“Behold the Wounds” Singing Time Ideas

I chose to do this song with our primary during 2023 for the New Testament Come Follow Me study. It’s published on the church’s website, and I hope it makes it into the new hymnal coming out soon. I think we often shy away from talking about the crucifixion, but this song teaches about it beautifully. I get choked up singing it.

PDF of “Behold the Wounds” here.

What’s in the Bag? “Behold the Wounds” activity

This is a simple activity. Grab:

• A nail
• A block of wood
• Lightbulb (for pondering, thinking?)
• Heart

Take the items out of the bag, one object per time you sing through the song. At the end of the sing-through, ask the kids what the object has to do with the song. You can get creative on this!

“Behold the Wounds” Melody Map

This one is great for keeping eyes and ears engaged! Click on the link to view the map. I print it out and put it in order.

(1) Sing through the whole thing. Ask the children to pay attention to the board. (2) Sing it again. For junior primary I point to all the dots as we go. For senior primary I just sing the song. Ask the kids what they notice, receive their answers (3), (4), (5) sing it through for as much time as you’ve got until the kids have deciphered the different parts of the melody map.

Key: The purple dots are about Jesus, yellow dots are about us/we.

“Behold the Wounds” Eraser Pass Game

This activity is good for senior primary, not for junior primary. Put the following words on the board (put them in the groups you see listed here).

• 1
  • behold
  • see
  • notice
• 2
  • scars
  • scabs
  • hurt
  • marks
• 3
  • reflect
  • ponder
  • consider
  • think
• 4
  • rescue
  • deliver
  • save
  • ransom
• 5
  • love
  • care
  • favor
  • admire
• 6
  • summer
  • winter
  • fall
  • spring
• 7
  • mansions
  • castles
  • palace
  • home

Instructions for the kids: Give a child in the room an eraser, ask them to erase a word on the board that ISN’T in the song. When they erase 1 word, they must pass the eraser to a child who hasn’t had a turn yet. (1-5) Sing the song as many times as it takes to leave only the words on the board, you may end up singing it 5 times. Ask the kids to join you in singing if they’d like, but they’re probably focusing so hard on the board they won’t sing. That’s ok! Let them focus while the song envelops them.