David and Abigail #1

Intro - Context

Samuel dead - David now a judge - but David falls by marrying second wife

1 Samuel 25:1–8 ESV

Now Samuel died. And all Israel assembled and mourned for him, and they buried him in his house at Ramah. Then David rose and went down to the wilderness of Paran. And there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel. The man was very rich; he had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. He was shearing his sheep in Carmel. Now the name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail. The woman was discerning and beautiful, but the man was harsh and badly behaved; he was a Calebite. David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep. So David sent ten young men. And David said to the young men, “Go up to Carmel, and go to Nabal and greet him in my name. And thus you shall greet him: ‘Peace be to you, and peace be to your house, and peace be to all that you have. I hear that you have shearers. Now your shepherds have been with us, and we did them no harm, and they missed nothing all the time they were in Carmel. Ask your young men, and they will tell you. Therefore let my young men find favor in your eyes, for we come on a feast day. Please give whatever you have at hand to your servants and to your son David.’ ”

Who is Nabal?

Abigail’s husband - but he’s a worthless man.

not in terms of money - he’s VERY wealthy.

but he hordes it. he doesn’t live Christianly with it. He is not generous.

Generous? - Biblical generosity is being open handed with your wealth. Giving to the poor, providing for those in need within the church, and doing so in secret so as to not receive accolades from men, but rather, from God on the day of judgement.

Nabal is so far gone that he won’t even be generous in his best wordly interests. He won’t even sponsor the nonprofit golf tournament.

When David asks for food on a feast day (on Jewish feast days the law required that no one go without, they had to make sure everyone had enough to celebrate together) Nabal won’t provide.

Wealth has corrupted him. He counts his coins and hordes his money, like a Biblical Ebenezer Scrooge or Gollum

“my precious...”

It’s interesting to see, David has faced Goliath the evil enemy, he’s faced Saul the tyrant...

now he deals with a … worthless man. A lowlife. A dirtbag. A dolt.

And the crazy part, is that everybody knows this about him… even his wife.

Abigail says - 1 Sam 25:17b he is such a worthless man that one cannot speak to him.

and v3 - “the man was harsh and badly behaved...”

and think on this, David had even protected Nabal’s people. Fought for them. Kept them safe from the raiders.

big deal! - explain raiders.

so Nabal - regardless of the feast day obligations - is in significant debt to David. And his reputation is known.

YET - David sends a blessing to this worthless man.

1 Sam 25:5-6 “So David sent ten young men. And David said to the young men, “Go up to Carmel, and go to Nabal and greet him in my name. And thus you shall greet him: ‘Peace be to you, and peace be to your house, and peace be to all that you have.”

ASIDE - reminds of Jesus sending his disciples to greet the houses with Peace (shalom)

APPLICATION: This is how the Bible calls us to deal with ingrates, worthless men,

we “go the extra mile” - Explain “and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go two.”

Roman law - carrying gear - Jesus turns it on it’s head.

if they demand this, then do more. Why?

because you’re free. You’re free to serve. And your freedom is a witness.

In other words, Christians don’t live life according to the bare minimum. We’re free people. We don’t just barely eek out what’s expected of us, we go over and above. Because we are FREE to do so.

Cs get degrees - nah - we want As.

we do more than the contract calls for - we serve over and above.

Because of witness, true, but this is also going back to the law of harvest we’ve talked about before.

you reap what you sow.

2 Cor 9:6 “The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.”

2 Cor 9:7 “Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

If we obey this law - of going above and beyond - of serving over and above - we reap the reward. Blessings from God.

“But I’ve tried this with my boss, my spouse, my fellow brother or sister in Christ, they don’t even seem to care”

or maybe they’re even entitles...

You’re not doing it for immediate results. You’re doing it for the glory of God, and beacuse of HIS promises.

because YOU ARE FREE. from what?

Free from their approval, free from their praise (or lack thereof) free from the need of money because your God owns the cattle on a thousand hills and he’s given you this promise.

NOW - this doesn’t mean that if you do this then your jerk of a boss (or friend) will suddenly repent and stop being a jerk boss or friend.

But it is the way of blessing… exactly how the blessings come - well this is God’s economy - he’ll do it - we just don’t know how.

And as Christians - we should be known for this.

Going the extra mile.

now notice - at no point here have I said - we should be known for being pushovers, or for being nice.

we can say what’s true, bluntly, and still go the extra mile.

look at David - he had no problem telling Nabal exactly what he had done for him.

“Hey - your shepherds and sheep are still alive because of us.”

