This is lesson 7 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 7 we see we see the anger and just wrath of God on sin (just as we did in Psalm 6). We also see that David knows that the only one who can save him from the wrath of God is God Himself. In this Psalm we see God revealed as both the Savior and the Judge.
Passage: Psalm 7
Target Audience: Kindergarten-4th Grade (can be adapted for older or younger children)
Teaching Time: 45 minutes – 1 hour
Materials Needed: blank paper, markers/ pencils, 2 paper plates and a craft stick or ruler per child, glue
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. – – Play a few rounds of ‘rock, paper, scissors’– – have kids pair up and the winner of each pair plays a 2nd round. After they play, remind them that in the game you had to choose one of three things…rock, paper or scissors…you couldn’t be all three at the same time. But that as we look into God’s Word this week that we’re going to see how God is two things (that seem opposite) at the same time…the judge and the savior and how this is possible because He is righteous (everything He does is right).
Read the Text. . .Psalm 7 ….
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- Have one of the kids in the group read Psalm 7, or have the whole group read it from their handout.
- Have one of the kids in the group read Psalm 7, or have the whole group read it from their handout.
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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. Each time you take a time-out, briefly talk about that characteristic of God.
- 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. Each time you take a time-out, briefly talk about that characteristic of God.
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- Cross Connection – Look back at verses 10-13. Have one of the kids reread those verses for the group. Talk about what you see about God in just those 4 verses… He is a shield, He saves, He is the righteous judge, He is wrathful, etc. Discuss how God can be both a judge who expresses His wrath and the one who saves the upright in heart. Talk about how God’s wrath is deserved (Romans 6:23). Read Matthew 25:31-46 and talk about how the Bible tells us that Jesus is the one who will judge. (Revelation 5:9-11 says that He is worthy to judge because He was slain). Help kids to see the balance here between Jesus being the lamb who died to take away the sins of the world (John 1:29) and the judge who will punish those who He does not know.
- Cross Connection – Look back at verses 10-13. Have one of the kids reread those verses for the group. Talk about what you see about God in just those 4 verses… He is a shield, He saves, He is the righteous judge, He is wrathful, etc. Discuss how God can be both a judge who expresses His wrath and the one who saves the upright in heart. Talk about how God’s wrath is deserved (Romans 6:23). Read Matthew 25:31-46 and talk about how the Bible tells us that Jesus is the one who will judge. (Revelation 5:9-11 says that He is worthy to judge because He was slain). Help kids to see the balance here between Jesus being the lamb who died to take away the sins of the world (John 1:29) and the judge who will punish those who He does not know.
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- Discuss the Passage– Talk about those who will be judged– – It’s easy for kids to see passages like this and feel self-righteous thinking that the judgment of God is for those bad people out there. Take them to verses like Romans 3:10-12 and Romans 6:23 and Romans 2:5-8 and help them see that all men will be judged. Those who are followers of Jesus will be saved to eternal life with Him and those who are not following Him will be punished eternally. Talk about why it is right for God to punish sinners, and remind them that the only way to be saved from this right punishment is by trusting that Jesus took the punishment for us.
Savior & Judge Reminders – Kids will have a chance to make a reminder to show how God can be Savior and judge at the same time. Review briefly how those two characteristics of God seem completely opposite to us because we’re not holy and any judgement we show toward someone else would be sinful, but that because God is holy and righteous He can be both the righteous judge and the only one to protect His people from that judgement.
Give each child 2 paper plates. Explain that on one plate they should write Savior and draw a picture of how God saves His people (cross, Jesus). On the other plate they should write Judge and a verse like Romans 6:23, or a picture of a judge making a decision. Then, they should glue the plates back to back on a craft stick or ruler. Once finished, hold one up and show that the two parts of God’s character can’t be separated, but that for those who have been saved (through Jesus’ death on the cross), they don’t have to fear God’s judgement because it’s behind them. God gave the punishment that you deserved to Jesus and if you trust/ believe that Jesus died for your sin you will be saved.
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- Have one of the kids in the group read verse 17. Ask, what did David praise God for in this Psalm ( His righteousness). Have one of the kids in the group remind you how God’s righteousness means that He is both a judge and a Savior. Ask the kids in the group to share the truths that they see about God from this passage…the things they drew on their praise shields, the things they drew or wrote on their pages, etc.
Sing “Praise Him Praise Him all you little children…God is…” including the truths that they saw in Psalm 7. 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 – Play a Bible Book game called “Roll the Dice.” For this game you’ll take turns rolling a large die and naming as many books of the Bible as the number that comes up on the dice. Ways to make the game more challenging…
(1) have kids name books in order,
(2) write down the books that are named and don’t let those books be named a 2nd time until all other books have been named, or
(3) if they roll and odd number they have to name OT books and if they roll an even number they have to name NT books.