BIG IDEA: Trust in God’s timing.
This free Bible lesson, Man’s King and God’s King, will teach preschool and elementary students about the true story of King Saul and King David over Israel. The nation of Israel demanded a king, but God was not ready to appoint a human king. He gave them Saul, a man from the tribe of Benjamin. But God spoke through the prophet Samuel and told him to anoint David, a shepherd from the tribe of Judah to be the human king of Israel. Jesus was a descendant of King David and the fulfillment of the Davidic covenant.
FOCUS BIBLE PASSAGE: 1 Samuel 8, 9:15-16, 16:1
All of the printable activities and digital slides needed for the lesson, as well as a full printable lesson plan for both elementary and preschool are available.
Below is the outline of the free elementary Bible lesson.
PREP & SUPPLIES
- printed “God’s Promises” for each student
- pencils/pens
- printed pictures of Jesus (Rev. 5:5)
- printed & trimmed crowns
- scissors
- glue
- coloring supplies
LESSON HOOK ACTIVITY
(SLIDE) Look at these pictures and think in your head, of one word that describes this group of people.
Allow students time to think and talk to peers about who is in the pictures. Guide them to the conclusion that the people pictured are LEADERS.
Use the list below to question students about each leader:
Parents – leaders of a home
Teacher – leader of a classroom
President – leader of a country
Captain – leader of ship
Team Captain – leader of a sport’s team
General – leader of a branch of military
Principal – leader of a school
(SLIDE) Why is it important for a group of people to have a leader? (allow responses)
When a group of people has no leader over them, they all begin to do things in their own way. This can lead to chaos and usually not a lot gets accomplished without a leader in charge.
Our true story from The Bible is going to teach us about some leaders who came into power over the Israelites.
BIBLE LESSON
We have been learning about the Israelites in The Bible. God made a promise to Abraham that his family would be blessed, and that God would give them a new land to live in and call their own. (Genesis 12:1-3)
After many years in Egyptian slavery, and wandering in the wilderness desert because of their disobedience, they finally entered into the land God had promised them.
(SLIDE) After the Israelites came into the Promised Land, they had God but they didn’t have a permanent, regular human leader ruling over them. The Bible says in Judges 21:25: “In those days, Israel didn’t have a king. The people did anything they thought was right.”
As we already talked about, when a group of people doesn’t have a leader, everyone starts to do what they want to do, which can lead to chaos.
Each time the people ran into problems, God would bring up a leader called a “judge”.
(SLIDE) These judges were not like a judge in a courtroom. The “judges” that God called and raised up were special leaders who would bring the nation of Israel through a specific problem at a specific time. As soon as that leader died the people would fall right back into difficult times.
(SLIDE) Surrounding nations had kings who ruled over the people of those nations. The Israelites saw this and decided that is what they wanted for their nation.
A man named Samuel who was a judge and a prophet was leading the Israelites at this time and he was very close to God. He spoke with God about all of the decisions that needed to be made for the people.
Samuel was getting older and his sons were going to be the new human leaders. But the people did not like this because they didn’t think that Samuel’s sons were going to be good leaders.
The Bible tells us that some of the people came to Samuel and said:
(SLIDE) 1 Samuel 8:5 NIrV
[“You are old. Your sons don’t live as you do. So appoint a king to lead us. We want a king just like the kings all the other nations have.”]
Samuel wasn’t happy about their request. He wanted the people to look to God as their leader, so he prayed to God for guidance.
The Bible says:
(SLIDE) 1 Samuel 8:7-9 NIrV
[The LORD told him, “Listen to everything the people are saying to you. You are not the one they have turned their backs on. I am the one they do not want as their king. They are doing just as they have always done…Let them have what they want. But give them a strong warning. Let them know what the king who rules over them will expect to be done for him.”]
The people had once again rejected God as their leader.
The people wanted a human king like all of the other nations. But the problem is that they weren’t like all of the other nations. They had God on their side! They didn’t realize the blessing they had with the one True God on their side, and they thought they wanted to be like other nations who worshiped other false gods.
