Psalm 14, New International Reader's Version

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

14 Foolish people say in their hearts,
“There is no God.”
They do all kinds of horrible and evil things.
No one does anything good.

2 The Lord looks down from heaven
on all people.
He wants to see if there are any who understand.
He wants to see if there are any who trust in God.
3 All of them have turned away.
They have all become evil.
No one does anything good,
no one at all.

4 Do all these people who do evil know nothing?
They eat up my people as if they were eating bread.
They never call out to the Lord.
5 But just look at them! They are filled with terror
because God is among those who do right.
6 You who do evil keep poor people from succeeding.
But the Lord is their place of safety.
7 How I pray that the God who saves Israel will come out of Zion!
Then the Lord will bless his people with great success again.
So let the people of Jacob be filled with joy! Let Israel be glad!

Fill in the blank:

God ____ me (Missing word: knows)

Objects:

Bible

Message:

Good morning, everyone! I'm so glad you're here today. I want to play a guessing game with you. I'm going to describe someone, and you guess who it is. (Give obvious clues about a child in the group, or even the pastor. Examples: This person has blue shoes, wears a big smile, or LOVES mac and cheese!") Guess who! (Allow children to guess.) That’s right. You are good at this guessing game. Do you know who always knows who you are, no matter what? It’s God! Let's look at our mystery sentence for today: (Hold up the sign/poster: "God _____ me.") Can anyone guess the missing word? Let me ask it a different way. Does anyone know the missing word? (Allow the children to guess.) That’s right, the word is knows. Let’s all fill in the blank together: "God knows me!"

Today’s scripture is found in the Old Testament of our Bible in the book called Psalms. Psalm 14 talks about how some people don’t remember God or even act like God isn’t real. But you know what? Even when people forget about God, God never forgets us.

(Read Psalm 14:2-3, NIRV.)

I wonder if you have ever done something you knew wasn’t right? (Allow children to respond.) Did you try to hide it? (Allow children to respond.) Even when we mess up, God still knows us and still loves us. We call that grace. Grace is the love and kindness that God offers, no matter what. It’s God's never-giving-up love.

I have a fun way for us to remember today’s fill-in-the-blank word. I’m going to say something, and if it’s true for you, I want you to whisper, “God knows!” Remember, whisper.

God knows when I’m happy. (Kids: God knows!)
God knows when I’m sad. (Kids: God knows!)
God knows when I mess up. (Kids: God knows!)
God knows what makes me laugh. (Kids: God knows!)
God knows my name. (Kids: God knows!)

Wow! God really does know everything about us, and God loves us no matter what. God's love is with you always—when you're little, when you're big, when you're happy, and even when you're having a rough day. And no matter what, God never stops knowing you or loving you.

Let’s do our God knows again, but this time as our closing prayer: Remember, whisper, “God knows.”

Prayer:

God, thank you for knowing when I’m happy (Kids: God knows!) Thank you for knowing when I’m sad. (Kids: God knows!) Thank you for forgiving me when I make mistakes. (Kids: God knows!) Thank you for knowing what makes me laugh. (Kids: God knows!) Thank you for knowing my name. (Kids: God knows!) Thank you for knowing how to love me. (Kids: God knows!) Amen.

Between the Sundays: Family Conversation Starters

Designed to reinforce the children’s message throughout the week.

We’ve created these conversation starters and activity ideas to help spark meaningful, faith-filled discussions at home. Each week, your child will come home with a phrase: “God ______ me.” Use the weekly word to guide your talks, drawings, and prayers—anytime and anywhere!

These moments will help nurture trust in God, encourage reflection, and grow faith across the whole family.