{
  "lessonDate": "2026-09-01",
  "lessonNumber": 108,
  "lessonTitle": "Psalm 136 — \"O Give Thanks unto the Lord\"",
  "semester": "fall-2026-ot",
  "source": "Seminary manual, Lesson 108 — Psalm 136",
  "scriptureBlock": "Psalms 102–103; 110; 116–119; 127–128; 135–139; 146–150",
  "bookName": "PSALM 136",
  "deckType": "scripture",

  "lessonObjective": "Help students feel Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ's love by naming specific blessings and thanking Them for those blessings without asking for anything in return.",

  "doctrinePrinciple": "Expressing gratitude for our blessings helps us feel God's love.",

  "personalScriptureStudy": {
    "chapters": "Psalm 136, and Psalm 103:2–4",
    "questions": "One line repeats in all 26 verses. Mark it every time. What is the psalmist thanking God for at each repetition — and notice that the enormous rescues and the ordinary ones get the very same answer."
  },

  "teacherNote": "Student prep was to pray a prayer of thanks that asked for nothing — ask who actually did it, and what it was like. HESED, in full: \"a special kind of love and mercy that God feels for and extends to those who have made a covenant with Him\" (Russell M. Nelson, \"The Everlasting Covenant,\" Liahona, Oct. 2022, 6). The manual's handout \"Psalm 136: Gratitude to the Lord\" works well passed box to box around the class if there is time. Optional video: \"Principles of Peace: Gratitude\" (2:32). This is the third day in a deliberate thread — 105 was prayer, the virtual Friday (209) was praise, this is gratitude. Say so out loud; they will have noticed.",

  "cards": [
    {
      "card": 0,
      "sectionName": "CONTEXT SETUP",
      "tagline": "Twenty-six times. On purpose.",
      "title": "PSALM 136 — CONTEXT SETUP",
      "subtitle": "One Line, Answered Back Every Time.",
      "columnHead": "THE PSALM AT A GLANCE",
      "bullets": [
        "Psalm 136 is a litany — a leader read a line, and the people answered.",
        "The answer never changes: \"for his mercy endureth for ever.\"",
        "It lands in all 26 verses. The repetition is the lesson.",
        "The Hebrew word behind mercy is hesed — God's covenant love.",
        "The psalm walks from the creation, to the Exodus, to daily bread.",
        "Enormous rescues and ordinary meals get the same refrain.",
        "Verse 23 gives thanks from a low estate, not from an easy one."
      ],
      "keyFacts": {
        "Author": "An unnamed psalmist",
        "Type": "A litany — sung call and response",
        "Refrain": "\"For his mercy endureth for ever\" — all 26 verses",
        "Hebrew": "hesed — God's covenant love and mercy",
        "Main Themes": "Creation, deliverance, daily bread, redemption",
        "Christ Connection": "He hath redeemed us from our enemies (Psalm 136:24)"
      },
      "bandHeading": "SIX THINGS THIS PSALM GIVES THANKS FOR",
      "timeline": [
        { "title": "HE IS GOOD", "ref": "Psalm 136:1", "text": "Thanks, before anything else." },
        { "title": "THE CREATION", "ref": "Psalm 136:5–9", "text": "Heavens, earth, sun, moon." },
        { "title": "THE RESCUE", "ref": "Psalm 136:11–14", "text": "Out of Egypt, through the sea." },
        { "title": "THE JOURNEY", "ref": "Psalm 136:16", "text": "Led through the wilderness." },
        { "title": "OUR LOW ESTATE", "ref": "Psalm 136:23", "text": "He remembered us there." },
        { "title": "DAILY FOOD", "ref": "Psalm 136:25", "text": "Food to all flesh." }
      ],
      "scrollQuote": {
        "text": "For his mercy endureth for ever.",
        "attribution": "Psalm 136:1"
      },
      "artPrompt": "A warm painterly golden-hour scene of a wide harvest valley at sunrise, sheaves of grain in the foreground and mountains catching the first light beyond."
    },

    {
      "card": 1,
      "sectionName": "DIRECT TEXT INTERACTION & AI",
      "tagline": "Read it. Answer back.",
      "title": "PSALM 136 — DIRECT TEXT INTERACTION & AI",
      "subtitle": "Five Sections. One Answer.",
      "focusHead": "OUR FOCUS TODAY",
      "focusText": "Read the psalm in sections. For each one, name what God did — then say the refrain out loud after it, the way the congregation did.",
      "scripturesHead": "TODAY'S SCRIPTURES",
      "scriptureKey": "The key: Psalm 136:1",
      "scriptureList": [
        "Psalm 136:1–3, 26  —  why give thanks at all",
        "Psalm 136:4–9  —  the creation",
        "Psalm 136:10–16  —  brought out of Egypt",
        "Psalm 136:23  —  remembered in our low estate",
        "Psalm 136:24–25  —  redeemed, and fed"
      ],
      "aiUseHead": "HOW WE USE AI",
      "aiUse": [
        "Define: What does hesed mean?",
        "Trace: What does each section thank Him for?",
        "Translate: Write your own verse and refrain.",
        "Stay Spiritual: AI supports — the Spirit teaches."
      ],
      "aiPromptHead": "AI PROMPT TO TRY",
      "aiPrompt": "\"Read Psalm 136. Show me how it is built — what the leader said and what the people answered back. Explain the Hebrew word hesed behind the word 'mercy' in this psalm. Then help me write three verses of my own in the same pattern, about things God has actually done for me.\"",
      "afterHead": "AFTER YOU GET A RESULT",
      "after": [
        "Read your three verses out loud.",
        "Say the refrain after each one.",
        "Put one of them in your prayer tonight."
      ],
      "rememberHead": "REMEMBER",
      "rememberText": "Gratitude is not pretending everything is fine. Verse 23 gives thanks from a low estate — the psalmist was not having a good week either.",
      "bandHeading": "EXAMPLE QUESTIONS WE CAN EXPLORE WITH AI",
      "bandQuestions": [
        "What does hesed mean?",
        "What is a litany?",
        "Why repeat one line?",
        "What is a low estate?",
        "Why thank Him for food?"
      ],
      "scrollQuote": {
        "text": "Who remembered us in our low estate.",
        "attribution": "Psalm 136:23"
      },
      "artPrompt": "A warm painterly golden-hour scene of the sun rising over still water, a narrow path of dry ground running between two walls of standing sea."
    },

