Each meeting covers one lesson. The passage, questions and notes are all on the lesson page, and group members can print their own copy.
Leaders need only this guide: first the flow that is the same every time, then the focus points and tips for each lesson.
A lesson takes about an hour. Meet weekly or every other week — whatever fits your group.
Each Meetingabout 55 min
Snacks and catching up
10 min
Read together
10 min
Discussion
25 min
This week
5 min
Close (prayer optional)
5 min
Opening: Start with last time’s ‘This week’: ‘Did you do it? How did it go?’ For the first lesson, ask everyone to say in one sentence why they want to read about this person. The leader goes first.
Read together: Take turns reading the passage, a few verses each. The leader reads the short notes between sections.
Discussion: You don’t need to discuss every question in ‘Think It Through.’ Pick one or two from each group, add this lesson’s focus points, and that is plenty.
This week: Read it together, and ask each person to decide on the one small thing they will do this week.
Close: You can pray using a verse from the lesson. If some aren’t used to praying aloud, a minute of silence together is fine too.
Focus 1 (vv. 6–7): Even Samuel got it wrong. Ask the group which kind of ‘outward appearance’ sways them most.
Focus 2 (v. 11): ‘There remains yet the youngest.’ Ask someone to share a time they were passed over, then read verse 7 together.
Focus 3 (This week): Everyone names one person they tend to overlook. Next time, ask each other: did you talk with them?
Leader tip: Question 5 asks people to imagine, not to report what the passage says. If someone says ‘David was so hurt,’ you can gently add, ‘The passage doesn’t say — we’re only guessing.’ Question 10 may touch old wounds. Don’t press; let people share only if they want to.
Focus 1 (vv. 25–26): Same Goliath, but the camp and David ask different questions. Ask the group: when you run into trouble, what is the first question you ask?
Focus 2 (vv. 34–37): Everyone shares one thing God did for them in the past.
Focus 3 (This week): Ask people to write it down. Next time, ask: did you take it out and read it this week?
Leader tip: This lesson is easily turned into ‘if you just have faith, you will beat the giants in your life.’ The passage makes no such promise. Keep the focus on how David saw God, not on how brave David was. Question 6 touches family relationships — don’t press.
Focus 1 (vv. 7–9): Saul’s ‘from that day.’ Ask the group: when you are compared with someone else, what rises up inside you first?
Focus 2 (1 Sam 19:4–5; 20:32–33): Jonathan spoke up for David and nearly paid with his life. Ask: who has spoken up for you?
Focus 3 (This week): Each person thinks of someone who makes them uncomfortable. Next time, ask each other: did you say the words of praise?
Leader tip: This lesson speaks of Jonathan and David’s friendship and covenant only as the text does: their souls knit together, loving as one’s own soul, making a covenant, swearing, calling on the LORD as witness. Guesses beyond the text — including modern readings of their relationship — are not for the group to pursue. If someone raises one, gently say, ‘Let’s look first at what the passage says,’ and come back to the text. Questions 6 and 11 touch on jealousy; don’t name names, and don’t press.
Focus 1 (vv. 4–7): David’s men used ‘the LORD said’ to push him to act. Ask the group: when are people most tempted to use God’s words to back up what they already wanted to do?
Focus 2 (vv. 11–12): David did not take revenge, yet he spoke the truth plainly and left the judgment to God. How can both happen at the same time?
Focus 3 (This week): Ask everyone to write down that one-line prayer. Next time, those who want to can share: has that matter loosened its grip even a little this week?
Leader tip: This lesson does not teach ‘put up with anyone in authority no matter what,’ nor ‘stay even when you are being harmed.’ David did not kill Saul, but he kept running from him; after Saul wept and admitted his wrong, David still did not go back with him (v. 22); later David even left the land of Israel to escape (1 Sam 27:1). If anyone in the group is in an abusive or dangerous relationship, follow up privately after the meeting and encourage them to get safe and get help first; don’t discuss the details in the group. Question 10 may touch real harm. Don’t press; let people share only if they want to.
Focus 1 (vv. 5, 11): David wanted to build God a house; God would make David a house. Ask the group: in your relationship with God, who is usually doing the ‘giving’?
Focus 2 (vv. 14–15): “my loving kindness will not depart from him.” Ask someone to share a time after they fell when they still found that God had not left them. Those who would rather not share can just listen.
Focus 3 (This week): Next time, ask each other: did you sit down this week? How was a prayer that began with ‘Who am I?’ different from usual?
Leader tip: Question 10 may touch real disappointment — a ministry blocked, a plan that fell through. Don’t rush to give answers. Also take care not to turn this lesson into ‘whatever God doesn’t let you do, he will replace with something better.’ The passage is about God’s promise, not a trade.
Focus 1 (vv. 1–7): Nathan’s story. Ask the group: why is it easy to see other people’s wrongs, and hard to see our own?
Focus 2 (vv. 10, 13, 14): Forgiveness and consequences are both true at the same time. Ask the group how they see these two side by side.
Focus 3 (This week): Read Psalm 51. Next time, only ask, ‘Did you read it?’ No one needs to share the sentence they wrote to God.
Leader tip:
This lesson touches adultery, abuse of power, betrayal, and the death of a child. Some in the group may have lived through these, including as the one who was hurt. Don’t ask anyone to talk about their own sin in the group; question 11 says plainly that it is just for them to write down.
Don’t press on painful things. If someone becomes upset, stay with them after the meeting; if needed, involve a pastor from their church or a professional counselor.
Don’t discuss whether Bathsheba ‘bears any blame.’ The text does not tell us what she was thinking, and the one Nathan rebukes is David (vv. 7–9).
On the child’s death, the only reason the text gives is that one sentence in verse 14. Don’t say more than the text says.
Focus 1 (v. 10; compare 2 Sam 12:7, 13): In Lesson 6 Nathan came first; here David confesses before anyone comes. Ask the group how they usually find out they were wrong.
Focus 2 (v. 14): When you have done wrong, where do you most want to hide? Read David’s words together and talk about what it means to ‘fall into the LORD’s hand.’
Focus 3 (v. 24, This week): Everyone names one thing they are willing to offer God at some cost. Next time, ask each other: did you do it?
Leader tip: 2 Sam 24:1 and 1 Chr 21:1 say different things, and someone may ask. Read both as they stand, say that Scripture does not explain further, and don’t let it turn into a debate in the group; anyone who wants to go deeper can ask a pastor at their church afterwards. The death of seventy thousand people (v. 15) is heavy. Don’t pass over it lightly, and don’t try to defend God; it is fine to admit that reading this is hard.
Principles
The leader is not a teacher, but someone walking alongside everyone else.
Give everyone a chance to speak. If some talk a lot, you can gently say, ‘Let’s hear from those who haven’t spoken yet.’
Don’t rush to give answers. If there is silence, wait a few more seconds.
If you can’t answer a question, it’s fine to say, ‘I don’t know — let’s look into it together,’ and come back to it next time.
What is said in the group stays in the group.
At the start, the leader can share their own answer first. Keep it simple and honest.
In the lessons, words in double quotes with a reference are scripture. What the passage does not say, we can only guess; guessing is fine, as long as we say we are guessing.
Don’t press on painful things. If someone becomes upset, stay with them after the meeting; if needed, involve a pastor from their church or a professional counselor.