God is Trustworthy (Daniel 6) Lesson #37 in What is God Like?

AGE GROUP: elementary (ages 6-11)
TIME REQUIRED: 45 minutes

This is lesson 37 of 42 in our study on the Attributes of God called “Can you tell me what God is like?” Visit the series index to view all the lessons and get more ideas for using this curriculum in your children’s ministry.

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LESSON 37: GOD IS TRUSTWORTHY

• Key Verse: “The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. The statues of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple.” Psalm 19:7
• Teaching Passage: Daniel 6
• Supporting Texts: Psalm 19:7, Psalm 145:13

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SUPPLIES NEEDED:

Bibles, previous attribute of God posters, a large piece of paper with the words GOD IS TRUSTWORTHY written on it, key verse (Psalm 19:7) printed on a piece of paper, blank paper and markers or colored pencils for each child in the group.

LESSON OUTLINE:

REVIEW PREVIOUS LESSONS: 

Ask one of the kids in the group to remind you what you’re learning this year. Remind them that each week we’ll be looking into the Bible to answer the question… “Can you tell me what God is like?” and will be learning one of the many truths about God that we see in His Word.

Take a few minutes to review the attributes you’ve previously learned. Have kids stand in a line. Whisper an attribute of God in the first person’s ear. They should say the attribute outloud. The next person should do the motion and the 3rd person should define or explain the attribute. Those 3 people should then move to the back of the line so you can start all over again. If someone doesn’t know the motion or definition, they can pass or someone can give them a clue. Play for 5 minutes or so.

• God is Almighty=  He has absolute power or is all powerful
• God is the Alpha and Omega= He is the beginning and the end, the first and the last
• God is Awesome = He inspires awe and amazement
• God is Compassionate = He shows a deep concern for His people & a desire to meet their needs
  
• God is the Deliverer = He is the rescuer or savior
  
• God is Exalted = He is noble, elevated and lifted up
  
• God is Faithful = He is reliable, trustworthy, true to His Word & keeps His promises
  
• God Forgives = He grants pardon and cancels the debt of sin
  
• God is Glorious = He is full of glory (praise, honor & distinction)
• God is Good = morally excellent, virtuous or righteous
• God is Gracious = merciful, benevolent, kind & compassionate
• God Guides His People= He leads, accompanies, assists and gives direction/ guidance
• God Heals = make healthy & whole & free from ailments
• God is Holy = He is sinless, perfect and set apart
• God is our Hope = He is the One in whom our expectations are centered
• Jesus is Immanuel = God with Us
• God is Judge = He is the One who rules over and passes judgement on others
  
• God is Just = He is the One who is fair and does what is right
  
• God is  King of kings & Lord of lords  = He is The One who rules the rulers
  
• Jesus is the Lamb without blemish  = He is the perfect sacrifice for sin
  
• God is Love = God has tender and caring affection for His people
  
• God is Majestic  = God is stately, kingly, grand & raised up
  
• God is Merciful = God is full of compassion, pity, and undeserved grace & love for another
  
• God is Omnipotent =  He is almighty or infinite in power
  
• God is Omnipresent = He is everywhere all the time
  
• God is Omniscient = He knows everything
  
• God is One = the Only God
  
• God Protects His People = He defends, guards, covers & shields His people
  
• God is Righteous = He is always right & He always does what is right
• God is the Rock = solid, strong and offering protection
• God provides the PERFECT SACRIFICE for sin = Jesus is the gift or payment that paid for our sin
• God Saves = to rescue from danger
• God Shepherds His people = He tends, guards and watches over His people
• God is a Shield= He hides, conceals & protects His people (through Jesus’ blood)
• God is Sovereign = He rules over all
• Jesus is the One Mediator = He is the One who stands between (us & God) and brings judgement

TEACH – GOD IS TRUSTWORTHY:

Introduce the story by putting the book of Daniel into context. Go through a VERY brief history of God’s people to help them see where Daniel fits into the story:
– God created the world, man sinned, kicked out of the garden
– Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph- sent to Egypt
– Slaves in Egypt, exodus, 40 years, promised land
– promise to obey in promised land, don’t, cycle of judges, ask for king…. Saul, David, Solomon
– Kingdom split, some good kings, some bad…. people keep sinning…. God warns…. people sin
– God’s people are taken into captivity in Babylon. The first part if the captivity were the royal family, nobles and young men who were strong & healthy…..Daniel was among this group.

