Turn with me to 1 Samuel chapter 25 again. 1 Samuel chapter 25. As we saw last time, there was an evil man named Nabal. He insulted David and his men instead of showing them gratitude or generosity.

Let's pick back up in verse nine, it says, and when David's young men came, they spoke to Nabal according to all those words in the name of David and ceased. And Nabal answered David's servants and said, who is David? who's David and who is the son of Jesse. There'll be many servants now a days that break away every man from his master." And what Nabal was saying there is he was calling David a rebel who had deserted King Saul. He was on the opposite side of the political view of David. and many in that day.

But he said then in verse 11, we brought this out, he said, shall I then take my bread, not your bread, the Lord's bread, and my water and my flesh that I have killed for my shears and give it unto men whom I know not, whence they be? So David's young men turned their way and went again came and told him, that being David, all those things. And David said unto his men, gird ye on every man his sword. And they girded on every man his sword, and David also girded on his sword. And there went up after David about 400 men, and 200 men abode by the stuff."

David is not happy, he's offended, he's angry. All he had requested was some food and supplies. They had protected Nabel's shepherds, they had protected Nabel's sheep without even Nabel knowing it. But Nabal mocks God's anointed king and David's men report back to David. And when he hears what Nabal said, he's angry. And he arms his men to march against him and his house. And what a teaching here that pride and foolishness often leads to conflict. Nabal's pride. And his harsh response just stirs up trouble. Most of the time it does. Most of the time it does. No basic respect or generosity is shown. Very good words often, very often, most always ignite serious consequences. And Solomon wrote, a soft answer turneth away wrath. but grievous words stir up anger." Proverbs 15, one.

And ingratitude. Now listen, ingratitude is a form of evil. It really is. And David had done Nabal good. Nabal repaid good with evil. I'm not giving him my bread. I'm not giving him my water. I'm not giving him the meat that I've prepared for my man is all about Nabal. And it all belonged to God. David's first response and his instinct is vengeance. That's pretty much common among all of us. We want to take matters into our own hands, don't we? You offend me, I want to take vengeance in my own hands. But vengeance is mine, saith the Lord. God's going to take care of it.

Verse 13, David says, gird ye on every man his sword. And David also girded on his. And we know that even the best of men are men at best. We say that all the time. Even a man after God's own heart can fall into anger when provoked. And that's what David did. It's not an excuse for us. Well, David did. No, it's not. But here we see that Nabal's insult mirrors humanity's sin. The word of God pictures the gospel. Christ is in every line of this book if God would give us eyes to see it. Sin rejects God's kindness. Sin scorns God's anointing. David's wrath pictures divine judgment here. This judgment is rightly deserved. And yet in the gospel, Christ restrains wrath through mercy. That's what's such good news about it. And that's the beauty of the gospel. It's seen in the mediation of Abigail for Nabal, the evil sinner.

And as you know, a mediator is someone who stands between two opposing parties to bring them together and restore peace or agreement. We have counselors in the world today that mediate between two parties, whether it's a husband and wife or business partners or whatever, but that's their job, to mediate, to bring them together, restore peace. In general terms, a mediator works to resolve conflict. A mediator strives to remove misunderstanding in order to make reconciliation possible.

A biblical mediator, though, is one who goes between God and man. There's only one. Only one. Sin has separated mankind from God. A mediator is needed to bridge that gap. and reconcile the two estranged parties. And that's exactly what our Lord and Savior does. He's the one and only mediator, Scripture says. For there's one God, one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, 1 Timothy 2, 5. If we're gonna be reconciled to God, He's the only one that can do that for us. We're not gonna go to God on our own. No man can see God and live. We cannot stand before a thrice holy God in our own unrighteousness and live. We've got to have a perfect substitute, a perfect mediator, a perfect intercessor, so to speak, in order to go to God on our account.

Just one, one mediator between God and man, and that's the man in Christ Jesus. A mediator stands in the middle. A human mediator helps reconcile people to each other. But Christ, the divine mediator, reconciles certain men and women to a holy God. He doesn't reconcile the whole world to God. If that was so, there'd be no need for hell. There'd be nobody in hell that Christ intercedes for. But yet there's a hell. So he doesn't mediate for everybody. He didn't die for everybody. And we're not trying to argue with people over that. That's just simply what the Bible says.