Just like God told Samuel, Samuel gave the people a warning about what they were asking for. He told them that a king would expect a lot from them. They would have to work for him and give him part of their earnings. Even after hearing these warnings from Samuel, the people still demanded a king to rule over them. (1 Samuel 8:10-20)
God gave the Israelites what they thought they wanted: a human king to rule over them.
(SLIDE) God appointed a man named Saul to be Israel’s first human king. (1 Samuel 9:15-16)
Saul had a very great beginning in his rule over Israel. He was strong and successful, but soon he began to become full of pride. This means that he was proud of himself and the things he had done. Soon, he began to make mistakes and sin against God.
Who sins? (everyone)
Why do we have sin in our world? (sin entered the world when Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden and ate the forbidden fruit)
Who does sin separate us from? (God)
Just because King Saul was a sinner, does that make him a bad person, or a bad leader? (no)
We all sin.
But when we sin, we should confess our sins to God. What does it mean to confess your sin? (allow responses)
Confessing our sins means that we admit that we have sinned and we don’t try to cover up our sins and pretend that they didn’t happen.
After we confess our sins, we should repent, or turn from our sins and try to do better in the future. We shouldn’t keep sinning and keep sinning and not ever try to change.
This is what Saul did. He continued to sin against God and continued to sin against God. Saul did not confess his sin and turn away from his sin.
King Saul ruled over Israel for 40 years. Many of those years, he spent living in sin. This is not what God wanted for his people.
The Bible tells us about a conversation between Samuel and Saul. Remember that Samuel was close to God. Samuel was a prophet which means that God told Samuel things that were going to happen.
Samuel told Saul what God had revealed to him:
(SLIDE) 1 Samuel 15:23 NIrV
[“…You have refused to do what the LORD told you to do. So he has refused to have you as king.”]
God no longer accepted Saul as Israel’s king.
When the people demanded a human king, God gave them what they wanted. But later, after Saul fell into sin and did not obey God, Saul was no longer accepted by God as the king.
Instead, God chose another man to be Israel’s human king. He told Samuel to go to Bethlehem. God had chosen one of Jesse’s sons to be the new king. (1 Samuel 16:1)
Does anyone know the name of Jesse’s son who God had chosen to become king? (allow responses)
(SLIDE) God chose a man named David to be the king.
Do you think that David was a perfect leader? (allow responses)
Do you think that David was a sinner? (allow responses)
David was not a perfect leader. David was a human, so he was a sinner. We are all sinners because of Adam and Eve’s disobedience.
David sinned and made plenty of mistakes while he was the king of Israel, but the difference between David and Saul was that David recognized and confessed his sin to God. David repented from his sin and followed God closely.
(SLIDE) Can someone tell me about Jacob and The Twelve Tribes of Israel? (allow responses)
LEADER NOTE REGARDING THE TRIBES OF ISRAEL LIST: Pictured are the original 12 sons of Jacob. In some lists you will see that Levi is not included because the men of his tribe were the priests. The Levites did not receive land as an inheritance and did not participate in military conquests. When Levi is not included, Joseph’s two sons Ephraim and Manasseh take the place of both Levi and Joseph to equal 12 tribes.
Abraham became the father of Isaac, and Isaac became the father of Jacob. Jacob’s name was changed to “Israel”, so Jacob’s sons became known as the “Twelve Tribes of Israel”.
I am going to read you a verse from the Book of Genesis in The Bible and I want you to think about what it might mean.
This is when Jacob was speaking to each of his 12 sons and giving them their blessings before he died.
(SLIDE) Genesis 49:10 NIrV
[The right to rule will not leave Judah. The ruler’s scepter will not be taken from between his feet. It will be his until the king it belongs to will come. The nations will obey that king.]
Allow students to reflect on this verse and talk with their peers about what they think it might mean. Allow discussion and then be sure to follow up with the commentary that follows.
God had always planned for Israel to have a human king to rule over them.
