Tag Archives: Book 2 Samuel

God gives Solomon Wisdom

October 7, 2012UncategorizedBook 1 Kings, Book 2 Samuel, Person Solomonlxlam

1. STORY:

HOOK: I wish I may, I wish I might …

Imagine one day you were walking on a beach. And you accidentally kicked something hard. You looked down, and you see an old-fashioned gold lamp! Wow!
What would you do with it? Maybe we should rub it and see if anything happens … 1, 2, 3 Rub!
Whoosh! It’s a great big green genie! “Hello boys and girls! Thank you for setting me free from the lamp! As a reward, I’ll give you one wish! Whatever it is that you want … ask and I shall grant you your wish!”
Wow! A wish! Whatever you want!
What would you wish for children? What’s the one thing you want the most? <get kids to give their answers>
Well, in real life, there’s no such thing as a genie in a bottle. But in the Bible, there’s somebody who was asked by God about what his wish was. That somebody was King Solomon. Let’s find out more.

King David’s had a son, Solomon, who would be Israel’s next king. God loved him very much. (2 Sam 12:24)
Before he died, David instructed Solomon what he should do as king. “And you my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.” (1 Chronicles 28:9)
After King David died, his son Solomon became king over Israel. “Solomon showed his love for the LORD by walking according to the statues of his father David…” (1Kings 3:3a)
One night, Solomon offered 1,000 offerings to God at a place called Gibeon. As he was sleeping, God came to Solomon and spoke to him in a dream. “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”
Wow! Solomon could ask for ANYTHING he wanted. What would you ask for if God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”
If you were a king, wouldn’t you wish for great wealth? Long life? Many palaces? Or territories? For all your enemies to be gone?
Solomon praised God for His kindness to his father, David, and to him. Then he said,“Now, Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. ⁸Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?”
What did Solomon ask God for? He asked for wisdom! As a young king, he knew that he could not rule a great nation like Israel by himself, no matter how clever he may be. He needed God’s wisdom.
God was pleased because Solomon knew that in order to be the kind of king that could lead God’s people he could only do it with God’s wisdom. “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice,I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be.”
But on top of the wisdom, God promised, ^“I will give you what you have not asked for—both wealth and honor—so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings. And if you walk in obedience to me and keep my decrees and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life.”
Can you believe that? Not only would God make Solomon the wisest king ever, He was going to give him lots of wealth and honour too!

Solomon’s Wise Ruling

Now Solomon had to deal with many cases and issues in his country.
One day, two women/prostitutes came to the king. They had a problem.
Both of them lived alone in the same house, and they each had a baby, born 3 days apart.
One of the women told Solomon, “During the night, this woman’s son died because she lay on him. So she got up in the middle of the night and took my son from my side while I was asleep. She put him by her breast and put her dead son by my breast. The next morning, I got up to nurse my son—and he was dead! But when I looked at him closely in the morning light, I saw that it wasn’t my son.”
The other woman said, “No! The living one is my son; the dead one is yours.”
But the first one insisted, “No! The dead one is yours; the living one is mine.” And so they argued before the king.
Oh dear. What should Solomon do? He definitely needed God’s wisdom on this problem.
Then the king said, “Bring me a sword.” So they brought a sword for the king. He then gave an order: “Cut the living child in two and give half to one and half to the other.”
Was Solomon crazy?!? But then, let’s see what happens:
The woman whose son was alive was deeply moved out of love for her son and said to the king, “Please, my lord, give her the living baby! Don’t kill him!”
But the other said, “Neither I nor you shall have him. Cut him in two!”
Then the king gave his ruling: “Give the living baby to the first woman. Do not kill him; she is his mother.”
When all Israel heard the verdict the king had given, they held the king in awe, because they saw that he had wisdom from God to administer justice.

