Week 329 · about 45 minutes
2 Samuel 23
2 Samuel 23 · Memory verse 2 Samuel 23:3
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Queues the lesson plan, this story’s coloring page (2 Samuel 23), the matching word search and answer key (2 Samuel 23 word search), the memory-verse tracer, and a parent slip.
Five-minute object lesson
Prop: a key
Hold a key. Read 2 Samuel 23 in about four minutes, stopping at 2 Samuel 23:3: “The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spoke to me, ‘One who rules over men righteously, who rules in the fear of God,” Ask, “What does this prop have to do with 2 Samuel 23?” Let two children answer, then say the memory verse together.
Story script
2 Samuel 23 is a real chapter from the Old Testament. It starts, “Now these are the last words of David. David the son of Jesse says, the man who was raised on high says, the anointed of the God of Jacob, the sweet psalmist of Israel:” 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, “Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of Kabzeel, who had done mighty deeds, killed the two sons of Ariel of Moab. He also went down and killed a lion in the middle of a pit in a time of snow.” 2 Samuel 23 opens with these words: “Now these are the last words of David. David the son of Jesse says, the man who was raised on high says, the anointed of the God of Jacob,…” The line to keep is 2 Samuel 23:3: “The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spoke to me, ‘One who rules over men righteously, who rules in the fear of God,” Carry the word “israel” from that verse into the rest of the day.
The line worth learning out loud is 2 Samuel 23:3: “The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spoke to me, ‘One who rules over men righteously, who rules in the fear of God,” If the rest of the chapter feels crowded, hold that one sentence until the room is quiet.
What happens first in 2 Samuel 23? Then try this: Read “The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spoke to me, ‘One who rules over men righteously, who rules in…” 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 23. Every time you freeze, a child says one word from 2 Samuel 23:3. The last child says the whole verse.
Craft
On a US Letter sheet, draw one picture from 2 Samuel 23 and write 2 Samuel 23:3 under it. Send it home as tonight’s reminder, not as a decoration contest.
Memory verse
2 Samuel 23:3
“The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spoke to me, ‘One who rules over men righteously, who rules in the fear of God,”
Take-home prayer
Father, thank you for 2 Samuel 23. Help us remember 2 Samuel 23:3 when we wake up, and teach us to notice you in an ordinary night. Amen.