1Samuel 25. Today we move to the second chapter of the three-part account of David s spiritual growth

Transcription

1 1Samuel 25 Tday we mve t the secnd chapter f the three-part accunt f David s spiritual grwth In chapter 24, David had pprtunity t kill Saul Thugh he refrained frm ding s, David still cmmitted a sin against the Lrd s aninted when he cut ff the hem f Saul s rbe Afterward David felt the cnvictin f the Hly Spirit, s he repented, cnfessed t his men and t Saul, and he pledged t prtect Saul David even prmised t prtect Saul s descendants and reputatin when he assumed the thrne But this was still a failure n David s part, s the Lrd wants t teach David abut depending upn the Lrd rather than taking matters int his wn hands Which brings us t chapter 25 Because the Lrd lves David and has great plans fr him, the Lrd is ging t place David in a set f circumstances t test his heart and develp his trust The Lrd will expse David s weakness, his tendency t take matters int his wn hand much like Saul And the Lrd uses a mst unlikely her t accmplish this wrk S let s mve int the secnd act f ur three-act play 1Sam. 25:1 Then Samuel died; and all Israel gathered tgether and murned fr him, and buried him at his huse in Ramah. And David arse and went dwn t the wilderness f Paran. Act 2 begins with the death f Samuel Since this bk and its sequel are names after Samuel, we naturally ask wh was writing the bk at this pint in the narrative? 2016 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

2 1Samuel 25 2 f 20 General pinin views Samuel as the authr f at least chapters 1-24 f 1Samuel But ther writer(s) must have cmpleted the rest f the bks later The Jewish Talmud credits Nathan and Gad with finishing 1 & 2Samuel, in which case Gad wuld have a bk in scripture after all The Lrd raised up Samuel t bless Israel all the days f his life, as we learned earlier Cnsidering the evil behavir f Eli and Saul, it s fair t say that Samuel was the nly bright spt amng leadership in Israel Were it nt fr Samuel the natin wuld have been withut any gdly leadership during this time But nw this man is gne, s where will gdly leadership cme frm? Obviusly, David becmes the next man t serve Gd in this way fr the sake f Israel And that s why Samuel s death features prminently in the text at this pint It emphasizes that it s time fr David t assume the place f gdly prtectr f the peple And he still has smethings t learn befre he s ready t assume this respnsibility The timing f Samuel s death raises an interesting pssibility Samuel ruled as Israel s nly judge after Eli s death S Samuel was Israel s judge fr 12 years until Saul became king And then Samuel cntinued as judge in cntrast t Saul s evil rule fr the next 18 years This means that Samuel was the righteus judge ver Israel fr 30 years, a number that indicates Gd s svereignty S if Gd intended Samuel t rule fr thirty years and then David wuld assume the rle f righteus leader ver Israel, what abut Saul? 2016 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

3 1Samuel 25 3 f 20 Perhaps the Lrd is shwing us what culd have been fr Israel? Had the natin nt demanded a king prematurely, perhaps the lrd wuld have raised up David at the pint f Samuel s death Instead, the natin brught Saul int pwer delaying David s arrival and creating great suffering fr the peple in the meantime If s, then this perhaps this serves as anther picture f Jesus s first and secnd cming t Earth Jesus is pictured by David accrding t scripture And when Jesus came t bring the kingdm t Israel the first time, He was rejected because the peple had a different kind f king in mind Just as Israel rejected Gd s appinted leader, Samuel, in favr f Saul wh lked the part This rejectin created a delay and suffering fr the peple Only after a delay will the peple f Israel eventually receive their Messiah It s unlikely David attended Samuel s burial at Ramah, since Saul wuld have likely been there t Instead, David retreats int the desert f the Sinai, called Paran While he s there, we must expect he was depressed and wrried The ne man wh culd check Saul s pwer was nw gne Yet David is still n the run and living under difficult circumstances But then things begin t lk up just a little 1Sam. 25:2 Nw there was a man in Man whse business was in Carmel; and the man was very rich, and he had three thusand sheep and a thusand gats. And it came abut while he was shearing his sheep in Carmel 1Sam. 25:3 (nw the man s name was Nabal, and his wife s name was Abigail. And the wman was intelligent and beautiful in appearance, but the man was harsh and evil in his dealings, and he was a Calebite), 1Sam. 25:4 that David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

