1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:13,360 Welcome to Walk in the Truth podcast. 2 00:00:13,360 --> 00:00:18,720 This season of messages takes us through some of the great comeback stories in the Bible. 3 00:00:18,720 --> 00:00:23,820 Pastor John Metter of Cross City Church will show us how God can take any situation in 4 00:00:23,820 --> 00:00:27,800 any life and bring hope and victory out of hardship. 5 00:00:27,800 --> 00:00:32,200 These messages will inspire you to trust God in your own challenging seasons. 6 00:00:32,200 --> 00:00:39,040 If you have your Bibles, please take them to turn to 1 Samuel chapter 25 today. 7 00:00:39,040 --> 00:00:41,920 We're in our God's Not Done With You series. 8 00:00:41,920 --> 00:00:46,400 And we've been walking through the stories of some of the greatest heroes and characters 9 00:00:46,400 --> 00:00:52,220 of the Bible and how God has used them in really special comeback kind of stories. 10 00:00:52,220 --> 00:00:56,360 Every one of these characters have had to come back from something highly unusual, very 11 00:00:56,360 --> 00:00:59,640 difficult, challenging circumstances. 12 00:00:59,640 --> 00:01:06,520 And today it's about the lady named Abigail and an incredibly toxic marriage and relationship 13 00:01:06,520 --> 00:01:08,520 and how God met her in the middle of that. 14 00:01:08,520 --> 00:01:12,720 The title of this message today is Difficult People and the Goodness of God. 15 00:01:12,720 --> 00:01:17,240 Now I love that title, difficult people and the goodness of God, because we know those 16 00:01:17,240 --> 00:01:20,120 things are both true at the same time. 17 00:01:20,120 --> 00:01:24,020 Now without taking a show of hands, without actually voting on this, let me ask you, do 18 00:01:24,020 --> 00:01:26,880 you know any difficult people who are in your life? 19 00:01:26,880 --> 00:01:27,880 Just kind of nod your head. 20 00:01:27,880 --> 00:01:31,320 Some of you are actually laughing right now as I ask that question. 21 00:01:31,320 --> 00:01:32,840 Some of you are looking to your right or left. 22 00:01:32,840 --> 00:01:36,840 I hope you're not looking at that difficult person. 23 00:01:36,840 --> 00:01:41,800 But how many of you also know that the goodness of God is a real thing? 24 00:01:41,800 --> 00:01:46,760 That in the midst of difficult people or difficult circumstances, the goodness of God stands 25 00:01:46,760 --> 00:01:50,400 side by side in alignment with you while you walk through those times. 26 00:01:50,400 --> 00:01:54,920 And the lady whose name is Abigail is going to be an incredible example of what that's 27 00:01:54,920 --> 00:01:55,920 all about. 28 00:01:55,920 --> 00:02:00,480 On the worst end of spectrum of relationships, you have this word that we use from time to 29 00:02:00,480 --> 00:02:03,840 time, toxic relationships. 30 00:02:03,840 --> 00:02:06,600 Toxic relationships are dangerous relationships. 31 00:02:06,600 --> 00:02:11,840 They're threatening kind of relationships where dysfunctional narcissistic people are 32 00:02:11,840 --> 00:02:12,840 in our lives. 33 00:02:12,840 --> 00:02:16,400 And it brings about a lot of destruction and a lot of difficulty. 34 00:02:16,400 --> 00:02:21,600 And I'll tell you this, I love that the Bible does not hold back from these examples. 35 00:02:21,600 --> 00:02:26,880 In fact, as you read the Bible, you have to conclude that the Bible is about real truth 36 00:02:26,880 --> 00:02:32,040 and about real people in real difficult times and about the real intervention of an amazingly 37 00:02:32,040 --> 00:02:35,480 good God in spite of all the difficulty we have in the world. 38 00:02:35,480 --> 00:02:36,480 Let me just say this. 39 00:02:36,480 --> 00:02:38,560 We live in an evil, wicked world. 40 00:02:38,560 --> 00:02:39,560 That's what we live in. 41 00:02:39,560 --> 00:02:41,080 We live in a sinful world. 42 00:02:41,080 --> 00:02:47,600 There's no way that any of us can think we can escape difficult people or difficult circumstances 43 00:02:47,600 --> 00:02:50,740 or difficult relationships. 44 00:02:50,740 --> 00:02:53,000 But God is everywhere. 45 00:02:53,000 --> 00:02:56,520 He is almighty and He is ever-present. 46 00:02:56,520 --> 00:03:01,640 That means that even though we face difficult people, we have the goodness of God to help 47 00:03:01,640 --> 00:03:02,800 us through those times. 48 00:03:02,800 --> 00:03:05,040 Today, that's what this story is all about. 49 00:03:05,040 --> 00:03:10,280 I want you to stand with me as we read several verses of 1 Samuel chapter 25. 50 00:03:10,280 --> 00:03:15,920 In one chapter, one of the most amazing women in scripture comes to life and we see her 51 00:03:15,920 --> 00:03:16,920 story. 52 00:03:16,920 --> 00:03:22,900 Beginning in verse 2 of chapter 25 of 1 Samuel, now there was a man in Mayon whose business 53 00:03:22,900 --> 00:03:28,680 was in Carmel and the man was very rich and he had 3,000 sheep and 1,000 goats. 54 00:03:28,680 --> 00:03:32,000 And it came about while he was shearing his sheep in Carmel. 55 00:03:32,000 --> 00:03:34,680 Now the man's name was Nabal and his wife's name was Abigail. 56 00:03:34,680 --> 00:03:39,280 And the woman was intelligent and beautiful in appearance, but the man was harsh and evil 57 00:03:39,280 --> 00:03:42,120 in his dealings and he was a calabite. 58 00:03:42,120 --> 00:03:45,360 They were shearing his sheep and David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing 59 00:03:45,360 --> 00:03:46,360 his sheep. 60 00:03:46,360 --> 00:03:51,400 So David sent 10 young men and he said to the young men, go up to Carmel, visit Nabal, 61 00:03:51,400 --> 00:03:52,720 greet him in my name. 62 00:03:52,720 --> 00:03:58,440 And thus you shall say, have a long life and peace be to you and peace be to your house 63 00:03:58,440 --> 00:04:01,400 and peace be to all that you have. 64 00:04:01,400 --> 00:04:03,580 Now I have heard that you have shivers. 65 00:04:03,580 --> 00:04:07,400 Now your shepherds have been with us and we have not insulted them nor have they missed 66 00:04:07,400 --> 00:04:10,880 anything all the days they were in Carmel. 67 00:04:10,880 --> 00:04:13,120 Ask your young men and they will tell you. 68 00:04:13,120 --> 00:04:17,880 Therefore let my young men find favor in your eyes for we have come on a festive day. 69 00:04:17,880 --> 00:04:22,280 Please give whatever you find at hand to your servants and to your son David. 70 00:04:22,280 --> 00:04:24,720 They were looking for food, they were hungry. 71 00:04:24,720 --> 00:04:29,180 Verse 9, when David's young men came, they spoke to Nabal according to all these words 72 00:04:29,180 --> 00:04:32,480 in David's name, then they waited. 73 00:04:32,480 --> 00:04:36,640 But Nabal answered David's servants and said, who is David? 74 00:04:36,640 --> 00:04:38,320 And who is the son of Jesse? 75 00:04:38,320 --> 00:04:42,080 There are many servants today who are each breaking away from his master. 76 00:04:42,080 --> 00:04:46,160 Shall I then take my bread and my water and my meat that I have slaughtered for my shivers 77 00:04:46,160 --> 00:04:49,880 and give to those men whose origin I do not know? 78 00:04:49,880 --> 00:04:54,040 So David's young men retraced their way and went back and they came and told him according 79 00:04:54,040 --> 00:04:58,800 to all these words and David said to his men, David's angry now, he's hungry, his servants 80 00:04:58,800 --> 00:05:02,120 are hungry, those following him are ready to go with him. 81 00:05:02,120 --> 00:05:06,280 He says, I want you to gird up every man on his sword. 