Please turn with me and your Bibles to 1 Samuel 25 1 through 13 It's found on page 287 in the Bibles on the Seed in front of you Now Samuel died and all Israel assembled and mourned for him and they buried him at his home in Rama Then David moved down to the desert of Mone a certain man in Mone who had property there at Carmel was very wealthy He had a thousand goats and three thousand sheep's which he was shearing in Carmel His name was Naible and his wife's name was Abigail She was an intelligent and beautiful woman, but her husband a Calebite was surely in mean in his dealings When David was in the desert he heard that Naible was shearing sheep So he sent 10 young men and said to them go up to Naible at Carmel and greet him in my name say to him Long life to you good help to you in your household and good health to all that is yours Now I hear that it is sheep shearing time when your shepherds were with us We did not mistreat them and the whole time they were at Carmel nothing of theirs was missing Ask your own servants and they will tell you therefore be favorable toward my young men since we have come at a festive time Please give your servants and your son David whatever you can find for them when David's been arrived They gave Naible this message in David's name Then they waited Naible answered David's servants. Who is this David? Who is this son of Jesse many servants are breaking away from their master these days? Why should I take my bread and water and then meet? I have slaughtered for my shears and give it to men coming from who knows where David's men turned around and went back when they arrived they reported every word David said to his men put on your swords so they put on their swords and David put on his About 400 men went out with David while two hundred stayed with the supplies the word of the Lord Thank you, Sarah lately we've been in a series of messages that I've entitled an undivided heart and it's been a study of the life of David primarily in the earlier years Restricted the first Samuel the book of first Samuel and today we want to continue to do that same study Won't take the time to bring you up to date But I hope that most of you understand the story of David to know that he was anointed the king the future king of Israel King Saul was the king at the time But when David faced Goliath he killed Goliath and instantly Turned from being an obscure shepherd boy from Bethlehem into being the new hero of Israel Well for a long time Saul liked having David around but as David's popularity and successes grew and gained his fame Saul became intensely jealous of David and eventually he tried to kill David on several different occasions and David took that as a as a warning that his life was in danger So David took off he became a fugitive and the lately for the last few weeks We've been following David in the ups and downs of life on the run Away from King Saul and that's where we are still today in this passage that you heard Sarah read in first Samuel 25 Well last week if you were here We looked at chapter 24 and we saw David at his best. I mean he really was at his best last week He had a golden opportunity to take Saul out and he refused to do so He it seemed like God had even opened the door for David to kill Saul and to get vengeance on Saul But rather than do that David didn't do that He did not return evil for evil instead. He chose to overcome evil with good He forgave Saul and instead of taking matters into his own hands You know the story from last week David decided to trust in God to be his judge and his defender But now in first Samuel 25 you're going to see another side of David You're going to see that even the man after God's heart could have a bad day So if you're having a bad day Take heart even David did too So let's look in this chapter I want to show you three things first how easily we fall into sin Second how desperately we need each other and finally how even more desperately we need Jesus So that's why our plan list dive into that first point how easily we fall into sin In verse two of this passage we meet a man by the name of naeble in a B-a-l His name means foolish or Borish Now that must have been his nickname. I mean I cannot imagine a mother naming her son Fool or foolish the moment he's born. Can you? No, I think he had another given name, but somewhere along the way naeble earned the name of foolish Because it stuck and everybody realized that this is indeed a foolish person Several times in this chapter. He's called a wicked man For instance in verse 17 his servants say that he is a wicked man that nobody can talk to and another word for wicked There is worthless So Saul was known by even his employees as a worthless guy a fool a wicked man and also down in verse 25 of this chapter Naeble's wife Abigail calls him that wicked man naeble. He is just like his name. His name is fool and Folly goes with him But not only was naeble foolish Verse three of our passage says that he was Surley and mean in his dealings now that word surley is not one we normally throw around anymore, but it means rude unfriendly Discertious Erasible or grumpy all of those terms describe this man naeble. He was a narcissist He used people as objects to manipulate for his own advantage Despite all this though. He was very rich. We're told in this passage He was a successful farmer and business man because if you noticed verse two It says that he had a thousand goats and three thousand sheep So that's a largest state a large farm But I think you get the feeling as I do that naeble was totally consumed with material things You heard Sarah read verse 11. Let me read it for you again where Naeble is speaking and he says why should I take my bread and water and the meat? I have slaughtered for my shareers and give it to men coming from who knows where you hear all the personal pronouns there I I it's all about me me me and My my my for naeble and short the center of naeble's universe was naeble Anyway, you know the story you know what happened David and his 600 men are Camped somewhere on or near the estate of naeble and David's men are tired. They're hungry. They're thirsty Verse 5 says that David sent five 10 of his soldiers to naeble to ask him to give them some food and drink now This was a reasonable request Nothing out of the ordinary here Hospitality was highly valued in the culture of David's day