God has designed us to find our greatest joy in lifting up praises to Him. Psalm 8 is a beautiful expression of worship to God and description of his majestic work in creation. Each line of this treasured scripture passage points us to his Glory.
Leader Preparation: If possible, prepare a little music for the children. A great song to use would be “How Majestic is Your Name,” which is used in Psalm 8, but many other songs would do great–preferably a song of praise. The teacher can further prepare their own heart by reviewing the first two chapters of Genesis. The creation story paints the backdrop of praise in the Psalm.
Children’s Sermon Title: How Majestic!
Bible Passage: Psalm 8:1-9
Target Age Group: Elementary Aged Children
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Psalms Background
Sometimes people can become tentative when reading the book of Psalms, but one does not need to be. Remember, the word “psalm” is another way to say “hymn.” When one reads Psalms, they must recall that it is similar to reading a song (hymn), poem, or prayer. There is a simple, yet sometimes complex, beauty when reading this book of the Bible. Allow the heart to be emerged in the reading, and try to feel what the author may be feeling. Is the author thankful? Contemplative? Praising? Sad? Excited? Meditating on God’s greatness? Empathetic? Psalms, like music, evokes images. Think in pictures.
Objectives
After this sermon, children will …
- better understand of praise and worship
- begin to see how God deserves all our praise
- gain some appreciation for God’s beauty
- be able to answer, “Why do we worship God?”
Questions to Begin
- Can someone tell me what worship is?
- Is worship different than praise?
- Do we have to sing in order to worship or can we worship in other ways?
- What are some other ways we can worship?
- Why do you think God wants us to praise and worship Him?
Explaining Psalm 8
Did you know that God does Not need our praise and worship? It’s true, he doesn’t. God already has everything he could need without our help. But, did you know that God wants us to praise and worship Him? God deserves all the praise and honor because He is Lord of all the earth; He created everything! Listen to what king David said about God…
1 Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory
in the heavens.
God is majestic. This means that God is so wonderful, beautiful, and grand. He is superior in all ways. Is it not amazing that a king said this about God? King David was so captivated by God, that he had to praise Him. One would usually think that a king would not praise anyone, but David did. David knew that praise and worship are given to those above himself, which will always be God. Let us continue to listen to what David says…
2 Through the praise of children and infants
you have established a stronghold against your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.
3 When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them?
Praise should not only come from adults; they should come through you (children) too. Let us read verses 3 and 4 slowly together again….God created everything. He created the whole earth; He created all the stars; He created all things. It’s like God painted everything into existence with His fingers.
Optional Craft: Have the children finger paint a picture of the world on a blank sheet of paper.
[If you did not do the craft]
Raise your hand if you have ever done a finger painting before. Did you or your parents like the finger painting? Did they say if it was beautiful?
[If you did the craft]
Was creating a picture of the earth easy for you? Why or why not. Do you think your picture looks very beautiful? Do you think you could do better a second time?
Now, imagine God creating the whole world with His fingers! Wow, isn’t God incredible! Can you create a rock with your finger? No? God can. Since God can do all things, he deserves all the praise. He created the earth perfectly the first time; He didn’t need to do it again.
5 You have made them a little lower than the angels
and crowned them with glory and honor.
6 You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
you put everything under their feet:
7 all flocks and herds,
and the animals of the wild,
8 the birds in the sky,
and the fish in the sea,
all that swim the paths of the seas.
9 Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
We praise God because He loves us. We should worship Him because he has given us this world. God never needs our worship, but He desires it. Whenever we sing to God, we must remember all that He has done for us and all that He will do.
Gospel Connection
We ought to make God our Lord and King. We must only have one King, because Jesus says in Matthew 6:24,
“No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”
David may have been a king, but he recognized that God was King of kings and Lord of lords. Our lives are under the command of a loving and just God. If we follow Him and His son, Jesus, then we can have eternal life. We must make Jesus our Lord and nothing else. For this reason, we praise God. For this reason, we worship King Jesus.
Follow-up Questions
- Does anyone remember what the word “majestic” means?
- Does God deserve all our praise or only some of our praise? why?
- What are some ways you can worship God this week?
- Does God need our worship? No.
- Does God want us to delight in him? Yes.
- Can adults only worship God?