School Worship Bible Project
Year 1 Harvest – Psalm 104
Weekly meditations for the Harvest Season
For each week the reflection includes a section of Psalm 104 and some reflective text. There are many ways to use these meditations; you may like to begin with music or a short silence. Lighting a candle may be appropriate or having a different visual focus each time. Don’t be afraid to experiment. While the meditations are headed Week 1, Week 2 etc. they are independent of the weekly material and could be used at any time.
A spoken response at the beginning and end can be very effective. Some possibilities, drawn from Psalm 104 itself, are given.
Any questions in these meditations are rhetorical and intended only to prompt thought. It can take children a while to understand that not all questions are to be answered publically so a little persistence might be needed here.
There are a number of silences in these meditations. Please see the note in the introduction on silence.
You may wish to experiment with seating too. Some of the meditations require (limited) movement so there might be a need for some space around the participants.
As with all this material, please feel free to adapt and modify it as you wish.
1 Praise the Lord, my soul!O Lord, my God, how great you are!
You are clothed with majesty and glory;
2 you cover yourself with light.
You have spread out the heavens like a tent
3 and built your home on the waters above.
You use the clouds as your chariot
and ride on the wings of the wind.
4 You use the winds as your messengers
and flashes of lightning as your servants.
5 You have set the earth firmly on its foundations,
and it will never be moved.
6 You placed the ocean over it like a robe,
and the water covered the mountains.
7 When you rebuked the waters, they fled;
they rushed away when they heard your shout of command.
8 They flowed over the mountains and into the valleys,
to the place you had made for them.
9 You set a boundary they can never pass,
to keep them from covering the earth again.
10 You make springs flow in the valleys,
and rivers run between the hills.
11 They provide water for the wild animals;
there the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
12 In the trees near by,
the birds make their nests and sing.
13 From the sky you send rain on the hills,
and the earth is filled with your blessings.
14 You make grass grow for the cattle
and plants for human beings to use,
so that they can grow their crops
15 and produce wine to make them happy,
olive oil to make them cheerful,
and bread to give them strength.
16 The cedars of Lebanon get plenty of rain —
the Lord's own trees, which he planted.
17 There the birds build their nests;
the storks nest in the fir trees.
18 The wild goats live in the high mountains,
and the rock-badgers hide in the cliffs. / 19 You created the moon to mark the months;
the sun knows the time to set.
20 You made the night, and in the darkness
all the wild animals come out.
21 The young lions roar while they hunt,
looking for the food that God provides.
22 When the sun rises, they go back
and lie down in their dens.
23 Then people go out to do their work
and keep working until evening.
24 Lord, you have made so many things!
How wisely you made them all!
The earth is filled with your creatures.
25 There is the ocean, large and wide,
where countless creatures live,
large and small alike.
26 The ships sail on it, and in it plays Leviathan,
that sea monster which you made.
27 All of them depend on you
to give them food when they need it.
28 You give it to them, and they eat it;
you provide food, and they are satisfied.
29 When you turn away, they are afraid;
when you take away your breath, they die
and go back to the dust from which they came.
30 But when you give them breath,
they are created;
you give new life to the earth.
31 May the glory of the Lord last for ever!
May the Lord be happy with what he has made!
32 He looks at the earth, and it trembles;
he touches the mountains, and they pour out smoke.
33 I will sing to the Lord all my life;
as long as I live I will sing praises to my God.
34 May he be pleased with my song,
for my gladness comes from him.
35 May sinners be destroyed from the earth;
may the wicked be no more.
Praise the Lord, my soul!
Praise the Lord!
Notes
A dramatic song of creation, this psalm uses many vivid images of the wonders of the world.
1-4:An introduction which begins with the same words which close the psalm.
These lines echo the ideas rom Genesis with God ‘over’ the world and with the ancient understanding of the waters of the firmament – over the sky. Notice the wonderful images of clouds as chariots and lighting as servant.
5-9:The link with Genesis carries on in these verses. Especially in v. 7 where ‘rebuked’ and ‘shout of command’ remind us of the ‘command’ of God in Genesis 1:9. The lovely images continue – the ocean as a robe for example. Notice in verse 9 that the water has a boundary to keep it from covering the earth again; reminding us of God’s promise at the end of flood story in Genesis 9: 1-17.
