Shout It From the Mountain

A Psalmody Workbook
for Children

By Dr. Carl S. Hale ©

This workbook may be printed & used
by any church, group, or individual as
long as it is offered to children & their
parents at no charge.

This credit must remain attached:

Copyright 2006 © by Dr. Carl S. Hale
Used with permission.

 

Long ago there lived a great king in Israel named King David. King David ruled over the Hebrew people, who were also called the Israelites. The Israelites were very special to God. They were the first people to worship & believe in the one living God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, & Jacob, who was also called Yahweh or Jehovah. God loved the Israelites with all His heart. He protected them from their enemies. God also helped them in times of trouble.

King David loved & admired God. He wanted God to hear him, so King David spoke to God using special prayers called Psalms. The word psalm means “song.” Psalms were read & sung by the Israelites when they worshipped God. Even today, these songs & poems are found in the Bible. You have probably even sang a psalm in church!

Many psalms thanked God & praised Him for His goodness & mercy. Just like you & I, God loves praise! When we praise Him, it is like giving God a gift to unwrap. He can’t resist it. Our gift makes God feel very loved and very happy. So like all of us, God loves the gifts we give Him from our heart. The psalms in the Bible were like gifts to God from King David & the Israelites. But psalms were also more than gifts. Some psalms asked God for His help when people were hurting …or in trouble.


King David asked God for help when the nation of Israel was in trouble, and he also asked God to forgive him when he did something bad. When a person does something bad, which makes God unhappy, this wrong action is called a sin. Sins can be big or little. King David even asked God to forgive his big sins!


Because God loves us with all His heart, He sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, to pay for our sins. So now God forgives our sins-even really big ones-if we believe in His Son Jesus! In fact, Jesus is God! God came down to earth as a man, Jesus Christ, to save us. That is why we call Him “God the Father, Son, & Holy Spirit,” because He is the same God that King David prayed to, the “God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.“ Now every person who calls on the name of the Messiah or Son of God, Jesus Christ, will be saved, which means they will spend all of Eternity in heaven with Jesus. Praise God!


Let’s get back to King David’s sins. King David wrote psalms to tell God that he had sinned. He was really sorry for his sins, and he knew in his heart that he never wanted to act like that again. When you know in your heart that you don’t ever want to sin against God again, this is called repentance.


When you repent, you go away from sin. So if sin is going left, then you choose to go to the right. King David was repentant because he knew that his sins broke God’s heart. So he asked God to forgive him, and God did! Thank you, Jesus! When God answered the prayers of King David & his people, they wrote new psalms thanking God for helping them. So psalms are prayers to God that

1) praise Him for being awesome, 2) ask Him to help us, 3) thank Him for helping us, 4) ask Him to forgive our sins, 5) worship Him as our God, 6) tell Him anything else that is important to us.

You may be thinking: “how can I thank or praise God, or ask Him for help?” Well…there is a very special psalm that gives us a clue. It is psalm 33:3, which says: ‘Sing unto Him a new song…We all love new things. Well, God loves to see & hear new things too. But from who? From you! You can write your own psalm to God-a new psalm or song. Then you will have a special gift to give to God. And I know He will love it!

You may be saying to yourself: “How can I write a psalm?” “I’m not a king. I can’t even drive.” Yes, you can. No, not drive! But you can write a psalm. Anyone who loves Jesus, or who has a problem, or who wants to share something in his or her heart, can write a psalm to God. In fact, you only need 3 things to write a psalm to God: 1) a heart , 2) a pencil & paper, and 3) words.


Now, we’re going to show you how to write a psalm to God! Open up your heart & get ready to praise the greatest God ever! First, we have to greet God. We have to get His attention by calling out to Him. We could say “Hey God!” or “look at me Jesus!” But remember, this isn’t your brother or a kid down the street-it is God Himself, the maker of heaven & earth! And remember, it is a “new song.” You must find the right words in your heart. Don’t put on old shoes, but new ones. Try to say something that will make God feel great, like:

"Hear me, Jesus, Son of God…
Abba, heed my cries for help…
Come, O Living God…
O Jesus, King of heaven…"

By the way, “Abba” means daddy because God is our true heavenly father.

Write a greeting below:

O Jesus
_______________________________________
_______________________________________

After you greet God, you must have something important to say to Him. Actually, anything that is important to you is important to God. So what’s important to you? Look in your heart. Write it down.

This is important to me:
________________________________________
________________________________________

Now you must decide if you want to 1) praise or thank God, 2) ask Him for help, 3) ask Him to forgive a sin, or 4) talk to Him about something important. God is always listening. He never sleeps or stops listening-ever! As a matter of fact, He watches you when you’re sleeping. Even when mom and dad are asleep, God is still watching over you. He listens to you breathe at night, which is music to His ears, because then He knows you are safe and sound. What a wonderful God! So God is listening. He’s ready. So get ready, set, let’s go!

Check one or more:

__ I want to praise Him.
__ I want to thank Him.
__ I want to ask Him for help.
__ I want forgiveness for a sin.
__ I want to talk to God about:
___________________________________________
___________________________________________

I am praising God because He:
___________________________________________
___________________________________________

I am thanking God because He:
___________________________________________
___________________________________________

I am asking God to help me with a problem that is troubling me:
___________________________________________
___________________________________________

I am asking God to forgive a sin:
___________________________________________
___________________________________________

I am asking God to hear or do something important: ____________________________________________
____________________________________________

 

Poetry

Now I want to teach you about poetry. Psalms are written with poetry. Poetry is using new & special words to say something. Words are like shoes: some are old and some are new. You want to use words that are like new shoes: shiny and colorful and fine and clean. Don’t use old words, which are like a pair of smelly old shoes. Instead, put them back in the closet!

Old Smelly Shoes:

“You are a neat dude, God.

“Thank you for the stuff.”

“Please forgive my sister because
it was all her fault.”

“Why didn’t you get me a puppy
like I asked for?”

“You’re even better than Santa
Claus.”

“I know you’re really up there
because we got out of school
early today.”

New Clean Shoes:

“Awesome God, who is greater than Thee? You are like a high mountain. You are greater than an eagle in the sky!”

“O Lord of heaven and earth, Jesus, who is more beautiful than you? You are truly glorious and wonderful; nothing on earth compares to you! You are like a gentle rain through a sparkling rainbow.”

“Prince of Peace, your heart is an ocean of loving kindness, for you heard my cries & saved me!”

Poets like to compare one thing to another. So God is compared to “a high mountain,” “an eagle in the sky,” “a gentle rain through a sparkling rainbow,” and “an ocean of loving kindness.”

Because God is so wonderful, you can compare Him to many other wonderful things here on earth. Even so, did you know that God is more wonderful than everything on earth? All the books in the world can’t even say how wonderful He is! And did you also know that His miracles are without end? There are too many miracles to count, like all the stars in the sky. Wow! God the Father, Son, & Holy Spirit is awesome!


Let’s practice comparing God to wonderful things on earth:

O God, You are like a:
__________________________________________ __________________________________________

Lord Jesus, You are greater than a:
___________________________________________
___________________________________________

Jesus, You are more wonderful than:
___________________________________________
___________________________________________

Heavenly Father, You are like a:
___________________________________________
___________________________________________

Lord of lords, King of kings, you are so:
___________________________________________
___________________________________________

Mighty Savior, you make me want to:
___________________________________________
___________________________________________

OK, now that you’ve practiced writing poetry, choose a psalm template & write your own psalm to God. Remember, use new & fine words. Put on your best pair of new shoes. Your psalm is very special because you wrote it. I know that Jesus will feel very loved when you read (or sing) your psalm to Him. Praise God!