82 00:05:06,280 --> 00:05:12,200 And David also girded on his sword and about 400 men went up behind David while 200 stayed 83 00:05:12,200 --> 00:05:14,320 behind with the baggage. 84 00:05:14,320 --> 00:05:19,280 But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, saying, behold, David sent messengers 85 00:05:19,280 --> 00:05:22,680 from the wilderness to greet our master and he scorned them. 86 00:05:22,680 --> 00:05:25,760 Yet the men were very good to us and they were not insulted. 87 00:05:25,760 --> 00:05:30,320 We were not insulted nor did we miss anything as long as we went about with them while we 88 00:05:30,320 --> 00:05:32,560 were on the fields. 89 00:05:32,560 --> 00:05:37,640 They were a wall for us by day and by night and all the time we were with them, we were 90 00:05:37,640 --> 00:05:39,120 tending the sheep. 91 00:05:39,120 --> 00:05:45,240 Now therefore know and consider what you should do for evil is plotted against our master 92 00:05:45,240 --> 00:05:50,800 that would be Nabal and against all his household and he is such a worthless man that no one 93 00:05:50,800 --> 00:05:52,400 can speak to him. 94 00:05:52,400 --> 00:05:56,120 Long phrase, long statement, little bit of detail there. 95 00:05:56,120 --> 00:05:57,960 Let's ask God to bless this passage. 96 00:05:57,960 --> 00:06:03,400 Father, in Jesus' name, take these words and this narrative, this story. 97 00:06:03,400 --> 00:06:07,400 Take this incident that happened with Abigail, Nabal and David. 98 00:06:07,400 --> 00:06:12,280 Show us how your goodness meets us even in difficult moments. 99 00:06:12,280 --> 00:06:14,480 Lord, we ask this in Jesus' name. 100 00:06:14,480 --> 00:06:16,760 All God's people said amen. 101 00:06:16,760 --> 00:06:19,840 Please be seated if you would. 102 00:06:19,840 --> 00:06:24,160 I love this story for so many different reasons and as you open up with the introduction here 103 00:06:24,160 --> 00:06:29,200 that we read, you'll see what I would consider the Instagram version of Abigail. 104 00:06:29,200 --> 00:06:34,420 She's beautiful, she's intelligent, she's wealthy, she has everything going on for her, 105 00:06:34,420 --> 00:06:36,840 it seems on the outside. 106 00:06:36,840 --> 00:06:40,160 But if you dig a little bit deeper, you'll realize she's in a toxic relationship with 107 00:06:40,160 --> 00:06:42,240 a man named Nabal. 108 00:06:42,240 --> 00:06:45,600 Even his closest servants call him worthless. 109 00:06:45,600 --> 00:06:47,560 His name itself in the Hebrew means fool. 110 00:06:47,560 --> 00:06:52,560 I have no idea how that was bestowed on him or why, but the reality is this was a foolish, 111 00:06:52,560 --> 00:06:54,040 worthless man. 112 00:06:54,040 --> 00:07:00,280 And Abigail is married to him and they're in this kind of situation way out in the wilderness 113 00:07:00,280 --> 00:07:03,440 where they are shepherding all these sheep. 114 00:07:03,440 --> 00:07:09,480 Now the reality is today, this is not a message about marriage even though Abigail is married. 115 00:07:09,480 --> 00:07:14,480 It's not a message about motherhood even though she is a mother we learn later. 116 00:07:14,480 --> 00:07:20,360 But it's really about how we deal with relationships and especially difficult relationships, how 117 00:07:20,360 --> 00:07:25,080 we handle them, how we view them, what we look to God to help us do in the midst of 118 00:07:25,080 --> 00:07:26,920 all those things. 119 00:07:26,920 --> 00:07:32,880 And Abigail gives us some amazing insights about how to navigate the complexity of relationships 120 00:07:32,880 --> 00:07:37,000 including one principle I'll give you a little later in the message that I believe will be 121 00:07:37,000 --> 00:07:42,480 one of the best guiding principles for all your relationships for your entire life. 122 00:07:42,480 --> 00:07:46,800 I believe that principle merits that kind of description so listen carefully to what 123 00:07:46,800 --> 00:07:48,800 I say in these next few moments. 124 00:07:48,800 --> 00:07:53,920 So I'm gonna break Abigail's life and this account down into three different areas today. 125 00:07:53,920 --> 00:07:58,000 First of all we're gonna look at the circumstances that God uses. 126 00:07:58,000 --> 00:08:02,280 The circumstance in this particular case was this very very tough marriage. 127 00:08:02,280 --> 00:08:07,640 In verse three it says the man's name was Nabal and the wife's name was Abigail. 128 00:08:07,640 --> 00:08:12,080 And we've read that text and when you read that text you have to just kind of step back 129 00:08:12,080 --> 00:08:15,920 and say wow so much detail here. 130 00:08:15,920 --> 00:08:20,120 Why does the Bible give us so much detail that would be considered someone's dirty 131 00:08:20,120 --> 00:08:21,120 laundry? 132 00:08:21,120 --> 00:08:25,720 And I think one reason is because God wants us to know that every life is not perfect. 133 00:08:25,720 --> 00:08:28,000 In fact no life is perfect. 134 00:08:28,000 --> 00:08:33,000 And every relationship has some mess in it and sometimes those messes are really bad. 135 00:08:33,000 --> 00:08:35,800 We see real life, real circumstances in the scripture. 136 00:08:35,800 --> 00:08:40,640 And when we see those real circumstances and we identify with them in ways that say yeah 137 00:08:40,640 --> 00:08:46,080 I know that pain and I know that difficulty they're there in the scripture to bring you 138 00:08:46,080 --> 00:08:47,400 encouragement. 139 00:08:47,400 --> 00:08:51,640 Most of the time when people have difficult circumstances they pray this way. 140 00:08:51,640 --> 00:08:53,040 God changed my circumstances. 141 00:08:53,040 --> 00:08:56,960 Now we want God to make it easy for us and comfortable for us. 142 00:08:56,960 --> 00:08:59,080 And I remind you again we live in a sinful world. 143 00:08:59,080 --> 00:09:01,400 It's not gonna be easy, not gonna be comfortable. 144 00:09:01,400 --> 00:09:05,880 If you've got an easy life hang on at some point it's not gonna be so easy as you think 145 00:09:05,880 --> 00:09:08,200 it's gonna be in the long run. 146 00:09:08,200 --> 00:09:13,960 So we have this kind of story that says wow at least my circumstance is not as bad as 147 00:09:13,960 --> 00:09:14,960 Abigail's was. 148 00:09:14,960 --> 00:09:19,760 And we can say that about a number of those characters in the scripture. 149 00:09:19,760 --> 00:09:24,720 But we also know this we see how God has a way of using the worst circumstances in the 150 00:09:24,720 --> 00:09:26,340 best ways. 151 00:09:26,340 --> 00:09:29,800 As we walk through this Old Testament series God's not done with you. 152 00:09:29,800 --> 00:09:34,760 Almost every character we deal with has been through some rough rough stuff and as we look 153 00:09:34,760 --> 00:09:40,480 back on their lives we have principles that describe how God works through tough circumstances. 154 00:09:40,480 --> 00:09:43,320 I want you to know that first before we get into the details. 155 00:09:43,320 --> 00:09:49,200 God always is there present aware that can help you through tough circumstances in life. 156 00:09:49,200 --> 00:09:51,040 We looked at the life of Joseph. 157 00:09:51,040 --> 00:09:56,320 Joseph went from being rejected by his brothers and a highly dysfunctional family to being 158 00:09:56,320 --> 00:09:57,840 thrown in the pit. 159 00:09:57,840 --> 00:10:03,080 They intended to kill him but the good side of that was they eventually just sold him 160 00:10:03,080 --> 00:10:04,560 to traders going to Egypt. 161 00:10:04,560 --> 00:10:07,760 So that was a good side of that particular season of his life. 162 00:10:07,760 --> 00:10:11,720 He was falsely accused thrown in prison after two years of being in prison. 