Wildside 12.29.19

Praises of God’s People

Bible Passage: ; ;

Main Point: People wrote songs to praise God because of who He is.

Key Passage:

Big Picture Question: Why can we trust God? Everything God does is for His glory and our good.

Small Group Opening

(10–15 minutes)

Large Group Bible Study

(25–30 minutes)

Small Group Activities

(25–30 minutes)

Leader BIBLE STUDY

When Jesus met two disciples on the road to Emmaus, He told them, “These are My words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about Me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms must be fulfilled” ().

How does the Book of Psalms point us to Jesus? While the book does contain some implicit Messianic psalms, what is the significance of the songs of lament, the proclamations of confidence, and the accounts of God’s mercy toward His people?

King David wrote about half of the psalms, while the rest were written over time by Moses, Solomon, and others. These are the words of God’s people. These are heartfelt words poured out to the Lord by men in a wide variety of circumstances.

In , David cried out for forgiveness after Nathan the prophet confronted him about his sin with Bathsheba. In , Moses prayed for God’s mercy on His people. is a psalm for giving thanks, “for Yahweh is good, and His love is eternal” ().

God responded to these expressions from His people with His Son, Jesus. Jesus provides the forgiveness David longed for. Jesus died on the cross to provide salvation for undeserving sinners. God showed mercy and displayed His goodness and eternal love through Jesus. Jesus is the One our hearts long for. He is the answer to our prayers, our cries, and our praises.

People wrote songs to praise God because of who He is. The Book of Psalms is a treasured collection of verses meant to be sung. As you teach them to kids, emphasize that God hears us when we cry out to Him. He has provided for the deepest longing of our hearts by giving us Jesus.

The BIBLE Story

Praises of God’s People

; ;

In Old Testament times, God’s people wrote songs to God to express how they were feeling. The Book of Psalms is a collection of songs written by many people over hundreds of years. Sometimes when God’s people gathered, they sang psalms together to worship God. The people praised God for giving them victory over their enemies, for the wonderful things He created, or for providing for them and taking care of them.

Sometimes people wrote psalms when they were sad. They cried out to God and told Him how they felt. Sometimes people wrote psalms to confess their sin to God and to ask for forgiveness.

The first psalm is about two ways to live: as a righteous person or as a wicked person. The two ways are like walking on two different paths. One path is dark and leads to death. The other path is bright and leads to life. The righteous person loves God’s Word and thinks about it day and night. That person is like a tree whose roots drink from a nearby stream. The tree is strong and healthy.

But a wicked person is like chaff—the useless part of seeds—that blows away in the wind. When God judges the wicked person, that person’s life will end. There will be no place for wicked people with the righteous people.

is a song of thanks. God’s people sang these words: “Shout to the Lord, all the earth! Serve Him with gladness and come to Him with joyful songs. Know that Yahweh is God. He made us, and we are His. We are His people! Give thanks to Him and praise His name. For Yahweh is good, and His love is eternal. His faithfulness will never end.”

King David wrote . The psalm is about a king who is also a priest. David wrote that the Lord would give them king many lands to rule over, and the king’s army would be strong. David wrote that the Lord keeps His promises. He will be with the king and make him strong. He will give the king victory in the battle.

Christ Connection: In the Old Testament, whenever God’s people cried out for mercy and forgiveness, praised God, or thanked Him, God heard their prayers. He promised to answer them, and He did, when He sent His Son, Jesus. Jesus meets our greatest need by providing salvation from sin so we can be forgiven and have eternal life.

Small Group Opening

Session Title: Praises of God’s People

Bible Passage: ; ;

Main Point: People wrote songs to praise God because of who He is.

Key Passage:

Big Picture Question: Why can we trust God? Everything God does is for His glory and our good.

Welcome time

Greet each kid as he or she arrives. Use this time to connect to your group and make sure each student is checked in.

As kids arrive, invite them to share ways people can worship God.

While “singing songs” might be obvious to them, suggest other methods of worship such as giving tithes and offerings, praying, serving others, and so forth.

Say • The Bible says in the Book of Psalms that the Lord is great and deserves to be praised. No one can completely understand His greatness. [See .]

Table Wars

Transition to large group

Large Group LEADER

Session Title: Praises of God’s People

Bible Passage: ; ;

Main Point: People wrote songs to praise God because of who He is.

Key Passage:

Big Picture Question: Why can we trust God? Everything God does is for His glory and our good.

Hi, everyone! Great to see you again. If you are new here, allow me to introduce myself. My name have been doing a lot of thinking lately, and that led to a lot of questions.

So let me ask you this: How do you express yourself? I mean, if you are angry, how do you let it out? How do others know when you are happy? [Allow kids to respond.] Great! You are going to love today’s Bible story. It is about the ways God’s people expressed themselves—long, long ago.

A couple weeks ago, we learned about the Book of Ecclesiastes. King Solomon thought about life, and we found out that life has purpose only with God.

Last week, we heard about the story of Job. Job faced great suffering, but through it all, Job learned that God is all-powerful, sovereign, and good.

This week’s Bible story is about the Book of Psalms. The Book of Psalms is a collection of songs written by many authors over a long period of time. What could a collection of songs tell us about Jesus? Let’s find out!

