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David and Bathsheba

To Remember: Even David sins

Lesson     2 Samuel 11-12

Lesson Text
As David walked on the roof of his house one evening, he saw a beautiful woman taking a bath. Someone told him she was Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, a Hittite soldier off fighting with David’s army. David should have put Bathsheba out of his mind when he heard she was married, but he didn’t.
Read the entire lesson text...

In this lesson, David makes his worst mistake yet. He takes his neighbor's wife, and tries to cover it up. He kills the woman's husband when he can't conceal the error. But God knows the truth. Can we hide from God? No. Can we cover up our sin? No - it just leads to more sin.

Discussion Point: David has a habit of letting situations escalate. When he was hiding in Ziklag, his lies became betrayal. When he moved the ark incorrectly, Uzzah died. Now, a man and a baby die for his sin.

  • David acts as if he has done nothing wrong- even to God! So God sends the prophet Nathan to tell David a story.
Act Out: Read 2 Sam. 12:1-6 and act out the story with the students.
Nathan tells David he is just like this man because he took Uriah's only wife. David is very upset. He begs God's forgiveness and prepares to do what he can to restore his relationship with God.

  • Although he is forgiven, David had serious consequences to deal with. First, the child conceived would die. Also - David's many children would always fight. This is especially hard on David because he loves all his children very much.
Discussion Point: Explain consequences as the effects of what we do. We can be forgiven, but there may still be consequences of our sins. Uriah was still dead, despite David's repentance.

Activity: Add to the good and bad points David on his chart: he took what wasn't his, killed Uriah, lied and hid his sins; he repented

Sing: Be Careful Little Eyes What You See

Vocabulary: Content - being happy with what we have.

How do we become content? Give thanks for what we have. Draw something you are thankful for. Lead the class in a group prayer of thanks to God. When you see something you want, name two things that you already have that you like and thank whoever gave them to you.

Start with a clean white piece of paper. Wad up some small lump of paper and glue it to the other. Now provide material for the students to try and "cover up" the lump (sin). Have various materials like fabric, tissue paper, cardboard, etc available. When they are done, ask them if any of the pages are unspotted - or clean as the original. Discuss how adding more things to cover up a sin just makes the original wad bigger.

Memory Work:

2 Sam 12:9a "Why have you despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in his sight?"

True or False
  1. David never made any mistakes. F
  2. Uriah was a loyal soldier. T
  3. Bathsheba suffered great sorrows for the sin. T
  4. Forgiveness means sin has no consequences. F
  5. David's family suffered because of his lack of self-control. T
Review Questions for gameboard

 linguistic questions
  1. Recite the memory verse.
  2. What book is this lesson in?
  3. Define being content.
  activity questions
  • Draw a sword.
  • Act out the poor man's sorrow.
  • Put the first five books of the Bible in order.
  emotion questions
  1. Did David's sin bring joy or pain to others?
  2. How do you think God felt when David covered up his sin?
  3. How did David feel when the baby died?
  4. How do you think Nathan felt when he approached David?
application questions
  1. How do we present ourselves from envy or lust?
  2. Will covering up our sins make things better or worse?
  3. How important is a peaceful home life?
fact questions
  1. Who was Uriah’s wife?
  2. What country was Uriah from?
  3. How was he killed?
review questions
  1. Where should David have been?
  2. Who confronted David?
  3. What method did Nathan use to explain to David his sin?