2. Lesson:

Jesus is our wisdom

Solomon asked God for wisdom, and God gave it to Him. He became the wisest man that ever lived. But Solomon is dead.
And a thousand years later, the Bible tells us that one greater that Solomon is here! (Luke 11:31) Who’s this King who is greater than Solomon? Who’s this King who is wiser, and richer and more honoured than Solomon? It’s Jesus!
You and I would most likely never be a king as Solomon was. And we may not think we are very wise.
However, all of us who believe in Jesus have God’s wisdom in us already!
In 1 Cor 1:30, the Bible tells us that even though we may not be great or wise or of noble birth, we belong to Jesus, who is our wisdom from God.
Whatever situation we may be in, whatever decisions we need to make, we can depend on this wisdom that we have in us, because Jesus lives in us forever!

We have access to the King

The two mothers who came to Solomon were prostitutes. They were not very honourable women. They had many boyfriends. Society would look down on them.
Yet somehow, they were able to access the King of Israel!
Jesus came to die for all sorts of people — good people, bad people, people with a past etc. And when we accept Him as our Lord and Saviour, we have free access to Him always! (Heb 10:19)

How many of you know Jesus? How many of you have Jesus in your heart? If you do, know that He is your wisdom. He will help you in whatever problems you may face. You can go to Him anytime, any place, and He will help you.

If you do not know Jesus yet, but you want to invite Him into your heart, you can ask Him today!
Let’s pray together: Lord Jesus, thank you for dying for me and forgiving me of my sins. Thank you for giving me Your life and living in my heart forever. Thank you that You are my wisdom always, and I can always come to You for everything I need. In Your name, I pray, Amen!

3. Suggested Activities:

Share & Pray: What is one challenge or situation when you need God’s wisdom to help you? Share and pray for one another.
Act it out:

Get kids to act out the scene between Solomon and the 2 mothers.
You’d need: Solomon, 2 mothers, a baby (doll), 2 guards

Close in prayer.

God promises David a Forever Kingdom

September 30, 2012UncategorizedBook 2 Samuel, Person David, Person Solomonlxlam

1. LESSON:

HOOK: God keeps His promises

Write out some Scriptures of God’s promises (see appendix) and hide them around the room. (Can fold them into origami or in envelopes or behind cards, e.g. flower shapes etc. Or can be played as “pass the parcel” with a promise and a gift at each layer.)
Kids have to go hunt for the “treasure”. Then get them to come together and read out each of the promises one by one.
Conclusion: God has given us many promises, and He keeps all of them. Today we’re going to learn about a BIG promise God made to King David. It’s a promise that you and I can enjoy too!

STORY: (2 Samuel 7:1-15)

God gave David rest from his enemies. One day when he was sitting in his grand palace, he said to Nathan, the prophet: “I live in a grand house of cedar. But the Ark of God remains in a tent. Perhaps God would have me build Him a house.”
Although David wanted to build a temple for God, God said to Nathan, “I will make David a house; and his house, his kingdom, and his throne shall be established forever. I took David from tending the sheep to be the ruler over my people, over Israel; and was with him wherever he went, cut off his enemies, and made his name great.”
God also said, “When David’s days are over, I will set up his seed, or children, after him and I will establish his son’s kingdom and throne, and David’s son shall build a house for my name.
What did God mean when He said to David, “I will set up your throne and your kingdom forever”? How long is forever?
Now here is something very interesting so listen carefully and you will understand.

God said if David’s family would obey Him, their kingdom would continue.
He also said if they disobeyed, He would punish them.

Before David died, he told his son, Solomon, about the promise God gave him: “If you and your descendants watch how they live and walk faithfully before me with all their heart soul, you will never fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel.”(1 Kings 2:4)
Some kings were good kings. But many were not. One by one would keep disobeying God by worshipping idols. Over and over again.
And each time God would punish them for their sin.
Eventually, the nation of Israel was divided into two — the northern and the southern kingdom. Enemy nations marched in and conquered them. The Assyrians drove out the northern kingdom and scattered the people all over. The Babylonians invaded the southern kingdom, and all of the people were captured and taken away out of the land, including their king.
The amazing thing is how God protected David’s line through it all. For example, there was one time when the entire family was almost wiped out, but Joash was hidden by his aunt (2 Kings 11).
However, when the Israelites returned from Babylon, they no longer had a king on the throne.

