(15-20 minutes, easy set-up)
Students will study Psalm 139:1-16 to understand that God expresses His love for us through His knowledge, His presence, and His power.
(15-20 minutes, easy set-up)
Provide a copy of the Student Worksheet and a pen for each student. Also provide a dry erase board and marker.
Ask: How do you know when someone loves you? After students give responses, ask: How do you show others that you love them? Note any similarities in responses. Explain that today’s lesson gives us insight into the way God shows His love for each of us.
1. God’s love is expressed through His knowledge of us (Psalm 139:1-4).
Distribute a copy of the Student Worksheet and a pen to each student. Enlist a volunteer to read Psalm 139:1-4. Ask: How is God’s knowledge of us described in these verses? Emphasize the details about our lives that God is “intimately acquainted” with. Ask: What do you think the psalmist meant by “intimately acquainted”? Allow volunteers to share their thoughts, and then explain that “intimately acquainted” implies that God knows about us because is close to us and with us daily.
Enlist two volunteers, one with fairly long hair. Instruct one volunteer to take a very small section of the other volunteer’s hair and to count the number of hairs in that section. (Note: Watch for signs of frustration, as this is difficult to do since hair is so thin.) Invite a third volunteer to read Luke 12:7. Explain that the numbering the hairs of our heads demonstrates [God's Love For Us] through His knowledge of the tiniest details of our lives. Ask: How does God’s knowledge of you differ from other people’s knowledge of you? Allow for responses, then share that we can hide parts of ourselves from people, but we can hide nothing of ourselves from God. Instruct the students to write knowledge in the first blank on their worksheets.
2. God’s love is expressed through His presence with us (Psalm 139:5-12).
Draw a circle on the board. Write “God” in the center of the circle. Divide students into groups of two or three. Explain that the circle represents God’s presence, whereas everything outside the circle represents everything outside God’s presence. Ask: What belongs outside the circle? What is outside of the presence of God? Allow groups to discuss. After a minute or so, invite groups to share their answers, then say: There is nothing outside the circle of God’s presence.
Read Psalm 139:5-6. Ask: Does anyone know what it means that God has “enclosed” us “behind and before”? After taking a few answers, explain that the NIV translation uses the phrase “hem me in,” and the original word in the Greek means “to secure.” Enlist a volunteer to stand in the corner of the room. Instruct all remaining students to crowd the student into the corner so he or she cannot move. Ask the volunteer: Do you feel safe or threatened by your position? Why? Share that the concept of being “hemmed in” by God stresses the idea that He protects us and surrounds us because we are so valuable to Him.
Invite a volunteer to read Psalm 139:7-12. Ask: Where can we go to “flee” from God’s presence? (We cannot flee from God’s presence because He is everywhere—He is omnipresent.) Say: Because God loves us, He is always with us, always guiding us, always sheltering and protecting us. Instruct the students to write presence in the second blank of their worksheets.
3. God’s love is expressed through His power in our lives (Psalm 139:13-16).
Ask: When you think about God’s power, what comes to mind? Allow students to share their thoughts. If no one mentioned God’s power in creating life, ask: In what ways is God’s power displayed through creation?
Instruct students to individually complete the activity section on their worksheets by describing things they see in themselves that remind them of another family member. After a minute or so, enlist a volunteer to read Psalm 139:13-16. Ask: What does this passage tell us about God’s creative power? (In His omnipotence, God made each of us and gave us life.) Say: We have been wonderfully created by God, through His power and in His love. Ask: How did you see family characteristics in yourself when you completed the worksheet assignment? Allow several volunteers to respond. Emphasize that God uses our families, even our adoptive families, to help us become the people we are meant to be. Instruct the students to write power in the third blank on their worksheets. Say: God gave us life because He loved us. And God loved us before He gave us life.
Conclude by emphasizing that God has chosen to demonstrate His love for us through His knowledge, presence, and power in our lives. Ask: How valuable do you believe you are to God?