Theme: David the songwriter.
Scripture: 2 Samuel 22
Main Point: Sing! Our God is worthy of praise!
Supplies: Bible, play dough, blank paper, pencils/crayons, visuals from the song and a recording or video of a storm for them to listen to (see Auditory/Visual Center below), cd player, red streamers, bolts of lightning made from poster board, any other props for role play. You will also need at least three teachers who are comfortable leading the three centers.
Teachers: Take this lesson, study it, and make it your own. Allow the truths of the Scripture to sink into your own heart. Know what you are saying and say it with confidence. Passion and voice inflection are essential with preschoolers. Repeat the main point over and over again.
Coloring Sheet (10 minutes)
Have the coloring sheets ready when the children first enter the classroom from the assembly. Ask the following questions while the children are coloring:
- What are the children in the picture doing? Playing the drums, raising hands, and singing.
- Do you like to sing? What do you like to sing about?
- Why do we sing to God? Because He is worthy of praise.
Story Circle (15 minutes)
Main Point: Sing! Our God is worthy of praise!
Repeat this over and over again. Get the kids to say it with you every time you see it written in bold. This should be the one thing that the kids remember from the day.
I. Hook – Introduce the lesson. This is short and simple since there will be so much going on in the Book section.
II. Book – Read the passage. Divide the children into groups to experience the story in the three sensory centers. Time permitting, you can allow the children to switch centers, but it may best for them to choose what they would like to do the best.
III. Look – God is our ultimate rescuer through Christ. He is worthy of all of our praise!
**Please Note: The day before, organize your room into three centers, as described below.
- Option One: Have the children make with play-doh what they hear as you read David’s song to them. Have several examples ready for them (e.g., David stuck in the waves of death, a fortress that represents our God, clouds, lightning, the rescue from the deep water, arrows, lamp, shield, or even a battle scene where God rescues David from his enemies, the giants). Read the verses over again to the children and let them use their creativity.
- Option Two: Let the children draw what they hear as you read the song to them with pencils or crayons.
- Act out the descriptions in the song (verses 5-18 would work best for this. Several children can play the part of David, who is in deep distress and needs to be rescued. Others can act out the part of our Rescuer. Have props available like red streamers for fire and bolts of lightning made from poster board.
- Listen to the sounds of a storm. Play a recording of a storm or show a video of a storm or hurricane. Have a rain stick for children to play with.
- Look at pictures of visuals from the song: fortresses and mountains (vv. 3-4), oceans/hurricane (vv. 5-7, 16-20), earthquake and burning coals (vv. 8-9), storms (10-15), lamp and shield (vv. 29-31)
- As children are looking at the visuals, describe them by reading the verses from the song. Discuss how amazing and great our God is, how helpless we would be in the midst of a hurricane, and how awesome it would to see our God coming down to rescue us like David describes.
Hook (Grab Their Attention!)
Have music playing softly in the background.
ASK: Who have we been learning about this week? (David!) David was a shepherd, a soldier, a warrior, and a king. David was also human and sinned like you and me. But did you know that he was also a song writer? David wrote many of the Psalms found in the middle of our Bible (show them). But today we are going to learn about a certain song he wrote after God saved him from his enemies! This is a special and beautiful song that praises our God.
The main point for today is Sing! Our God is worthy of praise! Repeat this until all the kids are able to say it together.)
Book (This is Where You School Them!)
SAY: Today’s lesson is found in 2 Samuel, chapter 22 (show them in your Bible). David had been in a great war with the Philistines, with giants from Gath like the champion Goliath. He had grown weary!
On the day when the Lord saved him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul, David spoke to the Lord the words of a beautiful song. This song is all about our great God! In this song, we see how great and mighty He is! Listen closely because you will need to know all about this song in order to do our fun activities! You know that means? You need to turn up your ears and turn down your mouths so you won’t miss a thing! (Demonstrate.)