4 1Samuel 25 4 f 20 The writer intrduces us t a man living in Man named Nabal wh pssessed a large sheep herding business in nearby Carmel (nt the same the Carmel f 1Kings 18) Man and Carmel nly abut 15 miles due west f Engedi, which has been David s hmebase f late Nabal s name means fl, and it s a prphetic reflectin f his character Scripture defines a fl as smene wh des nt give regard t Gd Despite his flishness, Nabal is very rich, pssessing huge flcks f sheep and gats The reasn fr his success is explained by his heritage: he is a Calebite Caleb alng with Jshua were the faithful members f the scuting party wh first entered the Prmised Land As a result, Caleb was awarded a large track f land near Hebrn And his decedents were blessed with the riches f the land The writer reprts Nabal has 3,000 sheep and 1,000 gats Beside indicating Nabal s wealth, the number f his sheep is imprtant fr anther reasn If yu lk back t the beginning f this three-chapter stry, yu find Saul sending three thusand men t capture David At that time David failed the Lrd s test f bedience when he tk matters int his wn hands by cutting Saul s rbe S we said Gd was ging t make David take this test again Then in chapter 26, David gets a secnd pprtunity t pass the Lrd s test In that third part f this stry, Saul is seeking David s life again And nce again, Saul will cme with three thusand men And between thse tw chapters we have this stry f Nabal, a man wh pssesses 3,000 sheep 2016 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

5 1Samuel 25 5 f 20 S in each chapter we have the number three thusand featured prminently The authr wants us t understand that the events f this chapter are cnnected with the ther tw Nabal is a prxy fr Saul In fact, we will see numerus narrative analgies between this stry and the stry f Saul and David These cnnectins help us see recgnize hw the Lrd uses this experience t teach David Nabal s wife, Abigail, is a striking cntrast t her husband Abigail is a beautiful and intelligent while her husband was apparently nt She was als kind and generus and mst imprtant, gdly While Nabal is harsh, ungdly, flish and withut a cncern fr the will r presence f Gd Abigail s name is even a cntrast f Nabal, since it means my father rejicing S Nabal is Saul s cunterpart in this stry, and his wife is a cunterpart t David And the therefre, she serves as an example f hw a gdly servant f Gd respnds t an ungdly superir David failed this challenge in chapter 24 S it s the lessn David needs t pass in chapter 26 S after Samuel s death, David hears that Nabal is shearing his sheep This event is newswrthy because f Nabal s wealth The persn wh wns 4,000 grazing animals was the Bill Gates f his day A man with that many animals needed a tremendus range f land fr grazing s many animals in such an arid climate 2016 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

6 1Samuel 25 6 f 20 Since Carmel was nly 15 mile west f Engedi, we knw that Nabal s shepherds wuld have crssed paths with David and his men frm time t time Therefre David wuld have been aware f Nabal s wealth S when David hears that it s shearing seasn, he takes nte He believes this is his pprtunity t gain sme much-needed relief fr he and his men Shearing time was the pint in the year when sheep were brught int pens and the wl was shaved ff The shearing tk place ver a number f days r weeks depending n the size f the flck And sheep shearing was a time f celebratin because this was the mment the master cashed in his crp S after each day f shearing, the labrers wuld share in the master s reward with a feast each evening There was plenty f fd and drink available fr everyne And David believes he and his men have a right t share in this celebratin S he sends messengers t Nabal t explain why he believes he has earned the right t jin the feast celebratin 1Sam. 25:5 S David sent ten yung men; and David said t the yung men, G up t Carmel, visit Nabal and greet him in my name; 1Sam. 25:6 and thus yu shall say, Have a lng life, peace be t yu, and peace be t yur huse, and peace be t all that yu have. 1Sam. 25:7 Nw I have heard that yu have shearers; nw yur shepherds have been with us and we have nt insulted them, nr have they missed anything all the days they were in Carmel. 1Sam. 25:8 Ask yur yung men and they will tell yu. Therefre let my yung men find favr in yur eyes, fr we have cme n a festive day. Please give whatever yu find at hand t yur servants and t yur sn David. First, David tells his men t greet Nabal by name This was a sign f respect and recgnitin 2016 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

