Psalm 2 Sunday School Lesson for Kids

This is lesson 2 of 33 in a series of lessons called “Praise God Through the Psalms.” 
Lesson focus: Through the book of Psalms and the worship of the people of Israel, we get a glimpse into the character of God and how we should rightly respond to Him in worship. In Psalm 2 we see God described as a refuge or shelter. Through this study, kids will come to understand that the greatest problem they have in their life is sin and that Jesus is the refuge sinners can run to for forgiveness.
Passage: Psalm 2
Target Audience: Kindergarten-4th Grade (can be adapted for older or younger children)
Teaching Time: 45 minutes – 1 hour
Materials Needed: a printout of “Psalm 2” for each child, markers, a couple of bed sheets, some rope, packing tape
Optional Materials: if you want to be able to send the kids home with something each week, you can print the text of the Psalm on one side of a piece of paper and on the back print “I should praise God because He is ____________” (leave the rest of the page blank for drawing.

Early Arriver/ Opening 10 minutes- play “Name the Bible Character”- give clues for them to guess who you’re thinking of from the Bible. Try to think of Bible characters that you know they’ll be familiar with and some that will stretch their thinking. You can encourage them to guess after each new clue is given.
Example: “I’m a man. I’m in the Old Testament. You can read about me in the book of Genesis. I had a twin brother. I was the youngest of the twins. My father is Isaac. I lied to trick my brother out of His birthright…. I am Jacob.”
Intro- – Build a Shelter- – Bring a couple of sheets, some rope and tape from home and using tables and other things in the room, work together to build a fort or shelter in the room. If the fort/ shelter is big enough, have the rest of the lesson inside the fort….if they have a hard time concentrating, then move out of the fort.

Introduce the Psalms Study– If there are kids who are new this week, explain that you’re working through the book of Psalms to get to know God as He is reveled in the Psalms. Explain that each week you’ll look at a different Psalm and see what that Psalm teaches us about God and that you’ll have an opportunity to praise God based on what you see in the Psalm.

Read the Text. . .Psalm 2 ….

• • 1. Have one of the kids in the group read Psalm 2 from their Bible, or have the whole group read it from a printout of the text.

• • 1. Discuss the Passage–  Hand out printouts of the text and markers and have kids underline names/ titles/ characteristics of God that they see in this passage.
       TIP for YOUNGER KIDS – -You might want to do it one sentence at a time. You read a sentence and have them name things that are talking about God and then underline them.
       
       As you go through the various names/ descriptions of God that they see, talk briefly about each one and help kids to see that God is the King over the whole earth, the Judge over the whole world, and the One in whom His people can take refuge.

• • 1. Make it Personal – Ask kids to share stories of times they’ve been scared and where (or to whom) they went for refuge (shelter). Be prepared with your own story to share.

• 1. Cross Connection– Have one of the kids read verse 12 again. Ask the kids what they think it means to take refuge in God. Remind them of the fort that they built earlier and how it is like a refuge, a place to hide and be protected and be safe.
     Read Psalm 18:2 as another reminder of taking refuge in God. Then ask kids what people need protection from and guide the conversation until someone says that we all need protection from the wrath of God against our sin. Read Romans 6:23 as a reminder of what all people deserve. Then ask, “how can God protect us from His own wrath?” Read Romans 5:8 and remind kids that even though we all deserve the wrath of God, we can take refuge in Him instead because Jesus took the punishment that each of us deserve when He died on the cross in our place.

Worship Time- After discussing the passage, distribute paper and markers or pages printed with the text for the week that they were already working on. Explain that each week you want them to do three things in response to the Psalm…

1. write a verse from the passage that they want to remember
2. write a reason to praise God that they see in the Psalm
3. draw of something from the passage that they think is important.

Give kids time to work on their pages and then have them share what they have drawn or written with the rest of the group.
Prayer- Ask the kids in the group to share the truths that they see about God from this passage. Sing “Praise Him Praise Him all you little children…God is…” including the truths that they saw in Psalm 2. Close the prayer time by praising God for the truths that you see about Him in this Psalm and praying for the kids in the group that they would really get to know the character of God through this study this year.
Extra Time- If you have any extra time at the end, play “Gospel 4 Corners”
Assign the 4 corners of the room as being Matthew, Mark, Luke & John. Explain to the kids in the group that the whole Bible teaches us about Jesus, but that those 4 books of the Bible talk about the years that He lived on earth. Choose one kid to stand against a wall (or outside of the room) with their eyes closed. The rest of the kids will choose one of the corners of the room and stand there. The kid with his eyes closed will name one of the Gospels and everyone in that corner is out. Continue play until all kids have been caught ‘out.’ If time allows, let another child be the caller.