10-12:These verses tell us the same thing as Jesus’ words in Luke 12: 24-27; God provides for all creation. The natural world has its own special character and continually displays God’s care.
13-15:And now only in these verses do people appear. Verse 13 says that the earth is full of blessings and then we see what they are; bread, wine, and olive oil. The psalm makes it clear that the world, creation is a gift – for people to use.
16-18:Again, as if to emphasise the free gift of creation, we are shown the almost carefree behaviour of the creatures. Nobody actually knows what a rock badger is.
19-23:This psalm is cumulative. It has built up from the making of the world through plants and animals to people and now we come to time – just as much a part of creation as everything else. The movement of sun and moon make a dramatic picture of time linked to movement. In fact these verses are full of movement, besides the sun and moon there are the wild animals and even people at work.
24-26:These verses are a kind of climax to the psalm. The words are about fullness and immensity…
The earth is filled …. The ocean is large and wide … countless creatures … large and small … And in the end we come to the great mystery – the leviathan!
27-30:Following straight on from the previous verses the psalmist tells us that despite all the greatness of creation mentioned in 24-26 it still depends completely on God. A tremendous image in this psalm is that of the breath of God – it is this breath that gives life itself.
31-34:These lines are the beginning of and ending (or coda) to the psalm 31-32 celebrate the work of creation and then 33-34 celebrate the work of the psalmist and include a prayer that God will be ‘pleased’ with the song.
35:This might seem to be out of place – it is a sudden angry condemnation and includes the idea of sin which is often a difficult thing to discuss. But one of the ways to think about sin it as ways of damaging creation. In this case as the writer of the psalm is so excited and thrilled by the gift of the world that you might understand strong feelings towards people who cause damage to it.
The last words of the psalm repeat the beginning and so bring it to a very satisfying conclusion.
The Meditations
Week 1 The New Term, Our Light
Response:Praise the Lord, my soul!
Praise the Lord!
Reading:Praise the Lord, my soul!
O Lord, my God, how great you are!
You are clothed with majesty and glory;
you cover yourself with light.
You have spread out the heavens like a tent
and built your home on the waters above.
You use the clouds as your chariot
and ride on the wings of the wind.
You use the winds as your messengers
and flashes of lightning as your servants.
Meditation: All through the Bible we find God and light together.
Light is the first thing created in Genesis
Jesus is the light of the world
Let’s close our eyes
Imagine a tiny light in the distance
Let the light grow bigger and bigger until it is all you can see
Now reach out and grasp the light
Draw it to yourself and press it to your heart.
This is your light
It is a present to you like the world is a present to us all.
How will you care for your light?
Silence
In the quiet you might like to think a prayer about your special light.
Response:Praise the Lord, my soul!
Praise the Lord!
Week 2: Building our lives
(Natural water sounds could make a good introduction to this meditation)
Response:Praise the Lord, my soul!
Praise the Lord!
Reading:You have set the earth firmly on its foundations,
and it will never be moved.
You placed the ocean over it like a robe,
and the water covered the mountains.
When you rebuked the waters, they fled;
they rushed away when they heard your shout of command.
They flowed over the mountains and into the valleys,
to the place you had made for them.
You set a boundary they can never pass,
to keep them from covering the earth again.
Meditation:Listen carefully.
In your mind make the sound of water.
What kind of sound is it?
Dripping and dropping?
Trickling and dribbling?
Flowing and rippling?
Pouring and roaring?
Crashing and splashing?
As you think about the water let it spread out
And become a wide pool, a pond, a lake.
As you gaze out over your lake listen now
Listen for the birds
The wind
The lapping waves
Even the croaking frogs!
Silence
In your mind take a photo of you lake so that you will not forget it
and come back to join us all in school.
Response:Praise the Lord, my soul!
Praise the Lord!
Week 3: Being true to ourselves
For this week you need a song to listen to. You can choose which song, it may be one well known to you all or something new. You may choose to use a projection alongside it (or even a music video). A most effective song here could be Eva Cassidy’s sublime ‘Somewhere over the Rainbow’ – children could create their own projections. (See note on verse 9)
Response:I will sing to the Lord all my life
for my gladness comes from him.
Reading: I will sing to the Lord all my life;
as long as I live I will sing praises to my God.
May he be pleased with my song,
for my gladness comes from him.
Meditation:Listen to the song
Response:I will sing to the Lord all my life
for my gladness comes from him.