7 1Samuel 25 7 f 20 David wanted t cmmunicate t Nabal that they were nt strangers but rather assciated tgether Als ntice in v.8 that David refers t himself as Nabal s sn This indicated that David placed himself in a psitin f service r submissin t Nabal Here again is anther cmparisn t Saul, wh called David my sn Secndly, David tells his men t declare a blessing upn Nabal and his huse and all that Nabal pssessed This statement made clear David was nt Nabal s enemy r a cmpetitr in the land On the cntrary, David s desire was t see Nabal strengthened and prsperus Then having heard f the shearing David reminds Nabal f what his men did t supprt Nabal s peratin As Nabal s shepherds led their flcks in the wilderness, David s men prtected them David s men shwed Nabal s shepherds respect and allwed them t graze Mre than that, David says Nabal s shepherds lst nt a single sheep during this time This is a remarkable thing David isn t saying that they never stle any f Nabal s sheep, because that wuldn t be a basis fr reward In fact, that wuld have been a threat f extrtin (i.e., pay me r smething might happen t yur sheep ) Rather, David is saying that his men prevented a lss Nt a single sheep was taken by wild animals r thieves Even the ccasinal sheep that wandered ff was returned safe Under nrmal circumstances a flck f 3,000 sheep wuld have experienced at least a few lsses ver the year 2016 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

8 1Samuel 25 8 f 20 But David s men had acted as a persnal prtectin army fr Nabal s sheep Therefre, David cme t claim his reward fr that effrt He s nt asking fr charity He s expecting t be paid fr his services in prtecting Nabal s flck And therefre, Nabal s is bligated by hnr t d the right thing in respnse t David s request David played a part in ensuring the success f Nabal s business and that hard wrk is wrthy f cmpensatin David is even making a specific demand beynd the pprtunity t participate in the evening feasts that all wrkers enjyed This wuld have been a great surce f jy and encuragement t David s men, wh prbably haven t enjyed a real meal in sme time But when Nabal s receives this reasnable request, he behaves in a mst unreasnable way 1Sam. 25:9 When David s yung men came, they spke t Nabal accrding t all these wrds in David s name; then they waited. 1Sam. 25:10 But Nabal answered David s servants and said, Wh is David? And wh is the sn f Jesse? There are many servants tday wh are each breaking away frm his master. 1Sam. 25:11 Shall I then take my bread and my water and my meat that I have slaughtered fr my shearers, and give it t men whse rigin I d nt knw? David s men apprach Nabal expecting a prper answer But Nabal surprised them with his dishnrable answer First, he rebuffs David s attempt t recgnize an existing relatinship While David has his men call Nabal by name, Nabal asks wh is David? In ther wrds, he is saying n what basis d I have t trust David? 2016 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

9 1Samuel 25 9 f 20 Furthermre, he asks wh is the sn f Jesse? Nabal ges a step farther and questins David s right t have even the thrne f Israel By this pint everyne in Israel knew that Samuel had aninted the sn f Jesse as the next king f Israel Yet Nabal has the gall t suggest that David s claim t the thrne was nt legitimate This t is similar t the way Saul refused t acknwledge that David had a legitimate claim t the thrne f Israel And then Nabal s prpsed his wn reasn fr why Saul was pursuing David Nabal says many servants are breaking away frm their masters Nabal suggests David had selfish reasns t challenge Saul s rule and therefre David was t blame fr his circumstances Finally, Nabal asks why he shuld take his wealth and hand it ut t men he desn t knw? Nabal is denying David s men have earned cmpensatin He s indicating they are seeking charity 1Sam. 25:12 S David s yung men retraced their way and went back; and they came and tld him accrding t all these wrds. 1Sam. 25:13 David said t his men, Each f yu gird n his swrd. S each man girded n his swrd. And David als girded n his swrd, and abut fur hundred men went up behind David while tw hundred stayed with the baggage. David respnds t Nabal s rebuff by preparing t defend his hnr and the hnr f his men by killing Nabal and all his husehld On the ne hand, David s respnse is nt surprising given the expectatins f the day When a man was dishnred in this way, he wuld typically be expected t avenge his hnr Death was the usual penalty and the culture wuld have likely let the judgment stand 2016 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

