1 Samuel 25

1 Samuel 25

We'll read most of it eventually.

But let me start by reading 1 through 17.

Let's read together.

1 Samuel 25

Now Samuel died, and all Israel assembled and mourned for him, and they buried him in his house at Ramah.

Then David rose and went down to the wilderness of Paran.

And there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel.

The man was very rich.

He had 3,000 sheep and 1,000 goats.

He was shearing his sheep in Carmel.

Now the name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail.

The woman was discerning and beautiful, but the man was harsh and badly behaved.

He was a Calebite.

David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep.

So David sent 10 young men.

And David said to the young men, Go up to Carmel and go to Nabal and greet him in my name.

And thus you shall greet him.

Peace be to you, and peace be to your house, and peace be to all that you have.

I hear that you have shearers.

Now your shepherds have been with us, and we did them no harm.

And they missed nothing all the time they were in Carmel.

Ask your young men, and they will tell you.

Therefore let my young men find favor in your eyes, for we come on a feast day.

Please give whatever you have at hand to your servants and to your son David.

When David's young men came, they said all this to Nabal in the name of David, and then they waited.

And Nabal answered David's servants, Who is David?

Who is the son of Jesse?

There are many servants these days who are breaking away from their master.

Shall I take my bread and my water and my meat that I have killed for my shearers,

and give it to men who come from I do not know where?

So David's young men turned away and came back and told him all this.

And David said to his men, Every man strap on his sword.

And every man of them strapped on his sword.

David also strapped on his sword.

And about 400 men went up after David, while 200 remained with the baggage.

But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, Behold.

David sent messengers out of the wilderness to greet our master, and he railed at them.

Yet the men were very good to us.

And we suffered no harm, and we did not miss anything when we were in the fields, as long as we went with them.

They were a wall to us, both by night and by day, all the while we were with them, keeping the sheep.

Now therefore know this, and consider what you should do, for harm is determined against our master,

and against all his house.

And he is such a worthless man, that one cannot speak to him.

So there's a common pattern in different cultures, and in different situations,

that in order to prepare for greatness, for leadership and responsibility,

that you have to go through a period of intense testing.

So in some tribes, there are rituals of when you go from being a boy to becoming a man,

where you actually have to go out into the wilderness, and live on your own for a couple days,

or go with the other 12 or 13 year olds, or whatever age they do it at.

We can see this in all kinds of ways.

When my dad was growing up, he played high school football,

and every August, he had two a days.

The most grueling practices in the hottest month of the year.

Practice in the morning, go home, shower, recover.

Practice in the afternoon, go home, collapse on the couch, do it all over again the next day.

But that's how you prepare for football season, and for winning the championship, hopefully.

Same pattern in the military.

You start by going to boot camp, and you don't do anything else,

and you don't have hardly any contact with the outside world for six to eight weeks.

And somehow you come out of there ready to be a soldier.

Or, since it's Mother's Day, being a mom.

The first three months of pregnancy.

Morning sickness.

You can hardly keep anything down.

You're throwing up, nausea.

Then labor and delivery.

Then the first few months of having a baby, where you don't sleep more than two hours at once.

You see, in order to prepare for the big game, the heroic battle, to being a mom, to be in a great leadership position,

we have to be trained and tested and nearly brought to the end of our rope in the wilderness.

Now, this is what we see happening to David in this section of Samuel.

Now, chapter 24 through 26, David's in the wilderness.

Several times in each chapter, it talks about David being in the wilderness, right?

In this chapter, it's verse 1, verse 4, verse 14, and verse 21.

Four times it says David was in the wilderness.

And he's fleeing from Saul, who is trying to kill him.

But God is testing and training and preparing him to one day be the king over all Israel.

And through the trials and opposition he faces, God is developing and refining his character.

Now, in these three chapters, we see David facing three tests.

If you were here last week, right, Saul comes into the cave where David and his men were hiding.

And David's men say, here's your chance.

God has delivered him into your hands.

Just kill him.

Be done with him.

You don't have to deal with him coming after you anymore.

You can be king just as God has anointed you to be.

