May 28, 2023 – Psalms 148; 150

Lesson Date: May 28, 2023

Focal Scripture Passage: Psalm 148:1-14; 150:1-6

AIM: To lead students to discover the who, where, why, and how of praise, and to encourage them to devote more of their prayer time to praising God.

 

Before class: Read the notes on Psalms 148 and 150 found in the Sunday School Teacher Book.  Draw a simple “thermometer” on the marker board or chalkboard, similar to the kind used to show the progress of fundraising campaigns (see example at right).  Draw ten tick marks up the length of the thermometer.  Write the words “Who,” “Where,” “Why,” and “How” on the board.

 

INTRODUCTION (Create Learning Readiness): Ask: “Do you believe in prayer?” (yes).  Ask: “Do you think it is important to pray every day?” (yes).

Ask everyone to think about their personal daily prayer time.  Ask if they agree that the four main things we do when we pray are confess our sins, thank God for things He has done, praise God, and ask Him to work in our life and the lives of others.

Direct everyone’s attention to the thermometer you have drawn on the board.  Tell them the thermometer represents our daily prayer time.  Ask: “What percentage of your prayer time is devoted to confessing your sins?”  As students give their answers, arrive at an average or consensus figure.  Fill in the thermometer up to that percentage.  Ask: “What percentage of your prayer time is devoted to thanking God for things?”  Arrive at an average and add that to the total on the thermometer.  Ask: “What percentage of your prayer time is devoted to asking God for things, either for yourself or for others?”  Arrive at an average and add that to the total on the thermometer.

Note how much space is left in the thermometer.  Tell the students that based on this informal survey, they spend only ____ percent of their prayer time praising God.  Ask: “Do you think God deserves more praise than we give Him?” (yes).

Tell the class that the title of today’s lesson is Praise God.  Direct their attention to the words written on the board.  Tell them as we study Psalms 148 and 150, we are going to discover the Who, Where, Why, and How of praise, and hopefully we will all be encouraged to devote more time to praising God.

 

HEART OF THE LESSON (Bible Study):

1. Review.
   • Tell the class this is our final lesson from the book of Psalms.
   • Ask: “What was last week’s lesson about?” (Exalt God).
   • Ask: “Have you exalted God this week, both in private and publicly?”
   • Ask if any volunteer would recite last week’s memory verse (Ps. 113:4).
2. The Heavens Should Praise God.
   • Ask everyone to turn to Psalm 148.
   • Ask a volunteer to read Psalm 148:1.
   • Explain the following:
     • The Hebrew word translated praise is halal.
     • Note that the word Lord appears in capital letters, which usually indicates the use of the Hebrew word Yahweh, God’s personal and covenant name.
     • In this case, however, it is a shortened version of His name: Yah.
     • The Hebrew words translated Praise ye the Lord are Halal Yah, which are often transliterated into English as Hallelujah.
   • Direct the students’ attention to the words written on the board and ask them to listen for Where, Who, and Why God should be praised as you read the next verses.
   • Read Psalm 148:1-6.
   • Ask them what they heard. They should name the following:

Verse 1 – Where: God should be praised in the heavens and the heights.

Verse 2 – Who: God should be praised by all His angels and host (army).

Verse 3 – Who: Sun, moon, and stars should praise God.

Verse 4 – Who: The highest heavens and the clouds should praise Him.

Verses 5-6 – Why: God should be praised because He spoke and all things were created.  He established them all and controls all of creation.

1. • Summarize: The heavens – all celestial bodies and heavenly beings – should praise God.

3. The Earth and its Inhabitants Should Praise God.
   • Tell the class the first half of Psalm 148 focused on heavenly bodies and heavenly beings, but the rest of the psalm focuses on the earth.
   • Tell them to listen for Who should praise God as you read the next verses.
   • Read Psalm 148:7-10.
   • Ask them what they heard. They should name the following:

Verse 7 – The earth, oceans, and sea creatures should praise God.  Note that the word dragons refers to aquatic dinosaurs of some sort.

Verse 8 – Natural forces such as fire and stormy weather should praise God.

Ask the students to look at the last phrase of this verse.

Ask: “What do the forces of nature do?” (fulfill God’s word – act at His decree).

Verse 9 – Mountains, hills, and trees should praise God.

Verse 10 – All the animals should praise Him.