And so it would have been natural for a traveler like David to expect some kind of courteous treatment From a wealthy man like naeble besides it was as we're told the sheep shearing time of year In verse 8, we're told that it was a festive time so there would have been a lot of leftovers from the party the night before I'm sure naeble wouldn't have even felt the loss of a little bit of his stuff and it was also a polite request Did you catch the the politeness of David? Did you notice how gracious the greeting that David's men to the naeble was in verse 6 They say to naeble long life to you good health to you and your household and good health to all that is yours That phrase good health is the Hebrew word Shalom You see David is sending to naeble a greeting of peace and prosperity May good will be toward you naeble as I ask you for this favor and not to mention how polite it was it was also well deserved This request was well deserved look at what naebles servants say about David down at verses 15 and 16 These are David's servant. I mean naeble's servants speaking in verse 15 and they say They say to Abigail these men speaking of David and his men 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 Verse 16 night and day they were a wall around us all the time we were hurting our sheep near them See how good David has been to naeble and his guys so you would have thought that naeble would want To do something of goodwill and of gratitude toward David and his soldiers, but look at naebles reply one at once again in verse 10 He says who is this David see the see here the scorn and the contempt and naebles voice who is this David who is this Son of Jesse. I hear naeble saying who does he think he is many servants are breaking away from their masters these days David's just one more of them. He's a runaway slave He is a bad employee. He's a criminal in other words Naeble is saying about David David had been courteous and respectful Toward naeble, but David is insulting Naeble is insulting toward David and he refuses to even part with a little bit of his bread and water To supply the need of David and his soldiers. So When when David's men go back and tell David what naeble said David is furious He is beside himself put on your swords He says to his men there in verse 13 lock and load I want you to notice what David does not say You know a few weeks ago. I told you that one of David's better habits was Stopping before acting and inquiring of God. Do you remember that story that we read there? Well, there's nothing here said about David's stopping and inquiring of God to ask God What do I do about this? No? David is beside himself he orders 400 of his men to saddle up their donkeys and prepare for an all-out assault of naeble It's an over the top impulsive reaction that David is showing here. He was literally Freaking out about what naeble had told him look at verses 21 and 22 You'll you'll hear David's fury in these two verses verse 21 David says it's been useless all my watching over this fellow's Property in the desert so that nothing of his was missing he has paid me back evil for good May God deal with David be it ever so severely if by morning I leave alive one male of all who belong to him now You can't I bet you can't identify with David at all, right? You've never lost your temper Nobody here's ever kind of been fit to be tied Well, you've just put a big plate of spaghetti in front of your four-year-old and he pushes the entire plate off the table onto the floor Is that ever happened to any of you moms? It's 12.30 a.m. and your teenage daughter was supposed to be either home at midnight or call you and tell you she's running late She did neither You get a letter from the IRS that tells you you still owe more federal tax You open the front door of your house and water pours out the door because the hose on your washing machine split open while you were on vacation No, I'm sure none of that has ever happened to anybody. We're all calm and cool and laid back about our lives Well think about it in David's situation for several chapters. We've been reading about David's showing forth the spirit of Christ He's been meek, you know all the while he's been persecuted unjustly by King Saul. He stayed calm He gave in he surrendered his right to retaliate He trusted in God to take care of things instead of taking things into his own hands But now just like that David forgets the lessons of the past He loses his temper over a comparatively minor Situation compared to some of the other things that he's put up with but isn't that exactly what happens in our lives We're going along. We're rocking along. Everything is cool We feel it one with God in the world and all of a sudden Temptation comes our way and bam. We blow our top or Bam, we lust you know or or or bam rather than tell the truth We tell a lie or we enter into a gossipy Conversation or something like that you can all relate to David's Impulsivity in this chapter. I'm sure The hymn writer had her right when he said we're prone to wander Remember that hymn prone to wander Lord. I feel it prone to leave the God. I love. Why? Why do we do it? Why did David fall so rapidly? Why do you and I so easily do what we know to be wrong? Because we're broken We're fallen beings the fall of Adam and Eve is still doing its dirty work on us every day We have this stubborn sinful nature fighting for supremacy right over our new redeemed nature even though we've been Regenerated by the spirit of God and though we have a new identity and though we know God's word And we know what it teaches about things and even though we know that Jesus died for the very sin that we're about to commit We go ahead and do it anyway. Why? Why is that? Paul comments on it very clearly in Romans chapter 7 He says what I want to do I do not do What I hate I do for what I do is not the good I want to do But know the evil that I do not want to do this I keep on doing It's this Galatians 5 conflict between the old me and the new me The old sinful nature that was nailed to the cross that still wants to live on and The new redeemed identity nature that God has given to us You know, I bet every single one of us has had at least one navel experience in the past 24 hours Nay I bet many of you have had it this morning before coming to church Temptation has come knocking at the door and though you knew better you opened the