Session 11 Protected God guards the honor of His name and the steps of His people. 1 SAMUEL 25:14-17,32-38 14 One of the servants told Abigail, Nabal s wife, David sent messengers from the wilderness to give our master his greetings, but he hurled insults at them. 15 Yet these men were very good to us. They did not mistreat us, and the whole time we were out in the fields near them nothing was missing. 16 Night and day they were a wall around us the whole time we were herding our sheep near them. 17 Now think it over and see what you can do, because disaster is hanging over our master and his whole household. He is such a wicked man that no one can talk to him. [...] 32 David said to Abigail, Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, who has sent you today to meet me. 33 May you be Date of My Bible Study: 111
blessed for your good judgment and for keeping me from bloodshed this day and from avenging myself with my own hands. 34 Otherwise, as surely as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, who has kept me from harming you, if you had not come quickly to meet me, not one male belonging to Nabal would have been left alive by daybreak. 35 Then David accepted from her hand what she had brought him and said, Go home in peace. I have heard your words and granted your request. 36 When Abigail went to Nabal, he was in the house holding a banquet like that of a king. He was in high spirits and very drunk. So she told him nothing at all until daybreak. 37 Then in the morning, when Nabal was sober, his wife told him all these things, and his heart failed him and he became like a stone. 38 About ten days later, the Lord struck Nabal and he died. Underline the words and phrases in the verses that point to God at work in the background. Circle phrases that point to David s awareness of God s work. FIRST THOUGHTS How do you react when you feel that you ve been wronged? Be honest. Don t try to think of a spiritual answer. Think back over any recent insults, work-related problems, personality conflicts, or even attacks against people you love. While many Christians want their actions to be guided by prayer, grace, love, and patience, it s too tempting to settle for homegrown justice. We lash out in anger instead of waiting patiently on God. We buy into the cliché that it s better to ask forgiveness than ask permission. And yes, it may feel good in the moment, but will it be good in the long run? Where is the line between defending yourself and trusting God to step in on your behalf? How do you know when to wait patiently on God when the only thing you want to do is defend yourself or those you love? 112 Explore the Bible Personal Study Guide
The story of Nabal and David addresses that exact problem through five main scenes: David and his men protected Nabal s shepherds; Nabal disrespected David; David started down a path of retaliation; Nabal s wife (Abigail) wisely defused the situation; and God punished Nabal. The story reminds us that God is so sovereign, so big, so completely in control that He doesn t need our help to defend His honor or His people. From David s limited perspective, he needed to act for the problem to be solved. From God s complete perspective, the problem was already being solved without David s help. UNDERSTAND THE CONTEXT 1 SAMUEL 25:1-43 It s easier to focus on what God is doing behind the scenes when you actually know the scene. Chapter 25 begins with the death and burial of Samuel and the relocation of David to the wilderness of Paran (vv. 1-2). It was in the desert of Moan that David and his men protected Nabal s shepherds. Night and day they were a wall around [them] (v. 16). While there s no way to be certain, it is probable that David s years as a shepherd made him protective of those who served in that capacity. When David received the news that Nabal was shearing his sheep (v. 4), he sent 10 young men to request provisions to help sustain him and his men in the wilderness (vv. 6-8). David s request was respectful, submissive, and grounded in his past kindness and protection. Even if there was no history between David and Nabal s shepherds, the request for provisions was not unreasonable based on the customs of the time and Nabal s wealth. None of that seemed to matter to Nabal. Nabal had a reputation. He was an extremely wealthy man, married to an intelligent and beautiful woman, and known to be surly and mean in his dealings (vv. 2-3). His possessions included 3,000 sheep and 1,000 goats (v. 2). Instead of showing gratitude for David s kindness and protection, Nabal showed contempt by referring to David as a runaway slave and refusing to comply with his request (vv. 9-11). When David heard Nabal s response, he was furious. He told 400 of his men to put on their swords (v. 13). If Nabal refused to show honor to those who blessed him, he would experience the wrath of Session 11 : Protected 113
those he offended. David planned to kill every man associated with Nabal (v. 22) and take the supplies he needed. Fortunately for Nabal and his household, a servant informed Nabal s wife (Abigail) of his master s actions. To avert disaster, she quickly collected food supplies and went out to meet David (vv. 14-19). When she met David, she fell with her face to the ground before David and took responsibility for her husband s actions (vv. 23-24). She recognized that Nabal acted foolishly (v. 25) and even asked that God would bless David by making him king (v. 30). Her quick thinking and wise response averted a huge disaster. Impressed by her wisdom, David thanked her and gratefully accepted her provisions (vv. 32-35). The following morning, Abigail told Nabal what happened. He then had a seizure and became paralyzed. About 10 days later, the Lord struck Nabal dead (vv. 37-38). At this point, turn your attention to what God was doing behind the scenes. God used Nabal s servant to deliver information to Abigail at just the right time. God gave Abigail the wisdom to know what to do, what to say, and what to bring. God allowed Abigail to reach David before he could take matters into his own hands. God gave David the wisdom to recognize the Lord s protection and to concede his plan for vengeance. This story reminds us that we may not be able to see what God is doing, know what He is up to, or even sense that He is active. From our perspective, it may seem like God is nowhere to be found. However, our perception of God s silence is never proof of God s absence. BIBLE SKILL: Use a Bible dictionary (either print or online) to learn more about a Bible character. Use a Bible dictionary to look up the meaning of the name Nabal. How did Nabal in 1 Samuel 25 live up to his name? In what ways was his name fitting? 114 Explore the Bible Personal Study Guide
