WEBVTT 00:00:01.799 --> 00:00:04.799 I invite you to turn with me in your copy of 00:00:04.799 --> 00:00:11.599 God's Word to the book of Samuel, 1 Samuel 25. 00:00:12.080 --> 00:00:14.859 1 Samuel 25, we're continuing to study the life 00:00:14.859 --> 00:00:21.519 of David. And we're gonna look at another episode 00:00:21.519 --> 00:00:26.019 in David's life that is very true to life. David's 00:00:26.019 --> 00:00:29.059 story in so many ways is our story. as well. 00:00:29.079 --> 00:00:31.480 It shines light onto the world in which we live 00:00:31.480 --> 00:00:37.299 and calls us to live for the Lord as well. First 00:00:37.299 --> 00:00:40.179 Samuel 25, this is a long passage so hang in 00:00:40.179 --> 00:00:42.380 there and it'll be helpful to you if you have 00:00:42.380 --> 00:00:46.259 your copy of God's word open in front of you. 00:00:47.920 --> 00:00:50.700 Beginning at verse one, first Samuel 25, now 00:00:50.700 --> 00:00:54.899 Samuel died and all Israel assembled and mourned 00:00:54.899 --> 00:00:58.020 for him. And they buried him in his house at 00:00:58.020 --> 00:01:01.619 Rama. Then David rose and went down to the wilderness 00:01:01.619 --> 00:01:04.980 of Peran. And there was a man in Maon whose business 00:01:04.980 --> 00:01:08.700 was in Carmel. The man was very rich, and he 00:01:08.700 --> 00:01:11.799 had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats, 00:01:12.019 --> 00:01:14.819 and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel. Now 00:01:14.819 --> 00:01:17.260 the name of the man was Nabal, and the name of 00:01:17.260 --> 00:01:20.200 his wife Abigail. The woman was discerning and 00:01:20.200 --> 00:01:23.840 beautiful, but the man was harsh and badly behaved. 00:01:24.159 --> 00:01:28.019 He was a calabite. David heard in the wilderness 00:01:28.019 --> 00:01:31.459 that Nabal was shearing his sheep. So David sent 00:01:31.459 --> 00:01:34.180 ten young men, and David said to the young men, 00:01:34.379 --> 00:01:37.060 Go up to Carmel and go to Nabal and greet him 00:01:37.060 --> 00:01:40.640 in my name, and thus you shall greet him. Peace 00:01:40.640 --> 00:01:42.819 be to you, and peace be to your house, and peace 00:01:42.819 --> 00:01:45.420 be to all that you have. I hear that you have 00:01:45.420 --> 00:01:48.459 shearers. Now your shepherds have been with us, 00:01:48.459 --> 00:01:51.780 and we did them no harm, and they missed nothing 00:01:51.780 --> 00:01:54.939 all the time that they were in Carmel. Ask your 00:01:54.939 --> 00:01:57.359 young men, and they will tell you. Therefore, 00:01:57.599 --> 00:02:00.200 let my young men find favor in your eyes, for 00:02:00.200 --> 00:02:03.040 we have come on a feast day. Please give whatever 00:02:03.040 --> 00:02:06.040 you have at hand to your servants and to your 00:02:06.040 --> 00:02:09.520 son David." When David's young men came, they 00:02:09.520 --> 00:02:12.479 said all this to Nabal in the name of David, 00:02:12.479 --> 00:02:16.080 and then they waited. And Nabal answered David's 00:02:16.080 --> 00:02:19.379 servants, who is David? Who is this son of Jesse? 00:02:19.740 --> 00:02:21.939 There are many servants these days who are breaking 00:02:21.939 --> 00:02:25.289 away from their masters. Shall I take my bread 00:02:25.289 --> 00:02:28.449 and my water and my meat that I have killed for 00:02:28.449 --> 00:02:32.110 my shears and give it to men who come from I 00:02:32.110 --> 00:02:35.569 do not know where?" So David's young men turned 00:02:35.569 --> 00:02:38.509 away and came back and told him all this. And 00:02:38.509 --> 00:02:43.129 David said to his men, every man strap on his 00:02:43.129 --> 00:02:46.189 sword, and every man of them strapped on his 00:02:46.189 --> 00:02:48.409 sword. And David also strapped on his sword. 00:02:48.780 --> 00:02:52.319 And about 400 men went up after David, while 00:02:52.319 --> 00:02:56.520 200 remained with the baggage. But one of the 00:02:56.520 --> 00:02:59.219 young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, behold, 00:02:59.259 --> 00:03:02.300 David sent messengers out of the wilderness to 00:03:02.300 --> 00:03:05.159 greet our master, and he railed at them. Yet 00:03:05.159 --> 00:03:08.520 the men were very good to us, and we suffered 00:03:08.520 --> 00:03:12.500 no harm, and we did not miss anything when we 00:03:12.500 --> 00:03:15.240 were in the fields, as long as we went with them. 00:03:15.849 --> 00:03:19.050 They were a wall to us both by night and by day 00:03:19.050 --> 00:03:22.430 all the while we were with them keeping the sheep 00:03:22.430 --> 00:03:26.509 Now therefore know this and consider What you 00:03:26.509 --> 00:03:29.669 should do for harm is determined against our 00:03:29.669 --> 00:03:32.830 master and against all his house And he is such 00:03:32.830 --> 00:03:36.310 a worthless man that no one can that one cannot 00:03:36.310 --> 00:03:40.530 speak with him then Abigail made haste and took 00:03:40.530 --> 00:03:44.330 200 loaves and two skins of wine and five sheep 00:03:44.330 --> 00:03:47.050 already prepared and five sias of parched grain 00:03:47.050 --> 00:03:50.530 and a hundred clusters of raisins and two hundred 00:03:50.530 --> 00:03:53.449 cakes of figs and laid them on donkeys. And she 00:03:53.449 --> 00:03:57.270 said to her young men, Go on before me. Behold, 00:03:57.330 --> 00:04:00.330 I come after you. But she did not tell her husband, 00:04:00.550 --> 00:04:04.030 Nabal. And as she rode on the donkey and came 00:04:04.030 --> 00:04:07.169 down under cover of the mountain, behold, David 00:04:07.169 --> 00:04:10.050 and his men came down towards her and she met 00:04:10.050 --> 00:04:13.300 them. Now David had said, surely in vain I have 00:04:13.300 --> 00:04:15.819 guarded all that this fellow has in the wilderness 00:04:15.819 --> 00:04:18.939 so that nothing was missed of all that belonged 00:04:18.939 --> 00:04:22.139 to him and he has returned me evil for good. 00:04:22.680 --> 00:04:25.339 God do so to the enemies of David and more so 00:04:25.339 --> 00:04:29.420 if by morning I leave so much as one male of 00:04:29.420 --> 00:04:32.759 all who belonged to him. When Abigail saw David 00:04:32.759 --> 00:04:35.540 she hurried and got down from the donkey and 00:04:35.540 --> 00:04:37.920 fell before David on her face and bowed to the 00:04:37.920 --> 00:04:40.740 ground. She fell at his feet and said, On me 00:04:40.740 --> 00:04:43.500 alone, my lord, be the guilt. Please let your 00:04:43.500 --> 00:04:46.519 servant speak in your ears, and hear the words 00:04:46.519 --> 00:04:49.540 of your servant. Let not my lord regard this 00:04:49.540 --> 00:04:54.300 worthless fellow, Nabal. For as his name is, 00:04:54.660 --> 00:04:58.800 so is he. Nabal is his name, and Folly is with 00:04:58.800 --> 00:05:01.740 him. But I, your servant, did not see the young 00:05:01.740 --> 00:05:06.560 men of my lord whom you sent. than my Lord as 00:05:06.560 --> 00:05:09.040 the Lord lives and as your soul lives because 00:05:09.040 --> 00:05:11.139 the Lord has restrained you from blood guilt 00:05:11.139 --> 00:05:14.939 and from saving with your own hand. Now then 00:05:14.939 --> 00:05:19.199 let your enemies and those who seek to do evil 00:05:19.199 --> 00:05:23.240 to my Lord be as navel and now let this present 00:05:23.240 --> 00:05:26.420 that your servant has brought to my Lord be given 00:05:26.420 --> 00:05:30.259 to the young men who follow my Lord. Please forgive 00:05:30.259 --> 00:05:33.360 the trespass of your servant, for the Lord will 00:05:33.360 --> 00:05:36.899 certainly make my Lord a sure house, because 00:05:36.899 --> 00:05:39.620 my Lord is fighting the battles of the Lord. 00:05:40.220 --> 00:05:43.740 And evil shall not be found in you so long as 00:05:43.740 --> 00:05:47.779 you live. If men rise up to pursue you and to 00:05:47.779 --> 00:05:50.759 seek your life, the life of my Lord shall be 00:05:50.759 --> 00:05:54.639 bound in the bundle of the living and the care 00:05:54.639 --> 00:05:59.019 of the Lord your God. the lives of your enemies, 00:05:59.579 --> 00:06:03.899 he shall sling out as from the hollow of a sling. 00:06:04.199 --> 00:06:06.680 And when the Lord has done to my Lord according 00:06:06.680 --> 00:06:10.120 to all the good that he has spoken concerning 00:06:10.120 --> 00:06:14.899 you and has appointed you Prince over Israel, 00:06:15.139 --> 00:06:18.779 my Lord shall have no cause for grief or pangs 00:06:18.779 --> 00:06:21.459 of conscience for having shed blood without cause 00:06:21.459 --> 00:06:26.730 or for my Lord working salvation himself. And 00:06:26.730 --> 00:06:30.829 when the Lord has dealt well with my Lord, then 00:06:30.829 --> 00:06:34.769 remember your servant." And David said to Abigail, 00:06:35.209 --> 00:06:38.149 blessed be the Lord God of Israel who sent you 00:06:38.149 --> 00:06:41.230 this day to me. Blessed be your discretion and 00:06:41.230 --> 00:06:44.629 blessed be you who have kept me this day from 00:06:44.629 --> 00:06:47.329 blood guilt and from working salvation with my 00:06:47.329 --> 00:06:50.670 own hand. For as surely as the Lord the God of 00:06:50.670 --> 00:06:53.370 Israel lives who has restrained me from hurting 00:06:53.689 --> 00:06:56.870 you unless you had hurried and come to meet me 00:06:56.870 --> 00:07:00.410 truly by morning there had not been left to enable 00:07:00.410 --> 00:07:06.189 such so much as one male then David received 00:07:06.189 --> 00:07:08.889 from her hand what she had brought him and she 00:07:08.889 --> 00:07:12.569 and he said to her go up in peace to your house 00:07:12.569 --> 00:07:16.310 see I have obeyed your voice and I have granted 00:07:16.310 --> 00:07:20.459 your petition And Abigail came to Nabal and behold 00:07:20.459 --> 00:07:22.639 he was holding a feast in his house like the 00:07:22.639 --> 00:07:25.560 feast of a king. And Nabal's heart was merry 00:07:25.560 --> 00:07:29.060 within him for he was very drunk. So she told 00:07:29.060 --> 00:07:32.779 him nothing at all until morning light. In the 00:07:32.779 --> 00:07:34.920 morning when the wine had gone out of Nabal his 00:07:34.920 --> 00:07:37.839 wife told him these things and his heart died 00:07:37.839 --> 00:07:42.139 within him and he became as stone. About ten 00:07:42.139 --> 00:07:44.920 days later the Lord struck Nabal and he died. 00:07:48.000 --> 00:07:54.160 Well, this week we had that very famous holiday 00:07:54.160 --> 00:07:55.519 that many of us forget. I don't even know if 00:07:55.519 --> 00:07:57.759 it's a holiday, but it's called April Fool's 00:07:57.759 --> 00:07:59.899 Day. Was anybody fooled on April Fool's Day this 00:07:59.899 --> 00:08:04.079 year? I see a couple smiles. You don't have to 00:08:04.079 --> 00:08:06.160 admit if you were fooled on April Fool's Day, 00:08:06.300 --> 00:08:08.620 but the first of April, April Fool's Day, it's 00:08:08.620 --> 00:08:12.389 a little ironic that the first Sunday... of April 00:08:12.389 --> 00:08:16.170 we are studying a man named Nabal whose name 00:08:16.170 --> 00:08:22.129 literally means fool. And there's not just one 00:08:22.129 --> 00:08:24.870 person acting foolishly in this passage. We see 00:08:24.870 --> 00:08:29.529 two men, both Nabal and David behaving very foolishly 00:08:29.529 --> 00:08:34.120 on a collision course for disaster. Aren't you 00:08:34.120 --> 00:08:36.500 glad though as you read this passage and you 00:08:36.500 --> 00:08:39.139 see the actions and the reactions of these men? 00:08:39.360 --> 00:08:42.759 You see how true to life scriptures really are. 00:08:42.759 --> 00:08:46.379 We see in the characters here ordinary problems, 00:08:47.179 --> 00:08:50.679 ordinary sin patterns of pride, of anger, of 00:08:50.679 --> 00:08:55.429 fear. And so this passage is showing us many 00:08:55.429 --> 00:08:59.549 things, our need to be on guard against temptation, 00:09:00.230 --> 00:09:04.309 to anger. It shows us also though, how to develop 00:09:04.309 --> 00:09:10.210 the gospel informed hearts of peacemakers. So 00:09:10.210 --> 00:09:15.330 how do you respond when you are wronged? The 00:09:15.330 --> 00:09:18.129 man after God's own heart, even David himself 00:09:18.129 --> 00:09:21.830 is captivated by this attitude of sinful, vengeful 00:09:21.830 --> 00:09:26.289 anger. He responds in foolishness to an unbeliever 00:09:26.289 --> 00:09:30.610 of even greater foolishness. But what we see 00:09:30.610 --> 00:09:32.909 in this passage today and the thing we need to 00:09:32.909 --> 00:09:37.789 draw from this text is that God's gracious provision, 00:09:38.990 --> 00:09:42.470 what we see here is that God's gracious provision, 00:09:42.669 --> 00:09:47.149 saves us from ourselves and shows us how to respond 00:09:47.149 --> 00:09:51.870 when we are wronged. God's gracious provision 00:09:51.870 --> 00:09:54.850 saves us from ourselves and it shows us how to 00:09:54.850 --> 00:09:58.649 respond when we are wronged. We see firstly the 00:09:58.649 --> 00:10:01.610 reality that people in this world will wrong 00:10:01.610 --> 00:10:04.950 us. We understand this by experience, but we 00:10:04.950 --> 00:10:08.970 see here in scripture that there are nables in 00:10:08.970 --> 00:10:13.710 this world. There are fools. The reality is that 00:10:13.710 --> 00:10:17.830 there are fools in this world who will not treat 00:10:17.830 --> 00:10:22.309 us well when we treat them kindly. You see this 00:10:22.309 --> 00:10:25.549 in David's life beginning in verse 1 and following 00:10:25.549 --> 00:10:28.690 in verse 1. We see the death of Samuel. It's 00:10:28.690 --> 00:10:30.190 been pointed out. We don't have time to dive 00:10:30.190 --> 00:10:33.309 into this, but this is a great moment of transition. 00:10:33.389 --> 00:10:37.269 This is an epochal moment of change from the 00:10:37.269 --> 00:10:40.509 age of the judges to the age of the kings right 00:10:40.509 --> 00:10:43.840 here at the death of Samuel. But then after verse 00:10:43.840 --> 00:10:48.120 one, we hear the description of David's journey 00:10:48.120 --> 00:10:51.960 into the wilderness and the description of this 00:10:51.960 --> 00:10:58.460 man, verse two, from in Mahon, a man by the name 00:10:58.460 --> 00:11:02.360 of Nabal. He's not named it first, he's described. 