10 1Samuel f 20 On the ther hand, Gd has made it clear t David nt t resist evil in his wn pwer Instead, David is suppsed t depend n the Lrd fr vengeance This was the mistake he made in assaulting Saul in the cave Nw here again David is challenged by a flish man, and nce again he s preparing t take matters int his wn hands S David travels the 15 miles r s back t Nabal that very night t kill Nabal and his husehld We can see David perating in his pride and anger He desn t pause lnger enugh t even seek the Lrd s cunsel If he had, then he wuld have received different directin David wasn t the nly ne t be shcked by Nabal s answer Nabal s shepherds learned f Nabal s respnse, s nw they are seriusly cncerned 1Sam. 25:14 But ne f the yung men tld Abigail, Nabal s wife, saying, Behld, David sent messengers frm the wilderness t greet ur master, and he scrned them. 1Sam. 25:15 Yet the men were very gd t us, and we were nt insulted, nr did we miss anything as lng as we went abut with them, while we were in the fields. 1Sam. 25:16 They were a wall t us bth by night and by day, all the time we were with them tending the sheep. 1Sam. 25:17 Nw therefre, knw and cnsider what yu shuld d, fr evil is pltted against ur master and against all his husehld; and he is such a wrthless man that n ne can speak t him. Nabal s shepherds rush t Abigail and infrm her that Nabal has scrned David They cnfirm fr us they had gd reasn t expect an attack frm David s men The servants als seemed t understand that Abigail was a persn they culd reasn with under these circumstances They explain t her that David s men had dne the right thing by Nabal 2016 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

11 1Samuel f 20 Ntice in v.16 they reprt that David s men even tk turns guarding the flck at night when it was mst vulnerable Essentially, David s men were wrking as shepherds fr Nabal fr free, s they deserved pay But ntice als in v.17 they say evil is preparing an attack They expect David s anticipated revenge They called David s actins gd in ne case but evil in anther David was gd t help the shepherds but he is abut t cmmit evil if he prsecutes this attack Seven times in this chapter the wrds gd and evil are paired, indicating that this cntrast is a fcus f the chapter S after hearing the reprt, Abigail springs int actin t save her husband 1Sam. 25:18 Then Abigail hurried and tk tw hundred laves f bread and tw jugs f wine and five sheep already prepared and five measures f rasted grain and a hundred clusters f raisins and tw hundred cakes f figs, and laded them n dnkeys. 1Sam. 25:19 She said t her yung men, G n befre me; behld, I am cming after yu. But she did nt tell her husband Nabal. 1Sam. 25:20 It came abut as she was riding n her dnkey and cming dwn by the hidden part f the muntain, that behld, David and his men were cming dwn tward her; s she met them. 1Sam. 25:21 Nw David had said, Surely in vain I have guarded all that this man has in the wilderness, s that nthing was missed f all that belnged t him; and he has returned me evil fr gd. 1Sam. 25:22 May Gd d s t the enemies f David, and mre als, if by mrning I leave as much as ne male f any wh belng t him. She grabs tw hundred laves f bread and jugs f wine and large quantities f grain, raisns, and cakes f figs These materials were available because they had likely been prepared fr the nightly shearing feasts S Abigail is simply bringing David s men exactly what they requested Thugh she isn t bringing enugh fr all f David s men 2016 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

