25-1130p - Detailed Summary

Steve greets the congregation and announces the lesson will cover Psalms 103 and 104. He expresses concern that Christians often fail to give God sufficient credit and praise for His ongoing divine intervention, providence, and preservation in daily life, beyond merely acknowledging Him as Creator.

Steve reminds the congregation of the Genesis creation account, where everything was made in perfect sequence so that each element sustains the next, culminating in a world fully prepared to support human life. God did not stop at creation; He continues to sustain the world so that humans do not need to worry about basic needs such as food, clothing, or even oxygen, as Jesus taught in Matthew 6. The world functions according to God’s design, and people simply harvest what He continuously provides.

Reading Psalm 103, Steve highlights the call to praise the Lord with all one’s soul and never forget His benefits. These include forgiveness of sins, healing of diseases, redemption from the pit, crowning with love and compassion, and renewal of youth like the eagle’s. God works righteousness and justice, is compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in love. He does not treat people as their sins deserve and removes transgressions as far as east is from west. Like a father, God has compassion on those who fear Him, knowing humans are formed from dust.

Human life is compared to grass and flowers that flourish briefly and then vanish, leaving no trace except memories or photographs. Generations pass, and the deceased are quickly forgotten in daily life. Yet God’s love and righteousness extend from everlasting to everlasting to those who fear Him, keep His covenant, and obey His precepts. His throne is established in heaven, and His kingdom rules over all, deserving praise from angels, heavenly hosts, and all creation.

The psalm ends with a comprehensive call for everything in God’s dominion to praise Him. Steve connects this to the recent Thanksgiving holiday, noting it provides an opportunity for the nation to pause and be thankful. Christians must live in a way that makes others conscious of God, since many people go through life without ever thinking of Him or their accountability to Him.

Moving to Psalm 104, Steve begins reading the psalmist’s praise of God’s splendor and majesty. God wraps Himself in light, stretches the heavens like a tent, rides on clouds and wind, and makes winds and fire His servants. He set the earth on immovable foundations and, after the flood, established boundaries so waters would never again cover the earth. Steve references the rainbow as God’s covenant sign to Noah that He will never destroy the world by flood again and promises ongoing seasons and harvests. He reassures the congregation that only God, not human actions like nuclear war, will destroy the world in His appointed time, emphasizing God’s complete sovereign control.

Steve continues Psalm 104, emphasizing God’s active role in placing springs in ravines so water flows between mountains, quenching the thirst of wild donkeys and every beast. Deer cross highways seeking these waters, yet God ensures animals are cared for even when driven near cities. Birds nest by the streams and sing, while God waters the mountains from His upper chambers, causing grass to grow for cattle and plants for people to cultivate, producing food, wine that gladdens hearts, oil for shining faces, and bread that sustains life.

God provides for the animals that in turn sustain humanity—cattle, deer, pigs—all receive divine care so they can serve as food. Every creature except man instinctively does God’s will. Trees, including the cedars of Lebanon that God planted, are well-watered for birds to nest; high mountains shelter wild goats, and crags protect the hyrax. God made the moon to mark seasons and the sun to know its setting, bringing darkness so nocturnal beasts prowl while humans sleep safely. Lions roar for prey but seek their food from God Himself.

When the sun rises, wild animals retreat to their dens so people can safely go to work until evening, demonstrating God’s protective ordering of creation. The sea teems with countless creatures, great and small, and even Leviathan plays there as God formed it. All creatures look to God to give food at the proper time; when He opens His hand they are satisfied, when He hides His face they perish and return to dust. When God sends His Spirit, new life is created and the ground is renewed season after season.

The psalmist prays that God’s glory endure forever and that the Lord rejoice in His works, for the earth trembles at His look and mountains smoke at His touch. He resolves to sing praise to God all his life and desires that his meditation be pleasing, rejoicing in the Lord while praying that sinners and the wicked be no more. Steve closes the reading with “Praise the Lord, my soul. Praise the Lord,” expressing hope that the congregation was blessed by these two magnificent psalms.

Steve transitions to the ultimate evidence of God’s love: before creating the world, God planned to send His only begotten Son so that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16). This eternal plan, detailed in Ephesians 1, is the essence of grace. Jesus, knowing from eternity that He would die on the cross, willingly came and submitted, never pleading to escape the cup but declaring “Thy will be done.” The Hebrew writer stresses that Christ offered Himself willingly for the joy set before Him—the salvation of mankind.

All have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory, missing the mark of perfect righteousness required for heaven. Only Christ’s sacrifice can cleanse sin, justify the sinner, and credit His perfect righteousness to us. To receive this gift one must become His disciple by believing, confessing Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God, repenting, and being baptized for the remission of sins, rising to walk in newness of life dedicated to righteousness. Steve extends an invitation for any who need to respond—whether to obey the gospel or request prayers—while the congregation stands to sing a song of encouragement.