00:11:03.139 --> 00:11:06.080 The description of his name, the fool, Nabal, 00:11:06.100 --> 00:11:10.500 is given first. He is ungrateful. He has a total 00:11:10.500 --> 00:11:15.120 disregard for others. He's harsh. He has a lack 00:11:15.120 --> 00:11:18.419 of self -awareness. He's a drunkard. He has tons 00:11:18.419 --> 00:11:21.240 of money, but he doesn't have a whole lot up 00:11:21.240 --> 00:11:25.860 here. His servants and his wife describe him 00:11:25.860 --> 00:11:29.879 as worthless. He is bullheaded, so bullheaded 00:11:29.879 --> 00:11:32.899 that people don't even speak to him about issues 00:11:32.899 --> 00:11:35.379 you see in verse 17 because they know that he's 00:11:35.379 --> 00:11:40.919 not going to listen anyway. biblical terms, Nabal 00:11:40.919 --> 00:11:44.740 is a fool. Now if you want to see the description 00:11:44.740 --> 00:11:48.200 of a fool sort of systematically laid out in 00:11:48.200 --> 00:11:50.700 the Old Testament, just turn to Proverbs because 00:11:50.700 --> 00:11:52.740 there's a contrast between the ways of the wise 00:11:52.740 --> 00:11:56.399 and what the fool is and how to relate to the 00:11:56.399 --> 00:12:02.529 fool. Now David's young men who have been watching 00:12:02.529 --> 00:12:04.870 Nabal's flocks, mind you, verse four through 00:12:04.870 --> 00:12:08.549 nine, they go with this legitimate request for 00:12:08.549 --> 00:12:12.190 food to Nabal. It's a legitimate request because 00:12:12.190 --> 00:12:16.529 David's men have been protecting all of Nabal's 00:12:16.529 --> 00:12:24.480 assets in the wilderness at their own risk. taking 00:12:24.480 --> 00:12:28.440 care of and protecting Nabal's sheep and flocks. 00:12:28.659 --> 00:12:32.080 Verse 15 and 16, they were a wall of protection 00:12:32.080 --> 00:12:35.299 to Nabal, protecting the sheep from things like 00:12:35.299 --> 00:12:40.039 robbers and thieves and such. Nabal greatly benefited 00:12:40.039 --> 00:12:43.740 and prospered due to David's kindness. And so 00:12:43.740 --> 00:12:47.399 customarily, it would have been polite and assumed 00:12:47.399 --> 00:12:51.690 that Nabal would return some sort of um, remuneration 00:12:51.690 --> 00:12:54.870 in the form of care and food to David and his 00:12:54.870 --> 00:12:59.190 men. But you see and you heard how Nabal responded 00:12:59.190 --> 00:13:05.230 in verse 10. Nabal responds with the utmost contempt 00:13:05.230 --> 00:13:11.289 for David's request. He basically says that David 00:13:11.289 --> 00:13:15.490 is a no -good runaway slave. And why should I 00:13:15.490 --> 00:13:21.059 give him all my things? How many times his pronoun 00:13:21.059 --> 00:13:24.779 I and my was used in that one verse? It's all 00:13:24.779 --> 00:13:27.379 mine, mine, mine. It's all about me. That's who 00:13:27.379 --> 00:13:31.960 Nabal is. It's all about me. He is a quintessential 00:13:31.960 --> 00:13:38.799 fool and a jerk. His rejection is the height 00:13:38.799 --> 00:13:42.340 of disrespect for David's kindness. He spurns 00:13:42.340 --> 00:13:45.639 David and so David's servants turn and go away. 00:13:47.690 --> 00:13:50.389 Maybe you've come across someone like a navel 00:13:50.389 --> 00:13:58.250 in your life, someone who is so obstinate, so 00:13:58.250 --> 00:14:04.169 sarcastic, so rebellious, refuses to listen to 00:14:04.169 --> 00:14:09.870 reason. You know they won't listen to you anyway 00:14:09.870 --> 00:14:14.690 if you try to persuade them, just as navel servants 00:14:14.690 --> 00:14:19.590 knew about navel. Proverbs says that this kind 00:14:19.590 --> 00:14:23.529 of person is a fool. And it says in Proverbs 00:14:23.529 --> 00:14:27.549 26 verse 4, not to answer a fool according to 00:14:27.549 --> 00:14:30.610 his folly because your words will be wasted. 00:14:33.610 --> 00:14:39.029 At times as well we see from this portion of 00:14:39.029 --> 00:14:42.809 the passage at the beginning that in this world 00:14:42.809 --> 00:14:46.710 when we as Christians display kindness to someone, 00:14:47.070 --> 00:14:49.909 We're not always going to be rewarded with the 00:14:49.909 --> 00:14:53.450 same kindness displayed to us. Many times people 00:14:53.450 --> 00:14:56.850 will return kindness for kindness, but there 00:14:56.850 --> 00:15:00.990 will be times when people respond harshly and 00:15:00.990 --> 00:15:05.490 unjustly, demeaning you in the face of your kindness. 00:15:07.909 --> 00:15:11.370 And so we should not expect to always receive 00:15:11.370 --> 00:15:15.389 kindness from this world. There will be those 00:15:15.389 --> 00:15:20.379 like Nabal, who treat us with contempt even when 00:15:20.379 --> 00:15:23.320 we are kind, even when we are winsome, even when 00:15:23.320 --> 00:15:25.299 we are speaking, especially when we are speaking 00:15:25.299 --> 00:15:29.299 the words of life, the gospel to them. So we 00:15:29.299 --> 00:15:32.000 see firstly just the simple reality of Nabal. 