What did Jacob mean when he said “the right to rule will not leave Judah”? (allow responses)
(SLIDE) One of his son’s names was Judah, so one of the tribes was named Judah. Jacob was saying in this verse that God’s plan for the nation of Israel was to have a human king someday who would come from the tribe of Judah.
Do you think King Saul came from the tribe of Judah? (allow responses)
(SLIDE) King Saul came from the tribe of Benjamin.
Saul was not qualified in God’s eyes because God had said that the human king would come from the tribe of Judah.
This doesn’t mean that the people from the other tribes weren’t important. It means that God has a plan and when we come into the middle of His plan and make our own plans it doesn’t work out well!
Did God allow King Saul to rule as king of Israel? (yes)
God told Samuel to choose Saul as the king.
Was King Saul who God wanted to rule as king? (no)
What tribe do you think King David was from? (allow responses)
(SLIDE) David was from the tribe of Judah. David was God’s choice of king for the people of Israel.
At the time the people demanded a human king, God was not ready to put a human king into power. God wanted the people to trust in His timing and follow Him. But the people went their own way. God allowed them to go their own way, but it didn’t work out the way they thought it would.
What lesson can you learn from this for your own life? (allow responses and discussion)
(SLIDE) Big Idea: Trust in God’s timing.
We must always trust God’s timing. When we have a decision to make, we should go to God in prayer and ask for Him to guide us in the way we should go. God has a plan for each one of our lives and He wants us to come to Him for everything.
We have learned today that God appointed two different men to rule as king over Israel.
(SLIDE) One of them was “Man’s King”, and the other one was “God’s King”.
This means that people demanded one of them and received him as their king (Man’s King), and the other one was being prepared by God to be the king in God’s timing (God’s King).
Which king was “Man’s King”, and which king was “God’s King”? (allow responses)
(SLIDE) King Saul was “Man’s King”, and King David was “God’s King”.
When the people demanded a king, God gave them King Saul, but God’s choice was King David. God wanted the people to trust Him and His timing for a king.
The Bible Story and Large Group Activity are combined for the remainder of this lesson.
(SLIDE) The most exciting part of this story from The Bible is the special person who was born into the family of David about 1,000 years after David ruled as king of Israel.
Who do you think that special person is? (allow responses)
(SLIDE) Jesus! Jesus was born into the family of David. Jesus is part of the royal family chosen by God to rule as King.
The men from the tribe of Judah reigned as human kings for many years. Is Jesus human? (yes)
Jesus is fully human AND fully God.
Jesus came from Heaven to the Earth as a human, but also still fully God, to live a sinless life, die on the cross for the sins of the world, and raise back to life.
(SLIDE) The amazing thing about our Bible is that It tells one big story about God’s plan.
HANDOUT: Each student will need a copy of “God’s Promises” and a pencil.
On your paper you will see three Bible passages. With a partner or a small group, read each passage and discuss Who you think each of the passages points to, or Who the passage is talking about.
On the back side of your paper, write or draw your thoughts.
Allow students time to read and reflect. Then come back together as a group to discuss using the prompts below.
LEADER NOTE: Each passage specifically points to Jesus.
- Genesis 3:15 [I will make you and the woman hate each other. Your children and her children will be enemies. Her son will crush your head. And you will bite his heel.] After the fall of humanity and the entrance of sin into the world, God promised to send a Savior to crush Satan’s head and defeat evil. The Savior is Jesus.
- 2 Samuel 7:16 [Your royal house and your kingdom will last forever in my sight. Your throne will last forever.] God promised King David that his royal family line would rule and reign forever. Jesus was born into David’s family and will be the King who rules and reigns forever.
- Revelation 5:5 […The Lion of the tribe of Judah has won the battle. He is the Root of David…] Jesus revealed the future to the Apostle John. John was shown that Jesus is the “Root of David”, from David’s family, winning the battle against evil.
Our Bible tells one big story about God’s plan to bring humanity into a relationship with Him through Jesus.
