Week 685 · about 45 minutes
Proverbs 21
Proverbs 21 · Memory verse Proverbs 21:1
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Queues the lesson plan, this story’s coloring page (Proverbs 21), the matching word search and answer key (Proverbs 21 word search), the memory-verse tracer, and a parent slip.
Five-minute object lesson
Prop: a piece of bread
Hold a piece of bread. Read Proverbs 21 in about four minutes, stopping at Proverbs 21:1: “The king’s heart is in Yahweh’s hand like the watercourses. He turns it wherever he desires.” Ask, “What does this prop have to do with Proverbs 21?” Let two children answer, then say the memory verse together.
Story script
Proverbs 21 is a real chapter from the Old Testament. It starts, “The king’s heart is in Yahweh’s hand like the watercourses. He turns it wherever he desires.” 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, “The man who wanders out of the way of understanding shall rest in the assembly of the departed spirits.” Proverbs 21 opens with these words: “The king’s heart is in Yahweh’s hand like the watercourses. He turns it wherever he desires.” The line to keep is Proverbs 21:1: “The king’s heart is in Yahweh’s hand like the watercourses. He turns it wherever he desires.” Carry the word “king” from that verse into the rest of the day.
The line worth learning out loud is Proverbs 21:1: “The king’s heart is in Yahweh’s hand like the watercourses. He turns it wherever he desires.” If the rest of the chapter feels crowded, hold that one sentence until the room is quiet.
What happens first in Proverbs 21? Then try this: Read “The king’s heart is in Yahweh’s hand like the watercourses. He turns it wherever he desires.” 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 Proverbs 21. Every time you freeze, a child says one word from Proverbs 21:1. The last child says the whole verse.
Craft
On a US Letter sheet, draw one picture from Proverbs 21 and write Proverbs 21:1 under it. Send it home as tonight’s reminder, not as a decoration contest.
Memory verse
Proverbs 21:1
“The king’s heart is in Yahweh’s hand like the watercourses. He turns it wherever he desires.”
Take-home prayer
Father, thank you for Proverbs 21. Help us remember Proverbs 21:1 when we wake up, and teach us to notice you in an ordinary night. Amen.