12 1Samuel f 20 Instead she s bringing the mst she culd carry n her dnkey T get a sense f this wman s bravery, imagine a slitary wman riding a dnkey laden with valuable gds headed int a desert alne t face an appraching army f bldthirsty men She was placing herself entirely at David s mercy There was at least an equal chance she might haver been killed r wrse Why desn t she send a servant in her place? Because in ding s she wuld likely have cndemned that servant t death ne way r anther If David didn t kill the servant, Nabal wuld certainly have disciplined any servant wh gave away his pssessins withut permissin But the wife had authrity in the huse t act in this way Therefre, she was the nly ne wh culd survive the cnsequences Befre she meets David, the writer ashws us what was in David s heart accrding t David s wn wrds He is fuming at Nabal David declares that he has been wrnged by Nabal, which is true David tk gd care f Nabal, and Nabal returned the favr by dishnring David Then David declares that shuld he fail t kill every male in Nabal s husehld, then may the Lrd cmplete the task fr him In ther wrds, David suggests he will be ding the Lrd s wrk as he vanquishes Nabal s husehld David s wrds aren t prphetic, bviusly David is acting in the flesh but assuming Gd was n his side In fact, he sunds a little like Saul, thinking that what he wanted was autmatically what Gd wanted 2016 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

13 1Samuel f 20 This entire situatin is very similar t ne David has been facing fr sme time David wrked hard in supprt f Saul He defended Saul s army and respected Saul s authrity He simply expected Saul t shw David the prper respect in return Instead, Saul was evil and unjust against David Nevertheless, the Lrd didn t permit David t raise his hand against the aninted king f Israel Clearly, David didn t learn the lessn Gd was trying t teach him in chapter 24 David was suppsed t rely n the Lrd t prtect and defend him Only the Spirit s cnvictin led David away frm making an even wrse mistake Nw he s abut t repeat that mistake S this cnflict with Nabal becmes an pprtunity fr the Lrd t teach David the crrect way he shuld respnd t thse wh ppse him And the Lrd chse an unlikely and humbling her t make His pint 1Sam. 25:23 When Abigail saw David, she hurried and dismunted frm her dnkey, and fell n her face befre David and bwed herself t the grund. 1Sam. 25:24 She fell at his feet and said, On me alne, my lrd, be the blame. And please let yur maidservant speak t yu, and listen t the wrds f yur maidservant. 1Sam. 25:25 Please d nt let my lrd pay attentin t this wrthless man, Nabal, fr as his name is, s is he. Nabal is his name and flly is with him; but I yur maidservant did nt see the yung men f my lrd whm yu sent. 1Sam. 25:26 Nw therefre, my lrd, as the Lrd lives, and as yur sul lives, since the Lrd has restrained yu frm shedding bld, and frm avenging yurself by yur wn hand, nw then let yur enemies and thse wh seek evil against my lrd, be as Nabal. 1Sam. 25:27 Nw let this gift which yur maidservant has brught t my lrd be given t the yung men wh accmpany my lrd Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

14 1Samuel f 20 1Sam. 25:28 Please frgive the transgressin f yur maidservant; fr the Lrd will certainly make fr my lrd an enduring huse, because my lrd is fighting the battles f the Lrd, and evil will nt be fund in yu all yur days. 1Sam. 25:29 Shuld anyne rise up t pursue yu and t seek yur life, then the life f my lrd shall be bund in the bundle f the living with the Lrd yur Gd; but the lives f yur enemies He will sling ut as frm the hllw f a sling. 1Sam. 25:30 And when the Lrd des fr my lrd accrding t all the gd that He has spken cncerning yu, and appints yu ruler ver Israel, 1Sam. 25:31 this will nt cause grief r a trubled heart t my lrd, bth by having shed bld withut cause and by my lrd having avenged himself. When the Lrd deals well with my lrd, then remember yur maidservant. As Abigail appraches David, she bws and immediately places all the blame n herself She isn t suggesting that she is respnsible fr what happened David knws she had nthing t d with the situatin Rather, she s asking that David transfer her husband s blame upn her She says had she knwn David s men had cme, she wuld have stepped in earlier t ensure they received what they deserved S nw she wrking t make things right after her husband ruined the situatin Abigail frms a distant picture f Christ by her behavir She is riding a dnkey as Jesus did when he entered Jerusalem She is giving herself up freely t her enemies as Jesus did with the Rmans She was inncent but nevertheless she assumes the blame fr a guilty party She ffers pay fr the sins f the flish, thse wh d nt acknwledge Gd Abigail asks David t pay n attentin t her husband, whm she calls wrthless and wrthy f his name Obviusly, Abigail knws her husband well 2016 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

