17 After Abram returned from defeating Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him, the king of Sodom came out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley).
18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, 19 and he blessed Abram, saying,
“Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
Creator of heaven and earth.
20 And praise be to God Most High,
who delivered your enemies into your hand.” Genesis 14:17
Abram must have had a powerful following and army to go into battle. That’s a side of Abram we don’t hear about much. Did he go to battle more than to rescue Lot or was it a “one and done” deal? I suspect he did it more than we hear because why would other kings begin to side with him? The rich back then truly had power.
Then the king of Salem blessed Abram. We know a little more about Melchizedek than we do most kings in the bible. Hebrews talks at length about this man, even though he is shrouded in mystery. Many say he was the pre-incarnate Christ.
In any event, he blessed Abram with a priestly blessing. He knew Abram was a man of God and blessed him accordingly.
The takeaway from this is, bless people while you can. I do not know of anyone – Christians or non-Christians – who object to you praying for them and blessing them. God can and do wonderful things in your life when you begin to bless others.