David Spares Saul's Life Kids Bible Lesson

A David spares Saul's life kids Bible lesson is excellent for children of all ages, whether for a church kids club, a homeschooling bible lesson, or simply as a Christian parenting resource for teaching your children. While you may want to go in more depth with older children, keeping the story simple and finding ways they can apply the lessons to their own lives may work best for younger children.

David actually spares Saul's life two times - the incidences occur in 1 Samuel 24 and 1 Samuel 26. To help children understand the lesson, you may choose to give them some background in a simple synopsis, such as the following, which briefly illustrates from 1Samuel 15 through 1 Samuel 26.

Although Saul had been appointed King Israel, he disobeyed God's commands. David was appointed to be the next King of Israel. David was willing to wait patiently until Saul's death to become the King, and he served Saul well during his reign. As a young boy, he defeated the Philistine Goliath (many children are already familiar with the David and Goliath story, so reminding them of this story may be a good contextual link). He played the harp and helped soothe King Saul. When he was older, he became a great soldier in Saul's army, and the people loved David.

When Saul realized what a great soldier David was and how much his people loved him, he became jealous of David. Saul did unkind things to David and told his men to kill him. David's best friend was Jonathon, Saul's son, and Jonathon helped David escape.

Saul and men from his army chase David. One day, David was in a cave, and he saw Saul going to the bathroom (but Saul did not see David). David secretly cut a piece of Saul's robe, but he did not hurt Saul, and he did not let any of the men who were with him hurt Saul. David shows himself to Saul and tells him what happened because he wants to give Saul a second chance. David wants Saul to see he will never hurt Saul. Saul goes back to his palace.

At another time, David sees Saul again when he is sleeping, but he does not hurt Saul or let the men with him hurt Saul. Two times David could have taken revenge on Saul, but David obeys God and does not hurt him.

When discussing the story, it may be helpful to keep in mind the objectives you wish the children to gain from the lesson. You may want to emphasize:

• The fact that David obeyed God.
• The fact that David trusted God to care for him.
• That God calls us to be kind even when others are unkind to us.
• David shows self-control instead of killing Saul out of anger or revenge.
• Saul's jealousy and anger were the result of his own disobedience to God, not the fault of David.
• David gives Saul a second chance, just like Jesus gave us a second chance by dying on the cross.

Another objective may be having children memorize verses that reinforce the lesson or objectives. Memory verses you may want to consider include:

• Mathew 5:44: But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. (NIV)
• Proverbs 25: 28 Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control.(NIV)
• Psalm 34: 4 I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears. (NIV)

You may want to include activities in this lesson. Worksheets, such as true or false or fill-in the blanks about the lesson are good for elementary age children. Coloring sheets about the story or picture sequences are good lessons for preschool and young children. A simple verbal activity to help children apply this lesson is to discuss instances when they might be upset for a justifiable reason (another child takes a toy from them, does something unkind, etc.), and what they can do it the situation to react in a Godly way. For children's safety, be sure to emphasize the need to tell an adult if the incident is something more serious, for example, than a case of not wanting to share.

The following David spares Saul's life lesson kids Bible lesson plans, worksheets, and activities may be helpful for additional planning.

• Adobe File of David Spares Saul's Life Activities: This printable resource from Calvary Chapel offers a coloring page, word search, true and false, and fill-in the blank worksheet based on the David and Saul lesson.
• PDF David and Saul Lesson Plan: This printable PDF file offers both preschool and elementary versions of the lesson plan along with ideas for hands-on activities.
• PDF David Spares Saul's Life Summary and Activities: This includes several worksheet activities and a summary of the story.
• BibleGateway.com: Look up the David and Saul story in a Bible translation of your choice..

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