God Is My Rock

Primary

Digital Resources Teacher Tip:

During the lesson, the information for you to know is written in regular type, and what we suggest speaking or reading aloud to children is in bold. All resources for this lesson, including the Teacher Guide, Student Page, Family Connection Card, and other resources can be downloaded in a ZIP file by clicking on the following link:

In some lessons you will find "resource articles." These are articles written by experts from around the world to help equip you for your work with children and adolescents. Share them with parents or guardians if you consider it appropriate.

Focus on Spiritual Formation

Supplies

Bible
2 large rocks
Stick
Pebbles (1 for each child)

Optional Supplies

Memory Verse Poster
Paper
Pencils
The Action Bible, various stories about David, pages 270–295
Student Pages
Before class, find 2 large rocks and a stick for the Connecting game.

Teacher Devotion

You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal.

Isaiah 26:3–4

When you feel overwhelmed, scared, stressed, where do you run? God wants us to run to Him. He is the Rock. This word means He is a defence, a strength, a refuge. You can run to Him and be safe and at peace, even if storms rage around you.

Many of the children you teach live in circumstances where they may feel unsafe or insecure. Today you will get to teach them that there is safety in God the Rock. He is a shelter, a defence, a place of refuge. When they come to you and share the hard things they are experiencing, turn them to the Rock who is eternal.

Family Connection

Encourage the children to share the hand rhythm and verse they learn in the last part of the lesson with their family members. Perhaps the children will help point their families toward God the Rock!

Teacher Tip: If possible, email or text the Family Connection Card to the families of your students.

Lesson Time

1. Connecting:

Play a game about running to a rock of safety.

Greet your children as they enter class. Ask them if they noticed the God Who Sees this past week.

Let the children know that you will begin with a fun game. Each team will have a home rock, and

they will compete by grabbing a stick and getting it to their home rock. In this game, the rock is the safe place.

Divide your children into 2 equal teams. If you have a large number of children, pick 16 children to play while the remaining children cheer for the 2 teams. Line up the teams facing each other, about 4 to 5 meters apart.

Have the players on each team count off down their line. Each team will have a child with the number 1, number 2, etc. The children must remember their numbers.

Place the stick in the centre of the space between the 2 lines. Designate a starting line for each team. Place 1 large rock there for each team. This rock is their home rock, a place of safety.

To start the game, call out a number. The 2 players with that number will race to the stick. The first to grab the stick will race to her team’s home rock. The other player will try to tag the child with the stick.

If the player with the stick gets safely to her home rock without being tagged, her team receives a point. If she is tagged before she gets to her rock, the stick is returned to the centre. Play for about 5 minutes. The winning team is the one with the most points.

After the game, discuss with the children the idea of having a rock as a safe place to run to when you are in trouble.

What was it like to race back to your rock with someone chasing you?
How did it feel when you reached the rock safely?
Do you have a safe place you can run to when trouble is chasing you? If so, who or what is it?

2. Teaching:

Learn that God the Rock is a place of safety(2 Samuel 22:2–3).

One of the names for God is God the Rock.

What do you think of this name?

A rock is solid and strong and can be a place of shelter. That describes who God is. Today’s Bible story is about a famous king who knew God even as a child—King David. God called David a man after His own heart. He was also a shepherd, a warrior, and a musician. We will hear about different events in David’s life. Some events you have heard before. Some you may not have heard before. Each time you hear that God saved David, give a cheer!
- Lead the children in clapping and shouting, “God the Rock saves!” Practice the cheer a couple of times before telling the story.
King David was the youngest son in his family, so his job was to watch the family’s flock of sheep. Sometimes when he was watching the sheep, a lion or a bear would attack. God gave David the strength to fight off these wild animals and keep the sheep safe. God also protected David from these wild beasts! Let’s cheer for God.
- Allow the children to cheer.
One day God sent the prophet Samuel to secretly anoint David to be Israel’s next king. During this time a man named Saul was king. Saul did not know yet that God was giving the kingship to David. After he was anointed by Samuel, David continued to watch the sheep. One day his father sent him to take food to his older brothers who were in King Saul’s army.
Who knows what happened next?
- Allow children to share what they remember from this story.
When David saw the mighty Goliath threatening the army, David said he would fight him. David trusted in God the Rock. In the name of the Lord, David killed Goliath with a sling and a stone. God saved David from Goliath. Let’s give a cheer!
- Encourage the children to clap and cheer.
David became a leader in Saul’s army. Many times he went to battle against Israel’s enemies. Each time, God saved David. Let’s give a cheer!
- Encourage the children to clap and cheer.
David was so successful in battle that people started singing songs about him. King Saul became jealous.
- What do you think happened next?
  - Allow children to share what they remember.
One day Saul was crazy with jealousy. While David was playing his harp for Saul, Saul threw a spear at him and tried to pin David to a wall. But God saved David from King Saul. Let’s give a cheer!
- Encourage the children to clap and cheer.
Saul’s jealousy of David grew stronger. The king even asked his son Jonathan to kill David. Jonathan was David’s friend, so he warned David instead. Saul tried many times to kill David. But God saved David each time! Let’s give a cheer!
- Encourage the children to clap and cheer.
David had to run away from Saul who chased David with his soldiers. For years he had to run and hide in caves to be safe from the jealous king. He fought in many battles for other kings. Through all this fighting and running from his enemies, God kept David safe. Let’s give a cheer!
- Encourage the children to clap and cheer.
Eventually, both Saul and his son Jonathan died in a battle. David was sad, but now he would begin his life as king. Later, David’s son Absalom rebelled against him. Absalom thought he should be king instead of his father. He began a rebellion. Again David had to run away—this time from his own son! David was heartbroken. But God was still with David. He sent men who fought for David and defeated Absalom. God had saved David again! Let’s give a cheer.
- Encourage the children to clap and cheer.