And it shuts us up to the mercy and grace of God. If Christ didn't die for me, then there's no hope for me. So, I want to know through the searching the scriptures and God's spirit revealing to my spirit that I'm a child of God. I desire that more than anything.

And mediation, that's what I titled this, mediation. That's what we have before us in a beautiful picture tonight. Look at verse 14. But one of the young men told Abigail, Abigail is Nabal's wife, saying, behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to salute our master, and he railed on them. But the men were very good unto us. He's talking about David's men. He said, they were very good to us, and we were not hurt, neither missed we anything, as long as we were conversant with them when we were in the fields. where we were and they didn't take anything from us. They conversed with us. They were friendly to us. They were kind to us and and they and protected us while we were in the fields. They were a wall, verse 16, unto us both by night and day. All the while we were with them, keeping the sheath.

Now therefore know, this is the servant still talking to Abigail. Now therefore know and consider that what thou will do for evil is determined against our master. and against all his household, for he is such a son of Belial that a man cannot speak to him." Now here we see Nabal's servants, one of Nabal's servants, reports to Abigail on how David's men were treated and how David's men treated them. He never, he treated them, they treated them kindly, never wronged them. Never took anything that didn't belong to them, yet Nabal insulted David's messengers. He called him to question David's integrity. He said, who's David, the son of Jesse? His servant recognized here that danger was coming because of Nabal's sin.

That sound all familiar to you? That's the gospel. Sin is the cause of all of our trouble. And no matter what it is, you can say, well, this happened because this, and this happened because that, and that may be so, but the root of the whole thing, every single time, is sin. That's right, it's the cause of all of our trouble. So this servant appeals to Abigail's wisdom. I hate to tell you, friends, but as it is with most of us, our wives are usually the smarter ones. When it gets right down to it. And what a picture of human sin and divine patience and what providence is seen here in the role of a mediator. It just so happens to be a woman. That's okay. I'll take any kind of mediator that reconciles me against God.

Did you notice that the servant went to Abigail? Not to Nabal. He knows that she was wise and gracious. This had already been seen among Nabal's servants. She was the wise and gracious one. And I think, oh, how wise and gracious is our Lord and Savior. He delights to show mercy. He's one who pleads on the sinner's behalf, one who can bridge that gap that we're talking about between judgment and destruction and mercy and grace. And what a picture of Christ's mediation here for us that we have here. He turns away the wrath that we deserve. Nabal deserved for David to kill him. That's what we deserve. We deserve for God to kill us. Christ, our mediator, turns away the wrath that we deserve. We experience grace instead of vengeance.

Where sin and folly invite wrath, wisdom seeks reconciliation. Christ's crosses were justice and mercy made. Christ's crosses where judgment was satisfied. Christ's crosses where chosen sinners were spared. At the cross, at the cross where I first saw the light, and the burden of my heart rolled away. Did it not, and does it still not, when you look to the cross and see that sin is so horrific that it couldn't be spared, even when it was found on the perfect sinless Son of God? Because that was my sin, and that was your sin, and it had to be paid for. The wages of sin is death, so the sins that shall die. God must punish sin. Look to the cross.

Verse 14 introduces the gospel message. When men foolishly reject grace, his people, God provides a mediator for them who steps in to bring peace and avert judgment. I'm talking about for his chosen. That's what Christ does for us. Oh, the urgency of his intercession. Oh, the urgency of his mediation. We pray the words of Nabal's servant spoke to Abigail. He said, know and consider what thou will do. Lord Jesus, you know what's best for me. That's what that's saying. Know and consider what thou wilt do, because you know what's best. What a way to pray. Lord, not my will but thine be done. That's the same prayer. You know what's best for me, so your will be done, not mine. I'll mess it up, you'll make it right. He hath done all things well, Mark 7, 37. And this is the confession of every believer, every child of God who's experienced Christ's saving mercy and grace. This is a testimony to Christ's divine goodness and perfection. Everything he does is without flaw. There's nothing that we do that's not without flaw. Everything we do is flawed, but everything he does is without flaw. His timings, his methods, his mercy, his power are always perfect. He does all things well.

