Praise the Lord!

Psalm 147
Psalm 147:1-20 NIV

Bible Lesson & Activities for Children

 Not in Horse or Human Legs

The Psalms are full of wonderful reminders of God’s power and love. Psalm

147 is a beautiful picture of the remarkable things that God has done and how He cares for us in

many wonderful ways. This lesson highlights how He does not delight in the accomplishments that

we achieve or the things that we do, but in who we are as His children and how we love and fear

Him.

God loves and saves us unconditionally, and not by any merit of our own. This should be a

comforting thought for us, especially in a world of competition and success emphasis. Psalm 147

reminds us of God’s power and generosity, and of how He cares for us in great and praiseworthy

ways. We look to God with respect and fear (the healthy kind of fear). We acknowledge that He

can do anything and controls everything around us, but rejoice that He cares for us as individuals

and sent His Son to die for us and rescue us.

Passage: Psalm 147:1-20

Target Audience: Kindergarten-6th grade

Materials Needed: Musical instruments; trophy/achievement certificate; construction paper;

decorative supplies; glue; markers or crayons; tape; scissors; paper plates; cotton or cotton balls;

band-aids; string; Bibles.

More Resources Online

● Watch the video demonstration of the object lesson.

● Watch the video example for the craft projects.
● Watch the video Bible story “David's Prayers” from Saddleback Kids Club
● Watch the video Bible story “Books of the Bible: Psalms” from Crossroads Kids
● For more free illustrations, visit Christian Clip Arts and Ministry-To-Children

“Praise the Lord!” Psalm 147:1-20 Written by Kristin Highley

Lesson Plan Copyright © 2024 The Sunday School Store. Page 1
 Object Lesson (5 minutes)

Greet children and share some personal accomplishments…

Hello, children of God!

Have you ever done something really cool? What is an achievement that you are proud

of? I’ll tell you about something I am pretty pleased with from my life. Provide an example

of something you have done or achieved. In this example, the achievement involves

running, but it could be anything. Here are some medals I have from running races. Now,

all of the races I do give medals, but the ones I am most proud of are the ones that I won

or placed in. Here are some of the races I did extra well in… isn’t that impressive?

But you know, why are these things important? Is winning races going to get me into

Heaven? Can I take these medals to Heaven? Of course not. Will God love me more if I

have a faster mile time? We know that isn’t true. Nothing that we do can earn Heaven.

God promises us salvation because of the blood of Jesus. We already have that

guaranteed. We can of course use our talents to glorify God and praise Him, but He

doesn’t love us more because of what we do. He cares about it, but He cares more about

the state of our hearts.

There’s a beautiful psalm that reminds us of this. In Psalm 147, we hear some wonderful

reminders of God’s power and greatness. The psalm tells us that God heals the

brokenhearted and binds their wounds, and He controls everything on earth, from the

weather and seasons to animals and their food. God made the stars and knows their

names. He made and knows you! He is mighty and powerful and does remarkable things

that are worthy of praise. But this psalm also tells us that God’s “delight is not in the

strength of a horse, nor his pleasure in the legs of a man, but the Lord takes pleasure in

“Praise the Lord!” Psalm 147:1-20 Written by Kristin Highley

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those who fear Him, whose hope is in His steadfast love.” God cares about our hearts. He

doesn’t need us to earn trophies, but He cares about our love.

What does it mean to fear God? This doesn’t mean we are afraid of Him the way we might

react to a snake in the bathtub. Rather, we fear God in a sense of respect. We recognize

that He is powerful and capable of amazing wonders. When we consider all that He does,

we should want to honor Him and revere His power. It’s sort of like watching your dad build

a great treehouse with dangerous tools, and being amazed by his ability. We can look at

God’s power and be in wonder of Him. What’s truly amazing, though, is that while God is

remarkable and powerful, He loves and cares for each one of us! He gives us all we have

and protects us.

So does this mean that God doesn’t care about our accomplishments? Of course not! He

sees and values everything we do. He gave us our abilities, after all. We can glorify Him

with our talents and lives. But what we do and how well we do it are not the most

significant things in God’s eyes. He cares more about who we are than what we do. He

wants us to love Him and serve Him. He wants us to praise Him, and He is worthy of our

praise. We can give thanks to Him for His mighty deeds and praise Him with our words,

abilities, and lives. And remember that at the end of the day, our achievements will fade

away. But God and His works will last forever!