Eventually David grew old and declared that his son Solomon would be the next king. God had revealed Himself to David in many ways. Before he died, David wrote a song praising God for the many times He had saved him. Listen to some of what David wrote:

He said, “The Lord is my rock and my fort. He is the One who saves me.My God is my rock. I go to him for safety. He is like a shield to me. He’s the power that saves me. He’s my place of safety. I go to him for help. He’s my Savior. He saves me from those who want to hurt me.”

2 Samuel 22:2–3, NIrV

What do you think now about the name God the Rock?

Allow a few children to share their thoughts.

Optional: If possible, share the image from The Action Bible. If you are using The Action Bible, allow the children to pick one of the stories about David on pages 270–295 and read it together.

What were some of the dangers David faced in his life?

Answers might include wild animals, enemies, King Saul, his own son.

How do you think David might have felt when his enemies were chasing him?
Why do you think David called God a Rock?

David faced many hard things in his life. He fought lions and bears when he was a boy watching sheep. He fought Goliath with a sling and some stones. He had to hide from his king, who wanted him dead. He had to run from his son, who wanted to kill him. He faced many difficult things.

A rock is strong and can provide safety and shelter. When David named God, “My Rock,” he was saying that God gave him strength, safety, and shelter. My Rock is a great name for God!

When you face hard things in life, who do you turn to?
Think about God as your Rock. How does that make you feel?

Encourage the children to see how God the Rock provides strength and shelter and safety. Let them talk about times they feel they need safety.

Teacher Tip: If there are situations where a child’s safety is endangered, he should tell a trusted adult. God often uses Christian adults to be like little rocks for children He loves. Let children know you are available if they want to talk with you after class.

3. Responding

Create a hand rhythm to learn Isaiah 26:4 and choose to trust God the Rock with something.

Listen as I read another verse about God the Rock.

Memory Verse

Read this verse aloud to the children directly from your Bible.

If you are using the Memory Verse Poster, show it to the students.

Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal.

Isaiah 26:4

In this verse we learn that not only is God the Rock—a place of safety—but He is eternal. He will always be there for you.

Let’s quickly get into groups of 4 or 5. Your group will have 5 minutes to create a hand rhythm to help you memorize this verse. For your hand rhythm, you must keep your hands in a fist so they look like rocks. You can bump your hands on top of each other, bump them with another person’s hands, bump them all together, or something else.

Give the groups about 5 minutes to create their hand rhythms. Warn them when 4 minutes have passed so they can finish. Then allow the groups to share their rhythms with the whole class.

Optional Supplies:

Give the children paper and pencils and have them draw rocks on their papers. They can draw or write something on their rocks that will remind them that God wants to be their Rock, their safe place.

If you are using the Student Pages, the children can respond on those.

End of Option

I will give each of you a pebble as a reminder that God wants to be your Rock. As you hold this pebble, think about 1 area of your life where you could begin to trust God as your Rock. David trusted God to be his Rock. You can trust God to be your Rock too.

Give a pebble to each child. Tell the children that this stone will remind them that they can trust in God the Rock. Close class today by speaking this blessing over the children based on Isaiah 26:3–4.

Blessing: God is the Rock. May you know His peace as you learn to trust in Him. You can trust Him forever. He is your Rock.

Lead the children in singing this quarter’s song, if possible.

“What a Beautiful Name” by Hillsong Worship: https://youtu.be/r5L6QlAH3L4