And David cuts off a corner of Saul's robe and then he says, no, I can't touch him.

He's the Lord's anointed.

And David prevents his men from attacking Saul.

Instead of taking matters into his own hands, he spares Saul's life.

Chapter 26, the next chapter, if you look at the heading in the Pew Bibles, it says David spares Saul again.

It's almost a repeat.

We'll look at that a little bit next week.

But basically, Saul's camping near where David is hiding.

David, again, has the opportunity to kill Saul.

Just be done with him right there and now.

When Saul is sort of pursuing him like a maniac and following him wherever he goes and stalking him and hunting him down and wanting to destroy him.

And David again says no.

He spares Saul's life again.

Now, right in the middle of these two episodes is tonight's story.

And Saul isn't part of this story at all.

But David's in the same situation where he has the opportunity to take matters into his own hands and to repay evil for evil.

And to execute vengeance on an ungodly and very difficult man.

But God in his mercy restrains him.

And what God's doing, I think, is he's developing not only self-control, but also mercy in David's heart.

Both of which are crucial character qualities of a good leader and of a king.

So tonight, I want to look into this story and see how God was testing David and also how he was restraining David and ultimately preparing him to be a leader.

And we'll also see how God tests us and prepares us and how God restrains us by his grace.

So, first, in the verses we've just read, we see God tested David through the foolishness of Nabal.

If you look down at verse 2, we're introduced to Nabal.

And verse 2 describes his business and his possessions.

And that he was shearing his sheep, which was basically throwing a big party where he would also do a lot of business and earn a lot of money.

So, it was sort of like saying there was a man from Darien who had a business in Greenwich.

And he was very rich.

He owned a BMW and a Lexus and a Porsche and three businesses and four houses.

That was sort of what Nabal was like.

And he was throwing a big party outdoors for seven days and nights.

Now, interestingly, it tells us all about Nabal's possessions, his stuff, before we even learn his name.

And that's appropriate because Nabal was basically defined by his stuff, his possessions.

And we'll see that throughout the story.

Verse 3 says his wife was discerning and beautiful, but he was harsh and badly behaved.

He was a Calebite.

That's not a...

That just means he was a descendant of Caleb, who was actually a faithful Israelite, one of the faithful spies.

So, it's not a sort of a negative thing.

It's basically saying he was descended from a faithful man, and yet he didn't live up to that legacy.

Anyway, so David's in the wilderness.

He's barely surviving.

He hears Nabal's throwing this big party, right?

It happened once a year.

You shear your sheep, you get a lot of wool, and you can make all kinds of things with it.

And so, he sends a messenger saying, could you just give us whatever you might have available?

Approaches him humbly, respectfully.

You know, David wasn't just trying to mooch off Nabal.

Sometimes it might...

You might wonder that.

He wasn't sort of like going to a college graduation just to steal all the free food, right?

And because he had no connection to anyone there, he just knows there's plates and plates of free food, right?

No, David and his men, as Nabal's servant says in verse 15 and 16, had protected Nabal's men.

Right?

David and his men were out in the wilderness.

Nabal and his servants were taking care of the sheep out there.

And David had treated Nabal right.

And David had seen to it that Nabal's men didn't miss anything.

No one stole anything from them.

David's men were like security guards and loyal allies to Nabal.

Even when...

David really didn't have to do that.

You know, and David was in a precarious position himself.

But you see him caring for someone else and being loyal to him.

Now, Nabal's response, verse 10 and 11.

Maybe you caught it while I was reading it.

Who is David?

Who is the son of Jesse?

Now, who does he sound like?

Sounds like Saul.

Doesn't Saul say the same thing?

Who is the son of Jesse?

That's how he calls David.

He doesn't even like to call David by his real name.

Nabal goes on.

So I take my bread and my water and my meat that I've killed for my seers.

You get it?

Nabal's life is all about himself and all about his stuff.

And his stuff belongs to him.

And why should he give it to anyone else?

Just as Nabal was...

Just as David was a faithful servant to Saul and Saul tried to kill him,

David was a faithful servant to Nabal.

And Nabal just dissed him.

And despised him.

