We began with lesson material from YouTube, from a video channel with songs by Christian musician Chris Tomlin. We listened to his worship song “How Great is Our God”. This song was the introduction to our discussion of King David, and his desire to show proper honor to God Almighty. King David had secured a safe place in Jerusalem to keep the Ark of the Covenant, where it was kept inside a tent. We discussed the importance of the Ark, and how God was physically present at the place where the Ark was kept. God is a Spirit and is unseen, but His presence could be seen because of the bright shining light of the Glory of God that was present where the Ark was at.
King David thought it was wrong that he lived in a palace, but the Ark was kept down the street, in an ordinary tent. God Almighty deserved the BEST, so David wanted to build God a Temple. David already was well known for his worship and praise of God, and his bringing together singers and musicians at what we now call ‘The Tabernacle of David’ for worship. David also understood the concept of Honor, and that worship of God involved more that just words and music. Showing Honor to God would also be done by sacrificing and giving toward the construction of God’s Temple.
The lesson continued, with Nathan, who was a prophet of God, coming to David with a word of prophecy from God. Nathan’s prophecy was two-fold. David would be blessed by having his line of descendants always reigning as king, and one of his sons would be the king who would build God’s Temple. This meant that King David was commanded not to build the Temple himself, however.
In class it was emphasized that David felt that it was an offense that he had the royal treatment and lived in the royal dwelling, but God Almighty’s presence was only in a tent. This was shabby, in comparison to David’s palace. The lesson closed with comments, first, on David’s prayer to God after he heard Nathan’s prophecy. This prayer was filled with declarations of praise, thanksgiving and honor to God. 1 Chronicles 17: 19-20a are part of David’s prayer illustrating his sense of worth and great honor toward God:
19 O Lord, for Your servant’s sake, and according to Your own heart, You have done all this greatness, in making known all these great things. 20 O Lord, there is none like You, nor is there any God besides You, [NKJV]
The second comment was about how King Solomon did complete the building of the Temple, and dedicated it to the Lord with great worship and offering of sacrifices.
Honoring God is pleasing to Him, and it is something we all should do. Honor is demonstrated, particularly when we take actions showing honor and make sacrifices in doing so, but honor starts with having an attitude of honor. King David is an excellent example of this. Our opening worship song, “How Great is Our God”, is another example of having an attitude of honor, expressed in a song.
After closing the lesson, we recited our new memory verse from Revelation, chapter 4, and also a reminder was given about continuing to work on memorizing Psalm 19: 1.
The 5th grade teaching plan includes listening to several contemporary Christian worship songs, introduced at various times during the year, and later in the year emphasizing our class theme song “Children of God” (recorded by the group Third Day).
The Memory Verse assigned this week is Revelation 4: 11. Each week for the rest of the Summer, we also are permitting students to say the previously assigned verse, Psalm 19: 1, using the NIV text:
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. - Psalm 19:1
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