So what about God’s forever promise? Did God fail to keep his word?
Well, here is something wonderfully exciting!
About 400 years later, God sent an angel to bring a message to a young woman named Mary: “You shall give birth to a son. You shall call his name Jesus. He shall be great and shall be called “the Son of the Highest.” Now listen to these words! “And the Lord God shall give Jesus the throne of his father David. … He shall be king over the house of Israel forever.” (Luke 1:26-33)
You see, Mary, the mother of the Lord Jesus, was from the family of David. David was one of her great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great … grandfather. So that made Jesus the great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great … grandson of King David.
Think for a moment, was the Lord Jesus ever crowned king by Pilate in Jerusalem? No. The only crown he wore was a crown of thorns. The Lord Jesus Christ, God’s only Son was nailed to a cross where He died. His body was placed in a garden tomb. So what about God’s “forever promise”?
Did the Lord Jesus remain in the grave? No! Up from the grave He arose, and He is living today in Heaven as the King of kings. By His death on the cross, He has conquered death and sin. And His rule will never end. (Luke 1:33, Phil. 2:11)
This is God’s forever promise to David come true. Truly He who promised is faithful. God keeps His promises always!

2. Suggested Activities:

Memory Verse: 2 Sam 7:15-16, “But my love will never be taken away from him.Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.’”
for younger classes: “Your house and your kingdom will continue before me for all time, and your throne will be secure forever.” (NLT)
Close in prayer

APPENDIX: Examples of God’s Promises

God Promised to be with us always
Joshua 1:9 Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.
God Promised to Protect Us
2 Thessalonians 3:3 But the Lord is faithful, who shall establish you and keep you from evil.
Jesus Promised Us Rest
Matthew 11:29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle, and you will find rest for your souls.
Jesus Promised He will come again for us
John 14:2-3 There are many rooms in my Father’s home, and I am going to prepare a place for you. When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.
God Promised No More Condemnation
Rom 8:1 So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.
God Promised to Help Us
Isaiah 41:10 Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. I will strengthen you. I will help you.
Jesus Promised Us Peace
John 14:27 I am leaving you with a gift — peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give isn’t like the peace the world gives. So don’t be troubled or afraid.
God Promised Us Healing
Isaiah 53:5 By His stripes we are healed.
God Promised to Provide Us all we need
2 Cor 9:8 And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others.
God Promised us Life
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

David messed out — Redeemed by Grace

September 23, 2012UncategorizedBook 2 Samuel, Person Davidlxlam

1. Story (based on 2 Sam 11-12)

HOOK: Cover up

Materials: Pile of dust/dirt, tissue paper/paper napkin, small dustpan/brush
Put a pile of dust/dirt in the middle of a table.
Kids, look, there’s a mess here. It’s really dirty. What should we do?
How about we try to cover it up? I know, let’s use this napkin. If we put it over the dirt, no one will see it. <cover the dirt with the napkin>
There. Does that work? <no>
Oh dear. What do you think we should do? I know. I’ll clean it up and throw away the dirt. <get a kid to help sweep away the dirt>
See … clean and as good as new now!
Sometimes in life, we will mess up and make mistakes. But covering the mess will not work because the mess is still there. So the only way to get rid of the mess is to clean it up nicely.