door to it and you fell Just like David How easily we fall into sin Which brings me to the second thing I see in this chapter the importance of Knowing how desperately we need each other See if you and I so easily fall and we're such easy prey for temptation It just underscores the truth that you and I need each other desperately and there is where we meet this woman Abigail Abigail is quite a remarkable person Navel had definitely married up Now let me tell you what happened in my own words in this chapter When Navel's servants heard that David was on his way with 400 of his soldiers to take them out They went crazy. I mean they were so worried. They knew that David had every right to be angry and every capacity to take them out and so rather than talk to Navel about it They did a wise thing. They went to talk to Navel's wife Abigail instead of him They knew she would listen and Abigail indeed did listen to the servants. She was as alarmed about the situation as they were in verse 18 of this chapter Abigail sends a whole lot of food to David and his men. I mean look at the list of food items in verse 18 200 lows of bread Two skins of wine five sheep some grain some raisins and some figs and then Abigail doesn't stop there She saddles up her own donkey and goes to talk to David herself And I'd like to read you verses 23 through 35 of this chapter We don't have time to look at the entire chapter, but let's start with verse 23 look at what happens next When Abigail saw David she quickly got off her donkey and bowed down before David with her face to the ground She fell at his feet and said my Lord let the blame be on me alone Please let your servant speak to you hear what your servant has to say May my Lord pay no attention to that wicked man Navel. He is just like his name His name is fool and folly goes with him, but as for me your servant I did not see the men my master sent now since the Lord has kept you my master from bloodshed and from Avenging yourself with your own hands as surely as the Lord lives and as you live May your enemies and all who intend to harm my master be like a navel and let this gift which your servant has brought to my Master be given to the men who follow you Please forgive your servant's offense for the Lord will certainly make a lasting dynasty for my master Because he fights the Lord's battles let no wrongdoing be found in you David as long as you live Even though someone is pursuing you to take your life the life of my master will be bound securely in the bundle of the living by the Lord Your God but the lives of your enemies he will hurl away as from the pocket of a sling when the Lord has done for my master every good thing He promised concerning him and has appointed him leader over Israel my master will not have on his conscience the staggering burden of needless bloodshed or of having avenged himself and when the Lord has brought my master success remember your servant 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 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 navel would have been a would have been left alive by daybreak 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 Now I wish I could read on but What happens the rest of this chapter is that navel gets what's coming to him? He ends up dying Navel dies from a heart attack or a stroke or something like that and the other thing that happens is that David gets the girl That's right Abigail and David wind up getting married at the end of this chapter, but we're not going to go that far Let me back up and just concentrate on what we've just heard Notice with me four things about this remarkable person Abigail The first thing you want to see is that she was a woman of character Abigail was a great woman of character Get this she had lived with navel for years But it didn't change her She held on to her faith in God all that time and refused to become Embittered and mean-spirited in the words of 1st Peter 3.4 Abigail had the unfading Beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit which is of great worth in God's sight Great example A woman of character secondly Abigail was a woman of conviction. She might have been Gentile and quiet, but Abigail was anything but weak. No, not at all. She was not a steppford wife She didn't downplay Navel sin. She called a spade a spade. She stood up. She was strong. She wasn't mousy No, God doesn't call a wife to be mousy or or weak Meek yes, but strong Thirdly, she was a woman of courage You know, it took a lot of spunk for Abigail to do what she did Right. I mean David was next in line to be the king of Israel and basically Abigail looked him in the eyes and rebuked him This whole thing this speech I read was a rebuk of David That took courage And finally Abigail was a wonderful counselor She faced David with his sin without being judgmental and critical. I Hear Abigail saying in this chapter here David. I understand how you feel trust me. I know I know this man Navel he lives up to his name, but David don't do this thing God can take care of Navel. Let him go David Let no wrongdoing be found in you David. You're better than this is what Abigail was telling him You're better than this. You're the next king of Israel You you're fighting the Lord's battles. Don't fight this one You don't want this on your conscience on or on your record. Do you David if you take his life? Very persuasive very strong Very good counselor Here's what I want to ask you Do you have an Abigail in your life or if you're a guy do you have an abner in Your life What I mean by that is do you have somebody of character and conviction and courage who loves you enough to tell the truth to you about you? Do you do you have an Abigail in your life? somebody who can warn you When he or she sees you walking down the wrong road somebody who's brave enough to say stop Stop don't do this thing You know, I this is extremely important for us here at UPC Because this touches on something very important in the Christian life. Namely the importance of our brothers and sisters You know, God could have spoken directly to David out of heaven couldn't he? He could have shouted at David directly without using any human intermediaries at all God could have done that he could have sent a bolt of lightning down to strike David and get his attention But no God chose to use a person a woman a woman named Abigail Because she was David's conscience when David's conscience failed him You know, that's what the church is a group of people who serve one another as their conscience When their conscience fails them
