praise

Psalm 8

~ hebidsthemcome ~ Leave a comment

Hey all! Today (and for the next few days) we are talking about the book of Psalms. A Psalm (sawlm) is a song.

There is a whole book of the Bible just of songs! Most of them were written by King David (David and Goliath, King of Israel), but some were written by other people.

Mostly the songs are either asking God for help, or thanking God for all He’s done for us.

Did you know you can sing songs to God when you are sad or happy? Even when you are mad or confused! Some of the songs we sing in church today come from the book of Psalms!

There are different kinds of psalms–some tell God “thank you,” some ask God for help, some tell the story of God’s people, and some are just to tell God how wonderful He is…they tell about God!

Our first psalm we are going to read is Psalm 8. This is a song that praises God for being SO big and wonderful and also for loving US!

psalm-8-sun

 

NIV:

1 Lord, our Lord,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory
    in the heavens.
2 Through the praise of children and infants
    you have established a stronghold against your enemies,
    to silence the foe and the avenger.
3 When I consider your heavens,
    the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
    which you have set in place,
4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
    human beings that you care for them?

5 You have made them a little lower than the angels
    and crowned them with glory and honor.
6 You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
    you put everything under their feet:
7 all flocks and herds,
    and the animals of the wild,
8 the birds in the sky,
    and the fish in the sea,
    all that swim the paths of the seas.

9 Lord, our Lord,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!

And an easier read for kids, the Living Bible translation:

1 O Lord our God, the majesty and glory of your name fills all the earth and overflows the heavens. 2 You have taught the little children to praise you perfectly. May their example shame and silence your enemies!

praise

3 When I look up into the night skies and see the work of your fingers—the moon and the stars you have made— 4 I cannot understand how you can bother with mere puny man, to pay any attention to him!

stars

5 And yet you have made him only a little lower than the angels and placed a crown of glory and honor upon his head.

hug

6 You have put him in charge of everything you made; everything is put under his authority: 7 all sheep and oxen, and wild animals too, 8 the birds and fish, and all the life in the sea. 

an

9 O Jehovah, our Lord, the majesty and glory of your name fills the earth.

jehovah

 

 

Isn’t it amazing that the GREAT BIG God who made EVERYTHING and is in charge of EVERYTHING loves us? He knows you and He loves you! Wow.

(We didn’t do a craft today,  but you could certainly illustrate these verses, or make a list of the ways God is amazing. Or maybe make an earth from a painted paper plate and write verse 1 on it.)

THIS VIDEO is a popular song based on these verses by Lincoln Brewster (posted by Bob Marshall).

THIS VIDEO is a kid’s version of the well-known hymn version of these verses posted by Kids Praise Kids.

THIS VIDEO posted by jwoelmer2 has these verses in Hebrew set to music…so you can hear how David or the Israelites *may* have sounded when THEY sang the song.

Thanks for joining us! Love to you all!

David dances

~ hebidsthemcome ~ Leave a comment

Hi all! Tonight’s story is from 2 Samuel 6.

daviddances

Do you remember the ark of the covenant…that special box of God’s power? It was still away from the church where it was supposed to be. The Philistines had taken it a long time ago and brought it back, but it was just at some guy’s house. (His name was Abinadab and he and his family had been taking good care of it, but it was supposed to be in the tabernacle.)

David, now that he was king, decided NOW was the time to bring it back where it belonged.  David and a LOT of helpers went to the man’s house and they very carefully carried the box just the way God wanted. They weren’t supposed to touch the box…only the poles it rested on.

ark

But along the way, they almost dropped it and one of the guys reached out to help the ark so it wouldn’t fall and he died right then and there! That may seem mean, since he was trying to help…but God had been very clear: the people were NOT to touch the ark. David was so so scared and so so sad that he said “No more. We’ll leave the ark right here.” They were right by another man’s house named Obed-edom. The ark stayed there at that man’s house for 3 months and then someone told King David “God has been very good to Obed-edom since he has been taking care of the ark of the covenant.” So David decided maybe they could try again.

This time, they did carry the ark back into the city to the tabernacle and everyone was SOOOOO happy! The special box that showed all the people God’s power was BACK! They played music and danced and sang songs, some people cried! Oh they were SO happy! (It’s like if you lost your FAVORITE stuffed animal, or if you got lost from your mom or dad and then you FOUND your favorite thing, or your mom or dad and all went back home together…how HAPPY that would be!)

Even King David was so happy HE was dancing. But his wife was not happy. “That’s not very dignified. YOU are the king. You shouldn’t be out there being silly like THOSE people. You are supposed to be important….in charge…you should not be dancing.”

But David said, “Ha! I was dancing for God! I remember all the good things God has done for me. He made me king, He chose ME! I don’t care HOW silly I look!  I want to praise God!”

Do you know there’s no wrong way to praise God? To thank Him for the things He has done for us? Sometimes at church we talk to God to say “thank you” or we sing songs or play music–you can draw a picture, you can write your own songs or dance as silly as you want. You can celebrate God however you want…and it doesn’t matter HOW silly you look! God LOVES a thankful heart–when we praise Him, it makes Him so happy.

What are you thankful for today? What do you want to celebrate about God? Now take some time with your family to praise God–with music, art, prayer, dancing…whichever way you want!

Thanks for joining us! Love to you all!

Make a Joyful Noise!

~ hebidsthemcome ~ Leave a comment

Hi again friends.

Our last topic for this month is praising God! Our verses are Colossians 3:16, Psalm 100, Romans 12:1, and John 4:24.

The Bible tells us to teach and encourage one another through our songs and poems. We can worship God with grateful hearts for ALL He has done for us. Worshipping God is not just singing though. You can worship Him in your heart, with music, with your kind words and by making good choices.

You can sing or play an instrument, write poems or stories, create art or dance…there are so many ways to praise God.

When we pray, we talk to God. Praise is just thankful prayer…telling God how wonderful He is and how muh we love Him.

There is a whole book of the Bible calls Psalms and it is songs people wrote for God.

Do you have a favorite song about God?

Take some time as a family to praise God together. If your kids are old enough, maybe you could write a song together.

All for today, join us in July as we begin journeying through the Bible again, starting in Genesis. Love to you all!