He repaid evil for good.

Nabal was a little bit like back in Numbers.

Nabal talks about...

And in Deuteronomy, it talks about...

Numbers 20, Deuteronomy 23.

It talks about the Moabites, the Ammonites, and the Edomites.

And basically, when the people of Israel were going through the wilderness on the way to the promised land,

those three groups of people refused to help them.

In Numbers, they come to the land of the Edomites and they say,

Can we just pass through on your highway?

We won't drink any of your water.

We won't eat any of your food.

We won't touch anything that belongs to you.

Can you just allow us to pass through peacefully?

And they say, no.

Absolutely not.

We don't want to do anything for you.

Sure, you're in the middle of the desert.

But, no.

It's not our business.

We're not helping you.

You know, they didn't do anything to actively harm the Israelites.

Nabal didn't do anything that he actively harmed David.

But he didn't do anything to help David.

When David had helped him.

In the New Testament, in James.

James says,

Whoever knows the good that he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins.

And, in Jesus.

Matthew 25.

In the parable of the sheep and the goats.

Remember he says,

He says,

To the goats.

He says,

I was hungry.

You gave me nothing to eat.

I was thirsty.

You gave me nothing to drink.

I was naked.

You didn't clothe me.

I was in prison.

You didn't visit me.

You didn't do anything.

And he says,

Whatever you didn't do to the least of one of these, my brothers and sisters, you didn't do it for me.

God takes it very seriously when we ignore or disrespect his people who are hurting and helpless.

Now, let me just say, that doesn't mean that every guy on the street who walks up to you and says,

Can I have five dollars that you should give them money?

In fact, I think many times the most loving thing is not to give them money.

Because everybody knows you might just be enabling them in their drug habit.

But, perhaps to spend time getting to know that person.

Or to invest some of your time in volunteering at a homeless shelter.

Or at a soup kitchen.

Or investing in people that you can get to know and love and care for.

So, it's not saying that you just do everything that everybody asks for you and not be discerning.

But, I think it is saying, particularly if there is somebody who puts their hope in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Who is your brother or sister in Christ and they really need help.

Don't neglect them.

Don't turn away.

And say, well, that's not really my business.

There's a warning.

Don't leave them alone if you can help them.

See that they are helped somehow.

Anyway, so that's Nabal.

That's what Nabal does to David.

Now, how does David respond?

Well, verse 12 and 13.

Says to his men, strap on your swords.

David's ready to kill off all of Nabal's house.

You see, David's being tested by having to deal with this foolish, selfish, harsh jerk.

And David just wants to pay him back.

And get rid of him.

And not have to deal with him anymore.

So, we see David's weakness here.

He's tempted to take matters into his own hands.

He's just about to do it.

Even though he hasn't been given that authority by God.

He's not in the position where he should be executing judgment on Nabal.

So, first we see God tested David through the wickedness and foolishness of Nabal.

And sometimes God tests us.

When we have to deal with selfish, really selfish and self-centered people.

Who come into our lives.

Maybe we help them and protect them and take care of them.

And be loyal to them.

And they absolutely refuse to do anything for us.

We can face that same test that David did.

And want to just repay evil for evil.

But, second, what we see is that God preserved David from falling into that trap.

Through the wisdom and courage of Abigail.

So, let's keep reading.

Starting at verse 18.

Then Abigail made haste.

And took two hundred loaves and two skins of wine.

Five sheep already prepared.

Five seahs of parched grain.

A hundred clusters of raisins.

And two hundred cakes of figs.

And laid them on donkeys.

And she said to her young men,

Go on before me.

Behold, I come after you.

But she did not tell her husband Nabal.

And as she rode on the donkey and came down under cover of the mountain.

Behold, David and his men came down toward her.

And she met them.

Now David had said,

Surely in vain have I guarded all that this fellow has in the wilderness so that nothing was missed of all that belonged to him.

And he has returned me evil for good.

God do so to the enemies of David.

And more also if by morning I leave so much as one male of all who belong to him.

When Abigail saw David she hurried and got down from the donkey and fell before David on her face and bowed to the ground.