Tell the Bible story

Open your Bible to ; ; . Now let’s watch the Bible story video “Praises of God’s People.”

Leader • The Book of Psalms contains 150 psalms. Many of the psalms were meant to be sung. Today we are going to look at three of the psalms.

Guide kids to open their Bibles to . Explain that the first psalm is a wisdom psalm. It tells us about the right way to live. says there are two ways to live.

Leader • You can live as a righteous person or as a wicked person. How do you think God wants you to live? [Allow kids to respond.] The life of wickedness is dark and leads to death, but the life of righteousness is bright and leads to life.

Now turn to . This is a song of thanks. People wrote songs to praise God because of who He is. says that God is good, and His love lasts forever. He is faithful. Can you think of any other reasons we might praise God? How else would you describe Him?

Allow a few volunteers to share. Then instruct kids to turn to .

Leader • The Book of Psalms was written by many people. King David wrote about half of the psalms, and the rest were written over time by Moses, Solomon, and others. King David wrote . It is an announcement about someone whom God promised to send from David’s family to be both a king and a priest. David wrote that the Lord keeps His promises. God kept His promise by sending Jesus.

The psalms are the words of God’s people. They cried out to Him, thanked Him, and praised Him. They confessed their sin, asked for forgiveness, and worshiped the Lord. God heard their songs, and He answered them by sending His Son, Jesus. Jesus died on the cross to free people from sin. Those who trust in Him are forgiven, and He is worthy of our praise.

God hears us when we cry out to Him. He has given us what we need the most—Jesus, our Savior.

Big picture question

Leader • When you want to talk to God, you can! Whatever you are feeling, you can tell Him about it. God hears our prayers, and we can trust Him. Why can we trust God? Everything God does is for His glory and our good.

Say that with me. Why can we trust God? Everything God does is for His glory and our good.

Key passage

Show the slide of the key passage, . Lead the boys and girls to read the verse.

Leader • Our key passage comes from today’s Bible story. People wrote songs to praise God because of who He is. is part of a song of thanksgiving. We can thank God because He is good. His love lasts forever, and we can trust Him forever and ever.

Discussion starter video

Leader • What are the most amazing things you have witnessed in nature? Maybe you have seen an interesting bug or shooting stars. Check this out.

Show the “Unit 12, Session 3” discussion starter video. Lead kids to discuss what amazed them about the images in the video.

Ask the following questions:

What does the beauty and majesty of the world and universe teach us about God, the Creator?

What reasons do we have to worship God?

How can we worship God when we aren’t at church?

Pray

Invite kids to pray before dismissing to small groups.

Leader • Lord, thank You for Your Word. Help us to love the Bible and treasure it as a gift from You. We know that when we call to You, You hears us. We can trust You. We love You. Amen.

Dismiss to small groups

Small Group LEADER

Session Title: Praises of God’s People

Bible Passage: ; ;

Main Point: People wrote songs to praise God because of who He is.

Key Passage:

Big Picture Question: Why can we trust God? Everything God does is for His glory and our good.

Key passage activity

Have you group get into pairs. Challenge them to say the key passage, taking turns saying every other word. Allow some time for them to practice and then have a race to see which group can do it the fastest. Even when the mess up encourage them to finish the verse. Play again if you have time.

Say • This verse comes from the Book of Psalms. Memorizing this verse helps us remember the answer to our big picture question. Why can we trust God? Everything God does is for His glory and our good. Yahweh is good, and He deserves our praise!

Bible story review

Instruct kids to open their Bibles to the Book of Psalms. Remind them that the psalms are located in the middle of the Bible. Share some facts about the Book of Psalms:

 The Book of Psalms is in the division of the Bible called Poetry.

 The Book of Psalms contains 150 chapters.

 The longest psalm is . It contains 176 verses.

 The shortest psalm is . It contains 2 verses.

 Psalms was written by different authors over a long period of time. King David wrote many of the psalms.

Write out the following words on note cards or a dry erase board. Thanksgiving, lament, praise, wisdom.

Explain • The Book of Psalms contains many different types of psalms. Some of them are psalms of praise. People wrote songs to praise God because of who He is.

Some are psalms of lament. People cried out to God for help. Through psalms of thanksgiving, people thanked God for His blessings.

Psalms of wisdom share truth about right thinking and living. I am going to read a verse or two from a psalm. Raise your hand if you think you know the type of psalm I am reading.

Read a few verses from your Bible. Allow kids to answer.

  (thanksgiving)

  (lament)

  (praise)

  (thanksgiving)

  (wisdom)

Say • Isn’t God’s Word amazing? I am so glad we can read these words that teach us more about who He is. (you can chose to read more if you have time.)

prayer

Distribute pencils and prayer cards. Instruct kids to read in the Bible. Encourage them to write a few lines of their own. Kids may closely adapt , or they may write original verses expressing their love for and trust in the Lord.

Say • We can tell God how we are feeling. We can sing to Him with songs and praise Him, we can give thanks, or we can cry out for help. No matter how we communicated, God hears our prayers. Let’s pray together now.

Lead kids in a time of prayer. Thank God for His Word and that He hears us when we pray. Thank Him for answering the cries of our hearts by sending His Son, Jesus, to rescue us from sin. Consider praying a few lines of a psalm, such as or .