And Abigail here foreshadows Christ, who intercedes for fools and rebels. There's one mediator, one God, one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. And then it says who gave himself a ransom. Oh, we don't want to leave that part out. He gave himself a ransom. David represents Christ. He's righteous, he's gracious, ready to judge sin. Nabal represents the sinner. And what a picture he is of you and I, proud and foolish and rejecting God's mercy and grace by nature. Abigail represents Christ, our mediator, standing in the breach to bring peace here. This is beautiful.

Nabal's arrogance and refusal to listen didn't just harm him. It put his entire household in the danger. And I was thinking as I considered that, is that not what Adam did? Adam was our federal head. He stood as our representative. When he sinned against God, we sinned against God. The servant of Nabal understood what few understand today, and that's when a leader, a representative acts foolishly, the consequences fall on everyone connected to him. We fell in Adam, and in Christ, we're reconciled to God. By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin. But it was by one man, the man Christ Jesus, that one mediator between God and man that reconciles us to our great God.

Notice what the servant speaking of Nabal said. He said, a man cannot speak to him. He can't be reasoned with. And neither can we by nature. We can't be reasoned with. That's why God has to slay us and give us a new heart and give us minds and hearts that pant after him. When pride and stubbornness rule a person's heart, listen, they become unreachable by reason of correction. And this is the mark of a son of Belial. one who rejects wisdom, one who rejects authority. The wise intercede, though, where fools offend, and that's what Abigail did. Like Christ, she interceded on the behalf of the guilty, and that's the sinner's only hope of averting God's holy justice, the intercession and substitution of Christ.

Now look at this, verse 18. Then Abigail made haste and took 200 loaves, and two bottles of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched corn, and 100 clusters of raisins, and 200 cakes of figs. and laid them on asses. And she said unto her servants, go on before me, behold, I come after you. But she told not her husband Nabal."

Here we see the urgency of an offering of grace. Abigail quickly gathers an offering. Bread, wine, meat, grain, raisins, figs, all the things that Nabel should have given to David when the men came to him. And she goes out to meet David and she doesn't tell Nabel, her husband, was she afraid of him? I don't think that was it. Was she just trying to hide this from him? No, I don't think that. I believe time, I believe the reason she did, time was critical. She didn't have time to waste. Got time to go explain myself. This needs to be done. David is on his way to Nabal's house burning with anger. There's not time. to linger. He feels as though he's wasted his kindness on a fool, and he had, and he plans to exact justice on Nabal's household. But grace intervenes before wrath falls. That's what we see in verse 18. Abigail acts swiftly. She doesn't wait until morning. She intercedes immediately. And our Lord Jesus Christ, in the fullness of time, scripture says, That means that the exact, complete, and perfect moment when everything was ready for His purpose to be filled, the fullness of time, our Lord came to step between divine wrath and human sin, and that's what He did. Our Lord came to mediate by giving Himself a ransom. by dying in the room instead of his people. God's timing is precise. God is sovereign over time. Nothing in redemption is accidental. Christ entered at the exact moment the father appointed. He hath determined the times before appointed, Acts 17, 26.

Secondly, we see a peace offering prepared by the intercessor. Abigail prepared this offering. She loads her donkeys with abundance, not by Nabal's command, but by her own heart, and she freely offers what can appease the offended king. Does that sound familiar to you? Isn't that what Christ did for us? What a picture of Christ offering himself for his people. He's not commanded by sinners. He offers himself willingly. He voluntarily laid down his life for his people. His sacrifice is the peace offering, the only peace offering that satisfies God's righteous anger. Christ loved us and hath given himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savor. Ephesians 5 too.

And thirdly, this was an intercession made in secret. Verse 19, Abigail doesn't tell Nabal what she's doing. He represents the foolish, unrepentant man. He doesn't even recognize he's in danger. Huh? I skipped through this life, had one foot in hell and went on a banana peel and had no idea. I was just happy as I could be. What a picture of this spiritually blind world. Christ interceded for us while we were yet sinners. Romans 5, 8, even before we understood the trouble and the peril that we were in. In that sense, Christ's intercession was also made in secret. And may we always, always, always remember that salvation began not with our wisdom, not by a work of righteousness we've done, but with God's mercy to us in Christ.

One day, I don't know how to even convey it, but one day I was righteous in my own eyes, and the next day I was the biggest sinner on earth. And God did some divine revealing between whenever that was. We love Him, why? Because He first loved us. We've not chosen Him, but He's chosen us, and He's ordained us, the scripture says. Isn't that beautiful?