In the same way God normally uses people to get our attention just like he did with David If Abigail had not warned David think about that think about what have had what have happened If Abigail had not come to David and said stop what you're doing think about this now think about what's going to happen David would most certainly have killed not only naval But an untold number of innocent people and brought shame and reproach upon the glory and the name of God Let me tell you it took a lot of courage. It was risky for Abigail to do what she did. It's risky to be an Abigail Maybe you're having lunch with a friend of yours Picture this, okay, you're having lunch with his friend and he tells you that he's thinking about leaving his wife Or maybe she says to you she's about to buy something that you know she can't afford Or perhaps he's leaving gonna leave the church over some petty disagreement or something like that And so this friend tells you this information. What are you going to do? It's risky isn't it but you've got to say something You can't just sit there passively you've got to open your mouth and say something like but friend Have you considered the consequences of what you're thinking about doing? That's what Abigail did for David. I've had a few people in my life who loved me enough to tell me they thought I was wrong And it didn't feel good. It was not fun at the time But looking back later I can say about those experiences what David says in verse 32 I can honestly say praise be to the Lord the God of Israel who has sent you to me today It's a loving way to treat one another we desperately need each other So what have we learned so far? We've seen how easily we can fall into sin and how much we need each other But the third and last thing that's the most important of them all Is this passage teaches us how even more desperately We need Jesus How more desperately we need Jesus look with me at verse 24 Abigail is There now before David and it says that she fell at his feet And said to David my Lord Let the blame be on me alone
In another version of this Trans of this of passage it says on me alone O Lord be the guilt That's what Abigail says to David And here's where we get to the heart of this chapter Do you remember a few weeks ago? I pointed out something. I hope we'll never forget every passage of scripture points us to Jesus Christ And that is true in in this case as well Abigail points us to Jesus Christ Why do I say that? I say that because before we come to Christ every single one of us is just like Navel We're fools We're like that foolish man that Jesus talks about in Matthew 7 the man who tried to build his house on our on sand You remember that? We're fools just like that foolish man We were sinners by birth and we're sinners by choice and let me tell you this morning that if you're outside of Jesus Christ And when I say that what I mean is That you've never gone to God and you've never gone to God and said God I've lived too long apart from you I've tried to live independent of you and I don't want to live that way anymore father And I need you to forgive me in my sins you've never said this perhaps You've never said God I need you to have mercy on me. I'm broken. I'm weary. I'm wounded. I need a new life All right, so if you've never done that before you're outside of Jesus Christ You know what you're building your life on sand You really are you're doing the thing that's most foolish with your life And so I'm inviting you to listen to what's going on here and come to God today Use this as an opportunity to say Jesus. I've lived far too long without you I want you at the center now. I want you first in my life But if you've never done that you're you're living like a fool You're under God's wrath You're under his condemnation. You're just like navel You've broken his law countless times and you deserve to be punished for your sin. So did I But that's when Jesus showed up Jesus is our perfect Abigail Jesus Christ comes riding in as it were on a donkey into our desert of sin and misery He became man he left heaven and came to earth one of his names was wonderful counselor And like Abigail, he was a man of character and conviction and courage He's lived the life we were supposed to live and on the night he was betrayed by Judas Iscariot What did Jesus do but bring out bread and wine just like I Just like Abigail brought to David and Jesus said this is my body which is for you This is my blood which has been poured out for many for the remission of sins and then on the cross Jesus said to the father My Lord let the blame be on me alone on me alone. Oh Lord be the guilt And then on the cross came that great exchange At which God the Father laid the sins of all his people on God the Son and punished Jesus instead of you Do you see do you understand your need of Christ? Do you know how much you need Jesus to die in your place and take your blame You were without God and without hope in the world And Jesus came running out to save you To be the one the intermediary between you and God the Father If Jesus had not done that you would have died in your sins and faced eternal misery But because he did do that You can now look up into the face of God with a clear conscience Because through Christ you have peace Shalom with God And you can look into the faces of your brothers and sisters without fear and shame because you have peace Shalom with them too So now go Go in the spirit of Abigail Bringing peace and reconciliation and Shalom Into the lives of the needy broken people around you Let's pray Lord God thank you so much for this story of Abigail In her we see the beauty in the courage and the honesty and the grace of Jesus Christ Thank you Lord that when we were like foolish and able you came to take our blame Thank you that when we were like impulsive angry David You took our sins upon yourself Thank you Jesus for bringing peace with God and peace with other people into our lives Would you help us Lord to be agents of reconciliation here at UPC? Help us Lord to go out into East Orlando into our schools and workplaces and neighborhoods To spread the Shalom of God Among people who desperately need you And we ask this in Jesus name Amen