Week 570 · about 45 minutes
Psalms 56
Psalms 56 · Memory verse Psalms 56:4
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Queues the lesson plan, this story’s coloring page (Psalms 56), the matching word search and answer key (Psalms 56 word search), the memory-verse tracer, and a parent slip.
Five-minute object lesson
Prop: a ribbon
Hold a ribbon. Read Psalms 56 in about four minutes, stopping at Psalms 56:4: “In God, I praise his word. In God, I put my trust. I will not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?” Ask, “What does this prop have to do with Psalms 56?” Let two children answer, then say the memory verse together.
Story script
Psalms 56 is a real chapter from the Old Testament. It starts, “Be merciful to me, God, for man wants to swallow me up. All day long, he attacks and oppresses me.” That is not a motto invented for a poster. It is the first sentence a family hears when this page is opened at night.
Keep going a little further. The chapter also says, “Shall they escape by iniquity? In anger cast down the peoples, God.” Psalms 56 opens with these words: “Be merciful to me, God, for man wants to swallow me up. All day long, he attacks and oppresses me.” The line to keep is Psalms 56:4: “In God, I praise his word. In God, I put my trust. I will not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?” Carry the word “praise” from that verse into the rest of the day.
The line worth learning out loud is Psalms 56:4: “In God, I praise his word. In God, I put my trust. I will not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?” If the rest of the chapter feels crowded, hold that one sentence until the room is quiet.
What happens first in Psalms 56? Then try this: Read “In God, I praise his word. In God, I put my trust. I will not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?” once more. What does it show you about God? You do not have to finish every verse. You can close the book after the memory verse and still have read the Bible together.
Group game
Walk the room as if you are moving through Psalms 56. Every time you freeze, a child says one word from Psalms 56:4. The last child says the whole verse.
Craft
On a US Letter sheet, draw one picture from Psalms 56 and write Psalms 56:4 under it. Send it home as tonight’s reminder, not as a decoration contest.
Memory verse
Psalms 56:4
“In God, I praise his word. In God, I put my trust. I will not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?”
Take-home prayer
Father, thank you for Psalms 56. Help us remember Psalms 56:4 when we wake up, and teach us to notice you in an ordinary night. Amen.