(15-20 minutes, easy set-up)
Learners will study Psalm 104:1-4,24-35 to explore the idea that when one truly sees God, worship is the natural response.
(15–20 minutes, easy setup)
Provide a copy of the Learner Worksheet and a pen for each learner. Also provide paper, a dry erase board, and markers. Display the God Is Essential Truth poster or write the statement on the board.
Distribute copies of the Learner Worksheet and pens. Explain that because God Is Creator, His creation gives us ways to both know Him and respond to Him. Invite learners to consider how the psalmist’s thoughts in today’s lesson flow between soulful worship, observations of heaven and earth, and conclusions about what God is like.
1. Contemplation of God’s heavenly majesty stirs our inmost praise (Psalm 104:1-4).
Divide learners into small groups of three or four. Encourage groups to identify the vivid imagery used in describing God’s clothes, dwelling, transportation, and angelic servants in verses 2-4. After two minutes, regroup. Read verse 1. Then, prompt learners to consider God’s authority, control, and power over creation; His presence in creation; His separateness from creation (such as: The sun is not God; it only clothes Him.); and His relational character as evidenced by His choice to reveal Himself to us through His creation as they discuss the following:
Draw attention back to verse 1 and ask: Why do you think the directive to self, “Praise the LORD, my soul,” is placed at the beginning of this poetic song? After responses, point to the displayed Essential Truth statement God Is. Conclude that because the psalmist already knew that God Is the great, splendid and majestic Creator, he summoned his innermost being, his soul, to join his mind in praising his personal God. Encourage learners to write majesty in the blank to complete the first statement on their worksheet.
2. Contemplation of God’s creative wisdom and earthly providence stirs our inmost praise (Psalm 104:24-30).
Invite a volunteer to read verses 24-26. Point out the exclamatory statement in verse 24. Ask: What was the psalmist marveling at? (God’s diverse works) Which of God’s attributes did the psalmist see in the multitude of God’s works? (God’s wisdom) Note that the psalmist acknowledged God’s creation of the sea in verse 25. Lead learners to discuss:
Confirm that all of creation speaks to us of God’s wisdom and that the more we know God, the more we will respond in worship to Him.
Invite a second volunteer to read verses 27-30. Point out that these verses acknowledge God’s providence––God’s acts of governing and sustaining His creation. Ask: What descriptions in verses 27-30 illustrate God’s providence? After responses, summarize that God sustains His creatures by feeding them, communing with them, giving them breath, and renewing them. Discuss: How does knowing God as the Wise Sustainer affect human praise? Suggest learners complete the second statement on their worksheets with the words wisdom and providence.
3. Contemplation of God’s unlimited power stirs our inmost joyful praise (Psalm 104:31-35).
Read verses 31-32. Ask: What did the psalmist desire? Point out that the psalmist’s desire for God’s joy and enduring glory was connected to his thoughts about God’s unlimited power. Discuss: Why do you think the psalmist connected the concepts of joy, glory, and power? (God’s power is part of His glory and God rejoices in the display of His glory.) Emphasize that all aspects of God’s glory are ultimately displayed in Christ, the exact representation of God, with whom God is well pleased.
Call on a volunteer to read verses 33-35. Ask: How would you describe the psalmist’s praise? (Joyful) Emphasize that joyful praise is the natural response to glory and that seeing God’s glory results in the greatest possible joyful praise since there is no one more majestic, wise, beneficent, or powerful than God. Suggest that the phrase, “But may sinners vanish from the earth and the wicked be no more,” seems out of place in the midst of rejoicing. Ask: Why do you think the psalmist included this sentence in the midst of joyous praise? State that one way of ridding the earth of the wicked is to point people to God’s power revealed both in creation and in Christ’s death and resurrection so that sinners may come to know and worship God. Encourage learners to write power in the last worksheet blank.