Single lesson
Psalm 60: Victory with God
Psalms 60:1–12
Psalm 60 is a prayer-poem that moves from trouble to trust. Children will hear strong images, notice who is speaking, and see how the psalm asks God for help when people cannot save themselves.
Before you teach
In these verses, the speaker talks to God about rejection, shaking land and hardship, then asks for restoration and rescue. The psalm also reports God speaking about places and victory, before ending with a request for help and a statement of confidence in God.
Students will be able to identify the speaker, two main images, and the psalm’s movement from distress to prayer to confidence.
Welcome: hearing a prayer that changes direction
4 minTell the children they are listening to a psalm, which is a poem or prayer. Explain that this psalm begins with painful words such as “rejected”, “broken” and “angry”, but it does not stay there. Ask them to listen for changing feelings and repeated words about God and help.
Psalms 60:1, Psalms 60:11, Psalms 60:12
Read and explain: who is speaking, and what does the trouble sound like?
8 minRead verses 1 to 5 slowly. Show that the speaker talks to God as “you” and speaks for a group as “us”, so this is a prayer spoken to God for many people. Explain the images: trembling land and fractures picture deep trouble, and staggering wine pictures weakness. Then verse 5 asks God to save and answer.
Psalms 60:1, Psalms 60:2, Psalms 60:3, Psalms 60:5
Discuss: a banner, then God speaks
6 minNotice the change in verse 4, where God gives a banner to those who fear him. Then read verses 6 to 10. Point out that the psalm says, “God has spoken”, then lists places to show God’s triumph and rule. After that, the prayer asks who will lead “me” and repeats the hard fact of rejection.
Psalms 60:4, Psalms 60:6, Psalms 60:7, Psalms 60:8, Psalms 60:9, Psalms 60:10
Make and respond: illustrated prayer card
8 minChildren make a simple folded card with three panels labelled Trouble, Ask, Trust. In the first panel they draw one image from the opening trouble verses. In the second they copy a short request for help. In the third they draw the idea from the final verse or copy a short exact phrase from it.
Psalms 60:1, Psalms 60:2, Psalms 60:3, Psalms 60:5, Psalms 60:11, Psalms 60:12
Closing: say the message of the psalm together
4 minReview the movement of the psalm: distress, God’s word, then confidence. Ask who is being addressed and who says “us”, “we”, and once “me”. Invite volunteers to name one image and the final message. Finish by reading verses 11 and 12 aloud together.
Psalms 60:9, Psalms 60:11, Psalms 60:12
Questions to explore
What words in the first verses show that the speaker is in real trouble?
Look for the repeated “you have” statements and the images of trembling land and staggering to describe the trouble carefully.
Psalms 60:1, Psalms 60:2, Psalms 60:3
How can you tell who is speaking in this psalm?
Notice that the speaker talks to God as “you”, often says “us” and “we”, and once asks, “Who will bring me into the strong city?”
Psalms 60:1, Psalms 60:5, Psalms 60:9, Psalms 60:11, Psalms 60:12
What does the ending teach about where help really comes from?
Compare the line about human help being vain with the final line that says, “Through God we will do valiantly.”
Psalms 60:11, Psalms 60:12
Make, think or respond
Trouble, Ask, Trust Prayer Card
What you’ll need
- paper or card
- pencils or crayons
- marker
Try it together
- Fold one sheet into three panels.
- Label the panels Trouble, Ask, and Trust.
- Draw one picture from Psalms 60:1, Psalms 60:2, or Psalms 60:3 in the first panel.
- Write a short prayer from Psalms 60:5 or Psalms 60:11 in the second panel.
- Draw the idea from Psalms 60:12 or copy a short exact phrase from Psalms 60:12 in the third panel.
This activity helps children see how Psalm 60 moves from grief and need to confidence in God.
Adapt for your group
- For younger children, pre-write the three headings and let them choose one image to draw from each part of the psalm.
- For older or stronger readers, ask them to copy one exact line from the psalm into each panel and explain why it fits Trouble, Ask, or Trust.
An optional closing prayer
“God, when things feel shaky and hard, please hear us, help us, and teach us to trust you more than human strength. Amen.”
Read the Bible passage World English Bible Classic
Psalms 60
1 God, you have rejected us. You have broken us down. You have been angry. Restore us, again.
2 You have made the land tremble. You have torn it. Mend its fractures, for it quakes.
3 You have shown your people hard things. You have made us drink the wine that makes us stagger.
4 You have given a banner to those who fear you, that it may be displayed because of the truth. Selah.
5 So that your beloved may be delivered, save with your right hand, and answer us.
6 God has spoken from his sanctuary: “I will triumph. I will divide Shechem, and measure out the valley of Succoth.
7 Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine. Ephraim also is the defense of my head. Judah is my scepter.
8 Moab is my wash basin. I will throw my sandal on Edom. I shout in triumph over Philistia.”
9 Who will bring me into the strong city? Who has led me to Edom?
10 Haven’t you, God, rejected us? You don’t go out with our armies, God.
11 Give us help against the adversary, for the help of man is vain.
12 Through God we will do valiantly, for it is he who will tread down our adversaries.
World English Bible Classic. Public domain.