Week 4: Harvest
Response:I will sing to the Lord all my life
for my gladness comes from him.
Reading:Lord, you have made so many things!
How wisely you made them all!
The earth is filled with your creatures.
There is the ocean, large and wide,
where countless creatures live,
large and small alike.
The ships sail on it, and in it plays Leviathan,
that sea monster which you made.
All of them depend on you
to give them food when they need it.
You give it to them, and they eat it;
you provide food, and they are satisfied.
Meditation: What is your favourite animal?
Is it a small cuddly one: a rabbit or a guinea pig?
Is it a sleek fast one; a panther or a dolphin?
Perhaps you like fish best; the salmon or even a shark?
Or a bird; an eagle or a woodpecker?
Maybe an extinct one; a woolly mammoth or velociraptor?
Even a mythical monster like the Leviathan?
Now imagine that you are that creature
(if you don’t have a favourite then just pick any one)
What is it like at the beginning of the day?
Are you hungry?
You must find food…
You must hunt or scavenge
So … off you go!
Silence
Now you have eaten and are full
What do you do for the rest of the day?
Laze in the sun like the lions?
Bask in the waves like the dolphins?
All the world is yours
A gift from God.
Pause
Response:I will sing to the Lord all my life
for my gladness comes from him.
Week 5: The Good Samaritan
Response:We will sing to the Lord always
for our gladness comes from him.
Reading:You created the moon to mark the months;
the sun knows the time to set.
You made the night, and in the darkness
all the wild animals come out.
The young lions roar while they hunt,
looking for the food that God provides.
When the sun rises, they go back
and lie down in their dens.
Then people go out to do their work
and keep working until evening.
Meditation: Imagine that you are doing your favourite thing
Why is it special?
Pause
How does it make you feel?
Pause
Does everyone like to do what you like doing?
Pause
What do other people do that you like?
Singing, painting, running, building
How can you help them to do these things even better?
One of the things that we can do for others is to pray for them.
In the quiet make a silent prayer of your own for someone you know help them become even better at something that they do well
Silence
Response:We will sing to the Lord always
for our gladness comes from him.
Week 6: The Great Feast
Response:Praise the Lord, my soul!
Praise the Lord!
Reading: From the sky you send rain on the hills,
and the earth is filled with your blessings.
You make grass grow for the cattle
and plants for human beings to use,
so that they can grow their crops
and produce wine to make them happy,
olive oil to make them cheerful,
and bread to give them strength.
Meditation:We are going on a walk – in our minds
Imagine that you are walking, steadily.
We are walking through a town
Feel the pavement beneath your feet, the smooth road and some rough stones
We walk along narrow streets, in the shadow of buildings
Ahead you can see a crowd of people
Voices drift between the buildings, some shouting out
Suddenly we are out of the shadows and in a market place
We are surrounded by noise and colour
And a host of delightful smells; fruit, vegetables and herbs
We walk to the middle of the market -
There is a stall selling all the foods in the world
Boxes and shelves full of wonderful thigs
Hold out a hand and pick up one of your favourite foods
Open your mouth …
pause
… and …
pause
… taste.
Silence
In a special moment give thanks for the food we are given every day
Response:Praise the Lord, my soul!
Praise the Lord!
Week 7: Cherishing what we are given
Response:Praise the Lord, my soul!
Praise the Lord!
Reading: May the glory of the Lord last for ever!
May the Lord be happy with what he has made!
He looks at the earth, and it trembles;
he touches the mountains, and they pour out smoke.
I will sing to the Lord all my life;
as long as I live I will sing praises to my God.
May he be pleased with my song,
for my gladness comes from him.
Meditation: Close your eyes and think about your breath
Feel your body move as you gently breathe in and out
Our breath is with us throughout our life
Like food, like drink our breath is a gift,
A very special harvest which we all share.
Here are some words from the very beginning of the Bible.
When the Lord God made the universe, there were no plants on the earth and no seeds had sprouted, because he had not sent any rain, and there was no one to cultivate the land; but water would come up from beneath the surface and water the ground.
Then the Lord God took some soil from the ground and formed a man out of it; he breathed life-giving breath into his nostrils and the man began to live.
In silence think for a moment about all the people of our world who are breathing … just like us.
Silence
Response:Praise the Lord, my soul!
Praise the Lord!