Suffering the Insufferable • 1 Samuel 25

Notes

It’s one thing to have to deal with the king of Israel on his level. David is also the anointed of the Lord. There’s an equality of sorts there.

What happens when David has a problem with someone way below him? Not a social equal? Someone who is big in his own eyes, but in reality is insignificant, a lightweight, a twerp, a nothing? His very existence provokes you to kill him.

You deal with any fool, whether king or twerp, with wisdom and humility.

I’m reading in 1 Samuel 25 (to verse 3)

1. Samuel the prophet dies, v. 1. I’ll have more to say about him later.

2. We are introduced to a fool who thinks he is somebody, vv. 2-3.

A. Who knows why parents name their kids? This guy’s name means fool.

B. He is a rich man, probably powerful in his community.

1. In this time we measure wealth by how many livestock a person owns. He owns a lot.

2. He lives in Maon but his business is in Carmel. That probably means he owns land in Carmel for grazing. That’s another measure of wealth.

C. Wealth and heritage doesn’t mean that he’s a great person.

1. He’s descended from Caleb, one of two men who came out of Egypt with Moses who actually entered the Promised Land forty years later.

2. Great refers to character apart from material considerations. You can be generous and kind and caring without being rich. Caleb is an amazing ancestor, but greatness is not inheritable. It’s not genetic.

3. Nabal is selfish, mean, and stingy. He also thinks he’s somebody because he’s wealthy. No, he’s not great, he’s just an arrogant rich guy.

D. We also meet Nabal’s wife, Abigail.

1. She is beautiful and has good understanding. She is distinguished by understanding, not by her outward impressiveness. Beauty is empty without understanding. Otherwise she would be just another pretty face.

2. This had to be an arranged marriage. There’s no way she would have chosen to marry a guy like this. She needed all the wisdom and understanding she could get and she had to grow in understanding to survive this marriage. Beauty would not have gotten her through her difficulties.

3. David asks for reciprocation and is insulted, vv. 4-17.

A. Sheep shearing is harvest time for flocks. That’s when you get the wool and you can sell it and make your money. It’s a festive time of year.

B. David is thinking it’s a good time to ask for some reciprocation.

1. If you look in v. 15 it seems that Nabal’s shepherds realised that David and his men were nearby and they began hanging close to the men. They found that no one bothered them, and David’s men also helped protect the flocks. They began relying on David’s men and David knew about it. Rich guy in the area, this could be good for all of us. We look out for you, you look out for us.

2. So now David thinks, hey, could you send a little of that goodness our way? We helped you get there. We look out for you, you look out for us.

3. David is also asking in a respectful way, humbling himself before Nabal, “your son David”.

C. Nabal is a stingy guy, not interested in giving out.

1. He covers that with the excuse is that David is a nobody, a disobedient, rebellious servant to his master. Lots of nobodies are breaking faith with their masters nowadays—it’s really hard to find good help. Then he refers to himself no less than seven times in one sentence: 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?

2. Does he know who David is? Of course he does. It would be like not knowing who Winston Churchill is. Who are you again?

3. Nabal is covering his greed and ingratitude with snubbing David. I just told David to get stuffed. That means I’m somebody and he’s not. Ha ha ha ha.

4. What Nabal really did was provoke a response from David.

A. David is furious. Tells his men to get ready for battle. He’s going to kill every last one of them.

B. David is provoked because in his opinion Nabal is wrong. He knows he is someone. Who does this punk think he is, who says, “Who are you?” “I’ll let him know who I really am.”

5. Abigail moves quickly to bring wisdom into the situation.

A. One of the men tells her what happened. He correctly reads the situation: you better do something or else we’re all dead. You know we can’t say anything to Nabal.

B. Abigail loads up supplies and sends it out and rides off herself to intercept David. She doesn’t tell Nabal because he would say, don’t do that. And that would kill them all.

C. David says: 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. I do to him what is right and he does to me what is wrong.

D. She finds David and she acknowledges who David is: he is the Lord’s man.

1. She takes full responsibility for this insult, and begs David to listen to her.

2. She says do not let my lord regard this scoundrel Nabal. Do not begin to pay attention to him, he is a fool. That’s significant: do not pay him any attention. He does not deserve serious attention. His opinion doesn’t count for anything.

