Praising God

Tuesday:	Praising God
Story:	David the Shepherd Boy
Objective:	We can praise God by singing to him.
Main Passage:	1st Samuel 16:18
Other Passages:	Psalm 86:10, Psalm 19:1, Psalm 23, Psalm 69:30-31

Introduction: Praise

Have you ever had someone say to you, Wow. Good job! Maybe you colored a picture real nice, or picked up all your toys. And somebody noticed and said, Good job! That's what we call praise. When someone says something nice about you, that is praise.

Story: David the Shepherd Boy

This is David. (Show picture.) He was a shepherd. He took care of his father's sheep. David loved God and liked to praise him. Sometimes while the sheep were eating grass, David sang songs and played his little harp^*. David made up songs about God and how good he is.

One song said, For you are great and do marvelous things, you alone are God. Sometimes David's songs talked about what a wonderful world God made. David sang about how we are like sheep and God is like a shepherd to us. He helps us have food and water and he keeps us safe. God also helps us do what is right. David said, I will praise God's name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving. This will please the Lord...

Application: Singing

David knew that God likes for us to say good things about Him. God likes us to thank Him. One way we can do that is to sing songs about God. He hears us sing, and it makes him happy.

Let's sing a song to God now. (Sing a song of praise or thanksgiving that the children know.)

Copyright © 2004—2013, Jill Eady and the Galion Grace Brethren Church. See licensing for information about rights and permissions. Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

* - Most translations call David's instrument a lyre; but I have yet to meet an adult, let alone a preschooler, who can tell me how a lyre is different from any other (hand-held) harp without looking it up in an encyclopedia.