00:15:32.940 --> 00:15:36.539 The simple reality that there are those who will 00:15:36.539 --> 00:15:39.820 respond to, just like David and Nabal, respond 00:15:39.820 --> 00:15:42.679 negatively and get under our skin, which is exactly 00:15:42.679 --> 00:15:46.710 what happens to David here. in this knee -jerk 00:15:46.710 --> 00:15:49.529 reaction. What do you think of David's response? 00:15:50.210 --> 00:15:54.009 Is this in any way relatable? Have you ever been 00:15:54.009 --> 00:15:57.690 triggered in any way by anything that somebody 00:15:57.690 --> 00:16:00.850 has said to you? Let's look at this response 00:16:00.850 --> 00:16:07.269 from David in verses 12 and 13. Now David in 00:16:07.269 --> 00:16:10.309 chapter 24, well you didn't read chapter 24, 00:16:10.370 --> 00:16:13.129 but David in chapter 24 had the opportunity to 00:16:13.129 --> 00:16:16.789 take Saul's life. And he exercises great restraint 00:16:16.789 --> 00:16:20.049 there. But you don't see any of that same restraint 00:16:20.049 --> 00:16:23.669 here when it comes to this sort of lower person 00:16:23.669 --> 00:16:27.090 on the totem pole. David, who had been so patient 00:16:27.090 --> 00:16:30.330 and self -restrained with Saul, instantly, when 00:16:30.330 --> 00:16:33.950 he hears this report from his servants in verse 00:16:33.950 --> 00:16:39.110 12 and 13, instantly flies into a rage that this 00:16:39.110 --> 00:16:43.070 petty man would dare rebuff him for his kindness. 00:16:43.870 --> 00:16:46.730 David takes about 400 men, they all put on their 00:16:46.730 --> 00:16:49.649 weapons and they go, it would seem to do what? 00:16:50.269 --> 00:16:55.309 To kill Nabal and all of his people. David flies 00:16:55.309 --> 00:17:00.570 off the rails and we see his ruminating on that 00:17:00.570 --> 00:17:06.210 anger and the continued anger developing in David 00:17:06.210 --> 00:17:11.829 in verses 21 and 22, his thought process towards 00:17:11.829 --> 00:17:17.539 vengeance. The problem here is with David's knee 00:17:17.539 --> 00:17:22.099 -jerk reaction. And in our immaturity, often 00:17:22.099 --> 00:17:27.259 our knee -jerk reactions are what? Not the best, 00:17:27.359 --> 00:17:32.480 are they, would we say? Is David's anger justified? 00:17:32.599 --> 00:17:34.880 Well, no, not at all. His pride has been wounded, 00:17:35.220 --> 00:17:38.779 and now he's not thinking clearly, and so he's 00:17:38.779 --> 00:17:42.480 driven by his selfish, sinful flesh as he seeks 00:17:42.480 --> 00:17:47.549 vengeance. Well, one of the great problems with 00:17:47.549 --> 00:17:51.269 David's unrighteous anger is that in order to 00:17:51.269 --> 00:17:56.690 deal with Nabal, he's become just like Nabal 00:17:56.690 --> 00:18:05.410 in his foolish, darkened thinking. Proverbs 12 00:18:05.410 --> 00:18:08.430 verse 16 says, the vexation of a fool is known 00:18:08.430 --> 00:18:12.750 at once, but the prudent ignores insult. Oh, 00:18:12.750 --> 00:18:17.349 how David needed to appropriate that truth. He 00:18:17.349 --> 00:18:21.670 lets the insult go deep down. David is not acting 00:18:21.670 --> 00:18:25.289 wisely. Why is he not acting wisely? Well, he's 00:18:25.289 --> 00:18:28.750 not prepared. He's not prepared for the fiery 00:18:28.750 --> 00:18:31.950 darts of the evil one. He's not prepared for 00:18:31.950 --> 00:18:35.589 the aggravation of his own flesh. He's not prepared 00:18:35.589 --> 00:18:38.710 for this attack from the worldliness of the world. 00:18:39.569 --> 00:18:43.799 He's lost the instinct to to respond to Nabal 00:18:43.799 --> 00:18:47.740 with wisdom. And so he quickly falls for this. 00:18:47.779 --> 00:18:51.519 He quickly falls into sin. And how easily at 00:18:51.519 --> 00:18:56.960 times we fall. How quickly we fall at times, 00:18:57.079 --> 00:19:04.049 don't we? For the trap of anger. David here demonstrates 00:19:04.049 --> 00:19:07.170 the necessity of keeping in step with the Spirit, 00:19:07.329 --> 00:19:09.369 as Paul talks about in Galatians chapter five, 00:19:09.430 --> 00:19:13.130 verse 25. It's as we keep in step with the Spirit, 00:19:13.509 --> 00:19:16.690 day by day, putting on the spiritual armor of 00:19:16.690 --> 00:19:20.529 God, storing up God's Word in our heart, not 00:19:20.529 --> 00:19:25.210 just reading the Word, but storing it up in our 00:19:25.210 --> 00:19:28.910 heart that we are equipped to not sin against 00:19:28.910 --> 00:19:33.539 God. David doesn't seem here in this moment to 00:19:33.539 --> 00:19:38.079 be meditating on God and His goodness and God 00:19:38.079 --> 00:19:41.099 and His mercy and His tenderness. No, David is 00:19:41.099 --> 00:19:43.460 very proud and very entitled. He doesn't seem 00:19:43.460 --> 00:19:47.539 to be feasting on God's Word, engaging with God 00:19:47.539 --> 00:19:52.779 in prayer. And so if we are not standing firm 00:19:52.779 --> 00:19:57.440 in prayer and in the Word, bearing spiritual 00:19:57.440 --> 00:20:01.140 fruit likewise, Like David, we will quickly fall 00:20:01.140 --> 00:20:04.039 to all kinds of temptation. David was not ready. 