• • Ask a volunteer to read Psalm 148:11-14.
  • Tell the class verses 11-12 tell Who should praise God.
  • Ask: “Who does verse 11 say should praise God?” (rulers and powerful people).
  • Ask: “Who does verse 12 say should praise God?” (young, old, women, and children).
  • Tell the students verses 13-14 give reasons Why God should be praised.
  • Ask: “According to verse 13, Why should we praise God?” (because His name is excellent and His glory is greater than heaven and earth).
  • Ask: “What’s the most glorious sight of nature you have ever seen?”
  • Stress the fact that God is far more glorious than the most magnificent sight we could ever see in nature.
  • Ask: “According to verse 14, Why should we praise God?” (in the Bible the horn represents power and strength; God strengthens His people).
  • Ask: “Who does the last half of verse 14 say should praise God?” (His people).
  • Note that the psalm ends just as it began: “Praise ye the Lord” – Hallelujah!
  • Summarize: The earth and all its inhabitants should praise God.

4. Everything Living Should Praise God.
   • Direct everyone’s attention once again to the words written on the board. Tell them they will find all four of those words addressed in Psalm 150.
   • Read Psalm 150:1.
   • Ask: “Where should God be praised?” (in His sanctuary and in the firmament of His power).
   • Explain that the word sanctuary refers to God’s holy, set-apart dwelling place, and the word firmament refers to the entire realm of His power: all of creation.
   • Ask a volunteer to read Psalm 150:2.
   • Ask: “Why should we praise God?” (for His mighty acts [the things He has done] and for His excellent greatness [who He is]).
   • Tell the class that verses 3-5 tell How we should praise God.
   • Read Psalm 150:3-5.
   • Ask them to name the ways we should praise God.
   • As they do, explain the following:
     • The trumpet is the shofar, a curved animal horn.
     • The psaltery was a stringed instrument, probably something like a guitar.
     • The word harp refers to a small handheld harp.
     • The timbrel was a small single-headed hand drum, like a tambourine.
     • Dance in ancient times was not anything like dance today. Men and women did not embrace or even dance together, and dances did not include suggestive or lewd movements.  Remind the students that David danced before the Lord when he brought the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem (2 Sam. 6:14-16).
     • Stringed instruments is self-explanatory.
     • The word organs referred to pipes such as flutes and woodwind instruments.
     • Cymbals is self-explanatory.
   • Tell the students that while some churches believe musical instruments have no place in worship, the Bible makes it clear that we are to use all types of musical instruments to praise God.
   • Ask: “According to verse 6, Who should praise the Lord?” (everything that has breath; in other words, every living creature).
   • Summarize: God’s praise is to be universal. Everything in heaven and earth should praise Him and we should use all means to praise Him.

 

PERSONAL APPLICATION: Direct the students’ attention once again to the words written on the board.  Ask: “Based on what you have learned today, Who should praise God?” (everyone and everything).  Ask: “Does that include you and me?” (yes).  Stress the fact that the Bible calls upon us to praise the Lord.

Ask: “Based on what you have learned today, Why should we praise God?” (for what He has done and for who He is).  Ask: “What has God done for you?  Do you want to express your praise to Him right now?”  Ask: “Do any of you want to publicly express your praise to God for who He is: for some aspect of His nature or character?”  Stress the fact that the Bible calls upon us to praise the Lord for His acts and for His nature.

Ask: “Based on what you have learned today, How should we praise God?” (in every way possible).  Ask: “Can you praise God with your voice?  Can you praise Him on a musical instrument?  Do you have some other talent with which you can praise God?”  Stress the fact that the Bible calls upon us to praise the Lord in every way possible.

Ask: “Based on what you have learned today, Where should God be praised?” (everywhere in heaven and earth).  Ask: “Does that include right here in our classroom?” (yes).  Ask: “Does anyone want to praise God right now?”  Stress the fact that the Bible calls upon us to praise the Lord everywhere.

Tell the class that this morning we have learned the Who, Where, Why, and How of praise; but this lesson is useless if we don’t put it into practice.

Direct everyone’s attention once again to the “thermometer” drawn on the board.  Remind them that through our informal survey we determined that we devote a relatively small percentage of our prayer time to praising God.  Encourage everyone to dedicate more of their prayer time to praise.  Ask: “Will you make a conscious effort to do that this week?”

Voice a closing prayer of praise to God.

 

CONCLUSION: Ask everyone to memorize Psalm 150:6.  Encourage them to devote more time this week to praising God.  Be sure everyone has a copy of the Sunday School Member Quarterly for the summer quarter.  Next week we begin our Survey of Bible Doctrine.  Ask everyone to begin the Daily Bible Reading Guide tomorrow.