1. STORY:
- Who was the shepherd boy who was anointed king of Israel? David
- Who was the king at that time? Saul
- God was with David in all he did. And he had great successes. The women of Israel used to welcomed him with singing and dancing. What did they say? “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands.”
- How did this make Saul feel? Very jealous of David.
- Saul was anointed king of Israel. But after he disobeyed God, God’s spirit left him. After that, an evil spirit came to disturb Saul. He was very troubled and bothered by this evil spirit.
- When he was not at the battlefield, David played the lyre (small harp) for King Saul. David used to play the harp when he was a shepherd taking care of his sheep. That’s when he would sing and worship the Lord and write songs, such as Psalm 23.
- Only David’s playing on the harp would make Saul feel better and drive the evil spirit away.
- But Saul was becoming more and more jealous of David. And he tried to attack him!
- One day, when David as playing his lyre, Saul was being disturbed by an evil spirit. He had a sharp spear in his hand. Suddenly, Saul hurled the spear at David, trying to pin him to the wall! But David escaped. Phew! That was close.
- What would you do if you were David? Would you stay on in the king’s palace and play for him? Work for him? Most of us would run far, far away.
- But David stayed on. God was with David and protected him. God was with David and gave him great successes. He fought battles for Saul. He married his daughter. He made a covenant with Saul’s son, Jonathan. Saul promised not to try to kill David anymore.
- So David played his lyre for Saul again. And one day (just in the next chapter of 1 Samuel), an evil spirit came on Saul. And once again, Saul tried to pin David to the wall with his spear. And once again, David escaped! God was with David, and He protected him. Talk about déjà vu!
- David’s wife, Michal, warned David to leave the palace and helped him escape through a window. David went away and went to see Samuel (the prophet who anointed him as king) at Ramah to tell him what Saul did to him.
- When Saul found out, he was so angry. He sent men to capture David at Ramah.
- Saul’s men saw Samuel and a group of prophets prophesying. Suddenly God’s Spirit came on them too and they started prophesying. When Saul heard about it, he sent more men. They also started prophesying. So Saul sent some more men … and … they also started prophesying!
- In the end, Saul decided he would go to Ramah himself. And guess what? That’s right. Saul started prophesying too. Not only that, he stripped off his clothes completely and lay naked all day and all night.
2. LESSON:
- What can we learn from these incidences?
- God is with us. He is our protection.
- The Bible tells us in Romans 8:31, “If God is for us, who can be against us?”
- Our enemies may try many times to attack us in every way, just as Saul tried to attack David.
- Many times, he failed. God was with David and protected him. He turned Saul’s attacks to prophecies. He turns attacks against us into blessings. As Joseph told his brothers who sold him into slavery, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good.” (Gen 50:20)
- God is with us. He has plans for me.
- God had a plan for David’s life. David was to be king of Israel. And no one could stop it from being accomplished.
- God also had plans for Jesus’ life here on earth. His plan was for Jesus to come down to earth and live as a man, and then to die and give His life for the whole world. That was the plan. And no one could stop it from being accomplished.
- Several times people tried to kill Jesus. They tried to throw him off the cliff, but he just walked right through the crowd and went his way. (Luke 4:28-30). They pick up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself and slipped away (John 8:59). His enemies wanted to arrest him. But the Bible tells us in John 8:20, “Yet no one seized him, because his hour had not yet come.”
- When the time did come for Jesus to give His life, He did not resist arrest. He was not killed. He freely laid down His life for all of us.
- The great news today is, God has plans for your life too. As He told the prophet Jeremiah, “For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jer 29:11) And nobody can derail God’s plans for you and for me.
- God’s Spirit is in me. Always.
- In those days, before Jesus died, God’s Holy Spirit would come and go as He liked. When people sinned, He would leave.
- Saul was anointed king, but when he sinned, Saul lost God’s anointing. That opened the way for evil spirits to come and disturb him. When the Spirit came on him again, he could prophesy.
- But today, Jesus made us clean so the Holy Spirit can stay with us forever. “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever” (1 John 14:16)
- And when the Holy Spirit is in us, no one can touch us. Amen! “Even though someone is pursuing you to take your life, the life of my lord will be bound securely in the bundle of the living by the Lord your God.” (1 Sam 25:29)
3. ACTIVITY SUGGESTIONS:
- Memory Verse: Romans 8:31, “If God is for us, who can be against us?”
- Join the dots & Colouring
