School Worship Bible Project
Year 2Harvest – Psalm 19
This Psalm is a celebration of the way in which God is seen through the twin gifts of creation and the law. It is written in 3 main sections:
Verses 1-6 concern the continuous presence of God and the significance of creation
Verses 7-11 concern the importance of the law and reverence for God
Verses 11-14 are a personal response to creation and the law
1How clearly the sky reveals God's glory!
How plainly it shows what he has done!
2Each day announces it to the following day;
each night repeats it to the next.
3No speech or words are used,
no sound is heard;
4yet their message
goes out to all the world*
and is heard to the ends of the earth.
God made a home in the sky for the sun;
5it comes out in the morning like a happy bridegroom,
like an athlete eager to run a race.
6It starts at one end of the sky
and goes across to the other.
Nothing can hide from its heat.
7The law of theLordis perfect;
it gives new strength.
The commands of theLordare trustworthy,
giving wisdom to those who lack it.
8The laws of theLordare right,
and those who obey them are happy.
The commands of theLordare just
and give understanding to the mind.
9Reverence for theLordis good;
it will continue for ever.
The judgements of theLordare just;
they are always fair.
10They are more desirable than the finest gold;
they are sweeter than the purest honey.
11They give knowledge to me, your servant;
I am rewarded for obeying them.
12No one can see his own errors;
deliver me,Lord, from hidden faults!
13Keep me safe, also, from wilful sins;
don't let them rule over me.
Then I shall be perfect
and free from the evil of sin.
14May my words and my thoughts be acceptable to you,
OLord, my refuge and my redeemer!
Notes
1-2: the first 2 verses are a call to see the way in which the world shows that it is made by God. Verse 2 brings to mind the refrain from the creation story concerning morning and evening. See Genesis Chapter 1. The idea of ‘announcement’ is not just a metaphor but is a description of ‘proclamation’, see notes on the next verses.
3-4a: these verses are dramatic. In history much has been made of the Bible or scripture as being the way in which we find out about God. However here scripture itself says that the message is heard even without words. In other words, it can be found in the creation itself. This is a form of ‘proclamation’ – the same idea of telling people that we have heard about in the Harvest season. During the harvest season (especially in the extensions to Weeks 4 and 6) we see that this ‘telling people’ is a responsibility, we should not keep our knowledge of God and what God has done to ourselves. It is interesting that the same idea is picked up in a saying attributed to St Francis ‘In everything that you do proclaim the kingdom – sometimes use words’.
4b-6: This is another very vivid picture. The Psalmist makes a picture of the sun its perseverance and persistence. Yet we are very clearly shown that the sun cannot be hidden from – just like the way in which the created world ‘proclaims’ the creation.
7-8: these two verses each say practically the same thing – something that we have seen before in the Psalms. There are two very significant things for us to note here. Firstly the integrity of the law – it can be trusted to be just. Secondly the law has a personal impact, giving strength, happiness and most of all wisdom and understanding.
9-11: these verses are a consequence of the previous ones. If we follow the law we begin to understand what true reverence is. It includes a revision of the idea of justice and verse 10 shows us a very rich metaphor of the value of the impact of the law. There is also a reward - knowledge
Our final section, verses 12-14, are a very personal response. The idea of sin is built into these verses. In the context of the Psalm we can see that the way to understand sin is not following the law. There is an interesting parallel with these words in Luke …
“Why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but pay no attention to the log in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Please, brother, let me take that speck out of your eye,’ yet cannot even see the log in your own eye? You hypocrite! First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will be able to see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.”
In the context of this Psalm you might like to note the words that come before which give us a great clue to understanding God’s Judgements…
“Do not judge others, and God will not judge you; do not condemn others, and God will not condemn you; forgive others, and God will forgive you. Give to others, and God will give to you. Indeed, you will receive a full measure, a generous helping, poured into your hands — all that you can hold. The measure you use for others is the one that God will use for you.”
And Jesus told them this parable: “One blind man cannot lead another one; if he does, both will fall into a ditch. No pupil is greater than his teacher; but every pupil, when he has completed his training, will be like his teacher.
The final verse is a very humble closing prayer – it is a prayer which effectively sums up the Christian faith. As Christians we are to ensure that we endeavour to follow the law and thus make ourselves ‘acceptable’, and we can always find security in God. In this context it is instructive to look at what laws, or commandments, we find in the Gospels. Our Harvest season shows us some of the Old Testament laws. How we follow the law can be quite challenging. Some of the older laws can seem inappropriate in our modern times but Jesus’ words help us to see what how the law intends us to live together.
Reflective Contemplations
These contemplations are drawn from the Psalm. The first two include the sky and the sun, it would enhance these if the contemplations could be held outdoors. Like many of the contemplations in the project it may be appropriate to speak over some gentle music, and again, for a couple of the contemplations, natural sounds such as wind or water may be suitable.
The opening words have ‘for the sun, for the sky’ italicised, these could be replaced by any aspect of creation which the children thought appropriate.
Words in bold type are for everyone to say.
As with all of the material in this project, feel free to adapt and adjust the words and ideas to fit your own context.
In week 7 you may wish to gather participants’ ideas between each of the wonder questions.
Reflection 1
We thank God for the world we share
For the sun
For the sky
And for the wisdom we need to care for what we have been given
Look at the sky / Think about the sky
What do you see?
