So we're going to read together
in 1 Samuel chapter 25, but I'm going to begin the reading in
a moment or two. It's a long chapter, and I just
want to read a short portion from it a little bit later on
in our consideration. Let me introduce the chapter,
the account, to you in this way, if I may. In this passage we
meet a man called Nabal. Nabal was a man from the tribe
of Judah. His name means foolish or folly
and it seems to have well suited his character. I sometimes wonder
about these names in scripture. So many of them are beautiful
representations of the character and it's almost as if the parents
who named their children were setting them off in a particular
path. One wonders why any mother or
father might want to call their child a fool or foolish. have suggested that this was
maybe a nickname that he had been given because he really
was a very foolish man. but he was also very wealthy.
He was a wealthy man, he lived in Maon, which was the hill country
of Judah, and he owned many sheep and goats, which he had servants
to look after, and which he pastured around Carmel. He was a rude
man, and he was a proud man, and he was self-indulgent to
the point of being a drunkard. And he was known by David. When David fled from Saul, we
learned previously that he hid in the wilderness of Paran. And this was near where Nabal
told his shepherds to go and tend the flocks which he possessed. David's soldiers were considerate
and protective of Nabal's men. The soldiers did not interfere
with them. They didn't steal any of their
goods. They didn't take any of their
sheep or their goats for themselves, as soldiers might have done,
especially if they were hungry. Nor did they allow the Philistines,
nor the local Bedouin tribes, to harm or harass these shepherds
of Nabal. And David felt that some debt,
some kindness was due to him for guarding Nabal's sheep. Now, it was the time of sheep
shearing, and that was a time in Israel when, just like after
the harvest, after the sheep shearing, there was a time when
the workers and the owners of the sheep got together and feasted
the productivity and the wealth generation of the past year. And at the time of this feast,
these great feasts that were held at this time of year by
the sheep owners, David sent some of his young men to Nabal
to ask, politely, respectfully, if he could have a gift of food
for himself and for his small band of followers. Perhaps reckoning
that he had contributed to the prosperity of Nabil by protecting
his sheep in the wilderness from those who would have potentially
done them harm. The approach that David made
and the request that was given was not successful. And Nabal
not only refused to help, he did not give any gifts or
presents that were asked for, he also seems to have gone out
of his way to insult David and his men. And when news of these
insults and of Nabal's reluctance to give any presence to David
returned to David, David was very angry. Maybe he was even
a little bit embarrassed in front of his men that this is the reaction
that he'd gotten from this man. And in his anger, we learn that
he made a vow. He vowed that he would slay Nabal
and all the men and boys of his household. And That seems to
be what is the meaning of the phrase, any that pisseth against
the wall. He was talking there about the
men and the boys of Nabal's household. So David was very angry and he
resolved that he would slay all the men and boys of Nabal's household. One of Nabil's shepherds heard
what had been said to David's men and he realised that both
Nabil and Nabil's employees and Nabil's family were now in great
danger from David because of the effrontery that had been
caused to David. And he knew also such was the
foolishness of Nabal. He knew that he could not approach
Nabal and speak to Nabal because of the kind of man that he was.
So this servant wisely approached Abigail, Nabal's wife, and explained
what had happened And Abigail wisely acted quickly to try to
intercept David, who was now on his way with 400 armed men
to kill her husband and her family. And so we read in 1 Samuel chapter
25 and verse 18, these words. Then Abigail made haste, and
took two hundred loaves, and two bottles of wine, and five
sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched corn, and
an hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred 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. And it was so, as she rode on
the ass, that she came down by the covert 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 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. 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, 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. 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. But I, thine handmaid, saw not
the young men of my Lord, whom thou didst send. 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 as Nabal. 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. I pray
thee, forgive the trespass of thine handmaid, for the Lord
will certainly make my Lord a sure house, because my Lord fighteth
the battles of the Lord, and evil hath not been found in thee
all thy days. 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 thine enemies, them shall he sling out as out of the middle
of a sling. And it shall come to pass, when
the Lord shall have done to my Lord according to all the good
that he hath spoken concerning thee, and shall have appointed
thee ruler over Israel, that this shall be no grief unto thee,
nor offence of heart unto my Lord, either that thou hast 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. Amen. Abigail's intercession for Nabal
and her family is wisely performed and beautifully stated. She honoured
David, she acknowledged his status as king in waiting, and asked
that he blame her for the offence that had been caused. She gave
him a gift of food for a feast with his men and reasoned with
him that Nabal was such a man as wasn't worth David's attention. She said, soon you'll be king.