163 00:10:11,720 --> 00:10:14,840 He was forgotten by those he had helped interpret the dreams. 164 00:10:14,840 --> 00:10:17,760 I mean his his life was a roller coaster ride. 165 00:10:17,760 --> 00:10:23,720 Finally these ten evil wicked step brothers come into his presence after God rescues him 166 00:10:23,720 --> 00:10:25,240 from all that. 167 00:10:25,240 --> 00:10:30,000 And this guy Joseph has these words to say to those brothers and it really is a fitting 168 00:10:30,000 --> 00:10:31,160 ending for the whole story. 169 00:10:31,160 --> 00:10:37,000 It's Genesis chapter 50 verse 20 as for you you meant evil against me but God meant it 170 00:10:37,000 --> 00:10:38,600 for good. 171 00:10:38,600 --> 00:10:41,920 That's how God redeemed circumstances that are disastrous. 172 00:10:41,920 --> 00:10:43,880 He does that in Joseph's life. 173 00:10:43,880 --> 00:10:45,040 He does that in Abigail's life. 174 00:10:45,040 --> 00:10:47,280 He does that in our lives. 175 00:10:47,280 --> 00:10:51,780 We also have invoked this principle this verse over and over Romans 828. 176 00:10:51,780 --> 00:10:56,360 We know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God to 177 00:10:56,360 --> 00:10:59,940 those who are called according to his purpose. 178 00:10:59,940 --> 00:11:04,080 We talk about difficult people but we also talk about the goodness of God. 179 00:11:04,080 --> 00:11:07,320 And those two verses remind us that God is always good. 180 00:11:07,320 --> 00:11:08,360 He's always working. 181 00:11:08,360 --> 00:11:13,840 He's always redeeming whatever circumstances that we face no matter how bad they are. 182 00:11:13,840 --> 00:11:19,000 I think these these kinds of details are recorded so we might be encouraged. 183 00:11:19,000 --> 00:11:23,600 We might have hope that in my circumstances God can even use those. 184 00:11:23,600 --> 00:11:27,360 I hope you're encouraged by that today because I believe it's a fact. 185 00:11:27,360 --> 00:11:32,760 The real question is how will you face and respond to your circumstances and that that's 186 00:11:32,760 --> 00:11:34,400 what Abigail is going to teach us today. 187 00:11:34,400 --> 00:11:36,920 So first of all the circumstance God uses. 188 00:11:36,920 --> 00:11:41,480 Secondly we look at the life of Abigail today for a few moments and as we look at her life 189 00:11:41,480 --> 00:11:44,720 we're going to see the character that God honors. 190 00:11:44,720 --> 00:11:52,360 There's a certain kind of character this woman has with which she faces this toxic relationship 191 00:11:52,360 --> 00:11:55,760 this disastrous kind of confrontation. 192 00:11:55,760 --> 00:12:00,080 The entire story turns on her responses. 193 00:12:00,080 --> 00:12:06,200 Now you've heard the first 13 14 verses and verse 14 as this confrontation is brewing 194 00:12:06,200 --> 00:12:11,800 Nabal's disrespected David and here David comes and so a servant comes to Abigail and 195 00:12:11,800 --> 00:12:18,000 in verse 14 it says one of the young men told Abigail all of a sudden this all rests on 196 00:12:18,000 --> 00:12:19,000 her shoulders. 197 00:12:19,000 --> 00:12:21,840 David's not going to turn away. 198 00:12:21,840 --> 00:12:23,600 Nabal's not going to turn away. 199 00:12:23,600 --> 00:12:26,320 It all rests on her. 200 00:12:26,320 --> 00:12:30,400 As you read the story you see these two men are on a collision course. 201 00:12:30,400 --> 00:12:33,000 They're about to clash in a huge way. 202 00:12:33,000 --> 00:12:39,200 Nabal has responded to David's polite request to help feed his men with a refusal and with 203 00:12:39,200 --> 00:12:45,720 disrespect the Bible uses the word scorn and basically he's challenged David who are you? 204 00:12:45,720 --> 00:12:47,080 You don't matter to me. 205 00:12:47,080 --> 00:12:49,160 On the other hand David is a young king to me. 206 00:12:49,160 --> 00:12:50,720 He's a warrior. 207 00:12:50,720 --> 00:12:52,280 The young boy who killed Goliath. 208 00:12:52,280 --> 00:12:53,960 He's not afraid of Nabal. 209 00:12:53,960 --> 00:13:00,240 He's got 600 men with him 400 of whom now have swords girded on on their horses coming 210 00:13:00,240 --> 00:13:01,520 down the mountain. 211 00:13:01,520 --> 00:13:02,760 What do you think is going to happen? 212 00:13:02,760 --> 00:13:05,320 Well it's not going to be pretty. 213 00:13:05,320 --> 00:13:10,560 Not going to be good and all of a sudden the servant comes and says to Abigail here's the 214 00:13:10,560 --> 00:13:12,520 scene. 215 00:13:12,520 --> 00:13:14,320 Here's the scene. 216 00:13:14,320 --> 00:13:15,320 David's coming. 217 00:13:15,320 --> 00:13:16,320 He's mad. 218 00:13:16,320 --> 00:13:17,320 He's been disrespected. 219 00:13:17,320 --> 00:13:20,960 Nabal has been acting foolish. 220 00:13:20,960 --> 00:13:24,440 What we have is what I call a toxic situation. 221 00:13:24,440 --> 00:13:27,080 Now whenever I use the word toxic let me define it for you. 222 00:13:27,080 --> 00:13:32,560 Toxic situation is one that means it's a dangerous poisonous destructive kind of situation 223 00:13:32,560 --> 00:13:36,920 or kind of a relationship that might not change. 224 00:13:36,920 --> 00:13:38,760 Toxicity means it's been poisoned. 225 00:13:38,760 --> 00:13:42,040 Literally that's a word that's used to describe toxicity. 226 00:13:42,040 --> 00:13:43,760 It's poison. 227 00:13:43,760 --> 00:13:47,640 And just in this interchange that we read about in these first few verses it's amazing 228 00:13:47,640 --> 00:13:52,880 how poisoned this whole conversation has become in just a few moments. 229 00:13:52,880 --> 00:13:57,160 I just want to pause for a moment and ask the question how many women have stood in 230 00:13:57,160 --> 00:14:04,400 the gap in toxic situations where the responsibility is on them to protect their family or their 231 00:14:04,400 --> 00:14:10,520 marriage or their future when everything else is poisoned. 232 00:14:10,520 --> 00:14:15,320 And my response to that question if I were asked would be multitudes of women have been 233 00:14:15,320 --> 00:14:17,320 in that situation. 234 00:14:17,320 --> 00:14:21,280 And multitudes of them have been able to stand up and act with character. 235 00:14:21,280 --> 00:14:23,240 And that's what we have a picture of here. 236 00:14:23,240 --> 00:14:27,920 This strong woman that stands up at the right time in the most difficult moment during the 237 00:14:27,920 --> 00:14:31,520 most urgent seconds and does the right thing. 238 00:14:31,520 --> 00:14:33,560 I love examples like this. 239 00:14:33,560 --> 00:14:35,560 So let's look at what she does. 240 00:14:35,560 --> 00:14:38,240 First of all she takes responsibility. 241 00:14:38,240 --> 00:14:39,240 She takes responsibility. 242 00:14:39,240 --> 00:14:43,480 Is it her responsibility that this collision course is happening? 243 00:14:43,480 --> 00:14:44,480 No. 244 00:14:44,480 --> 00:14:47,560 Because she steps up and says I know what's happened. 245 00:14:47,560 --> 00:14:49,520 I know how this is unfolding. 246 00:14:49,520 --> 00:14:54,840 So she says after hearing no one considered what you should do she says I'm going to take 247 00:14:54,840 --> 00:14:55,840 responsibility. 248 00:14:55,840 --> 00:15:03,040 And everything she says in those verses following demonstrates that she is taking responsibility. 249 00:15:03,040 --> 00:15:09,280 Now someone with less character than Abigail might say this is a good day to get rid of 250 00:15:09,280 --> 00:15:12,160 the navel. 251 00:15:12,160 --> 00:15:15,320 I hear women saying amen all over the room. 252 00:15:15,320 --> 00:15:20,880 And I don't hear that well so that must be a real resonating kind of point. 