3. Because the Lord has held you back from bloodshed and avenging yourself, let all your enemies be as Nabal. These two things, bloodshed and avenging yourself, are not good things for you to do; the Lord has held you back from them. Judgment belongs to God, vengeance belongs to Him; He will repay, not you, not anyone. Only His judgment counts.

4. Here’s this gift for the young men. It’s a lot of food.

5. Remember that the Lord will make you an enduring house because you are fighting His battles. You represent Him. Therefore it’s important that evil not be found in you all your days. You are the Lord’s man.

6. Someone has arisen to seek your life, and she probably means Saul, but the Lord will protect you, and sling out the lives of your enemies, like with Goliath, right? God is for you.

7. So when the Lord does for you what He promised and has appointed you ruler over all Israel this won’t come back to haunt you and cause you regret, that you shed blood without cause and avenged yourself.

8. When God does bless you, remember me.

E. David responds meekly to her wisdom because she is right.

1. The wise and right way to deal with this fool is not to kill him, it’s to ignore him because he is insignificant. You’re right, it would come back to haunt me and colour my reign with self-seeking, like Saul is seeking his own way now.

2. It’s wise to remember that David is chosen by God to represent Him, and so his life is not just about himself, it’s about the Lord, and he has to live God’s way. God is going to make him king; God is going to avenge him of insignificant fools.

6. God acts for David, vv. 36-44.

A. Nabal is having a great time because he’s drunk.

B. But the next day Abigail tells him what happened, how close he came to getting everyone killed if she hadn’t stopped David. And it seems he is so upset that he has a stroke. Ten days later God takes his life.

C. David is grateful that God intervened for him. He doesn’t have to worry about his reputation and who thinks what about him. All he has to do is be God’s man.

D. David takes Abigail to be his wife. She’s smart and beautiful. When Nabal her husband dies she really has nothing. So she says, thank you.

E. And that would be happily ever after except David was beginning to exercise the right of kings to make more than one marriage for political reasons. He had already married Ahinoam of Jezreel, and had already been married to Michal, Saul’s daughter. That’s complicated. We’ll leave it at that.

7. So what?

A. David learns a tough lesson: who am I really? I am who God says I am. I represent Him, I am responsible to Him, my job is to please only Him. I can’t determine how people treat me, but I am responsible for how I react.

B. How do I deal with fools who despise me and treat me badly? Proverbs 26:4-5 Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you will also be like him. Answer a fool as his folly deserves, that he not be wise in his own eyes.

1. If a fool says, who are you? And you reply, I’ll show you who I am” you’re already wrong. You’re being just as foolish as him. You’re playing the game called “It’s important that people think well of me.”

2. Answer a fool as he deserves: ignore him, don’t give him the reaction he’s hoping for, and let God deal with him.

C. Remember Samuel died at the beginning of this chapter. He only cared about what God thought.

1. Always he was God’s man first. His mother instilled that into him as a small child: you exist because I asked God for you and He answered my prayer.

2. When he became the ruler of Israel he ruled in the fear of God, regarded no man, feared no man, he only feared the Lord.

3. When he became old and the elders of Israel said, “Make us a king like all the other nations,” it upset him because they were rejecting him, but he still continued to be God’s man. And God said, “Now you know how I feel. They’re really rejecting me, not you.”

4. Now he has passed from this world to the presence of God. People mourn and say all kinds of good things about him. He doesn’t say, “Why didn’t you say those things while I was still alive?” Or, “I told you so! But you wouldn’t listen.” He is not thinking about what people say of him when he is gone. He is in the presence of God whom he served. He has heard God say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” What anyone thinks of him right now is not relevant and never was.

D. God has called you to represent Him.

1. He has given you His eternal purpose and His grace in Christ Jesus.

2. Everyone who desires to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution from people who oppose the Lord Jesus Christ.

3. Anyone who opposes the Lord Jesus Christ is a fool. Jesus will reign on the earth on Mount Zion. Nothing can stop that.

4. How do we deal with fools? Not according to their folly, they think they are something when they are nothing. But according to their folly, we do not regard them, nor are we intimidated by their threats. We sanctify the Lord Jesus in our hearts and are ready to make a defense for the hope that we have with gentleness and with reverence. We can’t determine how people treat us, but we are responsible for how we react.

E. We are here only a short time. We are passing through. We keep looking to the reward, keep looking to the Lord Jesus, and ask, “Please keep my eyes on You. Please keep me going where I need to go.”

F. It’s not what people think of you, it’s what God thinks of you that matters, only.

Let’s pray.