and your reputation for justice and kindness and honour, it needn't
be tarnished, it needn't be marred by acting rashly against this
man who is foolish, who is mean, who's insignificant. And David
was impressed by Abigail's reasoning and her pleading, and he resolved
not to carry through his vow, realising that to do so in the
fit of anger that he was now in would have been a crime worse
than the crime committed against him and his men. Abigail prevailed and the chapter
ends with an account of Nabil learning of his narrow escape
from death and apparently suffering some kind of stroke which rendered
him paralysed. He never recovered from the shock
that he had received and he died 10 days later. And when David heard of Nabal's
death, he sent for Abigail and soon afterwards they were married. Here's a couple of applications,
a few applications that I want to make from this chapter today. David's anger was roused by Nabal's
meanness and his rudeness. David felt wronged. He had done Nabal a service in
protecting his wealth and yet Nabal would not even make a gesture
of goodwill by supplying David with some provisions. And in
a rage, David vowed to slay this man and he set out to do it. And here we can see the danger
of acting impulsively when we're angry. And the risk of doing
something excessive because we feel slighted and we feel embarrassed. Napal was wrong in what he did
and what he said. He was foolish. This man was
not a nice person. But David would have been wrong
to slay him and certainly wrong to slay all the male members
of his family and household. And the wise intervention of
Abigail prevented David from acting rashly and regrettably. And for that, with a cooler head,
David was both grateful to the Lord and to Abigail. Much trouble and sadness is caused
in this world by words that are spoken and actions that are taken
in haste and in anger. The Lord sent Abigail to ease
David's temper. and saved him from committing
a greater crime. And we should thank the Lord
when he providentially prevents us from sinning as our evil hearts
and nature often provoke us to do. Perhaps David was speaking
about this very incident when he wrote in Psalm 19 and verse
13, keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins. Let them not have dominion over
me, then shall I be upright and I shall be innocent from the
great transgression. And that's a good prayer for
us to pray as well. Another lesson that we could
learn from this little passage is that David desisted from slaying
Nabal on account of Abigail's intervention. However, the Lord
himself dealt with Nabal. And we read in the passage a
little bit later on, we didn't read the verse, but let me quote
it now. It came to pass about 10 days after that the Lord smote
Nabal, that he died. And when David heard that Nabal
was dead, he said, blessed be the Lord that pleaded the cause
of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and hath kept his servant
from evil. For the Lord hath returned the
wickedness of Nabal upon his own head. And the Apostle Paul
tells us something similar. He was writing to the believers
at Rome, and maybe he was thinking about this very incident in the
life of David. And he says in Romans chapter
12 and verse 19, Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather
give place unto wrath. For it is written, Vengeance
is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore, if thine
enemy hunger, feed him. If he thirst, give him drink. For in so doing thou shalt heap
coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but
overcome evil with good. The Lord's people do not need
to seek payback or to enact vengeance for the wrongs we feel have been
done to us. That's the Lord's business and
he shall protect and avenge his beloved children more suitably
than ever we can. and he will do so without the
guilt and regret that would certainly follow our actions if we acted
on our own behalf. It is better for us to act kindly,
even with our enemies. Not because we want to bring
coals of fire on their head, but to honour the Lord, to give
place to the Lord, to overcome evil with good, and to leave
the dispensing of justice to the one who knows how to judge
rightly. Because the Lord Jesus Christ
is the judge of all men and women and boys and girls. And one final
point that I want to leave with you. David and Abigail were,
after this incident, married. She was now a widow. David's
original wife, Saul's daughter, if you remember, Michael, had
been taken from David by Saul and made the wife of another
man. But David also took another wife
as well, a lady called Ahinoam of Jezreel. Polygamy, or having these multiple
wives, was practised in those days, even by believers, though
it was inconsistent with God's law, and it was wrong. But here's
the point that I want to leave with you. Who a man or a woman
marries is very important. Believers should only marry believers. Marrying an unbeliever will be
a source of conflict and distress in any relationship. And it is
against what Paul tells us about being unequally yoked together
with unbelievers. Let me just say this. If you
believe in God and trust the Lord Jesus Christ as your saviour,
be very careful about getting into a relationship with someone
who does not believe as you do. In fact, don't do it. Love and passion are very powerful
emotions and they can lead to situations where people will
get hurt because feelings have been allowed to grow that will
not in the end prove wholesome or durable. If you are looking
for a boyfriend or a girlfriend, if you are seeking a partner
for life, then ask the Lord to give you wisdom and ask him to
supply the right person. Do not seek a partner amongst
those who are not saved. May the Lord bless these thoughts
to us today. Amen.