She fell at his feet and said,

On me alone, my lord, be the guilt.

Please let your servant speak in your ears and hear the words of your servant.

Let not my lord regard this worthless fellow Nabal for as his name is so is he.

Nabal is his name and folly is with him.

But I, your servant, did not see the young men of my lord whom you sent.

Now then, my lord, as the lord lives and as your soul lives, because the lord has restrained you from blood guilt and from saving with your own hand.

Now then let your enemies and those who seek to do evil to my lord be as Nabal.

And now let this present that your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who follow my lord.

Please forgive the trespass of your servant.

For the lord will certainly make my lord a sure house.

Because my lord is fighting the battles of the lord and evil shall not be found in you so long as you live.

If men rise up to pursue you and to seek your life, the life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living in the care of the lord your god.

And the lives of your enemies he shall sling out as from the hollow of a sling.

And when the lord has done to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you and has appointed you prince over Israel,

my lord shall have no cause of grief or pangs of conscience for having shed blood without cause or for my lord working salvation himself.

And when the lord has dealt well with my lord, then remember your servant.

And David said to Abigail,

Blessed be the lord, the god of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me.

Blessed be your discretion and blessed be you,

who have kept me this day from blood guilt and from working salvation with my own hand.

For as surely as the lord, the god of Israel lives, who has restrained me from hurting you,

unless you had hurried and come to meet me truly by morning, there had not been left in Nabal so much as one male.

Then David received from her hand what she had brought him,

and he said to her, Go up in peace to your house.

See, I have obeyed your voice and have granted your petition.

So Abigail hears that David is coming and she takes decisive action.

She organizes a feast, food to feed an army.

She boldly approaches David.

I mean, imagine this.

David and 400 men with their swords strapped on their sides,

barreling down toward Nabal's property,

and one woman going out.

Now, probably she had her servants with her to carry all the food.

But one woman going at the head

of all her servants

and coming before this man who is

ready to

decimate

and kill every man

in the household.

I mean, that takes guts.

That's courageous.

In Abigail's speech,

on the one hand, she's very discreet.

All right, she's tactful.

She brings all this food.

She affirms the Lord's promise to David.

She takes responsibility for Nabal's foolishness

and asks forgiveness on his behalf.

She bows down before David.

She pleads with him respectfully.

David notices her discretion in particular.

So she's discreet,

but on the other hand,

she's very bold.

Approaching him on her own initiative.

And you know,

she's not unclear

about what she's asking for.

Verse 31,

it's very clear what she's

saying.

And she says, you know,

she pleads with David and says,

so that when you become king,

you won't have guilt

over and remorse

over having shed blood without cause.

So you see,

she's very respectful

and very discreet

and at the same time,

very bold

and very courageous

in coming before David.

And God uses Abigail

in her discretion

and in her boldness

to restrain David

from repaying evil for evil.

And thankfully,

David listens.

You know,

Abigail's speech

is really the center

piece of this narrative,

of this story.

And right before Abigail's speech

in verse 21 through 22,

David's vowing

to wipe out every male

in Nabal's household.

And after Abigail's speech,

32 through 35,

he's promising peace

to the house.

And so you see,

it's Abigail's speech

and it's Abigail's action

that God uses

to restrain David

from taking matters

into his own hands.

David's about to fall,

but God preserves David

through Abigail.

Two applications,

I think,

before we go on.

first,

do we listen

to warnings

from a sister

or a brother?

This is a major difference

between David

and Saul.

They're both tempted

to take matters

into their own hands,

left to themselves.

They both would.

God warns them.

He sends Samuel

to warn Saul.

Here he sends Abigail

to warn David.

Saul refuses to listen.

Saul refuses to acknowledge

his wrong

when he does wrong.

He never really

takes responsibility.

But God graciously

preserves David

from falling

into the same traps.

And God gives David

a willing heart

to listen

and to take heed.

So first,

do we listen

to warnings?

And second,

do we give warnings?

Right?

If we see

one of our brothers

or sisters

who's tempted

to take matters

into their own hands

and go do something foolish

because somebody else

has wronged them

or whatever it might be,

do we have the courage

and the discretion

of Abigail?