00:20:04.839 --> 00:20:09.779 And so David quickly falls here. And I think 00:20:09.779 --> 00:20:13.140 if we look at David's life and we see how quickly 00:20:13.140 --> 00:20:16.400 David, the man after God's own heart, fell and 00:20:16.400 --> 00:20:21.380 we see in our own lives how prone we are to certain 00:20:21.380 --> 00:20:24.599 sins. Anger is probably one of the big ones for 00:20:24.599 --> 00:20:30.700 many of us, many of all of us. we recognize how 00:20:30.700 --> 00:20:35.539 weak we are. And so we need to see hope in this 00:20:35.539 --> 00:20:38.119 passage and that hope comes from the God who 00:20:38.119 --> 00:20:40.480 is greater than ourselves and the God who protects 00:20:40.480 --> 00:20:43.700 us even from ourselves. And that's what you see 00:20:43.700 --> 00:20:46.579 in this passage, God protecting David and David's 00:20:46.579 --> 00:20:51.160 kingdom even from David the King. So there's 00:20:51.160 --> 00:20:53.960 another thread in this story. In contrast to 00:20:53.960 --> 00:20:56.460 Nabal's folly and David's sinful anger, there's 00:20:56.460 --> 00:20:58.940 another side of this story. There is a servant 00:20:58.940 --> 00:21:04.859 in verse 14 through 17 who goes to Abigail, Nabal's 00:21:04.859 --> 00:21:09.960 wife, and he is wise and he is brave and he informs... 00:21:09.980 --> 00:21:13.279 Abigail of all that David had requested and the 00:21:13.279 --> 00:21:16.180 way that Nabal had responded so foolishly. And 00:21:16.180 --> 00:21:19.039 he says to Abigail, you've got to do something 00:21:19.039 --> 00:21:22.480 because David is about to kill Nabal and everything 00:21:22.480 --> 00:21:29.099 is going to be bad. So Abigail, who is the picture 00:21:29.099 --> 00:21:33.660 of a Proverbs 31 woman, she does good to her 00:21:33.660 --> 00:21:36.339 husband, even though her husband is kind of a 00:21:36.339 --> 00:21:41.170 curse to her. She is wise. And she goes about 00:21:41.170 --> 00:21:45.849 quickly employing biblical peacemaking principles, 00:21:45.950 --> 00:21:51.970 biblical peacemaking principles to pursue David 00:21:51.970 --> 00:21:55.970 and to bring reconciliation. She is wise, the 00:21:55.970 --> 00:21:57.910 scripture says in this passage that she's beautiful 00:21:57.910 --> 00:22:01.829 inside and out. And then she responds to the 00:22:01.829 --> 00:22:04.680 foolishness of Nabal. with wisdom that is pure 00:22:04.680 --> 00:22:08.279 and peaceable. Rick Phillips points out the biblical 00:22:08.279 --> 00:22:12.680 wisdom that she models in peacemaking. And I 00:22:12.680 --> 00:22:15.240 think this is very, it's immensely practical. 00:22:15.579 --> 00:22:17.480 If you're in the middle of a spat with someone 00:22:17.480 --> 00:22:22.259 or you're dealing with a conflict or you've got 00:22:22.259 --> 00:22:24.500 some sort of reconciliation that needs to happen 00:22:24.500 --> 00:22:27.099 between you and someone else, Abigail is a picture 00:22:27.099 --> 00:22:29.940 and a model of biblical peace -making principles 00:22:29.940 --> 00:22:33.819 that you and I ought to employ in our relationships. 00:22:34.279 --> 00:22:39.000 First thing, note what she does in verses 23 00:22:39.000 --> 00:22:41.859 through 31. You can read in depth later. I'm 00:22:41.859 --> 00:22:45.480 gonna comment on that briefly here. She humbles 00:22:45.480 --> 00:22:48.900 herself by going to David and bowing down to 00:22:48.900 --> 00:22:51.779 him. First thing she does is she humbles herself. 00:22:52.400 --> 00:22:54.440 She has a Christ -like attitude of humility. 00:22:54.579 --> 00:22:57.559 Second thing she does, she confesses her own 00:22:57.559 --> 00:23:02.019 guilt in verse 24. So she is one flesh would 00:23:02.019 --> 00:23:05.680 enable her husband. And we don't know all of 00:23:05.680 --> 00:23:08.299 the ways that she was involved with Nabal's decision 00:23:08.299 --> 00:23:11.420 here, but she confesses her own guilt in this 00:23:11.420 --> 00:23:14.440 situation. So she's humble and she confesses 00:23:14.440 --> 00:23:17.319 her guilt. The third thing she does is she offers 00:23:17.319 --> 00:23:20.680 restitution. And you see that list of food that 00:23:20.680 --> 00:23:24.940 she brings in verse 18. She brings restitution. 00:23:25.019 --> 00:23:28.039 This is the food that was rightly owed to David 00:23:28.039 --> 00:23:32.420 for his service rendered. So she humbles herself, 00:23:32.420 --> 00:23:36.539 she confesses her guilt, she brings, she makes 00:23:36.539 --> 00:23:40.539 restitution. And you see this elsewhere in scripture, 00:23:40.960 --> 00:23:43.839 remember Zacchaeus? Remember what he did after 00:23:43.839 --> 00:23:46.740 he, as part of his repentance, he offered to 00:23:46.740 --> 00:23:51.420 restore, was it fourfold from those he had defrauded? 