Week 652 · about 45 minutes
Psalms 138
Psalms 138 · Memory verse Psalms 138:1
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Queues the lesson plan, this story’s coloring page (Psalms 138), the matching word search and answer key (Psalms 138 word search), the memory-verse tracer, and a parent slip.
Five-minute object lesson
Prop: a paper crown
Hold a paper crown. Read Psalms 138 in about four minutes, stopping at Psalms 138:1: “I will give you thanks with my whole heart. Before the gods, I will sing praises to you.” Ask, “What does this prop have to do with Psalms 138?” Let two children answer, then say the memory verse together.
Story script
Psalms 138 is a real chapter from the Old Testament. It starts, “I will give you thanks with my whole heart. Before the gods, I will sing praises to you.” 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, “Yes, they will sing of the ways of Yahweh; for great is Yahweh’s glory.” Psalms 138 opens with these words: “I will give you thanks with my whole heart. Before the gods, I will sing praises to you.” The line to keep is Psalms 138:1: “I will give you thanks with my whole heart. Before the gods, I will sing praises to you.” Carry the word “give” from that verse into the rest of the day.
The line worth learning out loud is Psalms 138:1: “I will give you thanks with my whole heart. Before the gods, I will sing praises to you.” If the rest of the chapter feels crowded, hold that one sentence until the room is quiet.
What happens first in Psalms 138? Then try this: Read “I will give you thanks with my whole heart. Before the gods, I will sing praises to you.” 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 138. Every time you freeze, a child says one word from Psalms 138:1. The last child says the whole verse.
Craft
On a US Letter sheet, draw one picture from Psalms 138 and write Psalms 138:1 under it. Send it home as tonight’s reminder, not as a decoration contest.
Memory verse
Psalms 138:1
“I will give you thanks with my whole heart. Before the gods, I will sing praises to you.”
Take-home prayer
Father, thank you for Psalms 138. Help us remember Psalms 138:1 when we wake up, and teach us to notice you in an ordinary night. Amen.