253 00:15:20,880 --> 00:15:27,800 This is a good moment for me to step out of the picture and let him get what he deserves. 254 00:15:27,800 --> 00:15:32,320 I mean 400 men coming with swords that's not going to be pretty. 255 00:15:32,320 --> 00:15:33,320 It's not going to take long. 256 00:15:33,320 --> 00:15:34,320 And he'll be gone. 257 00:15:34,320 --> 00:15:37,160 But that's not what she does. 258 00:15:37,160 --> 00:15:41,920 This woman is not thinking just about herself and her self survival. 259 00:15:41,920 --> 00:15:45,360 She's thinking about her household. 260 00:15:45,360 --> 00:15:46,440 She could have started over. 261 00:15:46,440 --> 00:15:47,660 After all she's beautiful. 262 00:15:47,660 --> 00:15:48,660 She's wealthy. 263 00:15:48,660 --> 00:15:50,400 I mean she's got a thousand goats. 264 00:15:50,400 --> 00:15:53,520 Who wouldn't want a thousand goats right? 265 00:15:53,520 --> 00:15:57,080 She's got everything she needs to start over. 266 00:15:57,080 --> 00:16:01,120 And yet at the same time she takes responsibility. 267 00:16:01,120 --> 00:16:05,800 She begins to ask questions like what about my husband? 268 00:16:05,800 --> 00:16:09,120 What about all those household workers? 269 00:16:09,120 --> 00:16:12,000 What about all we've worked for all of our lives? 270 00:16:12,000 --> 00:16:14,200 What about all those things? 271 00:16:14,200 --> 00:16:15,200 And the rest don't hurt. 272 00:16:15,200 --> 00:16:18,540 There's something about the situation because navels are worthless man. 273 00:16:18,540 --> 00:16:19,540 She knows it. 274 00:16:19,540 --> 00:16:20,880 The Bible knows it. 275 00:16:20,880 --> 00:16:22,440 The servants say it. 276 00:16:22,440 --> 00:16:23,920 He's not going to step up and do anything. 277 00:16:23,920 --> 00:16:25,320 So she takes responsibility. 278 00:16:25,320 --> 00:16:26,720 Now get this. 279 00:16:26,720 --> 00:16:28,080 Please get this in your mind. 280 00:16:28,080 --> 00:16:33,520 Some situations are not fair nor does it seem fair that God allows them but they exist. 281 00:16:33,520 --> 00:16:35,720 And we must respond. 282 00:16:35,720 --> 00:16:39,820 If you're waiting for a fair situation so that you can respond to that you might be 283 00:16:39,820 --> 00:16:42,440 waiting a long time. 284 00:16:42,440 --> 00:16:44,400 Because things are not always fair. 285 00:16:44,400 --> 00:16:46,320 They don't always seem just. 286 00:16:46,320 --> 00:16:50,760 Sometimes it seems like God does not recognize all that we're going through. 287 00:16:50,760 --> 00:16:52,620 There are times we don't get to ask why. 288 00:16:52,620 --> 00:16:56,420 There are times where we don't get to unravel all that has led up to that point. 289 00:16:56,420 --> 00:16:59,320 We just have to respond and this woman does. 290 00:16:59,320 --> 00:17:00,440 She is loyal. 291 00:17:00,440 --> 00:17:01,440 She is faithful. 292 00:17:01,440 --> 00:17:04,040 She's got others on her mind not just herself. 293 00:17:04,040 --> 00:17:06,840 And she steps up and she steps up quickly. 294 00:17:06,840 --> 00:17:08,880 She surveys the situation. 295 00:17:08,880 --> 00:17:10,820 She assesses her resources. 296 00:17:10,820 --> 00:17:13,280 She knows she can bring food together. 297 00:17:13,280 --> 00:17:17,900 She prepares her appeal and she stands in the gap alone when nobody else would do it 298 00:17:17,900 --> 00:17:22,720 and in doing so she saves her life and her family. 299 00:17:22,720 --> 00:17:32,960 When I was growing up my mom, one of the sweetest women I've ever known, rescued me one day, 300 00:17:32,960 --> 00:17:34,800 myself and two friends of mine. 301 00:17:34,800 --> 00:17:38,960 We had been floating down a river near our home and we basically ran out of water and 302 00:17:38,960 --> 00:17:40,440 ran out of energy. 303 00:17:40,440 --> 00:17:46,500 The boat wasn't going anymore so we got this John boat up off the bed of this dry river 304 00:17:46,500 --> 00:17:50,680 and we dragged it across the farmer's field not thinking about what we were doing. 305 00:17:50,680 --> 00:17:54,380 Trying to get to a road that wasn't too far from our hometown. 306 00:17:54,380 --> 00:17:59,640 And what we didn't know is that this farmer had some prize oats, state fair prize oats 307 00:17:59,640 --> 00:18:00,640 that he was growing. 308 00:18:00,640 --> 00:18:01,640 O-A-T-S. 309 00:18:01,640 --> 00:18:03,560 You don't know what that is, you have to look it up. 310 00:18:03,560 --> 00:18:09,160 But oats and he was offended that these three boys would drag this boat across this field. 311 00:18:09,160 --> 00:18:10,360 He was yelling at us. 312 00:18:10,360 --> 00:18:11,360 He was screaming at us. 313 00:18:11,360 --> 00:18:12,360 He was threatening us. 314 00:18:12,360 --> 00:18:15,880 I seem to remember, I don't know how good my memory is, it seemed like he had a shotgun 315 00:18:15,880 --> 00:18:16,880 in his hands. 316 00:18:16,880 --> 00:18:19,600 I mean, man oh man. 317 00:18:19,600 --> 00:18:23,920 About that time my mom who had discovered where we were showed up in a truck. 318 00:18:23,920 --> 00:18:24,920 We didn't even own a truck. 319 00:18:24,920 --> 00:18:26,360 She showed up in a truck. 320 00:18:26,360 --> 00:18:30,840 She gave instructions to the three boys, including me, and said put the boat in the back of the 321 00:18:30,840 --> 00:18:33,240 truck and get in the truck. 322 00:18:33,240 --> 00:18:37,360 And have you ever heard that term mama bear describing a woman? 323 00:18:37,360 --> 00:18:39,480 My mother went into mama bear mode. 324 00:18:39,480 --> 00:18:40,640 I've never seen it before. 325 00:18:40,640 --> 00:18:43,520 It scared me to death. 326 00:18:43,520 --> 00:18:47,560 It must have scared that farmer to death too because he put, well I thought he had a gun. 327 00:18:47,560 --> 00:18:51,320 He put a gun up and he went back in his house and she said come on let's go. 328 00:18:51,320 --> 00:18:54,440 I don't know what she said or what she did, but I know that she took responsibility for 329 00:18:54,440 --> 00:18:57,880 something that was really my fault and those boys' fault. 330 00:18:57,880 --> 00:18:59,440 And she intervened for us. 331 00:18:59,440 --> 00:19:02,680 At that moment on the spot, I'd never seen her do it like that before. 332 00:19:02,680 --> 00:19:06,840 Gratefully, I'd never seen it again after that either, but reality is she did what was 333 00:19:06,840 --> 00:19:08,440 necessary. 334 00:19:08,440 --> 00:19:13,280 Sometimes we have to just take responsibility for those that we love, that we care about. 335 00:19:13,280 --> 00:19:15,800 Second thing she does is she shows respect. 336 00:19:15,800 --> 00:19:17,040 She shows respect. 337 00:19:17,040 --> 00:19:23,240 In verse 23 it says, when Abigail saw David, she hurried and dismounted from her donkey 338 00:19:23,240 --> 00:19:28,360 and she fell on her face before David and bowed herself to the ground. 339 00:19:28,360 --> 00:19:33,280 So get the scene, when David's coming down the mountain with all these men who are hungry 340 00:19:33,280 --> 00:19:40,040 and they're angry and really have murderous intent upon Nabal, she is coming to meet them 341 00:19:40,040 --> 00:19:42,280 as they come down that mountain. 342 00:19:42,280 --> 00:19:48,080 She knows that David has been disrespected and she determines to show appropriate respect 343 00:19:48,080 --> 00:19:49,320 for this king to be. 344 00:19:49,320 --> 00:19:51,720 He's not on the throne yet, but he's been anointed. 345 00:19:51,720 --> 00:19:53,280 He's got power. 