Abigail's action

is a model.

It's a hard model

to follow.

I think it's one

of the hardest things

to do as a Christian

is to take initiative

and go to someone else,

go to a brother

or sister

who's about to

self-destruct

or about to

do something

really unwise.

and to both be

gracious

and respectful

but also bold

and clear.

But that's what God uses.

God uses Abigail here.

God uses her

discretion

and her boldness

to restrain David

from falling into

repaying evil for evil.

So we've seen

how God tested David,

how God restrained David

and finally

God reassured David

that he's ultimately

in charge.

Verse 36 to 38,

Abigail came to Nabal

and behold

he was holding a feast

in his house

like the feast

of a king.

Nabal's heart

was merry within him

for he's very drunk.

So she told him

nothing at all

until the morning light

and the morning

when the wine

had gone out of Nabal

his wife told him

these things

and his heart

died within him

and he became

as a stone.

And about 10 days later

the Lord

struck Nabal

and he died.

Nabal was acting

like a king.

He was full of wine

and he was full

of himself

and he was full

of pride

and arrogance.

What do we see

what have we seen

throughout this whole

book of 1 Samuel?

God brings down

the proud

and he lifts up

the humble.

God feeds those

who are hungry

in the wilderness.

He doesn't abandon

his people

who are in trouble

and distress

but God empties

those who are

full of themselves.

Now that's what

Hannah says

in her song

in the beginning

of 1 Samuel.

She says

talk no more

so very proudly

let not arrogance

come from your mouth

and then she says

those who were full

have hired themselves

out for bread

but those who are hungry

hunger no more.

And that's what we see

with Nabal

that

he was full of himself

and full of pride

and full of arrogance

and full of wine

and God's judgment

was that he would be

emptied out.

his heart failed him

and he became

like a stone.

You see

his heart

was already

a heart of stone

on the inside

and God's judgment

was

that

his inner

spiritual condition

became

outwardly manifest

in his physical condition.

That his heart

of stone

and pride

and arrogance

became on display

in his own body.

On the other hand

David

who is hungry

in the wilderness

ends up inheriting

Nabal's wealth

and

marrying Nabal's wife

after

he dies.

So

how does David

respond

to God's judgment

on Nabal?

Well

on the one hand

he benefits

Abigail

beautiful

and discerning

discreet

and bold

becomes his wife

that's verse 40

through 42

but we also learn

in verse 43

it says

David also took

or perhaps

could be translated

had taken

this might have

already happened

Ahinoam of Jezreel

and both of them

became his wives.