3 The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge, my savior; you save me from violence. 4 I call upon the Lord who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies. 5 For the waves of death encompassed me, the torrents of destruction assailed me; 6 the cords of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me. 7 In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I called. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry came to his ears. 8 Then the earth reeled and rocked; the foundations of the heavens trembled and quaked, because he was angry. 9 Smoke went up from his nostrils, and devouring fire from his mouth; glowing coals flamed forth from him. 10 He bowed the heavens and came down; thick darkness was under his feet. 11 He rode on a cherub and flew; he was seen on the wings of the wind. 14 The Lord thundered from heaven, and the Most High uttered his voice. 15 And he sent out arrows and scattered them; lightning, and routed them. 17 He sent from on high, he took me; he drew me out of many waters. 18 He rescued me from my strong enemy, from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me. 29 For you are my lamp, O Lord, and my God lightens my darkness. 30 For by you I can run against a troop, and by my God I can leap over a wall. 31 This God— his way is perfect; the word of the Lord proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him. 50 “For this I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations, and sing praises to your name. 51 Great salvation he brings to his king,and shows steadfast love to his anointed, to David and his offspring forever.”
SAY: We have three centers that will help you learn more about who God is in this song. In one center, you can make or draw things from the song about David and God. In the second center, you can act out the neat things God does in the song as He rescues David. In the last center, you will have something special to listen to and pictures to look at from the song!
DO: Divide the children into three groups. Encourage them to pick which center they are most likely to enjoy. If time permits, you can allow them to switch centers.
Look (Look At Your Heart. What Should You Do?)
DO: Gather the children you once more, in one group.
ASK: Why did David write this song? (To praise God after He rescued Him.)
SAY: David loved God. He praised Him because of who He is and what He had done. God had rescued David many, many times from bad situations! He knew God was great and mighty! He knew God was worthy of all of His praise!
ASK: Have you ever been in a hard situation that you wanted to be rescued from? (If they need help, give an example from your own life that was hard.) We may not get into situations like David did with giants! But hard things will come to us in life. Know that God will always be there. He is our Rescuer! Call out to Him! And when He rescues you, praise Him!
Sing! Our God is worthy of praise!
SAY: God has already rescued all of us through sending Jesus to die on the cross for our sins. Because Jesus died and rose from the grave, we can now be forgiven from our sins, know God deeply, and one day spend the rest of forever with Him! He rescued us from our sins, and for this reason, we can always have the strength to sing!
Sing! Our God is worthy of praise!
DO: Praise God together through prayer
Snack & Memory (15 minutes)
At the appointed point in the schedule, a team will bring snacks to your classroom. While they are passing out the snack, take time to review today’s memory verse, show the kids the visual illustration of the story, and review the story using the following questions:
Psalm 96:2– “Sing to the Lord, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day.”
- What did David write? A song
- What was the song about? How God saved David from all of his enemies.
- How is God described in the song? He is like a mighty fortress. He is a hero who rescues David from the waves. He is described as David’s shield and protector.
- Why do we sing? Because God is worthy of praise!
Bible Learning Activities (20 minutes)
SAY: Today we have been learning about how David was a songwriter. He wrote songs to tell others about God’s goodness and greatness. We sing about God to tell others about the wonderful things he has done. Sing! Our God is worthy of praise!
Teachers: If you are teaching toddlers, it will be important to pre-cut as many of the microphones as possible before class time
SAY: Now, we’re going to decorate microphones and practice singing praises to God. Have the children color the microphone, cut it out, and sing!
Big Games (15 minutes)
**Three and Four Year-Olds will not have an organized Big Games time, but some games have been provided below for use during Playground time. Kindergarten leaders will not be responsible for leading these games. The leaders at the Big Games area will lead Big Games for Kindergartners.
Fruit basket turnover –
Everyone in the group should sit in a circle. They should each be given the name of a fruit. APPLE, ORANGE, BANANA. When their fruit name is called they should run to change places with someone else that has the same fruit name. So all APPLES should Switch with all APPLES. During the game the leader should shout “FRUIT BASKET TURNOVER!!!” and all of the kids should change seats with someone.
Written by: Kara Jenkins
Coloring sheets and Activities by: Mandy Groce