346 00:19:53,280 --> 00:19:57,520 He's got the ability to do what he's trying to do, but she shows respect in every way. 347 00:19:57,520 --> 00:20:03,720 Right, and you read that text 14 times in her very limited conversation with him. 348 00:20:03,720 --> 00:20:05,800 She uses the word my Lord. 349 00:20:05,800 --> 00:20:08,520 Each time that she addresses him, it's my Lord. 350 00:20:08,520 --> 00:20:15,000 In fact, I count 24 times in these verses that she shows respect in one way or another. 351 00:20:15,000 --> 00:20:20,440 Now I'm just going to pause and say respect is a big deal for everybody, but it's especially 352 00:20:20,440 --> 00:20:22,200 a big deal for men. 353 00:20:22,200 --> 00:20:24,440 And the Bible points that out. 354 00:20:24,440 --> 00:20:29,280 If this were a marriage series, I might jump over to Ephesians chapter five, where in verse 355 00:20:29,280 --> 00:20:35,480 33, after details about how a man and a wife should respond to each other, verse 33 makes 356 00:20:35,480 --> 00:20:37,720 this statement in summary. 357 00:20:37,720 --> 00:20:42,280 He says, therefore let each man love his own wife even as himself and the wife must see 358 00:20:42,280 --> 00:20:44,960 to it that she respects her husband. 359 00:20:44,960 --> 00:20:50,600 In other words, when Paul sums up the marital relationship between a man and a woman, he 360 00:20:50,600 --> 00:20:55,400 makes sure that the man knows the woman needs unconditional love, he makes sure the woman 361 00:20:55,400 --> 00:20:58,520 knows that the man needs respect. 362 00:20:58,520 --> 00:21:00,440 And Abigail seems to understand that principle. 363 00:21:00,440 --> 00:21:03,080 By the way, that's not the only place you find this principle. 364 00:21:03,080 --> 00:21:05,480 It's all the way through the Bible. 365 00:21:05,480 --> 00:21:08,200 It's a principle God will use over and over again. 366 00:21:08,200 --> 00:21:15,200 And here she is showing respect and immediately as she shows respect to a disrespected man, 367 00:21:15,200 --> 00:21:17,480 he begins to calm down. 368 00:21:17,480 --> 00:21:18,480 Woman's got wisdom. 369 00:21:18,480 --> 00:21:22,280 I'm gonna give you that principle I promised to give you a moment ago. 370 00:21:22,280 --> 00:21:23,840 Here it is. 371 00:21:23,840 --> 00:21:28,400 Love and respect is the language of reconciliation. 372 00:21:28,400 --> 00:21:30,480 The love respect idea. 373 00:21:30,480 --> 00:21:33,640 It is the language of reconciliation. 374 00:21:33,640 --> 00:21:37,400 It's the language of relationships. 375 00:21:37,400 --> 00:21:43,360 If you wanna have reconciliation, you must love unconditionally and you must give respect, 376 00:21:43,360 --> 00:21:45,680 even if it's not earned. 377 00:21:45,680 --> 00:21:47,160 The love is not earned. 378 00:21:47,160 --> 00:21:50,000 The love is given unconditionally. 379 00:21:50,000 --> 00:21:51,000 You must give them both. 380 00:21:51,000 --> 00:21:57,120 And if you don't do that, reconciliation is not likely and relationships are not going 381 00:21:57,120 --> 00:21:58,120 to be strong. 382 00:21:58,120 --> 00:22:02,040 And sometimes that's the hardest thing to do, to love unconditionally or to give respect 383 00:22:02,040 --> 00:22:03,360 to someone you don't even know. 384 00:22:03,360 --> 00:22:07,360 And quite frankly, David didn't look very respectful at the moment as he was coming 385 00:22:07,360 --> 00:22:11,920 down that mountain ready to slaughter the whole household of Nabal. 386 00:22:11,920 --> 00:22:15,160 And so she gives this to him. 387 00:22:15,160 --> 00:22:18,240 And it has a profound impact on David and his destination. 388 00:22:18,240 --> 00:22:20,240 She shows respect. 389 00:22:20,240 --> 00:22:23,880 Thirdly, she exercises restraint. 390 00:22:23,880 --> 00:22:25,560 She exercises restraint. 391 00:22:25,560 --> 00:22:29,120 There's a verse in verse 26, the wording is great. 392 00:22:29,120 --> 00:22:34,520 It's Abigail saying to David something that hasn't happened yet, but she wants to happen. 393 00:22:34,520 --> 00:22:36,640 In other words, here's how she says it. 394 00:22:36,640 --> 00:22:41,840 She says, my Lord, since the Lord has restrained you from shedding blood and from avenging 395 00:22:41,840 --> 00:22:43,880 yourself by your own hand. 396 00:22:43,880 --> 00:22:46,280 Now she's speaking about it in past tense. 397 00:22:46,280 --> 00:22:49,600 You notice what she's saying? 398 00:22:49,600 --> 00:22:52,000 David is going to go shed blood. 399 00:22:52,000 --> 00:22:55,480 David is going to take revenge. 400 00:22:55,480 --> 00:23:01,180 And she says, since the Lord restrains you and since you're not going to shed blood and 401 00:23:01,180 --> 00:23:06,480 take revenge, she's already there and he's not there yet. 402 00:23:06,480 --> 00:23:08,800 That's one of the most amazing conversations I've ever heard. 403 00:23:08,800 --> 00:23:15,200 What she's doing is she's articulating for a king to be the way he ought to be acting. 404 00:23:15,200 --> 00:23:16,200 She has wisdom. 405 00:23:16,200 --> 00:23:17,200 She's gone ahead. 406 00:23:17,200 --> 00:23:20,800 She's thought through the scenario when she says, since you're going to restrain yourself 407 00:23:20,800 --> 00:23:25,960 because you're going to eventually realize this is not the best plan. 408 00:23:25,960 --> 00:23:29,520 And as she says that, she says some amazing things. 409 00:23:29,520 --> 00:23:33,400 She's basically saying to David, show restraint. 410 00:23:33,400 --> 00:23:39,760 I have a particular conviction that Abigail, being married to Nabal, has shown restraint 411 00:23:39,760 --> 00:23:42,080 most of her married life. 412 00:23:42,080 --> 00:23:45,120 I believe that she knows what it means to be under unfairness. 413 00:23:45,120 --> 00:23:49,080 I believe that she's asking David to do what she's been doing for years. 414 00:23:49,080 --> 00:23:52,000 I want you to show restraint because I've shown restraint. 415 00:23:52,000 --> 00:23:54,040 If I can do it, you can do it. 416 00:23:54,040 --> 00:23:57,640 Basically she's saying to David, if you cause bloodshed today, it will stain your future 417 00:23:57,640 --> 00:23:59,080 as king. 418 00:23:59,080 --> 00:24:00,520 Don't do it. 419 00:24:00,520 --> 00:24:01,520 That's what she says. 420 00:24:01,520 --> 00:24:02,520 That's the essence of her word. 421 00:24:02,520 --> 00:24:06,960 She models for him what she wants him to exercise, and that's just good leadership. 422 00:24:06,960 --> 00:24:11,240 She speaks to him in a critical moment, great words that he needs to hear. 423 00:24:11,240 --> 00:24:12,680 And I want us to notice this moment. 424 00:24:12,680 --> 00:24:14,200 I don't want us to miss this moment. 425 00:24:14,200 --> 00:24:15,200 I want your attention. 426 00:24:15,200 --> 00:24:16,200 This is so important. 427 00:24:16,200 --> 00:24:17,800 It's so very important. 428 00:24:17,800 --> 00:24:20,840 Men especially, I want your attention. 429 00:24:20,840 --> 00:24:27,280 There are times that the absolute smartest thing you can do is listen to the perspective 430 00:24:27,280 --> 00:24:30,520 of a woman that is placed by God near you. 431 00:24:30,520 --> 00:24:36,040 And when God places a woman near you and speaks up with wisdom, the smartest thing you can 432 00:24:36,040 --> 00:24:40,080 do is to listen to her and factor that into your decisions. 433 00:24:40,080 --> 00:24:42,920 And the dumbest thing you can do is ignore her. 434 00:24:42,920 --> 00:24:49,440 Men, you ought to be the one clapping. 435 00:24:49,440 --> 00:24:54,440 Because God provides the wisdom of a woman at times that a man doesn't have. 436 00:24:54,440 --> 00:25:00,360 So here's a woman in the wilderness that doesn't know this king personally modeling behavior 437 00:25:00,360 --> 00:25:01,440 for the future king. 438 00:25:01,440 --> 00:25:03,440 Think about your future, she says. 439 00:25:03,440 --> 00:25:09,920 And one of the greatest kings in history stops and listens to this woman with more wisdom 440 00:25:09,920 --> 00:25:10,920 than he has. 441 00:25:10,920 --> 00:25:14,680 If David can do it, we can do it, right? 