Week 593 · about 45 minutes
Psalms 79
Psalms 79 · Memory verse Psalms 79:1
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Queues the lesson plan, this story’s coloring page (Psalms 79), the matching word search and answer key (Psalms 79 word search), the memory-verse tracer, and a parent slip.
Five-minute object lesson
Prop: a small lamp
Hold a small lamp. Read Psalms 79 in about four minutes, stopping at Psalms 79:1: “God, the nations have come into your inheritance. They have defiled your holy temple. They have laid Jerusalem in heaps.” Ask, “What does this prop have to do with Psalms 79?” Let two children answer, then say the memory verse together.
Story script
Psalms 79 is a real chapter from the Old Testament. It starts, “God, the nations have come into your inheritance. They have defiled your holy temple. They have laid Jerusalem in heaps.” 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, “For they have devoured Jacob, and destroyed his homeland.” Psalms 79 opens with these words: “God, the nations have come into your inheritance. They have defiled your holy temple. They have laid Jerusalem in heaps.” The line to keep is Psalms 79:1: “God, the nations have come into your inheritance. They have defiled your holy temple. They have laid Jerusalem in heaps.” Carry the word “nations” from that verse into the rest of the day.
The line worth learning out loud is Psalms 79:1: “God, the nations have come into your inheritance. They have defiled your holy temple. They have laid Jerusalem in heaps.” If the rest of the chapter feels crowded, hold that one sentence until the room is quiet.
What happens first in Psalms 79? Then try this: Read “God, the nations have come into your inheritance. They have defiled your holy temple. They have laid…” 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 79. Every time you freeze, a child says one word from Psalms 79:1. The last child says the whole verse.
Craft
On a US Letter sheet, draw one picture from Psalms 79 and write Psalms 79:1 under it. Send it home as tonight’s reminder, not as a decoration contest.
Memory verse
Psalms 79:1
“God, the nations have come into your inheritance. They have defiled your holy temple. They have laid Jerusalem in heaps.”
Take-home prayer
Father, thank you for Psalms 79. Help us remember Psalms 79:1 when we wake up, and teach us to notice you in an ordinary night. Amen.