Week 324 · about 45 minutes
2 Samuel 18
2 Samuel 18 · Memory verse 2 Samuel 18:31
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Queues the lesson plan, this story’s coloring page (2 Samuel 18), the matching word search and answer key (2 Samuel 18 word search), the memory-verse tracer, and a parent slip.
Five-minute object lesson
Prop: a smooth stone
Hold a smooth stone. Read 2 Samuel 18 in about four minutes, stopping at 2 Samuel 18:31: “Behold, the Cushite came. The Cushite said, “News for my lord the king, for Yahweh has avenged you today of all those who rose up against you.”” Ask, “What does this prop have to do with 2 Samuel 18?” Let two children answer, then say the memory verse together.
Story script
2 Samuel 18 is a real chapter from the Old Testament. It starts, “David counted the people who were with him, and set captains of thousands and captains of hundreds over them.” 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, “They took Absalom and cast him into the great pit in the forest, and raised over him a very great heap of stones. Then all Israel fled, each to his own tent.” 2 Samuel 18 opens with these words: “David counted the people who were with him, and set captains of thousands and captains of hundreds over them.” The line to keep is 2 Samuel 18:31: “Behold, the Cushite came. The Cushite said, “News for my lord the king, for Yahweh has avenged you today of all those who rose up against you.”” Carry the word “behold” from that verse into the rest of the day.
The line worth learning out loud is 2 Samuel 18:31: “Behold, the Cushite came. The Cushite said, “News for my lord the king, for Yahweh has avenged you today of all those who rose up against you.”” If the rest of the chapter feels crowded, hold that one sentence until the room is quiet.
What happens first in 2 Samuel 18? Then try this: Read “Behold, the Cushite came. The Cushite said, “News for my lord the king, for Yahweh has avenged you today of…” 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 18. Every time you freeze, a child says one word from 2 Samuel 18:31. The last child says the whole verse.
Craft
On a US Letter sheet, draw one picture from 2 Samuel 18 and write 2 Samuel 18:31 under it. Send it home as tonight’s reminder, not as a decoration contest.
Memory verse
2 Samuel 18:31
“Behold, the Cushite came. The Cushite said, “News for my lord the king, for Yahweh has avenged you today of all those who rose up against you.””
Take-home prayer
Father, thank you for 2 Samuel 18. Help us remember 2 Samuel 18:31 when we wake up, and teach us to notice you in an ordinary night. Amen.