442 00:25:14,680 --> 00:25:18,240 Because God uses this woman in a phenomenal way. 443 00:25:18,240 --> 00:25:23,440 I can't help but think of many instances in my life when I charge forward in some direction, 444 00:25:23,440 --> 00:25:29,440 my wife will speak up with a voice of reason and wisdom and help me see a very different 445 00:25:29,440 --> 00:25:32,200 perspective and I need that perspective. 446 00:25:32,200 --> 00:25:39,320 So let me just show you a little bit of insight into what's going on in her mind. 447 00:25:39,320 --> 00:25:43,040 If you go down to verse 32, there's a word there that I really hadn't had a chance to 448 00:25:43,040 --> 00:25:45,800 do a deep word study on this until the last few days. 449 00:25:45,800 --> 00:25:49,440 It's not included in the book, not included in anything else I've said about this woman, 450 00:25:49,440 --> 00:25:51,800 but the word is discernment. 451 00:25:51,800 --> 00:25:53,520 Because David says, blessed be your discernment. 452 00:25:53,520 --> 00:25:58,640 If you go back into the Hebrew to look up this word, it's a word in the Hebrew that 453 00:25:58,640 --> 00:26:06,040 means to taste, like to taste a stew that's being put together and then to judge, to taste 454 00:26:06,040 --> 00:26:07,040 and judge. 455 00:26:07,040 --> 00:26:10,440 Now there's a lot of insight in this word, so stay with me for just a moment. 456 00:26:10,440 --> 00:26:13,280 David, like most men, is very linear. 457 00:26:13,280 --> 00:26:15,160 He's thinking of one thing. 458 00:26:15,160 --> 00:26:16,280 It's between me and Nabel. 459 00:26:16,280 --> 00:26:18,600 I'm going to get Nabel. 460 00:26:18,600 --> 00:26:23,040 All this whole circumstance is between me and Nabel, Nabel and me, and me and Nabel 461 00:26:23,040 --> 00:26:24,640 and nobody else. 462 00:26:24,640 --> 00:26:29,480 Abigail steps into that situation and she can taste what the future is going to be like 463 00:26:29,480 --> 00:26:31,080 if that happens. 464 00:26:31,080 --> 00:26:35,200 She knows the ingredients for peace and she knows the ingredients for chaos and she's 465 00:26:35,200 --> 00:26:37,200 tasting chaos. 466 00:26:37,200 --> 00:26:41,480 She basically says with her discernment to David, you don't want where this is going. 467 00:26:41,480 --> 00:26:46,960 See, what's happening is Abigail is thinking not only of herself, but she's thinking of 468 00:26:46,960 --> 00:26:49,440 Nabel and her household. 469 00:26:49,440 --> 00:26:50,720 She's thinking of the flock. 470 00:26:50,720 --> 00:26:54,400 She's thinking of all that they've worked for and she's thinking about God. 471 00:26:54,400 --> 00:26:59,040 She's thinking about all these things and all David is doing is going, me and Nabel, 472 00:26:59,040 --> 00:27:01,760 me and Nabel. 473 00:27:01,760 --> 00:27:08,600 That's why when she spoke up, David stopped and said, she's thinking about more things 474 00:27:08,600 --> 00:27:10,520 than I am here. 475 00:27:10,520 --> 00:27:11,520 She's thinking about my future. 476 00:27:11,520 --> 00:27:15,760 Now I know that's just a sidebar, but it's a very, very important sidebar. 477 00:27:15,760 --> 00:27:24,360 She exercises restraint and God gives her incredible influence with David at that moment. 478 00:27:24,360 --> 00:27:26,320 But here's the biggest thing she does. 479 00:27:26,320 --> 00:27:29,100 The biggest thing she does is she remembers God. 480 00:27:29,100 --> 00:27:30,100 She remembers God. 481 00:27:30,100 --> 00:27:37,840 If you look down in verses 27 through 31, Abigail is talking about God one sentence 482 00:27:37,840 --> 00:27:38,840 after another. 483 00:27:38,840 --> 00:27:40,880 I'm going to read those verses today. 484 00:27:40,880 --> 00:27:48,400 Let's look down in verse 27, if you would, and we'll read from 27 down to 31. 485 00:27:48,400 --> 00:27:52,680 Let's see. 486 00:27:52,680 --> 00:27:56,880 Now let this gift which your maidservant has brought to my Lord be given to the young man 487 00:27:56,880 --> 00:27:59,200 who accompanied my Lord. 488 00:27:59,200 --> 00:28:05,120 Please forgive the transgression of your maidservant for the Lord will certainly make for my Lord 489 00:28:05,120 --> 00:28:10,000 an enduring house because my Lord is fighting the battles of the Lord. 490 00:28:10,000 --> 00:28:13,080 And evil will not be found in you all your days. 491 00:28:13,080 --> 00:28:17,360 Should anyone rise up to pursue you and seek your life, then the life of my Lord shall 492 00:28:17,360 --> 00:28:23,160 be bound up in the bundle of the living with the living of the Lord your God and the lives 493 00:28:23,160 --> 00:28:24,160 of your enemies. 494 00:28:24,160 --> 00:28:26,880 And he will sling out from the hollow of a sling. 495 00:28:26,880 --> 00:28:31,740 And when the Lord does for my Lord according to all the good he has spoken concerning you 496 00:28:31,740 --> 00:28:37,520 and appoints you ruler over Israel, this will not cause grief or troubled heart to my Lord, 497 00:28:37,520 --> 00:28:40,020 both having shed blood without cause. 498 00:28:40,020 --> 00:28:45,280 And by my Lord having avenged himself when the Lord deals well with my Lord, then remember 499 00:28:45,280 --> 00:28:46,280 your maidservants. 500 00:28:46,280 --> 00:28:50,840 The Lord, the Lord, the Lord, the Lord, the Lord. 501 00:28:50,840 --> 00:28:54,160 It was a J. Oswald Sanders who said this. 502 00:28:54,160 --> 00:28:55,160 It was a great word. 503 00:28:55,160 --> 00:28:58,040 When we lose sight of God, we become reckless. 504 00:28:58,040 --> 00:29:00,360 And that's what's happened to David. 505 00:29:00,360 --> 00:29:06,080 David has lost sight of God, but Abigail is talking about God. 506 00:29:06,080 --> 00:29:09,600 He's talking about her God in such a great deal of respect. 507 00:29:09,600 --> 00:29:10,600 It's just amazing. 508 00:29:10,600 --> 00:29:11,600 And it's a game changer. 509 00:29:11,600 --> 00:29:16,640 As she starts talking about God, David also starts talking about God. 510 00:29:16,640 --> 00:29:19,840 In fact, in verse 32, David responds by saying this. 511 00:29:19,840 --> 00:29:24,880 Then David said, blessed be the Lord God of Israel who sent you this day to meet me. 512 00:29:24,880 --> 00:29:27,400 And blessed be your discernment. 513 00:29:27,400 --> 00:29:31,700 And blessed be you who have kept me this day from bloodshed and from avenging myself by 514 00:29:31,700 --> 00:29:32,700 my own hand. 515 00:29:32,700 --> 00:29:34,040 David says, you're right. 516 00:29:34,040 --> 00:29:39,880 I was going to create bloodshed and try to get revenge, but you have stopped me in my 517 00:29:39,880 --> 00:29:41,840 tracks. 518 00:29:41,840 --> 00:29:47,920 The God conversation is what helped David realize that this woman was not just beautiful. 519 00:29:47,920 --> 00:29:49,160 She was not just intelligent. 520 00:29:49,160 --> 00:29:52,720 This woman knew God. 521 00:29:52,720 --> 00:29:57,760 She was trusting God the way David had trusted God in the past. 522 00:29:57,760 --> 00:30:00,520 This is not about me and Nabal anymore. 523 00:30:00,520 --> 00:30:02,280 This is about me and God. 524 00:30:02,280 --> 00:30:05,240 How would I respond to the thing that's happened? 525 00:30:05,240 --> 00:30:10,640 In many ways, Abigail is like a rope in between the tug of war between Nabal and David. 