EXPLORE THE TEXT DISASTER FORESEEN (1 SAM. 25:14-17) VERSES 14-17 14 One of the servants told Abigail, Nabal s wife, David sent messengers from the wilderness to give our master his greetings, but he hurled insults at them. 15 Yet these men were very good to us. They did not mistreat us, and the whole time we were out in the fields near them nothing was missing. 16 Night and day they were a wall around us the whole time we were herding our sheep near them. 17 Now think it over and see what you can do, because disaster is hanging over our master and his whole household. He is such a wicked man that no one can talk to him. From a human perspective, Nabal s servant could be the unsung hero of this story. He took initiative by informing Abigail of Nabal s poor treatment of David s men. Verse 14 tells us that David sent messengers to greet Nabal. Greetings means to bless or to praise. Verse 14 also tells us that Nabal hurled insults at David s men. David sent Nabal his blessing; Nabal sent David his rebuke. Nabal s servant honestly portrayed David s interactions with Nabal s shepherds. He stressed the physical proximity and protective nature of David s men: Yet these men were very good to us. They did not mistreat us, and the whole time we were out in the fields near them nothing was missing. Night and day they were a wall around us. David is depicted as a vigilant shepherd of shepherds. The man who formerly protected his flocks from marauders (1 Sam. 17:34-35) is the same man who protected Nabal s shepherds and their flocks from marauders. Abigail needed to know about David s actions in Moan. Good decisions require good information. Without a full understanding of what happened in the desert, Abigail would fail to understand the gravity of Nabal s offense. It was also the servant who encouraged Abigail to think it over and see what you can do. It was the servant who saw certain trouble on the horizon for their master and his whole household. It was the servant who was courageous enough to call his master a wicked man in front of his wife. Nabal s servant saw the impending disaster and did what was necessary to inform the right person. It s not Session 11 : Protected 115
uncommon for people to wonder, Can one person make a difference? All too often, people know what needs to be done, but they allow fear to keep them from doing it. Nabal s servant saw impending disaster, and he acted courageously. Apart from fear, what keeps people silent? In what ways can silence be just as dangerous as exaggerating a potential conflict or issue? DAVID RELENTS (1 SAM. 25:32-35) VERSES 32-35 32 David said to Abigail, Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, who has sent you today to meet me. 33 May you be blessed for your good judgment and for keeping me from bloodshed this day and from avenging myself with my own hands. 34 Otherwise, as surely as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, who has kept me from harming you, if you had not come quickly to meet me, not one male belonging to Nabal would have been left alive by daybreak. 35 Then David accepted from her hand what she had brought him and said, Go home in peace. I have heard your words and granted your request. When Abigail heard of Nabal s actions, she hurried (1 Sam. 25:18) and acted quickly (vv. 23,34,42). Abigail walked a fine line between not excusing Nabal s actions and not appearing disloyal to him either. Verse 25 may look like she stepped over that line: He is just like his name his name means Fool, and folly goes with him. From our perspective, it may seem like she ran over the line multiple times. However, the name Nabal actually means fool. While a wife s loyalty to her husband was a prized virtue, her integrity was equally important. Nabal s actions were unwise and foolish. Therefore, Abigail s assessment was accurate. The reason David should have paid no attention to him was because he acted foolishly. In an act of submission, she referred to David as my lord in every verse of her speech (vv. 24-31). Just as David sent his greetings (blessings) to Nabal (vv. 5-8), Abigail sent her gifts (blessings) to David (vv. 18-19). Abigail s initiative and independence were rare for 116 Explore the Bible Personal Study Guide
a married woman of that time in the Near East. Meeting with one of her husband s enemies (even for the purpose of saving her husband s life) could be seen as scandalous. The itemized provision list far surpassed anything that David requested. Abigail took two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five dressed sheep, five seahs of roasted grain, a hundred cakes of raisins and two hundred cakes of pressed figs, loaded them on donkeys, and sent them ahead of her (vv. 18-19). As a point of reference, when David attempted to feed his men, he asked Ahimelech for five loaves of bread, or whatever you can find (21:3). While Abigail s gift was not sufficient to feed six hundred men and their families for a long period of time, it was a sizable peace offering. When David saw the gifts and heard from Abigail, he praised the Lord, the God of Israel, who has sent her to meet him. David acknowledged that God protected him from acting foolishly. Proverbs 20:22 says, Do not say, I ll pay you back for this wrong! Wait for the Lord, and he will avenge you. Since vengeance belongs to God (Deut. 32:35), David s avenging himself would have usurped God s will. While God sent Abigail to David, David also recognized Abigail s good judgment in the matter. Her wise and generous actions kept him from bloodshed and