1 Samuel 25 – 27 part 11
In tonight’s lesson we are going to learn about how David is still on the run from Saul and along the way we learn about how David makes good decision and bad ones and how being unthankful couple with greed cost a man his life.
1 Samuel 25:1Then
Samuel died; and the Israelites gathered together and lamented for him, and
buried him at his home in Ramah. And David arose and went down to the
Wilderness of Paran.
The first thing we learn
about in chapter 25 is that Samuel is now dead. He was a great man who was
faithful to God. Every Christian would do good to follow his example of
faithfulness to the Lord.
1 Samuel 25:2 Now there
was a man in Maon (may-ahn) whose business was in
The first thing I want to point out about this rich man his wife is the meanings of their names. Nabal means obstinate fool, and Abigail means, the joy of her father. As we will find out the meaning of the names go well their characters. Now we see that David wants Nabal to give his men some food and felt that he had the right to this because he had protected Nabal men and made is possible in part for him to keep the wealth that he had. We also need to realize that it was customary for one person to provide another with food. Now notice Nabal’s response.
1 Samuel 25:10 Then
Nabal answered David's servants, and said, "Who is David, and who is
the son of Jesse? There are many servants nowadays who break away each one
from his master. 11
"Shall I then take my bread and my water and my meat that I have killed
for my shearers, and give it to men when I do not know where they are
from?" 12 So David's
young men turned on their heels and went back; and they came and told him all
these words.
This was a great insult
to David as Nabal refused to send food to David. Now David response.
1 Samuel 25:13 Then
David said to his men, "Every man gird on his sword." So every man
girded on his sword, and David also girded on his sword. And about four hundred
men went with David, and two hundred stayed with the supplies. 14 Now one of the young men told
Abigail, Nabal's wife, saying, "Look, David sent messengers from the wilderness
to greet our master; and he reviled them.
15 "But the men were very good to us, and we were
not hurt, nor did we miss anything as long as we accompanied them, when we were
in the fields. 16 "They
were a wall to us both by night and day, all the time we were with them keeping
the sheep. 17 "Now
therefore, know and consider what you will do, for harm is determined against
our master and against all his household. For he is such a scoundrel
that one cannot speak to him."
David was preparing to kill
Nabal and his men. Now this would have been a big mistake on David part because
spilling these peoples blood would have most likely caused the other tribes of
1 Corinthians 10:13 No
temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful,
who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the
temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.
Just as God is making the way of escape of for David as we learn God makes a way of escape for each one of us but we must learn to grab hold of that the escape route. Now we learn from our text that the servants of Nabal confirm that David and his men protected them while they were out in the field describing them as wall of protection and so they inform Abigail of this and she being a very wise women jumps into action as read in,
1 Samuel 25:18 Then
Abigail made haste and took two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of
wine, five sheep already dressed, five seahs of roasted grain, one
hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and loaded them on
donkeys. 19 And she said to
her servants, "Go on before me; see, I am coming after you." But she
did not tell her husband Nabal. 20
So it was, as she rode on the donkey, that she went down under cover of
the hill; and there were David and his men, coming down toward her, and she met
them. 21 Now David had said,
"Surely in vain I have protected all that this fellow has in the
wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belongs to him. And
he has repaid me evil for good. 22
"May God do so, and more also, to the enemies of David, if I leave one
male of all who belong to him by morning light." 23 Now when Abigail saw David, she
hastened to dismount from the donkey, fell on her face before David, and bowed
down to the ground. 24 So she
fell at his feet and said: "On me, my lord, on me let this
iniquity be! And please let your maidservant speak in your ears, and
hear the words of your maidservant. 25
"Please, let not my lord regard this scoundrel Nabal. For as his name is,
so is he: Nabal is his name, and folly is with him.
But I, your maidservant, did not see the young men of my lord whom you sent.
Abigail was doing her
best to try to prevent David from making the mistake of shedding the blood of
these people. Even though she scared at facing David she put her people before
her fear and she brought food and drink and showed great humility by bowing
down to David as she began to reason with him. Did you notice how she said that
Nabal was like his name full of folly or we could say full of foolishness. She
wanted David to know that he wasn’t worth messing with. Now that she has
David’s ear notice what else she says.
1 Samuel 25:26
"Now therefore, my lord, as the LORD lives and as your soul
lives, since the LORD has held you back from coming to bloodshed and from
avenging yourself with your own hand, now then, let your enemies and those who
seek harm for my lord be as Nabal. 27
"And now this present which your maidservant has brought to my lord, let
it be given to the young men who follow my lord. 28 "Please forgive the
trespass of your maidservant. For the LORD will certainly make for my lord an
enduring house, because my lord fights the battles of the LORD, and evil is not
found in you throughout your days. 29
"Yet a man has risen to pursue you and seek your life, but the life of my
lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living with the LORD your God; and the
lives of your enemies He shall sling out, as from the pocket of a
sling. 30 "And it shall
come to pass, when the LORD has done for my lord according to all the good that
He has spoken concerning you, and has appointed you ruler over Israel, 31 "that this will be no
grief to you, nor offense of heart to my lord, either that you have shed blood
without cause, or that my lord has avenged himself. But when the LORD has dealt
well with my lord, then remember your maidservant."
She wants David to know
that her people are not his enemy and she ask for forgiveness from David. She
point out the fact how the Lord is on David side and how he has been fighting
the enemy for God. She obviously knew about David and how he killed Goliath
because she make the statement of how God will take care of his enemies by
slinging them out from a pocket of a sling. The finally she lets him know that
if he does kill her people that he will be guilty of killing innocent people
without cause. God has provided a way of escape for David and as continue on we
see takes the escape route.