526 00:30:10,640 --> 00:30:13,040 And that's a tough place to be. 527 00:30:13,040 --> 00:30:17,960 But everything she did demonstrated that she believed God was going to intervene on her 528 00:30:17,960 --> 00:30:18,960 behalf. 529 00:30:18,960 --> 00:30:23,920 And it's her character that stands in stark contrast to Nabal's stubbornness and David's 530 00:30:23,920 --> 00:30:24,920 anger. 531 00:30:24,920 --> 00:30:29,680 Let me tell you, when things are down, when chips are down and things are tough, you need 532 00:30:29,680 --> 00:30:33,440 to remember that your character is what will get you through. 533 00:30:33,440 --> 00:30:37,960 God has said character is both forged in fire and revealed in fire. 534 00:30:37,960 --> 00:30:41,720 So if you're in a tough situation, if it's toxic, if it's difficult, if circumstances 535 00:30:41,720 --> 00:30:45,280 don't look great for you, stay true to who you are. 536 00:30:45,280 --> 00:30:47,760 Stay true to the character God has forged in you. 537 00:30:47,760 --> 00:30:52,920 Now I'm going to pause just a moment to say this because this story doesn't end in every 538 00:30:52,920 --> 00:30:54,400 life the way it ends here. 539 00:30:54,400 --> 00:30:59,360 But let me just say, regardless of the ending of this story, whatever your story is, it's 540 00:30:59,360 --> 00:31:06,320 still the right thing to do to respond in honor and respect and with truth, no matter 541 00:31:06,320 --> 00:31:08,160 how it turns out. 542 00:31:08,160 --> 00:31:11,880 Do the right thing because it's the right thing. 543 00:31:11,880 --> 00:31:14,600 Now this story turns out well. 544 00:31:14,600 --> 00:31:18,040 That's why the third point here is the comeback God orchestrates. 545 00:31:18,040 --> 00:31:22,960 Now some of you have heard me teach over the years know that I consistently go back to 546 00:31:22,960 --> 00:31:28,000 an illustration of the chess master moving the pieces on the chessboard around just as 547 00:31:28,000 --> 00:31:30,840 he desires, that God ultimately is in control. 548 00:31:30,840 --> 00:31:33,320 And I believe that about every individual. 549 00:31:33,320 --> 00:31:36,240 I believe that about every character in the scripture. 550 00:31:36,240 --> 00:31:38,000 And that's what I see happening here. 551 00:31:38,000 --> 00:31:42,840 God has placed Abigail and David's life at a critical time when David otherwise would 552 00:31:42,840 --> 00:31:45,400 have made a disastrous mistake. 553 00:31:45,400 --> 00:31:47,040 And this comeback story is a great one. 554 00:31:47,040 --> 00:31:48,240 Let me show you some things about it. 555 00:31:48,240 --> 00:31:50,680 First of all, it's never too late for peace. 556 00:31:50,680 --> 00:31:53,440 That's what we learn from this story. 557 00:31:53,440 --> 00:31:56,000 David actually says, go up to your house in peace. 558 00:31:56,000 --> 00:32:00,080 Now peace is promised, there's another storm to weather still. 559 00:32:00,080 --> 00:32:01,280 Peace doesn't happen immediately. 560 00:32:01,280 --> 00:32:04,320 She's still got to go back and tell Nabal. 561 00:32:04,320 --> 00:32:08,180 And she knows that he's not going to respond well at all. 562 00:32:08,180 --> 00:32:13,400 But here's God coming up in the fourth quarter at the very end, almost seemingly too late. 563 00:32:13,400 --> 00:32:17,200 And he's going to give her grace and rescue her in every way. 564 00:32:17,200 --> 00:32:21,920 We say this so often, God is rarely early, but he's never late. 565 00:32:21,920 --> 00:32:24,160 And I find that to be true, don't you? 566 00:32:24,160 --> 00:32:25,400 Rarely early, never late. 567 00:32:25,400 --> 00:32:27,400 It'll always come through. 568 00:32:27,400 --> 00:32:31,360 So she's going to go tell wicked Nabal what's happened. 569 00:32:31,360 --> 00:32:35,000 And she knows that it's not going to be a good conversation. 570 00:32:35,000 --> 00:32:37,160 Guys, let me have your attention for a moment. 571 00:32:37,160 --> 00:32:39,560 We've talked about women for a while. 572 00:32:39,560 --> 00:32:42,560 Let's talk about Nabal for a moment. 573 00:32:42,560 --> 00:32:46,600 You know, Nabal is not the central character of this story, but you can't ignore him. 574 00:32:46,600 --> 00:32:53,040 And in the same way that Abel, or that Abigail rather, is a sterling example of a great woman, 575 00:32:53,040 --> 00:32:57,080 Abigail is, and Nabal is the perfect picture of a worthless man. 576 00:32:57,080 --> 00:32:58,920 Just look at Nabal's life. 577 00:32:58,920 --> 00:33:04,560 He's self-centered, he's selfish, he's foolish, worthless to his family, he's disrespectful, 578 00:33:04,560 --> 00:33:06,040 and he doesn't have to be that way. 579 00:33:06,040 --> 00:33:09,440 He chooses to be that way. 580 00:33:09,440 --> 00:33:13,140 Abigail could have been all those bad things, but she chose to have character. 581 00:33:13,140 --> 00:33:14,640 She chose to follow God. 582 00:33:14,640 --> 00:33:19,160 And in the same way Abigail chose her character, Nabal chose his. 583 00:33:19,160 --> 00:33:23,320 And at the end of his life, everything was wasted. 584 00:33:23,320 --> 00:33:28,040 I'm going to be quick to say, Nabal is not a picture of all men, just some men. 585 00:33:28,040 --> 00:33:30,480 Just like Abigail is not a picture of all women, just some. 586 00:33:30,480 --> 00:33:35,840 But the reality is, we ought to aspire to not be a Nabal. 587 00:33:35,840 --> 00:33:40,520 We ought to aspire not to be worthless, not to be insensitive, not to be all the things 588 00:33:40,520 --> 00:33:42,720 that Nabal was. 589 00:33:42,720 --> 00:33:46,400 And God was going to give Abigail peace, but he was going to have to take Nabal out of 590 00:33:46,400 --> 00:33:47,400 the picture. 591 00:33:47,400 --> 00:33:48,800 And he ultimately did. 592 00:33:48,800 --> 00:33:55,640 Ten days later, after she told him, and he was stunned into submission, into quietness, 593 00:33:55,640 --> 00:33:56,720 God took his life. 594 00:33:56,720 --> 00:34:00,760 And sometimes that's how God brings peace to our life, by removing people out of our 595 00:34:00,760 --> 00:34:01,760 lives. 596 00:34:01,760 --> 00:34:06,120 It's hard, it's difficult, but that's how he does it. 597 00:34:06,120 --> 00:34:10,640 You also need to see from Abigail's story that it's never too late for love. 598 00:34:10,640 --> 00:34:12,480 Never too late for love. 599 00:34:12,480 --> 00:34:16,160 In verse 39, we see that David sent a proposal to Abigail. 600 00:34:16,160 --> 00:34:22,320 But before you get to that proposal, look in verse 39 at what David actually did. 601 00:34:22,320 --> 00:34:27,120 When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, bless me the Lord, and has pleaded the cause 602 00:34:27,120 --> 00:34:29,360 of my reproach from the hand of Nabal. 603 00:34:29,360 --> 00:34:31,200 He's kept back his servant from evil. 604 00:34:31,200 --> 00:34:34,680 The Lord has also returned the evildoing of Nabal on his own head. 605 00:34:34,680 --> 00:34:39,080 The first thing David said when he heard about Nabal's death was, bless me the Lord. 606 00:34:39,080 --> 00:34:41,400 He held me back from doing this. 607 00:34:41,400 --> 00:34:44,200 God took revenge on my enemy. 608 00:34:44,200 --> 00:34:45,200 God did all this. 609 00:34:45,200 --> 00:34:47,520 That's the first thing he said. 610 00:34:47,520 --> 00:34:53,560 But the second thing he said was, David sent a proposal to Abigail to take her as his wife. 611 00:34:53,560 --> 00:34:57,240 That's why I say it's never too late for love. 612 00:34:57,240 --> 00:35:00,240 It's really kind of amazing. 613 00:35:00,240 --> 00:35:05,560 He sees the value this woman has in his present life and in his future life and his future 614 00:35:05,560 --> 00:35:06,720 kingdom. 