False modesty doesn’t exist here - “ohhh it was nothing… anybody would have done it...”

that’s the kind of niceness that get’s walked all over by the wolves. The kind that accomodates the enemy.

The kind that is ashamed of truth because they're afraid of conflict.

That’s not what we’re talking about. We’re talking about being truthful, honest, blunt.

but still serving over and above - still going the extra mile.

Reflect - isn’t that exactly what Jesus did?

The woman at the well - he had no issue with telling her plainly what her sin was.

but he waited for her at the well. and he intentionally pursued her. He initiated the conversation even when he knew what it would entail. Conflict.

and then he served her, over and above by proclaiming truth and hope to her, a Samaritan woman disregarded by the Jewish people, so that she might have life and have it to the full.

Through his sacrifice for us on the cross - the Gospel of Jesus giving up his life in the place those that hated him so that they may be spared.

Romans 5:7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Who else has more of a reason to live this way than us?

2 Cor 5:14 “For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died;”

DAVID EVEN BLESSES THIS DUDE - He doesn’t deserve that - not one bit!

Isn’t that the point of grace? Isn’t that what happened to us? Grace is always undeserved. That’s why it’s called grace.

David had the power to take from Nabal, but he didn’t. He protected him. That’s grace.

AND DAVID THEN TAKES IT A STEP FARTHER

a bigger blessing 1 Sam 25:6 “And thus you shall greet him: ‘Peace be to you, and peace be to your house, and peace be to all that you have.”

Now, think about this for a moment, if David wants this worthless man’s business to thrive… how much more should we desire this for other Christians?

We support other Christians in their businesses - how?

Well, maybe we start by giving them a shot? Don’t enable those that door a poor job, that’s not Christian, but we should do all we can to support fellow believers.

I’ve heard it said this way - God is a giver of good gifts, and so should we.

We should look at our skills and finances as gifts, and labor to give the best ones possible. Both ways. Those providing the service, and those compensating for that provision.

in other words - it’s not Christian to eek by on the poorest performance acceptable

but it’s also not Christian to only shop at the bargain basement when there’s a believer offering the same or comparable services

we don’t shop with other believers looking for that Christian discount. It’s the opposite. We look to give them as much as we can. We want to be a blessing.

SO! Go the extra mile! And even moreso for the believers!

Doing this can be hard for us.

the festival - laissez les - culture

it can be hard for the slothful

and for the proud - takes humility to serve the jerks.

but that just means we need to repent.

And in all this serving - we can quickly be discouraged.

David was : 1 Sam 25:21 “Now David had said, “Surely in vain have I guarded all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belonged to him, and he has returned me evil for good.”

moms - when dad doesn’t pick up after himself - or the kids?

dads - when it seems that money is spent carelessly?

teachers - who’s kids just don’t seem to get it no matter how hard you try?

business owners - when you work hard to serve but you’re still accused of being a crook at the end of the job.

but be encouraged! You stand in good company!

This is the Gospel. Jesus’ life long service to those that ultimately despised him.

and while we do this - watch out - don’t despair like David

don’t give in to the temptation to stop what you’re doing. Press on!

David was beginning to act the role of king and judge - protecting the people - but that can be hard when the folks you serve are jerks.

But how can we do this? I work for a man like Nabal and I’m tired!

well, be encouraged - there are perks along the way

#1 - the world won’t do this. and you’ll stand out quickly. You’ll develop this reputation - to the Glory of God

#2 - It develops a new mental skill - thinking of how to go above and beyond makes you think outside of the box - it develops you into a leader. You’re no longer doing the minimum, just a days work.

#3 - It also makes you more creative - how can we go above and beyond - spurs new innovations and developments

#4 - it strengthens and speeds up your discipleship. How? Trials.

#5 - it witnesses for Christ (and yourself) as you grow in integrity

#6 - and it grows your faith - your dependence on God for grace and for his promises.

In other words - Faith is our victory - not the path to it.

The Lord gives us these trials, these opportunities, to grow out faith. To refine us. to make us depend on him

so, don’t forsake them.

when you come into contact with a Nabal, serve. Joyfully.

and give thanks to the Lord for what he’s going to do with it.

don’t be a “bottom line” people.

He looked upon us, and we were all Nabal’s that hated him and looked at him with contempt.

He told of us our sin - told us our condition - even wept over us - and died in our place anyway that we may believe in him and be saved.

Let us live that way, and trust the promises, not the dollar.

building the kingdom and reputation of Christ, every step of the way.