Week 294 · about 45 minutes
1 Samuel 19
1 Samuel 19 · Memory verse 1 Samuel 19:1
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Queues the lesson plan, this story’s coloring page (1 Samuel 19), the matching word search and answer key (1 Samuel 19 word search), the memory-verse tracer, and a parent slip.
Five-minute object lesson
Prop: a smooth stone
Hold a smooth stone. Read 1 Samuel 19 in about four minutes, stopping at 1 Samuel 19:1: “Saul spoke to Jonathan his son, and to all his servants, that they should kill David. But Jonathan, Saul’s son, greatly delighted in David.” Ask, “What does this prop have to do with 1 Samuel 19?” Let two children answer, then say the memory verse together.
Story script
1 Samuel 19 is a real chapter from the Old Testament. It starts, “Saul spoke to Jonathan his son, and to all his servants, that they should kill David. But Jonathan, Saul’s son, greatly delighted in David.” That is not a motto invented for a poster. It is the first sentence a family hears when this page is opened at night.
Keep going a little further. The chapter also says, “Michal took the teraphim, and laid it in the bed, and put a pillow of goats’ hair at its head, and covered it with clothes.” 1 Samuel 19 opens with these words: “Saul spoke to Jonathan his son, and to all his servants, that they should kill David. But Jonathan, Saul’s son, greatly delighted in David.” The line to keep is 1 Samuel 19:1: “Saul spoke to Jonathan his son, and to all his servants, that they should kill David. But Jonathan, Saul’s son, greatly delighted in David.” Carry the word “saul” from that verse into the rest of the day.
The line worth learning out loud is 1 Samuel 19:1: “Saul spoke to Jonathan his son, and to all his servants, that they should kill David. But Jonathan, Saul’s son, greatly delighted in David.” If the rest of the chapter feels crowded, hold that one sentence until the room is quiet.
What happens first in 1 Samuel 19? Then try this: Read “Saul spoke to Jonathan his son, and to all his servants, that they should kill David. But Jonathan, Saul’s…” once more. What does it show you about God? You do not have to finish every verse. You can close the book after the memory verse and still have read the Bible together.
Group game
Walk the room as if you are moving through 1 Samuel 19. Every time you freeze, a child says one word from 1 Samuel 19:1. The last child says the whole verse.
Craft
On a US Letter sheet, draw one picture from 1 Samuel 19 and write 1 Samuel 19:1 under it. Send it home as tonight’s reminder, not as a decoration contest.
Memory verse
1 Samuel 19:1
“Saul spoke to Jonathan his son, and to all his servants, that they should kill David. But Jonathan, Saul’s son, greatly delighted in David.”
Take-home prayer
Father, thank you for 1 Samuel 19. Help us remember 1 Samuel 19:1 when we wake up, and teach us to notice you in an ordinary night. Amen.