00:23:53.480 --> 00:23:57.259 So humility, confession, restitution, four things 00:23:57.259 --> 00:24:01.259 she does in verse 28 as she pleads. for forgiveness. 00:24:02.220 --> 00:24:05.619 You see that posture and those actions of Abigail 00:24:05.619 --> 00:24:10.660 and how God uses that. God is with her in that 00:24:10.660 --> 00:24:15.220 and touches David's heart. And David acknowledges 00:24:15.220 --> 00:24:18.460 that this is a holy moment. Look with me in verse 00:24:18.460 --> 00:24:24.619 32. David says to Abigail, blessed be the Lord, 00:24:24.740 --> 00:24:29.259 the God of Israel, who sent you this day to me. 00:24:29.390 --> 00:24:34.009 Who is really saving David here? It's not Abigail, 00:24:34.230 --> 00:24:38.009 it's the Lord. The Lord has intervened and has 00:24:38.009 --> 00:24:42.150 turned David's heart back to himself. Make no 00:24:42.150 --> 00:24:45.250 mistake here, David may be a man after God's 00:24:45.250 --> 00:24:49.190 own heart, but it's only because the Lord continually 00:24:49.190 --> 00:24:56.440 brings David's heart back to him. At times he's 00:24:56.440 --> 00:24:58.940 doing well spiritually and at times he falls 00:24:58.940 --> 00:25:02.339 for this sinful anger. He is up and he is down 00:25:02.339 --> 00:25:05.539 spiritually. But God is more interested in preserving 00:25:05.539 --> 00:25:07.799 David's honor. God is more interested in preserving 00:25:07.799 --> 00:25:12.640 David's kingdom than even David is. God intervenes 00:25:12.640 --> 00:25:16.920 in his life to prevent David from falling to 00:25:16.920 --> 00:25:20.220 the foolishness of his own decision making. How 00:25:20.220 --> 00:25:23.319 gracious is our God and how relatable is this 00:25:23.319 --> 00:25:26.650 story? How many times in your life has God spared 00:25:26.650 --> 00:25:31.329 you the full consequences of foolish decisions? 00:25:31.769 --> 00:25:36.289 How many times has God been so kind to not allow 00:25:36.289 --> 00:25:39.589 us to experience the full weight of the consequences 00:25:39.589 --> 00:25:43.829 of foolish actions? Oh, he does that for David. 00:25:44.589 --> 00:25:48.509 He does that for us. And he shows here in verses 00:25:48.509 --> 00:25:53.230 36 through 39 that God truly does bring justice 00:25:53.640 --> 00:25:58.880 justice for his people and justice upon those 00:25:58.880 --> 00:26:02.940 who insult and malign and seek to harm his people. 00:26:03.660 --> 00:26:07.380 Vengeance belongs to who? Deuteronomy chapter 00:26:07.380 --> 00:26:11.000 32. Vengeance belongs to the Lord. He will make 00:26:11.000 --> 00:26:14.480 things right. David sees here and we see in this 00:26:14.480 --> 00:26:18.660 passage that Nabal dies very quickly here. The 00:26:18.660 --> 00:26:23.220 Lord handles this situation. A few things today. 00:26:23.690 --> 00:26:27.150 a few things today to see how this passage helps 00:26:27.150 --> 00:26:30.089 us. Now we already see ourselves in this passage, 00:26:30.170 --> 00:26:33.390 we already see our problem, our need, but how 00:26:33.390 --> 00:26:36.690 else does this passage help us? Well the passage 00:26:36.690 --> 00:26:39.509 teaches us to be grateful for God's intervention. 00:26:40.569 --> 00:26:43.390 David is expressing gratitude to Abigail, but 00:26:43.390 --> 00:26:47.089 he's really expressing gratitude to God for his 00:26:47.089 --> 00:26:52.109 intervention in his life. Abigail is is God's 00:26:52.109 --> 00:26:58.769 divine stop sign. Abigail is God's divine stoplight 00:26:58.769 --> 00:27:03.250 in David's life. You know, when God sees his 00:27:03.250 --> 00:27:05.710 children running out in the road, so to speak, 00:27:06.049 --> 00:27:09.349 about to be hit by a car, of their own foolishness, 00:27:09.490 --> 00:27:12.710 a situation of their own making, because of their 00:27:12.710 --> 00:27:17.269 ungodly decisions, times he will turn us right 00:27:17.269 --> 00:27:19.930 around. At times he does allow us to experience 00:27:19.930 --> 00:27:23.569 consequences, but here he is so gracious to turn 00:27:23.569 --> 00:27:26.650 David around. Be grateful for those moments where 00:27:26.650 --> 00:27:33.529 God halts you in your tracks. Second, be vigilant 00:27:33.529 --> 00:27:37.769 lest you fall. Be vigilant over your own life. 00:27:37.890 --> 00:27:40.509 Guard yourself against the deceitfulness of sin. 00:27:41.890 --> 00:27:44.809 Galatians says, walk by the Spirit. so that you 00:27:44.809 --> 00:27:47.809 will not gratify the desires of the flesh. Are 00:27:47.809 --> 00:27:50.710 you walking by the Spirit? Are you in the Word? 00:27:51.150 --> 00:27:53.509 Are you surrounding yourself with godly people? 