Each JWL lesson has a collectable card alongside high-quality character images and a colouring page that links to each lesson. (Psalm lesson have no hero card and are predominantly colouring pages) Click on the images below to see a larger version. Save the images by right click + ‘save image as’ (computers) OR long press + ‘save image’ (mobile).
These images are NOT copyright free.
These resources are provided for personal/classroom use only. Use can use them for teaching, games, publicity, decor, big screen presentations, flannelgraphs, stickers, or any other non-commercial activity in your church, school, home, or organised group. You may not use them in products you are going to sell — both printed and digital, or to upload the original images online, on websites, social media or in YouTube videos. Any questions, please reach out to me using the contact page link at the end of the page.
This week we look at Psalm 119. I’ve only used part of the ‘bet’ refrain from this psalm, as it’s the longest in the bible. If you have an older group or older group members, you may wish to give them another refrain from this psalm to explore too. This part of the song that references youth and so directly speaks to those who are still journeying towards adulthood. It also gives a really practical answer, in that we should dive in to the word of God, swim in the messages he gives us and not just dip our toes in the water!
These psalm lessons follow the Lectionary passages for the six weeks of year B Lent.
This retold version of the Bible passage is supplied for inspiration, feel free to omit or embellish to give it your personal voice.
Main passage: Psalm 119:9-16 Additional Passages: Psalm 119
We are going to read a song, a song Jesus may have sung with his friends, a song from the book of songs to be sung – the book called Psalms. This Psalm is a little bit special – it’s an acrostic, it gives us a little poem or verse for each of the the twenty two letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Have you ever made up an acrostic? You take each letter and use it to say something. Perhaps you know an acrostic for the colours of the rainbow or the points on a compass?
Twenty two poems would take a very, very, long time to read. Psalm 119 is the longest psalm and it’s also the longest chapter in the whole bible! But just because we can’t look at all the poems doesn’t mean we can’t look at just one. Lets choose the second one, the letter ‘b’ or ‘Bet’ in Hebrew. Listen carefully and every time the writer mentions scripture (messages from God) clap your hands in the air.
9 How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping your word.
10 I have sought you with all my heart; don’t let me wander from your commands.
11 I have treasured your word in my heart so that I may not sin against you.
12 Lord, may you be blessed; teach me your statutes.
13 With my lips I proclaim all the judgments from your mouth.
14 I rejoice in the way revealed by your decrees as much as in all riches.
15 I will meditate on your precepts and think about your ways.
16 I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.
Wow – the writer must really love the word of God to mention it so much in his poem. Sometimes when we read the bible we just read the popular stories but there is so much more to discover. When we see the big picture of the whole bible it helps us to understand all the small bits too. When we read the psalms as we have done for the last few weeks it helps us understand the way people have always worshipped God. When we read the Old Testament it helps us to understand Jesus. To understand why Jesus came and why he had to die at Easter time. We should treasure the bible just like the psalm writer did.
Psalm 107 is long, but for this lesson we’ve focused on a tiny part of it — what is usually written as the first and fourth paragraph (or pericope for the theology scholars among us). These look at gathering and rescuing God’s people, and these games echo those ideas.
A naming exercise where you take it in turns naming something you are thankful for, assign it a mime or action and then as a group make the action accompanied by a whoop of joy! Link: verse 22
‘Stuck in the Mud’
All Ages
Any size group
No Setup time
Noisy game
Space needed
A classic game where getting tagged freezes you until another player can rescue you. (Also called freeze tag.) Link: being rescued.
Psalm Beat
Ages 7+
Any size group
No Setup time
Noisy game
Can be seated
Using a small section of words from the Psalm as lyrics, have the youngsters make up a tune or a beat to sing the words. Add percussion instruments and work in pairs. Link: Psalms were songs sung, not read.
Faithful Grip
All Ages
Any size group
Requires setup time
Quiet game
Can be seated
Each child has a piece of ice they must pass between their hands, never stopping. They lose when they drop the ice. The winner is the last one holding their ice. Link: Even with all life’s moving parts God never lets us go.
This is a small moving papercraft based on Psalm 107 verse 22 “Let them offer thanksgiving sacrifices and announce his works with shouts of joy.” This is a little mechanism papercraft that opens to reveal the end of the verse and see the people lift up in their ‘shouts of joy’.
Each JWL lesson has a collectable card alongside high-quality character images and a colouring page that links to each lesson. (Psalm lesson have no hero card and are predominantly colouring pages) Click on the images below to see a larger version. Save the images by right click + ‘save image as’ (computers) OR long press + ‘save image’ (mobile).
These images are NOT copyright free.
These resources are provided for personal/classroom use only. Use can use them for teaching, games, publicity, decor, big screen presentations, flannelgraphs, stickers, or any other non-commercial activity in your church, school, home, or organised group. You may not use them in products you are going to sell — both printed and digital, or to upload the original images online, on websites, social media or in YouTube videos. Any questions, please reach out to me using the contact page link at the end of the page.
