Memory Passage

“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.  He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.” Psalm 23

Day 1-You Prepare a Table Before Me in the Presence of My Enemies

• Pray.
• Introduce Psalm 23:5.
  • Say the verse and have your kids repeat it a few times.
  • Add the sign language.
• Read 1 Samuel 18:1-9.
  • How did people feel about David?
    • Jonathan respected David. He even gave him his robe which meant that he knew that David was to be the next king. Jonathan and David became good friends.
    • The people liked David. The women sang about his accomplishments.
    • Saul was angry, jealous, and suspicious of David because David was getting catching the attention of the people in his kingdom.
• Read 1 Samuel 18:10-16.
  • Can you imagine what that must have been like to be playing the harp and then have spear thrown at you…twice?!
  • Why was Saul afraid of David? (verse 12)
  • Saul decided to give David a new job, a bit more dangerous job. He gave him the job as a commander in his army.
  • How was it that David was doing so well? (verse 14)
• Tell about 1 Samuel 18:17-27 in your own words.
  • One of the prizes that Saul promised to the person who beat Goliath was that he would get to take one of Saul’s daughters to be his wife (1 Samuel 17:25). Saul seemed willing to follow through with that, but he added one more challenge before he gave his daughter, Merab, to David. He told David that in order to receive his daughter as his bride, David needed to go and fight the Philistines. Saul thought that maybe David would die in battle, and then his problem would be gone and he would have been “innocent” of killing him.
  • Well, David lived, and when the time came for David and Merab to be married, Saul gave her to another man!
  • Saul had another daughter, Michal, who loved David. Saul agreed to this marriage, thinking that maybe she would be a snare to David. He thought maybe when he was fighting the Philistines, David would be too distracted by her to fight well.
  • Saul told David that he and Michal could be married after he killed 100 Philistines. Saul again was giving David some extremely difficult challenges, hoping he would be killed in battle so he could be rid of David.
  • David killed 200 Philistines, so Saul gave him Michal as his wife.
• Read 1 Samuel 18:28-30.
  • Say today’s memory verse one more time: Psalm 23:5.
  • How do you see this verse in what we read today?
  • Because the Lord was with David (verse 28), he had great peace, even in the presence of his enemies. God blessed David and made him prosper despite his enemy’s plans.

Day 2-David is Protected from Saul

• Pray.
• Practice saying Psalm 23:1-5.
• Do you remember who Jonathan is? Who is Michal? Be listening for how they helped David today.
• Read 1 Samuel 19:1-7.
  • What was Saul wanting Jonathan and his servants to do?
  • What did Jonathan do?
  • How did he speak to his dad; with what tone-angry and accusatory or calm, truthful, and respectful?
  • How did Saul respond?
• Read 1 Samuel 19:8-17.
  • How did Michal help David?
• Goodness! We just read about three times that David’s life was threatened! How do you think you would you be feeling if you were David?
• After David became king he wrote a psalm about the very night we just finished reading about.
• Read Psalm 59:1-4, 10, 14-17.
  • David told God just how he was feeling.
    • He pleaded with God to protect him from his enemies.
    • He explained how frustrated he was that they were against him when he had not sinned against them.
    • He praised God.
      • Even though he was in danger, scared, and frustrated, He decided to turn his attention to God.
  • What are some things He said about God? How did he praise God?
  • Isn’t it great that God cares about us and that we can talk to Him about all we are feeling? When we praise Him (tell Him what we know about Him), our confidence in Him grows and we find our calm as we remember that He is big and loving and strong and in control.
  • What are some things you can say about God? How can you praise God?

Day 3-David Has to Flee

• Pray.
• Practice Psalm 23:1-5.
• After David got away from the men waiting at his house to kill him the next morning (remember-his wife put one of her idols in the bed with a quilt of goat’s hair at its head and clothes on it to make it look like David was sleeping), he went to see Samuel. Saul sent men after him, but instead of taking David, God’s Spirit came upon them and they started prophesying. When those guys didn’t come back, Saul sent more men to look for David, but they ended up doing the same thing. Saul decided to just go get David himself, but guess what? God’s Spirit came on him to so that He prophesied too. (1 Samuel 19:18-24) God was protecting David, and His plan would prevail.
• Read 1 Samuel 20:1-7.
  • Retell their plan in your own words to make sure your kids understand.
    • David wouldn’t go to dinner the next couple nights. When Saul asked Jonathan why he wasn’t there, Jonathan would tell his dad that David’s family needed him home for a bit. Jonathan would know by Saul’s reaction whether David was safe in his presence or in danger.
      • Note: The new moon was the first day of the month where the Israelites gave sacrifices to the Lord and served as a festival. (Numbers 10:10, 28:11-15)
• Jonathan knew that God meant for David to be the next king, and he promised to tell David what he needed to do to be safe. David promised to show kindness and protection to Jonathan and to his family after he became king.
• Read 1 Samuel 20:18-29.
• Saul was angry! (verse 30)
• Read 1 Samuel 20:31-42.
  • What can you tell me about God after reading this chapter?

Day 4-David Spares Saul’s Life Twice

• Pray.
• Practice Psalm 23:1-5.
• When David left the palace after Jonathan’s warnings, he eventually ended up hiding in the wilderness and in caves to be protected from Saul and his men. Over time, 600 men came to join David. 1 Samuel 23:14 says that “Saul sought him everyday, but God did not deliver him [David] into his hand.”
• Parents, today we are just going to read a couple chapters. I am not adding questions, but talk about the chapters and clarify as you see fit.
• Read 1 Samuel 24.
• Read 1 Samuel 26.

Day 5-David Seeks Refuge with the Philistines

• Pray.
• Practice saying Psalm 23:1-5.
  • If you have been making Psalm 23 books, add verse 5 to it and color/illustrate a picture to go with it.
• Even though Saul had admitted to David that he knew that David would eventually “win” over him (1 Samuel 26:25), and even though God had chosen David to be the next king (1 Samuel 16:12), David’s fear and anxiety about the whole situation seem to get the better of him.
• Read 1 Samuel 27:1-4.
  • David sought protection from Saul among the Philistines-enemies of Israel.
  • The king of the Philistines, Achish, gave David his own city in Philistine territory. He and his wives, and the 600 men who were with him lived in that country for a year and four months. (verses 5-7)
  • David gained the trust of the Philistine king by attacking their mutual enemies.
  • Since Achish let David live in his land, he expected something in return when it came time to fight in battle.
• Read 1 Samuel 28:1-2.
  • David was a man of honor, so he told Achish that he would help him fight in order to repay the kindness that Achish had shown to him. But there was a problem; he didn’t ask God before he agreed to the deal.
  • Did you catch who the Philistines were getting ready to fight?
  • They were going to battle against Israel-David’s country!
• Read 1 Samuel 29:1-5.
  • How did the Philistine army feel about David going to battle with them against his own country?
  • Why did they feel this way?
  • Let’s see how God works things out so that David doesn’t have to fight Israel after all.
• Read 1 Samuel 29:6-11.
  • What can we learn from David?
    • What should he have done differently at the beginning of today’s reading when his fear and anxiety were high? Should he have run away to the land of the Philistines? Or should he have taken his worries to the Lord?
    • Read Philippians 4:6-7.
  • What do the verses we read today tell us about God?