explore Genesis in a sustained, verse-by-verse way with space to reflect, journal, and trace how these foundational truths unfold through Scripture the Verse by Verse book expands these reflections into a unified reading experience. The book gathers these meditations into a structured journey through Genesis, designed to help readers linger in the text and engage God’s Word more deeply over time.
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