Verse 20. And it was so, as she rode on the ass, that she came down by the culvert of the hill. And behold, David and his men came down against her, and she met them. Now David had said, surely in vain have I kept all that this fellow hath in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained unto him. And he hath requited or requited me evil for good. So, and more also do God unto the enemies of David, if I leave of all that pertain to him by the morning light, any that pisseth against the wall." Now, I know that's a crude expression, but simply means that David meant to kill any and every man or boy that belonged to Nabal by the morning. That's all that means. Crude expression, but.

Fourthly, we see the righteous wrath is ready to fall, verses 20 through 22 there. David is furious. As God's anointed king, he's a just right to be. And this reflects God's holy anger towards sin. This is justice, not petty emotion. That's what Nabal deserved, death and condemnation. That's what you and I deserve, death and condemnation. Just as Abigail meets David on the path of wrath, Christ meets justice on the road before it reaches us. He intercepts judgment. He bore it on the cross, turning wrath into mercy. The gospel does not deny God's wrath. It satisfies it through the intercession of a substitute. And it's again that we see the urgency and the sufficiency and the mercy of Christ's intercession for his people. Listen, if Christ doesn't pray for me, if Christ doesn't stand in the gap for me, I'm a goner.

Abigail acting quickly and bringing an offering stands as a type of the Lord Jesus. She meets wrath with grace. She turns judgment into peace. God does through her, through her intercession. And the guilty is saved before it's too late. Good news, good news.

Verse 23, and when Abigail saw David, she hasted and lighted off the ass and fell before David on her face and bowed herself to the ground and fell at his feet and said, now, this is amazing. What'd she say? Upon me, my Lord, upon me, let this iniquity be. and let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thine audience and hear the words of thine handmaid." When Abigail meets David, the first thing she does is bow down. She fell before David on her face. She said, upon me, my Lord, upon me, let this iniquity be. Now who's that picture? Only God could write this in history. This is why this is his story. Abigail takes the guilt that isn't hers. She didn't do this to David. Her no good husband did. She takes the guilt that isn't hers. She says, let all the blame fall on me. That's exactly what Christ did on the cross. He was wounded for our transgressions. Don't ever read over that word flippantly. He was wounded for our transgressions, his people's transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. He had no iniquity of his own. It was our iniquity. He was bruised for her. Abigail had not insulted David, David Nabal had, yet she steps into his place. Our sinless Savior did the same for his people. Salvation is the innocent burying the guilt of the guilty.

Verse 25, let not my Lord, I pray thee, regard this man of Belial, even Nabal, For as his name is, so is he. Nabal is his name, and folly is with him. His name means foolish, folly. So's ours. So's ours. She said, but I, thine handmaid, saw not the young men of my Lord whom thou didst send. Love the words of Abigail who, here she says, regard not this man of Belial, even Nabal. Follies with him. Have mercy on him. He's a fool. He's an idiot. He doesn't know anything. That's what the Lord says about us. Father, forgive them. They know not what they do. They're ignorant, foolish, full of folly. And she pleads that wrath not be poured out on this fool's household. Our Lord Jesus, in his intercession for sinners, cried, Father, don't hold this to their account. They don't know what they're doing. And we don't, we don't. Our Lord Jesus, the one and only mediator between God and man, acknowledges sin and yet pleads for the sinner.

I look at verse 26. Now, therefore, my Lord, as the Lord liveth and as thy soul liveth, seeing the Lord hath withholden thee from coming to shed blood and from avenging thyself with thine own hand, now let thine enemies and they that seek evil to my Lord be his navel. And now this blessing which thine handmaid hath brought unto my Lord, let it even be given unto the young men that follow my Lord.

Abigail represents herself here as a servant, as bringing gifts, and she brings an offering, not to buy forgiveness, but as a token of peace. Our Lord Jesus offered himself. It wasn't a bribe. It wasn't God the Son bribing God the Father, saying, now, if I do this, will you look the other way? No, it was a voluntary act of love. That's what brought reconciliation for us.

But now in Christ Jesus, ye who were sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ, for he is our peace, who hath made both one and hath broken down the middle wall partitioned between us, God and us, having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances, for to make in himself of twain one new man. so making peace, and that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby.