Read Daniel 6 and/ or tell the story in your own words highlighting the following points:

• King Darius chose 120 men to rule the kingdom and Daniel and 2 other men who made leaders/ administrators over them.
• Daniel rules so well that the king put him in charge of the whole kingdom, but the other 2 guys were jealous and tried to find a way to make Daniel look bad.
• These other 2 men went to the king and told him how great of a king he was and suggested that he make a law that for 30 days no one could pray or bow down to any god or man except to the king. The king liked the idea and made it a law without really thinking through what would happen. The law also said that if you did pray to someone else you would be thrown into the lion’s den.
• Then, the 2 guys watched. They knew Daniel was faithful to God and would go to his room and pray 3 times a day.
• Daniel heard the law and it didn’t stop him. He kept praying. The other guys spied and watched and caught him praying. They told the king and because Daniel had broken the law he had to be punished.
• The kings tried to save Daniel, but he couldn’t change the law. He told Daniel that he hoped that his God would protect him. Daniel was put in the lion’s den and a stone was put over the top and the king sealed it closed.
• The king couldn’t sleep all night because he was so worried about Daniel. Early in the morning he ran to check and Daniel. He yelled into the den and asked Daniel if his God had rescued him. Daniel responded and said that God had protected him.
• When Daniel was brought safely out of the lion’s den, the king had the other officials thrown in and the lions devoured them.
• The king wrote a new ruling and told all of the people of the land that God had rescued Daniel and that they should all fear Him.

DEFINE AND REMEMBER:

Introduce attribute for the week by asking the kids if they think Daniel ever thought about obeying the ruling to not pray/ bow down to anyone but the king. Why not? Why did Daniel know that God could be trusted no matter what?

Ask if they think Daniel was nervous when he was thrown in the lion’s den. Why or why not? Help kids to see that Daniel trusted God. Daniel knew that God was dependable and faithful and that doing what God said was more important than doing what the king said.

Help kids to see that Daniel knew that he could trust God because God had been trustworthy/ faithful in the past. Have kids give you some examples of times in the Bible where God did what He said He would do. (Adam & Eve, Abraham, Exodus, etc.)

TRUSTWORTHY = DEPENDABLE, RELIABLE, HONEST AND FAITHFUL

Since motions & actions help kids remember, choose an action for TRUSTWORTHY. A good motion might be to cross your fingers and say “I promise.”

MEMORY VERSE:

SAY: “This morning we’re talking about the truth that God is trustworthy. He can be trusted. We can count on Him to do what He says He will do. We can know that He is dependable, reliable, honest & faithful. Our key verse for the week is Psalm 19:7. Let’s say the verse together a couple of times.”

Read the memory verse (Psalm 19:7) a few times together and do the motion for trustworthy.

CROSS CONNECTION:

Trusting God to save us isn’t something that was only true for Daniel. God saved Daniel from physical harm and death, but He has also shown His trustworthiness and kept His promise to save us from something greater that death. Way back at the beginning of the Bible when Adam & Eve sinned for the first time, that sin came with a consequence and that consequence is death….not just physical death, but eternal death and separation from God. But, from Genesis 3, right after that first sin, God began to tell His people about His rescue plan. Genesis 3:15 tells us that an offspring of a woman will crush Satan. Genesis 12:3 God tells Abraham that all peoples of the earth will be blessed through his offspring. Both of these promises and so many more, point to a the promise of a someone who would come to rescue God’s people from sin and death. God kept His promise and Jesus came to save us from sin and death by dying on the cross in our place. This reminds us that we all need to be saved, but more than needing to be saved from lions like Daniel, we all need to be saved from our sin.

REVIEW:

Give each child a blank piece of paper provide markers or colored pencils. Encourage them to write the word TRUSTWORTHY somewhere on the paper and then write or draw something to help them remember this attribute of God. They could write the definition for TRUSTWORTHY or the memory verse or they could illustrate the the story. After a few minutes, bring the group back together and give kids time to share what they have drawn or written. Have kids share with you examples from the Bible where we can clearly see that God can be trusted.

PRAYER:

Pray that the kids in the group would come to know God more and more each week through this study and that they would remember that all of us are sinners who need to be saved and that they would turn to this good God for salvation. Pray that children in the class would trust God for their salvation and know that God can always be trusted.