615 00:35:06,720 --> 00:35:08,080 The Bible says she's beautiful. 616 00:35:08,080 --> 00:35:13,280 The Bible says she's intelligent, but there's more to it today, but I'm sure of it. 617 00:35:13,280 --> 00:35:19,620 He sees her wisdom, her discernment, and says, I need that kind of discernment for the kingdom 618 00:35:19,620 --> 00:35:21,640 that I have inherited. 619 00:35:21,640 --> 00:35:24,280 She has become indispensable to him. 620 00:35:24,280 --> 00:35:28,560 Later on, David's son, Solomon, writes it like this in Proverbs chapter 31. 621 00:35:28,560 --> 00:35:29,560 Charm is deceitful. 622 00:35:29,560 --> 00:35:30,560 You know this verse. 623 00:35:30,560 --> 00:35:34,840 And beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised. 624 00:35:34,840 --> 00:35:36,400 Now, women, listen to me. 625 00:35:36,400 --> 00:35:38,600 Don't get caught up in Instagram beauty. 626 00:35:38,600 --> 00:35:41,200 Get caught up in Abigail wisdom. 627 00:35:41,200 --> 00:35:43,560 That's what you need. 628 00:35:43,560 --> 00:35:47,080 That's exactly what God wants for our lives. 629 00:35:47,080 --> 00:35:49,560 It makes one indispensable. 630 00:35:49,560 --> 00:35:50,560 Never too late for love. 631 00:35:50,560 --> 00:35:52,760 Finally, it's never too late for a new beginning. 632 00:35:52,760 --> 00:35:57,760 The Bible says in verse 42, Abigail quickly rose, rode on a donkey with her five maidens 633 00:35:57,760 --> 00:35:58,760 who attended her. 634 00:35:58,760 --> 00:36:02,040 She followed the messengers that David became his wife. 635 00:36:02,040 --> 00:36:07,360 After all the threats, after all the fear, after all the concern, taking all the risk, 636 00:36:07,360 --> 00:36:10,760 Abigail's given the chance for a new beginning, and it's a great story. 637 00:36:10,760 --> 00:36:11,760 You don't get to read it. 638 00:36:11,760 --> 00:36:16,720 The Bible doesn't refer to her much at all after this moment, but it's a great movie 639 00:36:16,720 --> 00:36:17,720 ending. 640 00:36:17,720 --> 00:36:18,720 Don't you think so? 641 00:36:18,720 --> 00:36:21,200 It's got everything a great movie should have in it. 642 00:36:21,200 --> 00:36:22,200 It's got threats. 643 00:36:22,200 --> 00:36:23,200 It's got wars. 644 00:36:23,200 --> 00:36:24,200 It's got violence. 645 00:36:24,200 --> 00:36:25,200 It's got food. 646 00:36:25,200 --> 00:36:26,200 It's got romance. 647 00:36:26,200 --> 00:36:27,520 It's got everything. 648 00:36:27,520 --> 00:36:31,760 If you think the Bible is boring, you're not reading well enough. 649 00:36:31,760 --> 00:36:35,680 It's got everything in this story that you would want to have your attention focused 650 00:36:35,680 --> 00:36:39,120 on how this story unfolds in this life. 651 00:36:39,120 --> 00:36:46,080 It's a reminder that God can do new things, build new comeback stories, tell new chapters 652 00:36:46,080 --> 00:36:52,680 in lives even after the mess, even after the mess. 653 00:36:52,680 --> 00:36:56,100 If you're in a toxic relationship, don't look for a handsome king. 654 00:36:56,100 --> 00:37:03,680 Look for a wise God, and let him advise you and lead you and guide you. 655 00:37:03,680 --> 00:37:07,520 You know, I love the fact that the Bible shows us these comeback stories. 656 00:37:07,520 --> 00:37:14,880 Ultimately, the greatest comeback story was when Jesus died on the cross and was buried 657 00:37:14,880 --> 00:37:17,000 and on the third day rose again. 658 00:37:17,000 --> 00:37:22,360 You talk about overcoming something, overcoming sin, overcoming death, overcoming Hades and 659 00:37:22,360 --> 00:37:28,180 hell, overcoming Satan himself, all so that he could give us life, all so that he could 660 00:37:28,180 --> 00:37:33,120 walk with us in life, to give us the kind of discernment and wisdom that Abigail had, 661 00:37:33,120 --> 00:37:38,280 to give us the kind of restraint that David eventually had, to show us how to live life 662 00:37:38,280 --> 00:37:39,920 in a world of toxicity. 663 00:37:39,920 --> 00:37:43,840 You need the wise one in your life, Jesus Christ. 664 00:37:43,840 --> 00:37:45,160 And he offers himself to you. 665 00:37:45,160 --> 00:37:50,320 If you'll put your faith and trust in him, let him be your Lord and your Savior. 666 00:37:50,320 --> 00:37:51,560 He'll give you the Holy Spirit. 667 00:37:51,560 --> 00:37:57,240 He will live with you and day by day guide you through all of the messy stuff in life, 668 00:37:57,240 --> 00:38:02,240 encouraging you and convincing you that God redeems even your circumstances. 669 00:38:02,240 --> 00:38:05,000 If he'll redeem your life, he'll redeem your circumstances. 670 00:38:05,000 --> 00:38:09,080 In just a few moments, we're gonna give an invitation and that invitation will always 671 00:38:09,080 --> 00:38:10,840 be one of two or three things. 672 00:38:10,840 --> 00:38:15,360 First of all, I'll always invite you to stop by the invitation stations. 673 00:38:15,360 --> 00:38:19,160 They're lit up now and they'll be there as you go out today. 674 00:38:19,160 --> 00:38:23,120 You may wanna stop and talk to someone about the idea of putting your faith and trust in 675 00:38:23,120 --> 00:38:25,440 Jesus as Lord and Savior. 676 00:38:25,440 --> 00:38:27,240 It's one of the most important decisions you can ever make. 677 00:38:27,240 --> 00:38:30,780 And if you put that off, why would you put that off any longer? 678 00:38:30,780 --> 00:38:35,560 Because Jesus has done everything necessary for you to have an incredible life with him, 679 00:38:35,560 --> 00:38:37,360 an incredible eternity as well. 680 00:38:37,360 --> 00:38:40,160 Secondly, I invite you to come to our guest reception room. 681 00:38:40,160 --> 00:38:43,240 It's right outside the center exit door across the hallway. 682 00:38:43,240 --> 00:38:44,240 I'll be there to greet you. 683 00:38:44,240 --> 00:38:47,360 We have a book, a free book, God's Not Done With You. 684 00:38:47,360 --> 00:38:50,280 If you're a first time guest, we would love to invite you there and we'd love to give 685 00:38:50,280 --> 00:38:51,280 you that. 686 00:38:51,280 --> 00:38:56,000 Thirdly, I invite you to invite others to come back next week as we continue this series. 687 00:38:56,000 --> 00:39:02,360 This week, the life of Elijah, the depression, the discouragement of one of the premier characters 688 00:39:02,360 --> 00:39:08,040 in the Old Testament and how God rescued him from that discouragement and depression. 689 00:39:08,040 --> 00:39:10,720 You know anybody that's depressed or discouraged? 690 00:39:10,720 --> 00:39:12,720 Reach out to them this week. 691 00:39:12,720 --> 00:39:15,480 Tell them they'll hear a story that'll inspire them. 692 00:39:15,480 --> 00:39:18,960 Would you stand with me as we have this closing word of prayer? 693 00:39:18,960 --> 00:39:22,960 Father, I'm so thankful today for your goodness. 694 00:39:22,960 --> 00:39:27,800 In spite of all the toxicity that we face, the difficult relationships, the difficult 695 00:39:27,800 --> 00:39:32,520 circumstances, God, you're here, you're there, you're present, you're wise. 696 00:39:32,520 --> 00:39:33,720 You give us all we need. 697 00:39:33,720 --> 00:39:40,200 Lord, I pray today that those that are struggling today will reach out to you, find their salvation 698 00:39:40,200 --> 00:39:43,800 in you, but also find their wisdom in you. 699 00:39:43,800 --> 00:39:45,880 Lord, today draw us to yourself. 700 00:39:45,880 --> 00:39:47,440 Thank you for loving us. 701 00:39:47,440 --> 00:39:50,760 Thank you for showing us that you'll come through for us. 702 00:39:50,760 --> 00:39:51,760 In Jesus' name we pray. 703 00:39:51,760 --> 00:39:52,880 Amen.