We learn at the very beginning of Genesis that sin entered the world and separated us from God. Right away, God made a plan to make a way for us to have a friendship with Him and not be separated from Him because of sin.
(SLIDE)
- In the Book of Genesis, God promised to send a Savior to crush evil.
- God promised in the Book of 2 Samuel that a line of Kings would rule and reign forever. The Savior God sent to crush evil was born into that royal family.
- In the Book of Revelation, we find a prophecy of the future telling us about that same Savior ruling on the Earth as King!
(SLIDE) The entire Bible points to Jesus!
Jesus is the promised Savior Who takes away the sins of the world. When we believe in Him and accept His free gift, we can be saved from our sins and live forever with Him when He rules as King.
Dear God,
Thank You for the true story of King Saul and King David. Thank You for teaching us to trust in Your timing for our lives. Thank You that You sent Jesus to die on the cross for our sins and raise back to life. We know that Jesus is the True King and the King Who will rule and reign forever. Please help us to understand the lessons and Truths we learn about in The Bible and to be bold enough to ask questions if we don’t understand fully.
We love you and we pray all of these things in Jesus’ sweet name, Amen.
SMALL GROUP ACTIVITY
Jesus is the promised King Who will rule and reign forever.
Today as you review the lesson with your small groups, you will be “placing the King’s crown” on Jesus’s head.
HANDOUT: Each student should get one picture of Jesus and one crown.
Students will cut out the crown and glue it onto the head of the picture of Jesus. You can allow students to color their pictures as you discuss the lesson.
BREAK INTO SMALL GROUPS TO COMPLETE THE ACTIVITY.
Discussion Prompts for Leaders:
- REVELATION 5:5: Jesus revealed the future to the Apostle John in the Book of Revelation. John was shown that Jesus is the “Root of David” winning the battle against evil.
- Why did the Israelites want a human king? (the other nations had kings and they wanted more security)
- What did Samuel do when the people demanded a king? (prayed to God for guidance)
- How did God respond to the request of the people? (He gave them a human king – Saul)
- Why was Saul not qualified to be king? (He was from the tribe of Benjamin – God had promised that the kings would come from the tribe of Judah)
- What made King David’s sin different from King Saul’s sin? (David confessed his sins and repented to follow God and Saul did not)
- David was from a town called Bethlehem. What else is special about the town of Bethlehem? (Jesus was born there – Jesus was from the same family as David)
- What are some things you can do to trust in God’s timing in your life? (pray, be patient, read The Bible, learn at church)
- Explain how the three passages on the “God’s Promises” paper point to Jesus. (Genesis 3:15 → After the fall of humanity and the entrance of sin into the world, God promised to send a Savior to crush Satan’s head and defeat evil. The Savior is Jesus. 2 Samuel 7:16 → God promised King David that his royal family line would rule and reign forever. Jesus was born into David’s family and will be the King who rules and reigns forever. Revelation 5:5 → Jesus revealed the future to the Apostle John. John was shown that Jesus is the “Root of David”, from David’s family, winning the battle against evil.)
- Does anyone have any questions about today’s lesson?
- Use any extra time to discuss the lesson and/or the memory verse.
CLOSING REFLECTION
We learned that God has a plan for our lives. We must trust in God’s timing and go to Him in prayer for everything. God always had a plan for a human king to rule over the Israelites, but they were impatient and demanded a king before the time was right. God gave the people what they wanted and chose King Saul to rule over them for 40 years. King Saul disobeyed God and was not what the people expected from a king. King David was God’s choice for a human king and God promised King David that his family would have the royal throne forever. Jesus was born into David’s family and will be the King Who rules and reigns forever. The entire Bible points to Jesus and teaches of God’s plan to bring humanity back into a friendship with God through Jesus after sin separated us from Him in the Garden of Eden.
Reflection Questions:
- What can you learn from the Israelites?
- In what ways have you had to wait on God’s timing?
- In what ways have you seen that the Bible points to Jesus?
- Does anyone have any questions about today’s lesson?
Find other free Bible lessons for kids:
