Message Theme & Verses: 2 Samuel
Memory Verse: 2 Samuel 7:26 And your name will be magnified forever, saying, “The Lord of hosts is God over Israel,” and the house of your servant David will be established before you.
Happy Family Lesson:
2 Samuel is a continuation of the story in 1 Samuel and they were a single book in the past. In 1 Samuel, we learned about Israel’s first king, Saul. Now in 2 Samuel, we follow the kingship of Israel’s most beloved king, David. We follow David’s ascension to the throne of first Judah and then all of Israel. Samuel takes us through both his glorious kingship and his eventual failure, ending with David’s reflections of his life and his final words.
God makes an eternal covenant with David, promising that His offspring will have a forever kingdom. God does not permit David to build a “house” for God. Instead, God tells David that his offspring will build the house. David’s son Solomon builds a beautiful, physical temple, but this is only a shadow of what is to come. It is in Jesus that we see the forever King on His throne, with His name lifted above all others.
The readers are able to see a full picture of David, both the good and the bad. We can follow his public life as king and his private actions as a family man. We can think of the story as a pyramid with everything going well for David until we hit chapter 11 and his sin with Bathsheba. Then, we see the consequences of this sin spread throughout his family and kingdom down the other side from this pivotal point.
All the while, David valued his relationship with God as the most important thing and was able to have peace because the Lord is his deliverer and had made with him and everlasting covenant.
Read 2 Samuel 7
Tell the kids that David praised God for His forever promise.
Put signs around the room that say “Home,” “Happy Family,” “School,” “Anywhere.”
Choose a few kids to play. Time the kids. Yell out something that relates to the locations, like “sister” for “home.” The kid has to run to the location and yell out something to praise God for in that location. Fastest kid wins!
Barkadang Lesson:
Remember that David is just a taste of what is to come. He is a brave, wise, and glorious king, but the heights to which he rises are matched only by the depths to which he falls. We see that even God’s chosen king needs a Savior. David is not the Messiah the people have been waiting for, but he points to Jesus. David, the shepherd king from Bethlehem became king at age 30, the same age that Jesus began His public ministry. Both were anointed to their God chosen position and victorious kings. When we read the life of David, we can think about how Jesus succeeded in all the ways where David fell short. When we see the good in David, we can know that he was filled with the Spirit of God and we have a glimpse of the grace God gives to His people.
Questions
1. Has anyone ever made a promise to you? What was it?
2. Do people always keep their promise?
3. How do you feel when someone breaks their promise to you?
4. Do you think God always keeps His promises? (God is all-powerful and always tells the truth. God always keeps His promises. We can read in the Bible about his promise keeping. This is called faithfulness. We can also keep a journal about the good things God does in our lives.)
5. Do you like it when people say “thank you” if you do something nice for them?
6. How do you feel if someone doesn’t say “thank you?”
7. What are some things we can praise God for?
8. Why do you think David had such a close relationship with God? (God loved David even though David committed some very bad sins. David even killed a man and stole his wife. But David was truly sorry for his sin and asked God to forgive him. David turned away from his sin and loved God with all his heart because God first loved David. You and I can have a close relationship with God too. Our relationship is through Jesus who died for our sins. If we ask God to forgive us, He promises that He will because of the perfect life and sacrifice of Jesus.)
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