from avenging himself. By David s own words, had Abigail not acted as she did, Nabal would not have had any men left by morning. Go home in peace, David told Abigail. He relented. David accepted the provisions and turned back. He did not send an angry message to Nabal, telling him that but for his wife, Nabal s head would now be on top of a spear. He did not tell Abigail to make sure Nabal never did something like this again. He simply turned back. This is a model for us for letting go of wrath. When turned aside from doing evil, we should thank God and those who intervened, and we should turn away from the sin entirely. We should not hold on to a little piece of it, thinking we can always return to it if things don t go as we wish. Those who are willing to wait on the Lord will discover that God s way is always better. His way is not our way. His timing is not our timing. His results are better than we could ever imagine. The issue for each of us is submission and trust. Session 11 : Protected 117
What keeps a person from submitting to God in every situation? How are submitting to God and trusting in Him connected? KEY DOCTRINE: Peace and War It is the duty of Christians to seek peace with all men on principles of righteousness. GOD INTERVENES (1 SAM. 25:36-38) VERSES 36-38 36 When Abigail went to Nabal, he was in the house holding a banquet like that of a king. He was in high spirits and very drunk. So she told him nothing at all until daybreak. 37 Then in the morning, when Nabal was sober, his wife told him all these things, and his heart failed him and he became like a stone. 38 About ten days later, the Lord struck Nabal and he died. After David turned back from his plans, Abigail went to Nabal s house to tell him what happened. Nabal was in the house holding a banquet like that of a king. That statement is ironic since he actually refused to give food to David the eventual king. When Abigail found Nabal, he was in high spirits and very drunk. She realized that he was in no condition to understand his actions. Due to his drunken condition, she told him nothing at all until daybreak. In one way, the decision to wait until morning added greater impact to the news. The morning was when David had planned to kill every male in Nabal s household (vv. 22,34). When Nabal sobered up, Abigail told him all these things. There is a sequence of phrases that builds up to this point. In verse 9, David s men presented his request to Nabal by telling him this message. Nabal refused David s request and insulted David in the process. When David s men returned from that meeting, they told David every word (v. 12). David became angry and planned for retribution. 118 Explore the Bible Personal Study Guide
Now, after Abigail met David, gave provisions, and averted disaster, she told Nabal all these things. Nabal s response was that his heart failed him and he became like a stone. Apparently, he was catatonic, paralyzed, or in a coma. About ten days later, the Lord struck Nabal and he died. Verse 38 makes it clear that Nabal s death was not a random physical issue. He died at the Lord s hand. The same phrase is used to predict Saul s fate in the following chapter (26:10). God can defend Himself. He does not need our help to accomplish His purposes. He may choose to use us, but He never needs us. When we feel the need to take matters into our own hands, it s usually a lack of faith, a problem of pride, or a sign of impatience. It is never easy to refrain from retaliation when we feel someone has wronged us. But God calls on us to be forbearing and to leave vengeance to Him, even when someone has done a wrong that we consider unconscionable. We can find the strength to do so when we remember that Christ paid for others sins as He paid for ours. What other examples come to mind in which God defended Himself and the honor of His name? How is Jesus death and resurrection an act of God that counters humanity s taking matters into our own hands? At the end of this story, David took Abigail as his wife (vv. 39-42). She was only one of many. In the current moral and sexual chaos that is now sweeping over the United States, we can be sure that the issue of polygamy will become more prominent. In the harsh realities of the time in which David lived, survival was marginal, and people felt they had to do what was needed to preserve themselves and their families. A woman alone was in great danger. She needed the home of a man, and she also needed a son to care for her in her old age. In that sense, David s marriage to Abigail may have been a mercy. At the same time, David s many wives led to moral chaos in his household. Polygamy, like divorce, was never God s intention for humanity. These things were only allowed because of our hardness of heart. But God desired for one man and one woman to be one flesh. (See Gen. 2:24 and Matt. 19:3-9.) Session 11 : Protected 119
IN MY CONTEXT People can take definite action to intervene in the face of conflict. Believers are to be thankful when God keeps them from acting out of selfish motives, including out of personal revenge. Believers can trust God to bring about His judgment against evil in His time. As a group, share stories of times when you took definite action in the face of conflict. Include what went well and what went wrong. How does today s Bible passage speak to what you learned in that situation? Identify situations in your life in which you have seen God at work in the past three months. Take time to thank Him, celebrating His provision and faithfulness. Reflect on how God s work in the past helps you face the future. What situations do you currently face where you feel you are being treated unfairly as a result of doing the right thing? Ask God to show you how to continue to demonstrate trust in Him in spite of these situations. Record your prayer. MEMORY VERSE David said to Abigail, Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, who has sent you today to meet me. May you be blessed for your good judgment and for keeping me from bloodshed this day and from avenging myself with my own hands. 1 Samuel 25:32-33 120 Explore the Bible Personal Study Guide