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Monday, December 12

Day 15: David

Open item: Chocolate treasure chest

Before the children eat them, have them talk about what it looks like. Ask them to be thinking while they listen to the story (and eat their chocolate) why it’s connected to the Bible story. (Ark of the Covenant)

24 “My servant David shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd. They shall walk in my rules and be careful to obey my statutes. 25 They shall dwell in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob, where your fathers lived. They and their children and their children’s children shall dwell there forever, and David my servant shall be their prince forever. 26 I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will set them in their land and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in their midst forevermore. 27 My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 28 Then the nations will know that I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel, when my sanctuary is in their midst forevermore.”

Devotion

David is one of the most famous people in the Bible with sixty-six chapters dedicated to him. He started out as a young shepherd who later defeated the giant, Goliath. He eventually became King over Israel. David then captured Jerusalem, bringing the Ark of the Covenant into the city. Do you know what the Ark of the Covenant was? The Ark of the Covenant was a golden chest that contained the ten commandments, Aaron’s rod, and other holy items. This was God’s dwelling place. Whoever possessed the Ark of the Covenant had God’s presence with them. This Covenant signified God’s favor over His people. This was a big deal! 

David did many amazing things in his life, but he also had many sins that cost him so much. He saw another man’s wife, Bathsheba, and he wanted to have her for himself. David committed adultery, and in the end, he had Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah the Hittite, killed while in battle. 

David was broken because of his deep sin. We can read in the Psalms how he mourned his sinfulness and begged God to give him a clean heart. 

Regardless, through David, we can see God’s redemption over our big sin. God can use us sinners to do big things, just like he did with David!

Prayer

Final Words

God used David in SO MUCH! But even in all the good he did, he was still a sinner who made bad choices. Does it make sense that God let someone who committed big sins that were plain for all to see be in Jesus’s family? No, it doesn’t seem right. In today’s culture, if anyone who is famous–even for good things–makes a mistake, they are “canceled.” Good thing God didn’t cancel David. We can learn so much from his life–even his sins. David was a sinner who needed saving, just like we do. Jesus is coming!