David Anointed

19th October 2014

We’re going to begin a new series looking at the life of someone very special.
His name is David. What do you know about David?
- He was a shepherd boy
- He became a king of Israel
How did a shepherd boy become a king? Let’s follow his story from the beginning.

Story-telling ideas (for younger kids):
a. K is for David
b. print the brothers onto a large piece of paper and fold the paper accordion style so that 1 brother on 1 pleat, then unfold the accordion pleat by pleat as you tell the story
c. have a clothes line and have the kids peg each brother on the line as you tell the story)

Background (for older kids)
- When God brought the Israelites out from Egypt and the nation was formed, God was their only king.
- God spoke to the people through prophets, and there were judges to govern the people. One of these judges and prophets was called Samuel.
- But the Israelites were not happy. They saw the other countries’ kings. And they told Samuel, “We want a (human) king also!”
- So the people chose a tall, strong, handsome king called Saul.
- But Saul had NO HEART for God. He wanted to do things his own way and didn’t want to follow God. So God rejected him.
- Samuel was very sad.

God told Samuel to go to Bethlehem to the house of a man called Jesse. God said that He had chosen one of Jesse’s sons, and Samuel was to anoint him as king of Israel — this king will be one who has a WHOLE HEART for God.
What is “anoint”? (bring a bottle of oil or a ram’s horn, if you hv, to show the kids)Samuel went to see a man called Jesse. Jesse had 8 sons. One of them would be king. But which one?
- In Bible times, anointing someone (usually by pouring oil on the head) is a symbolic act for choosing someone to be a leader (king, priest, prophets etc)
- It’s also a picture of God giving the Holy Spirit to the chosen person
Samuel sees Jesse’s first son, Eliab — he was tall and good looking. “Surely this is the king God has chosen,” he thinks. But no. God tells Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

Son #2 comes up, Abinadab. God said No.
Son #3, Shammah. God said No.
Son #4, No. #5, No. #6, No. #7, No, no, no!
This was getting a bit frustrating, especially for Samuel. God said he has chosen one of Jesse’s sons to be king, but He had rejected all 7 of them already! Samuel turns to Jesse and asks, “Do you have any more sons?”
“There is still the youngest,” Jesse answered. “He is tending the sheep.”
“Send for him.” Samuel says.
And in comes a young boy. David. And God said … “Yes!”
So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed David in front of all his brothers, and the Spirit of God came upon him that day.

“People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (1 Sam 16:7)
David’s 7 brothers were all physically strong (soldiers) and good looking; they’d be good potential kings. But God wasn’t interested in how big and strong they were.It’s natural to look at physical appearances — e.g. tall person good for basketball — but God is more interested in the heart — one that wants to follow God’s heart and mind.

“There is still the youngest.”
David’s father didn’t think much about him. He did not mention him by name; he didn’t call him to meet with Samuel. He was just the little kid helping to take care of the sheep.But God knew David by name. He chooses the unlikely people to do His work so that everyone will know that it is God who is doing the work through them.

“the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David”
When Samuel anointed David with the oil, God’s Holy Spirit came and rested on David to mark him as God’s chosen one.When Jesus (a descendent of David) was baptized on earth, the Holy Spirit came upon Him to show that He was God’s chosen one who would be the Forever King for God’s people.When we believe in Jesus, we also are anointed with/have God’s Holy Spirit in us.(In those days, the Holy Spirit came and went from people — God removed His Spirit from Saul — but today, when the Holy Spirit comes on us, He lives in us forever!
David was anointed. Jesus is the Anointed One. We are the Anointed Children of the King!

Memory Verse: Large picture of ram’s horn with memory verse on it. Cut it out, hide it around the room (optional), get kids to arrange pieces together to form the memory verse and read together.
Game: Duck, Duck, Goose, Variation
Kids sit in a circle. One kid (A) holds a red heart with a sticky tape behind (get some spare sticky tape in case it loses stickiness). A walks outside the circle (can get him to recite memory verse as part of the challenge) and has to stick the heart behind one of the kids (B) in the circle. The one who has been “chosen”, B, will have to chase A round the circle and try to tag him before he sits down in the empty space.