15 1Samuel f 20 She testifies t David that his behavir in this matter is characteristic f his nature verall As his name indicates, he is a fl, s therefre he acts like ne She s saying he culdn t help himself Therefre, she asks David t verlk her husband s mistake Perhaps at this pint, we begin t wnder if Abigail has crssed the line in her behavir as Nabal s wife? Can a gdly wife say such things abut her husband and still hnr him? Shuldn t she be mre supprtive f her husband? Or at the very least, shuldn t she remain silent and refrain frm insulting him publicly? And what abut her decisin t bring the fd t David...isn t that disbeying her husband s wishes? If we fcus nly n these details, we will draw the wrng cnclusin abut Abigail s actins and judge her unfairly Cnsider the entire set f circumstances and take nte f Abigail s desires cncerning her husband In Genesis 2 the Bible says a wife is t be a helper t her husband because she is ne flesh with him Under these circumstances preserving her husband s hnr isn t the highest pririty Ladies, imagine a situatin where a rbber breaks int yur hme at night, ties up yur husband and pints a gun at his head The rbber demands yur husband give up the keys t his new sprts car but yur husband stubbrnly refuses Nw yu knw where he keeps his keys And yu knw yur flish husband is abut t die if yu dn t act quickly t save him. S what d yu d? Hw d yu hnr him? 2016 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

16 1Samuel f 20 Sme wives might reply, I wuld keep quiet, cllect his life insurance and buy anther sprts car... Obviusly, the mst hnring thing t d under thse circumstances is t act in yur husband s best interests by giving up the keys t save his life Yu haven t directly disbeyed his instructins Yu re just acting t cmpensate fr his flishness, which is in keeping with yur rle as helper This is what Abigail is ding Abigail s first cncern must be saving Nabal s life frm David and his men And if Abigail hadn t taken this extreme curse f actin, Nabal s wn flishness wuld have resulted in his destructin And she might have died as well Furthermre, Abigail isn t vilating any specific rder frm her husband Her husband never frbid Abigail frm acting In fact, she didn t even talk t Nabal befre ging n this missin Obviusly, she prbably suspected he wuld stp her if he knew But here again, she was acting shrewdly t cmpensate fr his flishness As she appeals t David s mercy, Abigail wisely invkes David s relatinship t the Lrd In fact, thrughut this imprtant speech Abigail frequently refers t David s relatinship with the Lrd She acknwledges the Lrd s aninting f David as the future king She affirms that the Lrd will always defend David Then she wisely asks David t cnsider hw he will feel nce he becmes king shuld he g thrugh with his plan? Hw will he feel when he remembers that he wrngly tk the lives f an entire husehld because f ne man s flishness? 2016 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

17 1Samuel f 20 Especially since David already knws the Lrd will defend David frm all enemies withut requiring David sin in this way Wn t David be ashamed? Wn t he view his actins were unnecessary? It s easy t see the Lrd speaking thrugh Abigail directly t David s heart She skillfully speaks t David s cnscience by pinting him back t his relatinship with the Lrd This was the lessn the Lrd wanted David t understand In chapter 24, David tk a step f revenge in defense f himself against a flish man, Saul Here he was ready t d the same again S the Lrd sends a wman t teach David what he already knew And t stp David frm sinning against the Lrd Finally, Abigail knew her audience well, because in v.29 she used a metaphr especially appealing t shepherds Shepherds carried tw bundles while tending the sheep One bundle held the fd that wuld sustain the shepherd s life while ut with the sheep The secnd bundle were stnes used with a sling t fend ff thieves and wild animals She reminds David that his life assured because he is bund with the Lrd While David s enemies are like stnes t be flung away by a sling David hears Abigail and his heart is tuched by her appeal 2016 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

