Psalm 23: My Good Shepherd is with me forever

1.    REVIEW: Memory Verse (Psalm 23) 

• The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
  He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters,
  He refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for His name’s sake.
  Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me;
  your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
  You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies,
  You anoint my head with oil
  my cup overflows.
  Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life,
  And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

• As we choose to follow our Good Shepherd, we get to live and enjoy the benefits of His Kingdom, ie. His protection, His supply, His care, His guidance .. not just for today or tomorrow, not temporarily but forever, for always.

2.        Activity Suggestions:

• A. Race  
•  Prepare a path with various objects. Each kid has to go through the path, picking up the object and saying the verse that goes with it.
• Before the race, review the psalm with each object. Get kids to repeat verse as teacher holds up each object.
  E.g. hold up staff, "The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing."
  hold up mat. "He makes me lie down in green pastures." etc..

1. “The Lord is my shepherd”: A staff/stick
2. ‘He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters’: A green rug to roll on, with a bowl of water at the end 
3. ‘He refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for His name’s sake.’: Walk along a 1’ x 4’ foam tile on the ground 
4. ‘Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil’: Crawl under/through a dark blanket/cloth 
5. ‘for you are with me ; your rod and your staff, they comfort me’:Pick up a staff or rod and hug it. 
6. ‘You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies,’: Eat 1 piece of cracker [must finish before moving on]. 
7. ‘You anoint my head with oil’: Dab a bit of oil (baby oil / olive oil) on forehead. 
8. ‘my cup overflows.’: Fill a small cup till it overflows 
9. ‘Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life,’:Tie / loop a balloon on each ankle [each with the words goodness and love] using a rubberband after which the racer has to race to the finish line. 
10. ‘And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.': At the finish line, the racer has to sit on a chair labeled “God’s house’.

• B. Quiz / Recap 

1. Spell ‘psalm’. 
2. In Psalm 23, what comforts the sheep?
3. What is the difference between the rod and staff?
4. Who is the Good Shepherd?
5. What does it mean, “the Lord prepares a table before you in the presence of your enemies”? There is a place for us at the Lord’s table; We can feast in peace even when there’s trouble all around because the Good Shepherd is with us and watching over us 
6.  What does it mean, “my cup overflows”?
   God’s supply always overflows – meets all our needs. Our cup is full of God’s life, goodness and blessings.
7. Who wrote Psalm 23?
8. What does the shepherd do for you ?
   Takes care, protects, feeds his sheep – The Lord is our supply. When we have Jesus, we have everything.
9. What does it mean, “You anoint my head with oil”?
   Oil: covers us so the irritations of life don’t bother [bug] us.
   The Good Shepherd anointed us … and gave us His Spirit (2 Cor 1:21-22) – gives us peace with others, we let His love flow in & through us
   Heals – oil used to clean and heal wounds .. can be physical, emotional, mental and spiritual.
10. What does “He refreshes my soul” mean?
    The Good Shepherd gives us a ‘new life’ – not just patches up / repairs / clears our mess.