That's what we have a picture of here. This is the gospel teaching here. The mediator brings what the guilty cannot produce. Christ did for me what I couldn't do for myself. You can say it however you want to.

Verse 28, I pray thee forgive the trespass of thine handmaid. She didn't sin. She's the intercessor for the man who did. Our Lord Jesus said, my sin, my sin. Our sin was made his so much so that he called it his sin. She said, for the Lord will certainly make my Lord a sure house, and he did. Christ came from the lineage of David, and she said, because my Lord fighteth the battles of the Lord, and evil hath not been found in thee all thy days.

Abigail takes Nabal's sin to be her own. Is that not what Christ did for us? David grants forgiveness, not because of merit, but because of Abigail's humble plea. God forgive us. not because of our works, but because Christ's humility and grace and substitution and mediation for us.

And Abigail reminds David of his calling in God's future for him. She reminds David of the promise of a sure house. And she declares that God who will build David a sure house, and this finds its ultimate fulfillment in the Lord Jesus, the son of David, yet David's Lord. whose kingdom's eternal and unshakable. And Abigail recognizes that David fights the battles of the Lord, that evil has not been found in him. And this too points to Christ, the sinless one who fought and won the ultimate battle over sin and death.

Verse 29, and yet a man is risen to pursue thee and to seek thy soul, but the soul of my Lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the Lord thy God and the souls of thy enemies. Them shall he sling out as of the middle of a sling. in verse 30 and it shall come to pass when the lord shall have done to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning thee and shall have appointed thee ruler over israel now this is such a blessing because here abigail lifts david's eyes above his anger she she points him to something more glorious than his divine judgment or his judgment as king against Nabal. She calls him to remember God's promise to him.

That's what Christ does for every believer. He not only saves us from wrath, our Lord, but he restores us to our divine calling. He reminds us that God has given us eternal life, that we're sons and daughters of God. Where he is, we shall be also. That's what the Lord said. Grace keeps us bound to covenant love.

In verse 31, that this shall be no grief unto thee, nor offense of heart unto my Lord, either that thou has shed blood causeless. or that my Lord hath avenged himself, but when the Lord shall have dealt well with my Lord, then remember thine handmaid."

Now, as a mediator, Abigail warns David against shedding of blood. She said, there shall no grief, be no grief unto you, that you've shed blood causelessly without a cause. Abigail's wisdom prevents David here from acting in vengeance. Through her intercession, blood is not shed and judgment is turned aside. And in the same way, our Lord and Savior's intercession satisfied God's holy justice that was against us so that mercy would triumph and we would have no guilt. The cross is where vengeance stopped and grace began.

Abigail's intercession keeps David from sin. She reminds him that grace prevents future grief. She said there should be no grief unto thee. It's the Lord that deals with his people, not man's revenge upon them. And then those precious words that follow. Remember thine handmaid. This humble request. It mirrors the believer standing before the Lord Jesus. She trusts David's future mercy. And you and I, we trust the mercy of the true son of David, the son of God.

Her humility points forward to the believer's reliance on Christ's grace, not on merit. I'm not going to stand before God on the day of judgment and start telling him all the glorious things that I did, because I haven't done any. But I am going to, not that God needs reminding, but I am going to plead the mercy, blood, and grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, because that's the only offering that God will accept on my behalf.

And Christ's intercession turns us from God's wrath and eternal judgment and brings us into peace with God.

Verse 32, and David said to Abigail, blessed be the Lord God of Israel, which sent thee this day to meet me. And blessed be thy advice and blessed be thou, which has kept me this day from coming to shed blood and from avenging myself with mine own hand.

Friends, God keeps His chosen ones from falling. He keeps us from falling. True blessings come from obeying godly counsel. God's providence is active and personal. God's work, He works through instruments of His will. Acknowledging God's hand is essential, David's first reaction here was to bless the Lord, not himself nor Abigail. He said, bless be the Lord God of Israel. Why? Because God's the one that did it. He's always the one that does it.

Christ's intervention in God's divine providence restrains our sin and guides us through wise and faithful servants, showing his mercy and care for his people. I love to say it, so God is out to do you good. He really is. You're working all things together for good to them that love the Lord or be called according to his purpose. And all that good, all of it is found in Christ alone.