“Praise the Lord!” Psalm 147:1-20 Written by Kristin Highley

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 Prayer: (Invite the children to repeat each line)

Dear God,

Thank you for your power and might.

We praise you for the great things you do.

Thank you for caring for me and making me.

Thank you for your love

We love you, God!

In Jesus name, Amen!

“Praise the Lord!” Psalm 147:1-20 Written by Kristin Highley

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 Game & Activities Suggestions
(10 minutes)

This passage emphasizes God’s power and might, and how we can praise Him for His
wonderful works. He delights in those who love Him and is pleased when we offer Him
praise. Start with an activity that uses these themes and gets kids thinking.

● Make a joyful noise: many of the psalms call on us to praise the Lord. Have students
praise Him with various methods such as playing instruments, cheering, and
singing. Discuss talents and how we can use them for the Lord.
● “His delight is not in the legs…” Discuss accomplishments and achievements,
encouraging kids to brag about things that they have done or do well. Then remind
them that God’s delight is in our hearts, not in what we do.
● Broken hearts relay: To celebrate how God binds and heals the broken-hearted,
have a relay race to “fix hearts.” Provide students with band-aids and have several
heart papers cut in half on one end of a playing area. Have students line up in two
teams and race to put a band-aid on the hearts and “heal” them.
● Number the stars: Look at pictures of space or constellations, discussing some of
the science of astronomy. Have students create their own “constellations” with star
stickers and chalk. For a more edible version, use toothpicks and mini
marshmallows to make 3-D constellations. It’s a snacktivity!
● What does it eat? The Lord gives to all animals their food. Play a guessing game to
discuss animal diets. Show various animals and have students match them to food
sources to guess what each one eats.
● Snowball fight: Have an indoor snow party in any weather, using paper or cotton
balls to throw “snow.” Then take a look at various weather patterns around the
world, appreciating how God makes and controls the weather.

The Psalms teach us how amazing and worthy of praise the Lord is. Remind students of
what Psalms are and their place in Scripture. Explain that they’ll be “unpacking” one in
particular that highlights God’s care and protection.

“Praise the Lord!” Psalm 147:1-20 Written by Kristin Highley

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 Main Bible Teaching
(15 minutes)

This passage does not lend itself to role playing or interactive elements as much, but is

easy to read aloud and discuss, with focus on important attributes of God. You might

provide interactive elements with some of the weather and animal descriptions, if desired.

Psalm 147:1-3 NIV Praise the Lord.

How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise him!

(2) The LORD builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the exiles of Israel. (3) He heals the

brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.

This psalm opens with a positive reminder that God is worthy of praise. He heals us, not

only physically but He heals our heart hurts. He wants to help our spiritual pain and bring

us back to Himself. Because of this, we should be happy to sing praises to God.

Ask: When have you felt sad? How did God help you?

Psalm 147:4-6 NIV He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by

name. (5) Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit.

(6) The LORD sustains the humble but casts the wicked to the ground.

God is great and mighty. He has made everything in all creation and knows it. Even the

stars have names that He has given and knows. These verses emphasize how His

understanding and power are great “beyond measure.” We can’t even fully comprehend

how great He is. There is great poetry in the psalms. We see a contrast between things

that appear repeatedly. God is great and mighty, but also loves and cares for small

things. He honors the lowly and not the wicked.

“Praise the Lord!” Psalm 147:1-20 Written by Kristin Highley

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Ask: If you could name a star or make up a creature, what would you call it?

Psalm 147:7-11 NIV Sing to the LORD with grateful praise; make music to our God on

the harp. (8) He covers the sky with clouds; he supplies the earth with rain and

makes grass grow on the hills. (9) He provides food for the cattle and for the

young ravens when they call. (10) His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse,

nor his delight in the legs of the warrior; (11) the LORD delights in those who fear him,

who put their hope in his unfailing love.

This is a key passage to the psalm. It encourages us to give thanks to God and for very

good reason. There is a fun progression of power in creation here. God makes the clouds

that bring the rain that waters the earth that grows the grass that makes food for the

animals! The food chain, the water cycle, and all of our scientific ecosystems are created

and controlled by Him.