18 1Samuel f 20 1Sam. 25:32 Then David said t Abigail, Blessed be the Lrd Gd f Israel, wh sent yu this day t meet me, 1Sam. 25:33 and blessed be yur discernment, and blessed be yu, wh have kept me this day frm bldshed and frm avenging myself by my wn hand. 1Sam. 25:34 Nevertheless, as the Lrd Gd f Israel lives, wh has restrained me frm harming yu, unless yu had cme quickly t meet me, surely there wuld nt have been left t Nabal until the mrning light as much as ne male. 1Sam. 25:35 S David received frm her hand what she had brught him and said t her, G up t yur huse in peace. See, I have listened t yu and granted yur request. First, David recgnizes that Abigail was sent by the Lrd fr his sake This is the first step in recgnizing the discipline f the Lrd in ur wn lives When the Lrd disciplines his children, the Bible says He des s fr ur gd And that discipline usually cmes thrugh ther peple Mst ften thrugh ur spuse But ther times thrugh ur children r friends r even a stranger like Abigail Obviusly, nt every critique we receive is frm the Lrd r even apprpriate But when smene ffers criticism r makes a suggestin r maybe they merely mdel righteusness befre us and we experience cnvictin, we ll knw it s the Lrd What happens next will determine whether we ll learn the lessn D we react defensively, d we make excuses, d we run away? Then we missed the chance t recgnize the Lrd sent us a messenger t crrect ur heart Fr his part, David immediately knew this wman was speaking with the heart f Gd S David received her as frm the Lrd Next David blessed Abigail fr her discernment and her bravery fr stepping int a dangerus situatin t stp David frm sinning 2016 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

19 1Samuel f 20 This is the secnd step in receiving the discipline f the Lrd Bless the persn wh acted bediently t deliver the Lrd s message Abigail tk a tremendus step f faith t server the Lrd s purpse in David s life She was in this psitin because f David s prspective sin S when David recgnized the Lrd wrking thrugh her t his wn benefit, he blessed her in return This is the ppsite f shting the messenger Next time smene tries t rescue yu frm yurself, recgnize they are wrking n yur behalf, s return the blessing They might nt even knw the Lrd was wrking thrugh them S encurage their heart by acknwledging hw they served Gd s purpse in yur life David tells Abigail that had she nt beyed the Lrd, surely terrible things wuld have happened And David wuld have been far wrse ff S David agreed t her request and determined nt t attack Nabal But what f David s hnr? Well, because David was willing t step aside and let the Lrd fight his battles, the Lrd shwed Himself faithful 1Sam. 25:36 Then Abigail came t Nabal, and behld, he was hlding a feast in his huse, like the feast f a king. And Nabal s heart was merry within him, fr he was very drunk; s she did nt tell him anything at all until the mrning light. 1Sam. 25:37 But in the mrning, when the wine had gne ut f Nabal, his wife tld him these things, and his heart died within him s that he became as a stne. 1Sam. 25:38 Abut ten days later, the Lrd struck Nabal and he died. Abigail returns and fittingly, she finds her husband, the fl, drunk that night He was cmpletely unaware f what was cming his way 2016 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

20 1Samuel f 20 He and his men were sitting ducks that evening, but the faithful wife saved his life Nabal reminds us again f Saul wh lived by the flesh and perated as if her was invincible ver his empire In the mrning, at the first pprtunity, Abigail reprts what happened The writer makes a pun in v.37 using Nabal s name The Hebrew wrd nebel means wine sack S the writer says Nabal (the wine sack) ran ut f wine... An empty wine sack is wrthless, and s was Nabal when he was sber Ntice Abigail didn t deceive Nabal at any pint She tld him the whle stry at the first pprtunity, nce the emergency was ver And at that pint the heart f Nabal went dead It means he lst all curage when he realized hw clse he came t death But it als pictures Saul becming hardhearted as sin tk hld in his life Finally, the Lrd brings the vengeance David deserves because David refrained frm acting n his wn behalf Ntice Nabal s death came abut ten days later Abut means nt exactly ten, as in smething between nice and ten The number nine means judgment in scripture While the number ten means testimny S Nabal s death was a judgment f Gd in defense f David s hnr And the entire episde was a testimny It was a testimny f the wickedness f Nabal, the faithfulness f Abigail and the repentance f David 2016 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.