Listen up, little ones
Especially for the littles in your household.
Listen for the word faithful love or steadfast love or mercy.
Reading
Psalm 103:1-22—Bless the Lord, O My Soul
Optional Reading
Luke 1:46-55, 67-79
Keys for kids
Also for the littles. Young households might choose, after Keys for Kids, to go directly to praise and prayer.
- Mary and Zechariah praised God.
- King David, in Psalm 103, does as well.
- So do we, with all that we have inside us.
Questions
(Some read the ?s before the notes/ ask them after.)
- How do we, in Psalm 103, bless God like Mary did?
- How do we, in Psalm 103, bless God like Zechariah did?
- What are some other ways in Psalm 103 that we bless God?
Catechism
(1 Q&A each week related to the preaching text)
WSC #21
Who is the Redeemer of God’s elect?
The only Redeemer of God’s elect is the Lord Jesus Christ, who, being the eternal Son of God, became man, and so was, and continueth to be, God and man in two distinct natures, and one person, for ever.
(1 Timothy 2:5-6; John 1:14; Galatians 4:4; Romans 9:5; Luke 1:35; Colossians 2:9; Hebrews 7:24-25)
Notes
(See Saturday for authors.)
In Luke 1, Mary magnifies the Lord (Lu 1:46) and Zechariah blesses the Lord God (Lu 1:68). When we magnify God, we don’t make Him bigger—but as we declare His works He gets bigger in our minds. But we usually think of blessing as God granting His favor to us. The lesser is blessed by the greater (Heb 7:7). Motyer makes a helpful distinction: When the Lord ‘blesses’ us, he reviews our needs and responds to them; when we ‘bless’ the Lord, we review his excellencies and respond to them.
In Psalm 103, with King David, and ultimately with King Jesus, we join in blessing God from all that is inside us—with our very souls. Like Mary we bless God for His saving, redeeming work. We bless God for His mercy and faithful, steadfast love to those who fear Him. We bless God for satisfying us with good things.
Like Zechariah, we bless God for His covenant faithfulness—for His forgiving our sins—for Him working righteousness in us. Although David only knew in part, Zechariah and Mary had come to understand that all these benefits from God to us come in the person and work of Jesus Christ—the one who sits on God’s eternal throne. Let all that I am praise the LORD; with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name. (Psalm 103:1 NLT)
Swedish Method questions
See the Sunday notes for meaning of the symbols.
Praise
Psalm 103b, 119v
Prayer
- Bless the Lord with your soul for His many benefits.
- Give thanks for something from last Lord’s Day’s sermons.
- Pray for a member of our church, for your family, and for a non-Christian friend/family member.