Today, we’re going to learn about someone who messed up big time.
Last week, we learnt that David became king and he celebrated by bringing the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem. David was a good king. A man after God’s heart. He loved God and loved to worship Him. God gave him much success and favour in whatever he did.
But even a great man like David made mistakes. And boy, did David mess up big time!
One spring day, when kings normally go to war, King David sent his army out with General Joab to conquer the city of Rabbah. David decided that he wanted to stay in Jerusalem instead.
One evening, David got up from his nap and walked around the flat roof of his palace and saw a very beautiful woman bathing. David found out that her name was Bathsheba. She was married, to Uriah, a soldier in David’s army.
Now, marriage is very precious in God’s eyes; it is a covenant between one man and one woman.
But David wanted Bathsheba for himself. So he sent his servants to bring Bathsheba to him and slept with her — something only a husband can do with his wife. That was a wrong thing David did. He took what belonged to someone else. He messed up!
And for a while, David thought no one would know about what he did. But then Bathsheba got pregnant! David knew people would find out that he did something with Bathsheba that he wasn’t supposed to. He was busted!
Cover-up Plan A

Instead of admitting his wrong, David decided to try to cover up his mistake. He sent for Uriah, Bathsheba’s husband, to come back from the battlefield, hoping he would go home to his wife. But Uriah didn’t. He slept at the entrance of the king’s palace instead.

Cover-up Plan B

David’s cover-up plan didn’t work. So time for Plan B. David wrote a letter to his general, Joab. “Put Uriah on the front battle line, then pull back from him so that Uriah will be wounded and die.” Joab did as David instructed. And in the battle, Uriah died.
After David found out the news, he brought Bathsheba back to his palace and married her. They had a baby boy. Phew! David thought his Cover-up Plan B worked as he intended. Now no one will ever know!

Busted!

But God knew. And God was angry. Not only did David sleep with another man’s wife, he also killed an innocent man.
God sent the prophet Nathan to tell David a story:

Once there lived a rich and poor man. The rich man has lots of cattle and sheep; but the poor man has only one lamb. The lamb is the pet of the poor man and his children. The poor man let the lamb eat from his plate, drink from his cup, and sleep on his lap. The lamb became like one of his children. One day, the rich man had a guest that came visiting him. The rich man doesn’t want to slaughter his own cattle and lamb to serve meal for the guest. Instead, he went and stole the lamb from the poor man. He slaughtered it and serves it as a meal instead to the guest.

David grew angry and said to the prophet, Nathan, “Who is this rich man? I swear I would have him killed now!”
Nathan replied, “The rich man in the story is you. God has given you everything, all the money and power and wives. Yet you murdered Uriah so that you could take his wife, Bathsheba for yourself.”

David cries out to God

David realised he couldn’t hide anymore. “I have sinned against the Lord.”
Nathan replied, “The Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die.”
But the consequences of David’s actions resulted in his son with Bathsheba becoming very sick and died.
After his son died, David (who had been praying and fasting) got up, combed his hair, got dressed and worshipped the Lord. Then David comforted Bathsheba, and they had another son, Solomon.
The prophet Nathan came to tell David that God loves Solomon very much and to call him “Jedidiah” (God’s beloved).

2. LESSON:

Every one messes up

King David was a great man. But even he made mistakes. David realised that not only did he take another man’s wife and life, he sinned against God.
You and I make mistakes too. We mess up. We sin against God.
Mistakes have consequences. The Bible tells us, “For the wages of sin is death.” (Rom 6:23)
In David’s time, under the Old Covenant, there was no remedy or sacrifice for David’s sins — adultery and murder. The offender, David, should die.

God’s grace is bigger than our sin

But David turned to God. He looked forward to a time when God would not only take away his sin, but wash him and make him “whiter than snow.”(Psalm 51:7). David did not deserve it, but God forgave him. Because of God’s grace, David lived and was blessed with another child, Solomon.
“The Case of the Missing Story”: God’s forgiveness is so complete that when the life of David is retold in the book of 1 Chronicles, there is no mention of the story of David and Bathsheba (1 Chronicles 20:1). God’s redemption is complete —there is no trace of the failure left over when the blood of Jesus is applied.
The time that David looked forward to was when Jesus died on the cross, for you, for me, and for King David.
Jesus is “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29) Jesus’ blood can wash us clean. Hebrews 10:17 tells us, under the New Covenant, “Their sins and iniquities will I remember no more”.

