Grade 12 - Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States

Sunday School Curriculum Grade 12
Week 4 - The Life of Praise
Objective:
To reveal the value of giving praise as being an occasion to worship God.
To underline its strong association with the personality of David, the singing shepherd.
Memory verse:
―I will praise the Lord according to His righteousness, and will sing praise to the name of the Lord
Most High‖ (Psalm 7:17).
Lesson Outline:
David is a Hebrew name meaning ―loved‖. He is the son of Jesse of Bethlehem and the second
king to rule Israel. He was born in the village of Bethlehem from an Ephrathite out of the tribe of
Judah. He was beautiful as he was fair and had pretty eyes. He was also strong and courageous. In his
youth, he killed a lion and a bear that attacked the flock he was guarding and saved the lamb from
their cruelty. Furthermore, he killed the giant Goliath, while he was still young. This saved his people
from shame before their enemies. Samuel the prophet anointed him on God‘s orders as Israel‘s king
when God rejected Saul. Saul, meanwhile, followed David in an attempt to kill him, but God saved
David from his hands. Then Saul was killed and David became king of Israel.
God praised David and said, ―I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart‖
(Acts 13:22). A chain of kings followed from the house of David, from whom Jesus Christ the Son of
God came to save mankind. David was considered ―the sweet psalmist of Israel‖ (2 Samuel 23:1). He
was named the writer of the Psalms as he said most of them while filled with the spirit of prophecy.
They are full of prophecies concerning the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ incarnate and His
redeeming death, as well as His ascension into Heaven and presence on the right of the Father.
David was a clear symbol of Christ from birth, for Christ was born in David‘s small city of
Bethlehem. David was born in a humble house just like the Lord who left His throne to become a
servant. He was honest in his work as a shepherd symbolizing the good Shepherd. The envy of Saul
towards David represents the envy of the Pharisees towards Jesus. David loved music and he played
the harp with great skill (1 Samuel 16:18,23). It was David who set the order of service in the holy
places of God (2 Chronicles 6:31). He lived for seventy years, thirty before kingship and forty after
being king. He then died in peace and his son Solomon reigned after him. The Church remembers
David on the twenty-second day of Kiahk, may his prayers be with us, Amen.
I. David and Praise
David was constantly preoccupied with God. In his worship, therefore, he constantly praises and
sings as that is the best way of expressing a combination of feelings and meaningful words. All the
songs of praise in the Bible spoken by holy saints were inspired by the Holy Spirit. This is because
prayer and praise proceeding from the soul is a sign and proclamation of the reciprocity of the will
and the grace of God that is poured on it.
A. Praise in the life of David is a characteristic that distinguishes the life of a Christian
David presents a living example of Christian life. David once said, ―By the rivers of Babylon,
there we sat down‖ (Psalm 136). He and his comrades could not offer praise as they were estranged
from the city of the Lord, Jerusalem. This refers to the lack or regression of love in the heart of a
110 JANUARY