And yet, even though God is strong, His delight is not in animal or human strength. We

should be encouraged to know that it doesn’t matter how strong or swift we are

physically. It’s not bad to be talented in those ways, but that’s not what brings delight to

God. His pleasure is in our hearts. He wants our love and respect. Note for kids that “fear”

in the context of fearing God refers to honoring and revering Him, recognizing the great

things He can do.

Ask: God makes everything! What is something that He does that amazes you?

Psalm 147:12-15 NIV Extol the LORD, Jerusalem; praise your God, Zion. (13) He

strengthens the bars of your gates and blesses your people within you. (14) He

grants peace to your borders and satisfies you with the finest of wheat. (15) He

sends his command to the earth; his word runs swiftly.

“Praise the Lord!” Psalm 147:1-20 Written by Kristin Highley

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These verses remind us that God blesses us individually, too. He gives us food and peace

and blessings. He strengthens and helps us in every way imaginable.

Ask: How do you give praise to God? (Sing, play an instrument, tell others about Him, etc.)

Psalm 147:16-20 NIV He spreads the snow like wool and scatters the frost like

ashes. (17) He hurls down his hail like pebbles. Who can withstand his icy blast?

(18) He sends his word and melts them; he stirs up his breezes, and the waters flow.

(19) He has revealed his word to Jacob, his laws and decrees to Israel. (20) He has

done this for no other nation; they do not know his laws. Praise the LORD.

God controls the weather and the seasons. Even the weather we might not like much is by

His design. And yet God loves His people. He designates nations and cares for them. He

loves us and deals with us according to His will and word.

Ask: What is your favorite season? How can we thank God for His mighty work, even when

we might not like it as much? (Can we give thanks for ice storms??)

God controls everything in the world, including us! But even though He has great power

and might over all things, He loves us as individuals. He cares for each part of His creation,

especially for people. He calls us to give Him praise because He is worthy and deserving

of it. We can do that through our talents, time, love, and devotion to God and to others.

Give Him thanks and praise in all things!

“Praise the Lord!” Psalm 147:1-20 Written by Kristin Highley

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 Craft Activities (15 minutes)

The Psalms remind us of God’s greatness and call us to love and praise Him for it. Psalm

147 recounts many of the Lord’s amazing attributes, and these crafts remind students of

His power and care. A “Binding Hearts Card” celebrates that God heals the brokenhearted

and bind wounds. A “Wheel of Seasons” reflects on how God creates and controls all

things, weather and otherwise. Let’s get crafty!

“Praise the Lord!” Psalm 147:1-20 Written by Kristin Highley

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 Craft one: “Binding Hearts Card”

You will need:

● Construction paper or cardstock

● Decorations (stickers, etc.)

● Band-aids

● Crayons or markers

● Scissors

● Glue

● String or ribbon (optional for display)

Procedure:

1. Cut a heart out of paper or cardstock.

*Optional: cut or tear the heart in half.

2. If desired, glue the heart onto another

paper as a backdrop.

3. Attach band-aids to “heal” the broken

heart.

4. Add verses, captions, and additional decorations.

5. Give the car away or attach a string to hang it up and remember God’s love.

“Praise the Lord!” Psalm 147:1-20 Written by Kristin Highley

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 Craft Two: “Wheel of Seasons”

You will need:

● Paper plate

● Construction paper/cardstock

● Crayons or markers

● Yarn or string

● Hole punch

● Scissors

● Glue

● Extra decorations (Optional)

Procedure:

1. Divide the plate into four sections to represent the four

seasons.

2. Assign a season to each section of the plate.

Decorate the sections with items to match (cotton

“snow” for winter, flower stickers for spring, etc.).

3. Add verses or captions on a separate card or paper.

4. Attach the verses to the plate.

5. Use a hole punch to create a hole and add string to hang and display the plate.

“Praise the Lord!” Psalm 147:1-20 Written by Kristin Highley

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 Psalm 147:1a NIV

Praise the LORD.

How good it is to sing praises to our God,

“Praise the Lord!” Psalm 147:1-20 Written by Kristin Highley

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 “Praise the Lord!” Psalm 147:1-20 Written by Kristin Highley
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 Word Search Puzzle

Praise - Lord - Jerusalem - Stars - Names - Thanksgiving

Rain - Grass - Beasts - Blessing - Jacob - Israel

“Praise the Lord!” Psalm 147:1-20 Written by Kristin Highley

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 Word Search Answers

“Praise the Lord!” Psalm 147:1-20 Written by Kristin Highley

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