1 Samuel 29 & 30

“Strength in the Lord”

Scripture: 1 Samuel 29:1-30:31

Memory Verse: “But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.” 1 Samuel 30:6b

Lesson Focus: David’s strength & power comes from his relationship with God.

Activities & Craft: Coloring picture; work sheet

1st and 2nd Grade Craft: “Call on God” Bookmark

Introduction: Ask the kids:

What do you do when things go wrong? (tell them to raise their hands)

How many of you worry?

How many of you go to your parents?

How many of you pray?

What kind of things goes wrong in your lives?

Today, we are going to look at the life of David. You will remember that David is running

for his life from king Saul. David has taken up residence in the land of the Philistines under Achish. David has been very cunning and has been “launching” secret attacks on the enemies of Israel – while living among the Philistines. King Achish has no idea that David is doing this. But we are also going to see, that when things go wrong in David’s life – who he turns to.

Bible Study:

1 Samuel 29:1-11 “Who’s Side is David On?”

√ Who is the enemy of Israel?

√ Where is Israel encamped? Do you think that they are preparing for war?

√ What kind of parade did the Philistine army have? (Hundreds and thousands of the

Philistine army passed before the Lords of the Philistines.)

√ Who was included in the parade? (David and his men)

√ What question did the Philistine princes ask? (what are the Hebrews doing here?)

√ Do you think that was a good question? (Yes. David and his men had been deceiving

King Achish. Achish thought that David and his men were fighting for him. But in fact they had been secretly fighting the enemies of Israel.) Achish believes that David defected to him. (That David changed sides.)

√ Do you think that David changed sides?

√ What do they tell David and his men to do? (to leave.)

Chapter 29 of Samuel can be a little confusing. Was David actually going to go into

battle with the Philistines to fight against Israel? Or was he planning to do exactly what they were afraid he would do – turn on them and fight them from the inside? We know that David never defected from Israel – but was still fighting for Israel from within the camp of the Philistines. David is basically a “spy” within the camp of the Philistines. But for whatever reason – God stops David from going into this battle.

In Proverbs 21:1 – we are told that God moves the hearts of Kings. “The king’s heart is

in the hand of the Lord, Like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes.”

Even we do not see the hand of God in this story – we know that God is there and he is very involved with what will happen next.

1 Samuel 30:1-31: “The King’s Strength”

√ What happens when David and his men come home to Ziklag?

(The Amalekites invaded their home and took all of their wives, and

Children and burned their homes with fire.)

√ How did David and his men respond to the scene when they came to the

town? (They wept until they could not cry any more.)

√ Is it ok, to be sad when bad things happen to you? (yes)

How did David feel?

David was greatly distressed (30:6a) – he saw how grieved his people were. But the people wanted to stone David and kill him because he did not prevent this from happening.

How did David find strength?

David has a decision to make. He is sad, and he knows that the people are very upset with him – even to the point of wanting to kill him. Things have gone very wrong. David makes a decision.

“David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.”

√ How did David do this?

√ What does David ask God? (should I pursue these Amalekites?)

√ What does God tell him? (yes, pursue and you will overtake them and recover all that was taken.)

Do you see what David did when everything was going very wrong?

He did not call a counsel of his fighting men to make a plan to fight.

He did not rush out into battle.

David simply prayed and asked God for direction.

1 Samuel 30:11-19: “The Attach”

  1. David and 400 of his men find an Egyptian
  2. The Egyptian was a slave of one of the Amalkites that attached their town and took their wives and children.
  3. David and his men help the Egyptian and then the Egyptian helps them.
  4. David and his men attach the Amalekites and recover all that they had taken.

1 Samuel 30:20-31; “Sharing”

When David and his men return from battle with all of their wives and children and the spoils that were taken – those that went with David urged him to not share the spoils with the 200 men that did not go into battle.

What did David do?

  1. He reminded them that the spoils where what “God had given them” 1 Samuel 30:23.)
  2. He reminded them that God gave them the victory. (1 Samuel 30:23)
  3. He tells them that they will all share in what God has given to them.
  4. David even sends spoils to the land of Judah where the Amalekites had attached earlier.

Conclusion: What can we learn from these chapters?

  1. Be wise in enemy territory. David was wise and cunning when he lived in the land of the Philistines. He was in enemy territory, but he never deceived his people, Israel. When Jesus was here on earth He told his disciples, “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.”

We live in a world that does not love Jesus. We need to wise in our actions and in our words.

  1. Take our worries to God. David came back to a messy situation. His first response was to go to God in prayer. David knew where his source of strength came from. Do you? Do you go to God first?
  2. All that we have is from God and we should share it with others. David shows us how we should treat the “things” that we have. David does not keep it all for himself. He does not even let those that fought with him to keep it to themselves. David shares with all who suffered. We are told in the Bible that “what do you have that you did not receive…” 1 Corinthians 4:7 Everything that we have is from God. We are to share what God has given us.

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