    {
      "card": 2,
      "sectionName": "TALK ABOUT EXPERIENCE",
      "tagline": "Notice it. Then say it.",
      "title": "PSALM 136 — TALK ABOUT EXPERIENCE",
      "subtitle": "Name One. Not Everything.",
      "goalHead": "DISCUSSION GOAL",
      "goalText": "Name a specific blessing from this past week — not blessings in general, one you could point at.",
      "howHead": "HOW TO DISCUSS",
      "how": [
        "Everyone gets a chance to share.",
        "Be specific. \"Everything\" is not an answer.",
        "Small blessings count. Say those too.",
        "Keep the Savior at the center."
      ],
      "aiHead": "CONTINUE TO USE AI",
      "aiText": "Find one more psalm that gives thanks, and bring back what it thanks Him for.",
      "questionsHead": "THINK ABOUT THESE TOGETHER",
      "questions": [
        "A friend says he is not sure he has ever felt God's love. What would you tell him?",
        "Why would saying thank you help someone feel loved by God?",
        "What has He given you this week that you have not thanked Him for?"
      ],
      "bandHeading": "EXAMPLE QUESTIONS TO DISCUSS",
      "bandQuestions": [
        "When did I last say thanks?",
        "What do I take for granted?",
        "Who helped me this week?",
        "What went right today?",
        "What hard thing taught me something?"
      ],
      "scrollQuote": {
        "text": "O give thanks unto the God of heaven.",
        "attribution": "Psalm 136:26"
      },
      "artPrompt": "A natural photograph of five teenagers talking around a classroom table with open scriptures in bright morning light."
    },

    {
      "card": 3,
      "sectionName": "CHRIST-CENTERED ACTION",
      "tagline": "Thank Him. Ask nothing.",
      "title": "PSALM 136 — CHRIST-CENTERED ACTION",
      "subtitle": "One Prayer That Only Says Thank You.",
      "columns": [
        {
          "head": "START WITH JESUS",
          "text": "The psalm thanks God for redeeming His people. Jesus Christ is that redemption — and of the ten He healed, one came back to thank Him.",
          "citation": "See Psalm 136:24; Luke 17:15–16.",
          "art": "A warm painterly golden-hour scene of the resurrected Savior in white robes on a dusty road, hands extended toward a man kneeling before Him."
        },
        {
          "head": "HESED — COVENANT LOVE",
          "text": "The word behind \"mercy\" here is hesed: the love God extends to those who have made covenants with Him. It endures for ever.",
          "citation": "See Psalm 136:1, 26.",
          "art": "A warm painterly golden-hour scene of a long road running across a wide valley toward distant mountains at sunrise."
        },
        {
          "head": "WHAT WILL YOU NAME?",
          "text": "Find one blessing you have never thanked Him for, and thank Him for it — asking for nothing in return.",
          "citation": "See Psalm 136:23, 25.",
          "art": "A natural photograph of a teenager kneeling beside a bed in early morning light."
        }
      ],
      "ideasHead": "IDEAS: WHAT COULD I THANK HIM FOR?",
      "ideas": [
        "A person who stayed.",
        "A body that works.",
        "A hard thing survived.",
        "Food on the table.",
        "An answered prayer.",
        "A quiet morning."
      ],
      "planHead": "MAKE A PLAN",
      "planQuestion": "What will you thank Him for by name?",
      "plan": [
        "When will you pray it?",
        "What will you ask for? Nothing.",
        "Who else should hear you say it?"
      ],
      "challengeHead": "CHALLENGE THIS WEEK",
      "challengeText": "Before the end of the week, say one prayer that is only thanks — name specific blessings and ask for nothing at all.",
      "rememberHead": "REMEMBER",
      "rememberText": "\"Sincerely giving thanks not only helps us recognize our blessings, but it also unlocks the doors of heaven and helps us feel God's love\" (Thomas S. Monson, \"The Divine Gift of Gratitude,\" Liahona, Nov. 2010, 87).",
      "scrollQuote": {
        "text": "And hath redeemed us from our enemies.",
        "attribution": "Psalm 136:24"
      },
      "artPrompt": ""
    }
  ],

  "journalPrompt": "Write down three specific blessings from this past week — the kind you could point at. After each one, write \"for his mercy endureth for ever.\" Then write which one you will thank Heavenly Father for by name in your next prayer, and when you will pray it, asking for nothing in return."
}