YOUTH GROUP LESSON ON DAVID

Here’s a free youth group lesson on David based on 1 Samuel 17. 

Bottom Line: ​​David used his skills from previous trials to trust that God would help him defeat the real giant. We can do the same in our lives.

Includes a fun opening game to set up the lesson and small group discussion questions to use afterward. 

Enjoy!

Nick Diliberto, Ministry to Youth

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YOUTH GROUP LESSON ON DAVID

Bible:  1 Samuel 17:4-7, 8b-9, 34-37

Bottom Line:  David used his skills from previous trials to trust that God would help him defeat the real giant. We can do the same in our lives.

OPENING GAME SUPPLIES:

• Everyday objects (such as pencil, spoon, mug, stapler, duct tape, drill, remote control)
• VP Cards (download here)
• Timer (phone)
• Panel of esteemed judges (leaders and volunteers)

GAME PREP:

Print the Dinglehopper VP Cards, cut them out, and place them face down.

Place the objects out on the floor or on a table for everyone to see.

HOW TO PLAY THE GAME: 

Students in teams will choose an object from the table.

Each team will also choose a Viewpoint Card.

Teams will present their object to the group with its new purpose, based on the viewpoint.

Say: Today we are going to play a super creative game, so throw on your creativity hats.

We will work in teams.

Divide up students in the way that works for your group. Teams should be five people or less.

Now, come up to the table and pick one item. It doesn’t matter what it is, but you need one thing from this table.

When you have picked your item, go back and sit down.

Give students a few minutes to pick an item.

Now your team needs a “VP Card.”  Come up and grab one, but don’t look at it just yet.

Have students grab a card without looking at what it says.

Have a seat with your team.

How many of you remember that old Disney classic “The Little Mermaid”?

It is an all-time favorite of mine!

I love when Ariel finds a fork and asks her seagull friend what it is – he tells her it’s a Dinglehopper and that it’s for combing hair.

Then Ariel actually does comb her hair with it … in front of Eric. Classic!

In tonight’s game, we are going to come up with our own Dinglehopper.

When I say “GO!” you and your teammates will look at your “VP Card.”

Using the viewpoint listed on the card, you will have three minutes to come up with a new, creative, and unique use for the object you selected.

At the end of the three minutes, each pair will share their object and its new use with the group.

Feel free to be as creative as you can when presenting – make a commercial, do a quick skit, you get the idea.

Our panel of judges will select a winner based on creativity in presenting and originality in coming up with a new viewpoint for the object.

Any questions?

Great – GO!

Set timer for 3 minutes.

Have teams present their Dinglehoppers.

TEACH

Say: You all are seriously creative.

That was a lot of fun!

Tonight we are going to be talking about a pretty familiar Bible story, but we are going to look at it from a different viewpoint.

With a show of hands, has anyone in here heard of the story of David and Goliath?

Allow students to raise their hands.

Wow! That’s a lot of you!!

Well, just in case you have forgotten, let’s do a little recap.

David was a shepherd boy.

He was the youngest son of Jesse and was responsible for caring for his family’s sheep herd.

He made sure they were fed and had water and stayed in safe, green, luscious pastures.

He also made sure they were protected from predators like lions and wolves and bears.

It was probably a pretty boring, lonely, and dangerous-at-times job.

Then one day an army came to attack his country.

The attacking army, the Philistines, had a giant named Goliath who was a feared warrior.

Look at what the Bible says about him in 1 Samuel 17:4-7:

4 Then Goliath, a Philistine champion from Gath, came out of the Philistine ranks to face the forces of Israel. He was over nine feet tall! 5 He wore a bronze helmet, and his bronze coat of mail weighed 125 pounds. 6 He also wore bronze leg armor, and he carried a bronze javelin on his shoulder. 7 The shaft of his spear was as heavy and thick as a weaver’s beam, tipped with an iron spearhead that weighed 15 pounds. His armor bearer walked ahead of him carrying a shield.

Goliath was huge, strong, fierce, and really hard to take down.

Near and far, everyone knew about Goliath.

Goliath made fun of the Israelites. He taunted them and teased them for their lack of bravery to take him on.

He was so arrogant that he even made a bet –

Read this with as much big, strong warrior in your voice as possible.

“Choose one man to come down here and fight me! If he kills me, then we will be your slaves!” (1 Samuel 17:8b-9)

But there was not a single warrior among the Israelites willing to stand up to Goliath.

They were all shaking in their armor in front of him.

This went on for over a month.

One day, David was sent by his dad to take lunch to his brothers on the front lines of the battle.

His dad probably told him, “Just go there, drop off lunch, and come back home.”

