Single lesson
Psalm 105: Tell of His Wonders
Psalms 105:1–45
Psalm 105 is a praise poem that calls people to thank Yahweh and then retells his works from Abraham to the gift of the land. Students will follow the poem’s movement and its final reason for praise and obedience.
Before you teach
The psalm begins with commands to give thanks, sing, seek and remember. It then recalls Yahweh’s covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, his care when his people were few, Joseph’s suffering and release, the plagues in Egypt, provision in the wilderness, and the giving of land.
Students will trace Psalm 105 in order and explain that it praises Yahweh for remembering his covenant, acting for his people, and giving them the land so that they might keep his statutes.
Welcome: Opening words of praise
6 minRead Psalms 105:1-5. Ask students to spot the command words: give thanks, call, make known, sing, tell, glory, seek and remember. Explain that the speaker is calling God’s people to worship Yahweh and speak about what he has done among the peoples.
Psalms 105:1, Psalms 105:2, Psalms 105:3, Psalms 105:4, Psalms 105:5
Read and explain: Covenant and care
8 minRead Psalms 105:6-15. Show the names Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Israel. The poem says Yahweh remembered his covenant and promised the land of Canaan. Even when his people were few, foreign, and travelling between nations, the psalm says he protected them.
Psalms 105:6, Psalms 105:8, Psalms 105:9, Psalms 105:10, Psalms 105:11, Psalms 105:12, Psalms 105:13, Psalms 105:14, Psalms 105:15
Discuss: Joseph and growth in Egypt
8 minRead Psalms 105:16-24. Trace the order together: famine, Joseph sold as a slave, suffering in shackles, then release and authority. After that, Israel came into Egypt and grew strong. Help students notice that the poem keeps describing Yahweh as active through each change.
Psalms 105:16, Psalms 105:17, Psalms 105:18, Psalms 105:19, Psalms 105:20, Psalms 105:21, Psalms 105:22, Psalms 105:23, Psalms 105:24
Make and respond: Plagues and departure
10 minRead Psalms 105:25-38 carefully and soberly. Summarise the hostility against God’s people, the sending of Moses and Aaron, and the plagues in Egypt. Note the hard judgement in the striking of the firstborn, then the departure of the people with Egypt glad to see them go.
Psalms 105:25, Psalms 105:26, Psalms 105:27, Psalms 105:28, Psalms 105:29, Psalms 105:30, Psalms 105:31, Psalms 105:32, Psalms 105:33, Psalms 105:34, Psalms 105:35, Psalms 105:36, Psalms 105:37, Psalms 105:38
Closing: Provision, joy and purpose
8 minRead Psalms 105:39-45. List the images of care: cloud, fire, quails, bread from the sky, and water from the rock. Finish with the psalm’s purpose statement: Yahweh remembered his word, gave the land, and his people were to keep his statutes and observe his laws.
Psalms 105:39, Psalms 105:40, Psalms 105:41, Psalms 105:42, Psalms 105:43, Psalms 105:44, Psalms 105:45
Questions to explore
Which commands in the opening show that the psalm is calling people to worship and speak about Yahweh’s works?
Look for the action words in Psalms 105:1-5, especially ‘give thanks’, ‘make known’, ‘sing’, ‘seek’ and ‘remember’.
Psalms 105:1, Psalms 105:2, Psalms 105:4, Psalms 105:5
How does the psalm connect Yahweh’s covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to the land of Canaan?
Notice the repeated words ‘covenant’ and ‘oath’, then read the promise of Canaan as an inheritance.
Psalms 105:8, Psalms 105:9, Psalms 105:10, Psalms 105:11
What reason does the psalm give for receiving the lands of the nations?
Answer from the closing line, which states the purpose directly.
Psalms 105:44, Psalms 105:45
Make, think or respond
Psalm 105 Movement Cards
What you’ll need
- plain paper or cards
- pens or pencils
- coloured pencils
- Bible
Try it together
- Make six cards labelled praise, covenant, Joseph, plagues, provision, and purpose.
- Read the psalm and write one short phrase or image from the verses on each card.
- Place the cards in order and add a simple symbol to each one.
- Ask students to retell the poem’s movement by using the cards and verse numbers.
The cards help students see how Psalm 105 moves from praise, through remembered acts, to the final purpose in Psalms 105:45.
Adapt for your group
- Give extra support by preparing the six headings in advance and reading matching verses aloud before students choose a phrase or symbol.
- Extend confident students by asking them to add exact verse numbers and explain how Psalms 105:45 shapes the whole psalm.
An optional closing prayer
‘Yahweh, help us remember your works, tell of them truthfully, and learn from this psalm to seek you and honour your ways. Amen.’
Read the Bible passage World English Bible Classic
Psalms 105
1 Give thanks to Yahweh! Call on his name! Make his doings known among the peoples.
2 Sing to him, sing praises to him! Tell of all his marvelous works.
3 Glory in his holy name. Let the heart of those who seek Yahweh rejoice.
4 Seek Yahweh and his strength. Seek his face forever more.
5 Remember his marvelous works that he has done: his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth,
6 you offspring of Abraham, his servant, you children of Jacob, his chosen ones.
7 He is Yahweh, our God. His judgments are in all the earth.
8 He has remembered his covenant forever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations,
9 the covenant which he made with Abraham, his oath to Isaac,
10 and confirmed it to Jacob for a statute; to Israel for an everlasting covenant,
11 saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance,”
12 when they were but a few men in number, yes, very few, and foreigners in it.
13 They went about from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another people.
14 He allowed no one to do them wrong. Yes, he reproved kings for their sakes,
15 “Don’t touch my anointed ones! Do my prophets no harm!”
16 He called for a famine on the land. He destroyed the food supplies.
17 He sent a man before them. Joseph was sold for a slave.
18 They bruised his feet with shackles. His neck was locked in irons,
19 until the time that his word happened, and Yahweh’s word proved him true.
20 The king sent and freed him, even the ruler of peoples, and let him go free.
21 He made him lord of his house, and ruler of all of his possessions,
22 to discipline his princes at his pleasure, and to teach his elders wisdom.
23 Israel also came into Egypt. Jacob lived in the land of Ham.
24 He increased his people greatly, and made them stronger than their adversaries.
25 He turned their heart to hate his people, to conspire against his servants.
26 He sent Moses, his servant, and Aaron, whom he had chosen.
27 They performed miracles among them, and wonders in the land of Ham.
28 He sent darkness, and made it dark. They didn’t rebel against his words.
29 He turned their waters into blood, and killed their fish.
30 Their land swarmed with frogs, even in the rooms of their kings.
31 He spoke, and swarms of flies came, and lice in all their borders.
32 He gave them hail for rain, with lightning in their land.
33 He struck their vines and also their fig trees, and shattered the trees of their country.
34 He spoke, and the locusts came with the grasshoppers, without number.
35 They ate up every plant in their land, and ate up the fruit of their ground.
36 He struck also all the firstborn in their land, the first fruits of all their manhood.
37 He brought them out with silver and gold. There was not one feeble person among his tribes.
38 Egypt was glad when they departed, for the fear of them had fallen on them.
39 He spread a cloud for a covering, fire to give light in the night.
40 They asked, and he brought quails, and satisfied them with the bread of the sky.
41 He opened the rock, and waters gushed out. They ran as a river in the dry places.
42 For he remembered his holy word, and Abraham, his servant.
43 He brought his people out with joy, his chosen with singing.
44 He gave them the lands of the nations. They took the labor of the peoples in possession,
45 that they might keep his statutes, and observe his laws. Praise Yah!
World English Bible Classic. Public domain.