Let’s trust in Jesus

On the cross, Jesus took all the punishment for the wrongs we did. He paid for the sins we committed. Three days later, He rose from the dead, and we now can have His life in us.
If we believe in Jesus and trust Him, He will clean out all the messes and mistakes and forgive us. By receiving His grace, we can experience freedom, forgiveness and life.
Children, how many of you have trusted and believed in Jesus? Do you know that Jesus has cleaned you of all your sins? He has made you brand new, so that you can enjoy the life and love that He has for you.
How many of have not believed in Jesus before? Would you like to trust in Jesus? If you do, please pray together with me: Lord Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross and taking all the punishment for my wrong. You paid for all King David’s sins. You paid for my sins. I believe in You, and I want to trust in You and accept Your gift of grace and eternal life. I believe that you make me clean and I have your life and Spirit in me always. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

3. Suggested Activities:

Memory Verse: Hebrews 10:17 “Their sins and iniquities will I remember no more”.

David Danced before God

September 17, 2012UncategorizedBook 2 Samuel, Person Davidlxlam

1. Story (based on 2 Sam 6)

https://tnccbeta.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/a79b6-daviddancingbeforethelord.jpg

We’ve been learning about a person called David.
What have we learnt about him so far?

David was a shepherd.
David was anointed king.
Saul was jealous of him.
Saul wanted to kill him.
David ran away, and God protected him from all harm.

Then one day, Saul and Jonathan were both killed in battle. David was then made king of Israel.
David loved the Lord. He loved to sing and write songs of worship.
One of the first things David did as king was to bring the Ark of the Covenant back to Jerusalem.
Who remembers the Ark?

The priests carried the Ark into the River Jordan, causing the water to stop, so the Israelites could cross.
The Ark symbolized God’s presence.
It was lost in battle and captured by the Philistines before, but they returned it to the Israelites. (1 Samuel 5-7:1).
It stayed in a place called Kirjath-jearim for 20 years.

David tried to bring in the Ark on a cart, carried by oxen. This was not how God had told the Israelites to carry the Ark. Anyone knows how the Ark should be carried? On the shoulders of the Levite priests. Yes, that’s right. The Ark represented God’s presence, and in David’s time, not anybody, even David, could just touch the Ark.
So King David tried again, this time, the right way. On the shoulders of the Levite priests.
There were trumpets and singing and dancing and shouting. All Israel came to see the procession bringing the Ark into the city of Jerusalem. It was a huge celebration.
And right in front of it all was David. Yes, the king of Israel was dancing with all his might! And not just dancing, but dancing almost naked! David had taken off his crown, his majestic robes and fine clothes. He only wore a linen ephod.
Can you imagine our country’s king dancing on the streets at our national day parade? Or the king of any country dancing … naked? It was unheard of. Some may say embarrassing or humiliating for the great king. But David didn’t care. He was so happy that he could bring the Ark back to Jerusalem, and he was worshipping God. He was leaping and dancing.
Suggestion: show video of David dancing
The ark was brought into a tabernacle that David had prepared. David sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to the Lord. Then he blessed the people and gave them gifts of bread and cakes. And all the people went home after that.
Now, not everybody was as happy as King David. In fact, his own wife, Michal, Saul’s daughter, was not enjoying the celebrations with everyone else. She was looking out her window, and she didn’t like what she saw. The Bible says she despised David in her heart.
When David returned home, Michal came to him and said, “How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, going around half-naked in full view of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!”
But David told his wife, “In God’s presence, I’ll dance all I want! He chose me over your father and the rest of our family and made me prince over God’s people, over Israel. Oh yes, I’ll dance to God’s glory — more recklessly even than this. And as far as I’m concerned … I’ll gladly look like a fool!”