But David started talking to the troops, heard all about what had been taking place with the giant, and decided that he could fight Goliath.

Can you imagine? This tiny shepherd boy against the most powerful, gigantic warrior! 

It would be like Simone Biles at 4’8” taking on Shaq at 7’1” in a little one-on-one basketball action.

(Show the photo of Shaq and Simone)

Seems like a one-sided battle to me.

But – spoiler alert – David gathers a few stones for his slingshot, winds up, and lays Goliath out flat with one single shot.

And if that weren’t enough, David cuts the head off Goliath’s body and takes it back to Jerusalem to show everyone the victory.

You might not have heard that last part in Sunday School, but what you probably did learn from this story is that God can help us defeat the giants in our lives. 

But I want to talk to you about this story from a different viewpoint.

Turn in your Bibles to 1 Samuel 17:34-37.

Have a student read the passage to the group

34 But David persisted. “I have been taking care of my father’s sheep and goats,” he said. “When a lion or a bear comes to steal a lamb from the flock, 35 I go after it with a club and rescue the lamb from its mouth. If the animal turns on me, I catch it by the jaw and club it to death. 36 I have done this to both lions and bears, and I’ll do it to this pagan Philistine, too, for he has defied the armies of the living God! 37 The Lord who rescued me from the claws of the lion and the bear will rescue me from this Philistine!” Saul finally consented. “All right, go ahead,” he said. “And may the Lord be with you!”

David is assuring the current Israeli King, Saul, that he can definitely defeat the giant, even though everyone is trying to talk him out of it, and for logical reasons. 

I mean, David is a small boy with no military training, no armor, and no sword. 

The only thing David had is a slingshot, which is hardly a weapon that a person trying to defeat the most powerful warrior in the entire land would want to use.

No one wants David to die, which is exactly the way this story looks like it will pan out if he goes up against the Philistine giant with a slingshot.

But David sees two things from his viewpoint that they do not.

First, he has spent years in the wilderness protecting his sheep.

As scrawny as he appears to everyone else, David has already defeated bears and lions with his simple slingshot and his bare hands, even pulling sheep from the growling grip of a lion’s jaw.

He has gone up against some of the most terrifying creatures on earth who could easily have torn him to bite-size pieces.

And he has prevailed every single time.

Each one of those battles has prepared him for where he now stands – in front of a giant Philistine warrior.

Second, David knows how he has been able to defeat bears and lions again and again.

Did you catch it?  In verse 37 … “The Lord who rescued me from the claws of the lion and the bear will rescue me from this Philistine.”

David knows he has not defeated those predators because of his own overwhelming strength and power, but because of God’s.

God has provided for David in every practice round, and David knows He will provide again.

What we can learn from this is that God also prepares us to do battle against giants in our own lives with practice rounds.

Practice rounds aren’t easy, and most of the time we would rather not have them.

David’s battles against the beasts trying to steal his sheep were not fun, they weren’t something that he probably looked forward to, and they definitely weren’t without pain.

I imagine that David wished God would just keep the danger away … maybe he prayed for that too.

But God knew something David did not.

One day David would stand across from the largest, strongest warrior in the world challenging his army, and those practice rounds would give him the skill to throw a stone with a slingshot and the faith to know God would help him to hit his target.

You might be in a practice round now, fighting against a lion or bear. It might be awful, leaving you with wounds and scars.

But it might also be preparing you to one day take on a giant, giving you a faith foundation built on every defeat of a lion or bear.

We don’t always understand our practice rounds, we don’t have to like them, and we certainly don’t need to want them.

But when they show up, we should also remember that they are likely preparing us for something even bigger, even stronger.

They teach us the skills to face giants and the faith to trust that God, who helped us in the past, will help us again.

Pray to close.

SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. How did David’s encounters with lions and bears prepare him for his battle with Goliath?
2. What does David’s statement in 1 Samuel 17:37 reveal about his faith and trust in God?
3. Can you think of a time when a difficult experience helped you prepare for a bigger challenge later on? Share with the group.
4. Why do you think David was so confident that God would help him defeat Goliath?
5. Why do you think God allows us to fight bears and lions instead of just keeping them away from us?
6. How might your prayers change in light of what you learned today?
7. In what ways can you relate to David’s story of facing giants in your own life? What “giants” are you facing right now?
8. How can we encourage and support each other during our “practice rounds” and when facing our own giants?

End lesson.

Looking for youth ministry curriculum? Check out the…

TWO YEAR BUNDLE – Save 90% on 2 years of teaching series, 9 months of Bible studies and 80 games for youth ministry. Order today (Tuesday, September 17) to get $195 worth of bonuses!

Looking for another freebie? Check out this…

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