00:27:54.450 --> 00:27:57.410 Do you have people in your life who can both 00:27:57.410 --> 00:28:01.589 speak comfort to you and candidly speak the truth 00:28:01.589 --> 00:28:05.809 and love to you? And so thirdly, receive that 00:28:05.809 --> 00:28:10.490 counsel confronted by sin. Don't rebuff someone 00:28:10.490 --> 00:28:15.990 when they come to you in in love with who you 00:28:15.990 --> 00:28:19.049 really are in the way that your offenses have 00:28:19.049 --> 00:28:21.769 hurt someone. Don't rebuff someone when they 00:28:21.769 --> 00:28:26.849 come to you with your sin because they love you. 00:28:27.369 --> 00:28:30.630 In Christ, in the household of faith, when we 00:28:30.630 --> 00:28:32.609 speak the truth in love to one another, it's 00:28:32.609 --> 00:28:34.509 because we want to see one another restored. 00:28:36.170 --> 00:28:42.569 Receive that. Fourthly, be your brother's keeper. 00:28:42.990 --> 00:28:45.970 Be willing to be like Abigail and do the hard 00:28:45.970 --> 00:28:49.710 thing. Galatians 6 .1 says, if anyone is caught 00:28:49.710 --> 00:28:51.950 in a transgression, you who are spiritual should 00:28:51.950 --> 00:28:54.869 restore him in a spirit of gentleness, but keep 00:28:54.869 --> 00:28:58.750 watch on yourself lest you be tempted. Dear ones, 00:28:58.869 --> 00:29:02.789 be willing to be like Abigail and speak hard 00:29:02.789 --> 00:29:06.309 life -giving truths as well as receive hard life 00:29:06.309 --> 00:29:11.190 -giving truths, leaving justice to God as well. 00:29:12.210 --> 00:29:15.609 Lastly, I want to say, if you look at this passage 00:29:15.609 --> 00:29:18.829 in today, you recognize that you actually identify 00:29:18.829 --> 00:29:21.390 not with Abigail or David as much as you identify 00:29:21.390 --> 00:29:24.890 with Nabal. It could be today that God is waking 00:29:24.890 --> 00:29:27.230 you up to the fact that you have acted like Nabal 00:29:27.230 --> 00:29:30.930 your whole life, earned his goodness and his 00:29:30.930 --> 00:29:33.529 love and his people, and you have lived as an 00:29:33.529 --> 00:29:36.670 island to yourself as if it's all about me, mine, 00:29:37.349 --> 00:29:40.519 and I. I have good news for you. If you wake 00:29:40.519 --> 00:29:42.059 up today and you realize you're not a believer 00:29:42.059 --> 00:29:44.380 and you've lived only for yourself, you've never 00:29:44.380 --> 00:29:46.420 trusted Christ, today is the day of salvation 00:29:46.420 --> 00:29:50.299 for you. Repent of your folly and trust in Christ 00:29:50.299 --> 00:29:53.059 and you will be saved. And you will not be living 00:29:53.059 --> 00:29:55.240 in foolishness and in darkness anymore, but in 00:29:55.240 --> 00:29:57.859 light and in wisdom. And he will give you a new 00:29:57.859 --> 00:30:01.460 spirit and cause you to walk in his ways. There's 00:30:01.460 --> 00:30:03.880 so much in this passage today, but we need to 00:30:03.880 --> 00:30:06.839 conclude not with King David, the King to be, 00:30:07.099 --> 00:30:09.680 but the Lord Jesus, the King, the greater Son 00:30:09.680 --> 00:30:13.519 of David who has come from David's line. It's 00:30:13.519 --> 00:30:16.460 not David or any other friend or any other person 00:30:16.460 --> 00:30:19.640 or ourselves that can deliver us from our sinful 00:30:19.640 --> 00:30:25.099 anger, but it's only David's greater Son, the 00:30:25.099 --> 00:30:30.000 Lord Jesus Christ. While we're yet sinners, While 00:30:30.000 --> 00:30:32.359 we were yet in rebellion and in anger, Christ 00:30:32.359 --> 00:30:36.759 died for us. Though we were like Nabal, worthless, 00:30:38.099 --> 00:30:40.740 though we were swift to shed blood like David, 00:30:41.799 --> 00:30:45.460 Christ Jesus, the true King, shed his blood to 00:30:45.460 --> 00:30:49.140 cover all of our sins and ransom us from a multitude 00:30:49.140 --> 00:30:55.319 of sins. So the true solution to our problem 00:30:55.319 --> 00:30:59.160 of anger and our responses is not even our own 00:30:59.160 --> 00:31:02.480 efforts, but the good news of the gospel that 00:31:02.480 --> 00:31:06.299 redeems us from our sin, the Father and the Son, 00:31:06.880 --> 00:31:10.400 who send His Spirit to all those whom Christ 00:31:10.400 --> 00:31:15.200 has redeemed. And by His power, we can make peace 00:31:15.200 --> 00:31:19.259 because God has made peace through the blood 00:31:19.259 --> 00:31:24.680 of His Son with us. Let's keep seeking Him and 00:31:24.680 --> 00:31:27.990 let's keep remembering the gospel of grace that 00:31:27.990 --> 00:31:32.150 empowers us to live at peace with others because 00:31:32.150 --> 00:31:39.410 God in Christ has made peace with the Father 00:31:39.410 --> 00:31:43.150 through His own blood. Let's pray.