Interesting little note

David has already

taken Michal

Saul's daughter

is his wife

but she was wrongly

taken away from him

as verse 44 says

and now David

goes and takes

two more wives

now the author

doesn't comment

on this

but he points

it out

and if you remember

way back in chapter 8

when the people

were demanding

a king

and God warned them

he said

the kind of king

you're asking for

is going to

take

take

take

he's going to

take all kinds

of things

and David

would actually

continue this

pattern of

taking wives

by the time

of 2 Samuel 3

2 Samuel 3

talks about

how by then

he had

six sons

from six

different mothers

2 Samuel 11

he goes one step

further

and he takes

another man's wife

Bathsheba

his greatest

failure

his greatest

downfall

and this is a bit

of

sort of ominous

sign

that he's

going down

this road

of

taking

taking

taking

in a way

that God

did not

originally intend

so just a side

note

the Bible

is not

promoting

polygamy

it tells it

like it was

because that's

how it was

it's not

how it was

meant to be

the point

here is

David

wasn't

perfect

God

restrained

David

from

repaying

evil

for evil

and so

ultimately

he passes

these tests

in the

wilderness

he doesn't

take matters

into his

own hands

he doesn't

kill Saul

he doesn't

kill Nabal

but there's

still a lot

of redemption

that needs

to be done

in David's

life

and the

point of

this story

is God

preserved

David

through the

wisdom

of Abigail

and God

will also

continue

to preserve

David

by his

grace

and you

know

that's

the

New

Testament

holds

out

similar

promises

for us

all right

Philippians

Philippians 1:6

1 verse

6

he who

began

a good

work

in you

will be

faithful

to carry

it on

to completion

until the

day of

Christ

Jesus

and Paul

said that

to the

church at

Philippi

and they

were a great

church

they faced

a lot of

trials

but you

know what

they weren't

perfect

they had

some people

with some

arguments

with each

other

they were

tempted to

look more

to their own

interests

than those

of others

so Paul

had to keep

reminding them

about humility

and about

serving

servanthood

but he

says

God

began a

good

work

in you

he's

going to

carry it

on to

completion

or 2

Timothy

4

18

Paul

says

the

Lord

will

rescue

me

from

every

evil

attack

and

bring

me

safely

into

his

heavenly

kingdom

you know

sometimes

God

tests

us

by

bringing

us

into

contact

with

people

like

Nabal

who

are

foolish

and

ungodly

and self

centered

and

harsh

and

he

calls

us

not

to

repay

evil

for

evil

but

to

overcome

evil

with

good

sometimes

when

we're

about

to

fall

into

sin

when

we're

about

to

take

matters

into

our

own

hands

and

we're

about

to

do

something

really

stupid

God

sends

a

brother

or

sister

with

a

word

of

advice

with

a

gracious

rebuke

a

timely

warning

praise

God

for

timely

warnings

and

he

restrains

us

and

that's

one

of

the

signs

that

he's

reminding

us

I've

got

you

and

I'm

going to

be

with

you

to

the

very

end

God

because

ultimately

God's

the

one

true

judge

and

we

can

trust

him

to

do

what

is

right

Nick

read

earlier

from

1 Peter

2

about

how

Christ

suffered

for

us

leaving

us

an

example

that

we

might

follow

in

his

steps

you

know

David

faced

these

three

tests

in

the

wilderness

and

he

barely

passed

only

by

God's

mercy

and

intervention

of

Abigail

was

he

restrained

from

taking

matters

into

his

own

hands

remember

Jesus

Christ

went

into

the

wilderness

and

he

faced

three

tests

from

the

devil

himself

and

he

stood

firm

he

stood

firm

in

the

word

of

God

he

stood

firm

by

the

power

of

the

spirit

of

God

he

stood

firm

all

the

way

to

the

end

he

never

failed

he

didn't

need

an

intervention

he

didn't

need

a

warning

he

was

the

perfect

son

of

God

he

was

the

perfect

king

he

was

the

perfect

servant

of

God

and

he's

the

one

who's

gone

before

us

so

if

you're

in

the

wilderness

God

is

testing

you

and

you're

not

sure

that

you

can

make

it

remember

that

Jesus

Christ

has

walked

this

path

he's

gone

before

you

he's

paved

the

way

that

you

are

walking

on

and

he

has

sent

his

spirit

to be

with

you

every

step

of

the

way

all

the

way

until

you

see

him

in

glory

so

be

encouraged

brothers

and

sisters

Jesus

is the

one

we

can

trust

and

lead

us

through

the

wilderness

and

lead

us

safely

home

let's

pray

Lord

thanks

for

your

provision

for

David

for

restraining

him

from

evil

thank

you

for

the

ways

that

you

restrain

us

from

evil

when

we

are

tempted

and

Lord

that

is

a

wonderful

sign

that

you

have

called

us

to be

your

own

that

you've

sent

your

Holy

Spirit

to

contend

with

us

and

to

persevere

with

us

so

that

we

might

persevere

with

you

to

the

very

end

Lord

I

pray

that

we

would

be

encouraged

and

that

you

would

strengthen

us

to

face

the

trials

that

we

face

Lord

we

pray

in

particular

that

you

would

give

us

wisdom

and

mercy

and

self

restraint

in

responding

to

even

very

difficult

or

selfish

people

that

might

come

alongside

us

Lord

we

pray

that

you

would

in

particular

preserve

us

from

repaying

evil

for

evil

help

us

instead

to

overcome

evil

with

good

and

to

fix

our

eyes

on

you

we

thank

you

Lord

Jesus

that

you

are

our

faithful

king

amen