This is lesson 15 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 27 we see the psalmist crying out to God for rescue as enemies surround him. He knows that God alone is the One who will rescue – first from his physical enemies and most importantly from sin and death.
Passage: Psalm 27
Target Audience: Kindergarten-4th Grade (can be adapted for older or younger children)
Teaching Time: 45 minutes – 1 hour
Materials Needed: Bibles, blank paper, markers, scissors
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- have a few board games out and play with kids as they arrive. Don’t underestimate the conversations that happen while playing “Jenga” or “Uno” with a group of kids.
Intro. – – Ask all the kids in the group to tell you about their favorite superhero bad guy….which villains to they love to hate? Talk about what scares them about those villains and how the superhero protects the world from the villain.
Read the Text. . .Psalm 27 ….
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- Have each kid in the group read one verse, or have 3 volunteers do the reading (verses 1-2, 3-6 & 7-10). As you go through the Psalm continually ask kids (1) what is this Psalm telling us about who God is?, (2) what is this Psalm telling us about what God does and (3) what is this Psalm telling us about what God expects of His people and how His people should respond to Him.
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- As you go through the Psalm, have a signal for the kids in the group to make (like a time-out signal- – a T with your hands) every time they hear another truth about who God is and/ what God is like/ or what God has done. Each time you take a time-out, briefly talk about that characteristic of God.
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- Take a few minutes to talk about what truths this Psalm teaches us about God. Talk about how this psalm focuses a lot on the truth that God protects His people (salvation, stronghold, etc.). Have kids share stories they can think of from the Bible where God protects His people.
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- Cross- Connection– – After talking about the ways that God protects His people physically, talk about how the most important way that God protects His people is eternal salvation from sin and death. Reread verses 4-6 and talk about what it means to dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Read Revelation 20:11-15 and talk about the final judgment and how the only way to be protected and saved on that day is my repenting of your sin and turning to Jesus for salvation.
- Since the boys will want to do this anyway with all the talk of war and protection, have them create a superhero weapon (either drawing it or making it out paper in some way)….the only catch is that they have to choose one of the verses from the psalm that talks about God protecting His people on the picture or weapon. Have kids share their weapon with the rest of the group.
Worship Time- After discussing the passage, distribute the paper and markers or pages printed with the text for the week. Explain that each week you want them to do three things in response to the Psalm…
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- write a verse from the passage that they want to remember
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- write a reason to praise God that they see in the Psalm
- 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- – Close in prayer by praying for the kids in the group that they would realize that we are all sinners in need of a Savior and that they would see from this passage that the salvation they need most is salvation from sin and death.
Extra Time – – If you have any extra time at the end, play OT/NT– – Have all the kids stand up in the middle of the room. Call out a book of the Bible. If it’s in the Old Testament they have to go to your left side and if it’s New Testament they have to go to your right side. To make it even more challenging, you could call out names that aren’t books of the Bible and have them freeze for those.