Week 322 · about 45 minutes
2 Samuel 16
2 Samuel 16 · Memory verse 2 Samuel 16:4
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Queues the lesson plan, this story’s coloring page (2 Samuel 16), the matching word search and answer key (2 Samuel 16 word search), the memory-verse tracer, and a parent slip.
Five-minute object lesson
Prop: a paper crown
Hold a paper crown. Read 2 Samuel 16 in about four minutes, stopping at 2 Samuel 16:4: “Then the king said to Ziba, “Behold, all that belongs to Mephibosheth is yours.” Ziba said, “I bow down. Let me find favor in your sight, my lord, O king.”” Ask, “What does this prop have to do with 2 Samuel 16?” Let two children answer, then say the memory verse together.
Story script
2 Samuel 16 is a real chapter from the Old Testament. It starts, “When David was a little past the top, behold, Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth met him with a couple of donkeys saddled, and on them two hundred loaves of bread, and one hundred clusters of raisins, and one hundred summer fruits, and a bottle of wine.” 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, “It may be that Yahweh will look on the wrong done to me, and that Yahweh will repay me good for the cursing of me today.”” 2 Samuel 16 opens with these words: “When David was a little past the top, behold, Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth met him with a couple of donkeys saddled, and on them two…” The line to keep is 2 Samuel 16:4: “Then the king said to Ziba, “Behold, all that belongs to Mephibosheth is yours.” Ziba said, “I bow down. Let me find favor in your sight, my lord, O king.”” Carry the word “king” from that verse into the rest of the day.
The line worth learning out loud is 2 Samuel 16:4: “Then the king said to Ziba, “Behold, all that belongs to Mephibosheth is yours.” Ziba said, “I bow down. Let me find favor in your sight, my lord, O king.”” If the rest of the chapter feels crowded, hold that one sentence until the room is quiet.
What happens first in 2 Samuel 16? Then try this: Read “Then the king said to Ziba, “Behold, all that belongs to Mephibosheth is yours.” Ziba said, “I bow down. Let…” 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 2 Samuel 16. Every time you freeze, a child says one word from 2 Samuel 16:4. The last child says the whole verse.
Craft
On a US Letter sheet, draw one picture from 2 Samuel 16 and write 2 Samuel 16:4 under it. Send it home as tonight’s reminder, not as a decoration contest.
Memory verse
2 Samuel 16:4
“Then the king said to Ziba, “Behold, all that belongs to Mephibosheth is yours.” Ziba said, “I bow down. Let me find favor in your sight, my lord, O king.””
Take-home prayer
Father, thank you for 2 Samuel 16. Help us remember 2 Samuel 16:4 when we wake up, and teach us to notice you in an ordinary night. Amen.