See the clouds; white, silver and every shade of grey
See the colours beyond the clouds
Shifting shapes and hints of blue
Watch for a little while and see the clouds change
Do they move quickly or slowly?
What comes into your mind as you watch?
Can you see what moves the clouds?
A great strength, the wind woven into the world from the very beginning
Such a great strength that it is used again and again as a picture of the Holy Spirit
What if we were clouds, how would God’s Holy Spirit blow among us?
What pictures would we make?
(Pause)
May our words and thoughts be good;
May we be guided by our respect for each other
and reverence for the understanding that Jesus gives us
through parables, miracles and teaching.
Reflection 2
We thank God for the world we share
For the Sun
For the sky
And for the wisdom we need to care for what we have been given
Feel the sun on your skin / Think about the sun on your skin
Feel the warmth as it reaches into you
Think about the same warmth flooding everyone around you
The same warmth in the grass, in the trees and among the flowers
Warmth in the creatures and in the earth itself
Warmth that we share, warmth that binds us together
And warmth that has been felt by everyone since the creation, the beginning of time itself
Warmth like the love of God which fills the whole of creation
Warmth like the love of God which fills all of us
(Pause)
May our words and thoughts be good;
May we be guided by our respect for each other
and reverence for the understanding that Jesus gives us
through parables, miracles and teaching.
Reflection 3
We thank God for the world we share
For the Sun
For the sky
And for the wisdom we need to care for what we have been given
What are the important things that you might want to share with other people?
Do we need words to say these things?
Let’s listen to some music as we think about important things we have to share
A suggestion for music here would be one of the movements from Holst’s ‘Planets Suite’ - excluding Mars, the first one. The remaining pieces have striking spiritual character Neptune and Venus being particularly reflective though you might choose Jupiter or Uranus if you are feeling a little more boisterous. (Not that Mars does not have a spiritual character, it just isn’t quite an appropriate character here!)
Pause for a moment of silence at the end of the music.
May our words and thoughts be good;
May we be guided by our respect for each other
and reverence for the understanding that Jesus gives us
through parables, miracles and teaching.
Reflection 4
We thank God for the world we share
For the Sun
For the sky
And for the wisdom we need to care for what we have been given
I wonder what rules are
Do they make us wiser?
Do they make us closer?
Do rules help us to understand justice (fairness) more?
For a moment talk to the people near you about how important rules are in our lives and what happens if we bend them.
Allow as long as you wish for this. When time is up draw out some ideas from the participants. What do people think of others’ ideas?
One more thought
Sometimes we might like to bend the rules a bit
but what do we think when others bend the rules?
And one question to end with, and to think about.
Do our values lead to good rules … or … do our rules lead to good values?
May our words and thoughts be good;
May we be guided by our respect for each other
and reverence for the understanding that Jesus gives us
through parables, miracles and teaching.
Reflection 5
(For this contemplation the leader will need something that is meaningful to them, it doesn’t matter what it means; memories, inspiration, sentiment…)
We thank God for the world we share
For the Sun
For the sky
And for the wisdom we need to care for what we have been given
Some things have a lot of meaning for us
This …. (your own object) …. Is very meaningful for me …. (add more about the object if you wish)
Some things make us feel special
Some give us special memories
Some make us feel joyful or sad
Think for a moment - what are the things that give you these feelings?
It is important that we care for the things that have meaning
How do we care for them?
We build museums for precious objects and libraries for precious thoughts and ideas …
Are all our special things solid objects or are there other different sorts of special things like joy, or care?
We can’t put these things in a museum – so how do we keep them safe?
You may wish to gather answers to this question or just leave it hanging in the air.
May our words and thoughts be good;
May we be guided by our respect for each other
and reverence for the understanding that Jesus gives us
through parables, miracles and teaching.
Reflection 6
We thank God for the world we share
For the Sun
For the sky
And for the wisdom we need to care for what we have been given
We know a great deal
Some of what we know is very important and some less important
How do we know what is important?
We all have different ideas about what is important
Some of us like facts
Some of us like experiments and explorations
Some of us like designing and creating
For some, the best is simply sitting and thinking
In a moment of quiet think about what is the best for you.
Pause
Never forget what is the best for you, this is your wisdom – keep it safe
May our words and thoughts be good;
May we be guided by our respect for each other
and reverence for the understanding that Jesus gives us
through parables, miracles and teaching.
Reflection 7
We thank God for the world we share
For the Sun
For the sky
And for the wisdom we need to care for what we have been given
For a little while let us think about ourselves
Let’s wonder a little
I wonder – what is the best memory you have?
I wonder – what is the best thing that you know?
I wonder – what is the best thing that you can do?
I wonder – what are the three most important things that make up you?
I wonder – what is the memory that you would most like to have?
I wonder – what would you most like to know?
I wonder – what would you like to be able to do?
I wonder – what three things do you want for your future?
I wonder – is there anything that you would rather forget?
Now make a cup with your hands and whisper the thing you would like to forget into it
Raise your hands and throw it high into the air
To finish remember what makes you, you and what you want your future to hold
May our words and thoughts be good;
May we be guided by our respect for each other
and reverence for the understanding that Jesus gives us
through parables, miracles and teaching.
Help us Lord to leave the things we would rather forget behind
And be with us as we grow into our futures.
Amen