1 Samuel 25:32 Then
David said to Abigail: "Blessed is the LORD God of
David allowed himself to
be rebuked by this wise women. He listened to reason. As Christians we must
have this attitude. We need to have open minds and open ears and pay close
attention to what people are telling us because they may very well be giving us
advice that will keep us from sinning. Men this also means that we need to
listen to our wives because they can certainly keep us out of trouble on
occasion. I can tell without a doubt that Erica has kept me from sticking my
foot my mouth on more than one occasion and I very thankful for that and I
imagine that just about ever man in this room could say the same thing. Let us
always strive to be good listeners.
1 Samuel 25:36 Now
Abigail went to Nabal, and there he was, holding a feast in his house, like the
feast of a king. And Nabal's heart was merry within him, for he was very
drunk; therefore she told him nothing, little or much, until morning
light. 37 So it was, in the
morning, when the wine had gone from Nabal, and his wife had told him these
things, that his heart died within him, and he became like a stone. 38 Then it came about, after about
ten days, that the LORD struck Nabal, and he died. 39 So when David heard that Nabal
was dead, he said, "Blessed be the LORD, who has pleaded the cause
of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and has kept His servant from evil! For
the LORD has returned the wickedness of Nabal on his own head." And David
sent and proposed to Abigail, to take her as his wife. 40 When the servants of David had
come to Abigail at
Now that David decided to
allow God deal with his enemies we see that Nabal dies within 10 days and David
thanks the Lord for his providence for showing him the right path to take by
means of Abigail. Now we see that David takes wife number 2 and 3. While it was
not God’s intention for men to have more than one wife we see over and over
again that this was a common practice during the OT time. We also learn that
His 1st wife has been given to another.
Now in chapter 26 we
learn that Saul breaks his word once again as he is I hot pursuit after David
with his 3000 men. Saul and his men camp down for the night and David enters
into Saul’s camp. Now we learn from verse 12 that God causes a deep sleep on
all of Saul’s people. So David once again has the opportunity to kill Saul but
he doesn’t. Instead he takes Saul’s Spear and a jug of water that was next to
Saul’s head. Well, David makes his way to the top of a hill and he yells out to
Saul’s people and this man named Abner who was the commanded of Saul’s small
army yelled back wanting to know who was yelling out at the king. Then David
chides Abner by saying that he should have been watching over his King and told
him that Jug of water and spear next to Saul’s was gone and he should be put to
death because he was not doing his duty of protecting King Saul. Now notice
what happens next as we pick up in,
1 Samuel 26:17 Then
Saul knew David's voice, and said, "Is that your voice, my son
David?" And David said, "It is my voice, my lord, O
king." 18 And he said,
"Why does my lord thus pursue his servant? For what have I done, or what
evil is in my hand? 19
"Now therefore, please, let my lord the king hear the words of his
servant: If the LORD has stirred you up against me, let Him accept an offering.
But if it is the children of men, may they be cursed
before the LORD, for they have driven me out this day from sharing in the
inheritance of the LORD, saying, 'Go, serve other gods.' 20 "So now, do not let my
blood fall to the earth before the face of the LORD. For the king of
This sound familiar
doesn’t it? Once again David makes his plea to Saul that he is not trying to
destroy him and he has proof of this because he did not kill him once again
when he had the chance. David makes the point that he is no more dangerous than
a flea.
So, what is Saul’s
response this time? Well, lets see.
1 Samuel 26:21 Then
Saul said, "I have sinned. Return, my son David. For I will harm you no
more, because my life was precious in your eyes this day. Indeed I have played
the fool and erred exceedingly." 22
And David answered and said, "Here is the king's spear. Let one of the
young men come over and get it. 23
"May the LORD repay every man for his righteousness and his
faithfulness; for the LORD delivered you into my hand today, but I would
not stretch out my hand against the LORD's anointed. 24 "And indeed, as your life
was valued much this day in my eyes, so let my life be valued much in the eyes
of the LORD, and let Him deliver me out of all tribulation." 25 Then Saul said to David, "May
you be blessed, my son David! You shall both do great things and
also still prevail." So David went on his way, and Saul returned to his
place.
Once again Saul sees how
sinful he is being and he confesses his sin and goes back home. However, as we
will see in Chapter 27 David still does not trust Saul as continues to hide
from him.
1 Samuel 27:1 And
David said in his heart, "Now I shall perish someday by the hand of Saul. There
is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape to the land of
the Philistines; and Saul will despair of me, to seek me anymore in any part of
David was desperate to
get away from Saul that he has seek refuge with the Philistines and apparently
this worked because it tells that Saul did not seek him anymore.
1 Samuel 27:5 Then David
said to Achish, "If I have now found favor in your eyes, let them give me
a place in some town in the country, that I may dwell there. For why should
your servant dwell in the royal city with you?" 6 So Achish gave him Ziklag (zikk-lag)
that day. Therefore Ziklag has belonged to the kings of
David is given Ziklag and
he has been there for year and four months and we see that goes out and
continues to kill the enemies of the children of
Psalm 119:29 Remove from me the way of lying, And grant me
Your law graciously.
It so easy to tell a lie
sometime instead of telling the truth but as Christian we must learn to
overcome the temptation of lying and one way we can do that is do like David
did and pray to God that lying may be removed from our lives.