David & Nabal #2

1 Sam 25:9-13 “When David’s young men came, they said all this to Nabal in the name of David, and then they waited. And Nabal answered David’s servants, “Who is David? Who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants these days who are breaking away from their masters. Shall I take my bread and my water and my meat that I have killed for my shearers and give it to men who come from I do not know where?” So David’s young men turned away and came back and told him all this. And David said to his men, “Every man strap on his sword!” And every man of them strapped on his sword. David also strapped on his sword. And about four hundred men went up after David, while two hundred remained with the baggage.”

1 Sam 25:14-17 “But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, “Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to greet our master, and he railed at them. Yet the men were very good to us, and we suffered no harm, and we did not miss anything when we were in the fields, as long as we went with them. They were a wall to us both by night and by day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep. Now therefore know this and consider what you should do, for harm is determined against our master and against all his house, and he is such a worthless man that one cannot speak to him.””

Principle #1 - Anger is not always sinful

it’s not a question of when, but which? What will be the target of your anger? And how will you attack it?

Adam should have been angry.

Moses should have been angry, but didn’t control it. Should have spoken to the rock, instead of striking it.

Paul was angry with Peter, and seems to have channeled it in the right way.

David is obviously angry - but he’s not channeling it in the right way. He’s letting it control him.

Was he right to be angry? Probably so. Nabal is obviously unrighteous and a stench to all the people around him...

But if we look at the situation, David is about to murder a man over hospitality. . . obviously… he’s flying off the handle.

David is suffering from a long series of issues, and this one just pushed him over the edge.

He was a man of war, with blood on his hands, and he went to the way he knew to solve the situation.

Principle #2 - When suffering a fool, a dolt, don’t blow up. don’t meet them where they are. don’t escalate. don’t snap. control and channel.

9 When David's young men came, they said all this to Nabal in the name of David, and then they waited. 10 And Nabal answered David's servants, “Who is David? Who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants these days who are breaking away from their masters. 11 Shall I take my bread and my water and my meat that I have killed for my shearers and give it to men who come from I do not know where?”

and David’s men brought this word to him - and as a result - everyone is offended, and everyone is triggered.

aside: this should teach us to be cautious with our words. be wise and shrewd, like the Bible teaches us to be. Don’t be half cocked, don’t make offensive statements for the sake of offense. For the sake of being a “truth-teller.”

“Oh well, I jsut call it like it is!” - Well, you’re gonna be calling it like it is all alone for the rest of your life. Measure your truth telling. Is it necessary, is it true, is it edifying?

So David’s men bring him these insults from Nabal, the whole camp is offended and bubbling up, and David snaps. v13 - “Every man strap on his sword!”

whoa. - It’s a lynch mob.

He's unbalanced.

He's ready to kill them all and let God sort them out.

He's filled with irrational emotion

He's set on vengeance.

The punishment does not fit the crime.

Is he going to murder a man and is family for insults?

Now here’s the thing - this is hard to turn back from once you hit this point.

Once you hit the ceiling, it’s really tricky the make a 180 and settle down.

think of the damage from an explosion, the damage from a wildfire, - it creates chaos.

and it’s difficult to return chaos to order. Takes time, takes effort… takes repentance.

Unfortunately, this happens in communities all the time. Towns, families, churches...

the faction starts to form, the bubbling up begins, and then BOOM. The public accusation is made, the slander hits, the wrongful attribution of motives, whatever.

eventually the emotions will die back down… but the damage is done.

David is not channeling this rightly. He should have stopped the explosion.

Not only that, he should have coached his followers better.

Leaders - when you start to see bitterness over someone or something begin to flow through your people - you need to coach them well. Don’t let them be given over to it. Instead, David should have told them to give Nabal over to God.

Nabal had committed no crime against David and his men, but the Lord will judge him for his unrighteousness, and the Lord is a perfect judge.

This, likewise, is us. Don’t nurse a grudge, rather, trust the Lord. If someone has sinned against you and you desire to seek repentance and restitution rather than cover it, then move on it in the appropriate court. The church, the state, the family, whichever authority you need to appeal to.

but if there is no direct sin against you, just a bit of an insult, or maybe just a person with quirks you don’t like...

then leave it to the Lord.

Psalm 37:8 “Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.”

it doesn’t mean, never be angry, it means instead that we should look to channel our anger rightly.

Proverbs 14:29 “Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who has a hasty temper exalts folly.”

not saying “don’t be angry” but saying that we need to be able to control it. Subdue it. Take dominion over it.

How much better off would the world be if men were to hate the things that God hates, and be angry at the things God is angry at, and execute God’s justice on those things appropriately?

Nobody wants a man that’s just a zen monk all the time. There is a time when we must be angry and we must move with our anger.

AND YOU WILL ENCOUNTER FOOLS IN THIS LIFE

especially if we are working to push back the darkness of this world.

to suffer a foot isn’t easy. There will be effort required of you. You will get angry - but don’t let your anger control you.

James 1:20 “for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” KJV does a better job translating - not anger - but “wrath”

Principle #3 - when we deal with a dolt, suffer a fool, we should not only control what we DO with our anger BUT ALSO the THOUGHTS that led us to anger in the first place.

what happens if a cork a boiling tea kettle? eventually it blows, no matter what.

if all we are doing is controlling what we DO with our anger and not taking dominion over the thoughts that LEAD to us being angry.... well then we’re gonna have the same problem.

self control is the crucial first step of discipleship. and is one of the basic gifts of the Holy Spirit.

if we can’t govern ourselves, how do we govern those we are responsible for?

if a man can’t govern himself, how will he govern his household?

how will he be a blessing to those around him without any self control?

don’t just control your reaction, but control the thoughts along the way. They may be wrong in the first place.

in other words - we must learn wisdom and discernment.

we are expected to - 1 Cor 6:5 “I say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to settle a dispute between the brothers,”

We are prophets, priests, kings, coheirs and rulers with Christ, what we bind on earth is bound in heaven...

that means, we better practice our discenrmnet, our control, our wisdom, and govern our minds.

2 Cor 10:5 “We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,”

We are like God in that we feel anger - we are not like God in that all our thoughts are just or even true.

we must judge ourselves - but by what standard? By the word of God.

EXMAPLE:

Judge the thoughts that make you angry.

did they wrong you - are you sure - verified with witnesses? - was it just a weak moment for them or was it intentional? - what sin exactly was committed? - were you sinned against or just had your ego stepped on? - and after all that if you were sinned against you determine:

will I cover it? or will I pursue it with the judgement of the church? state? family?

and ALL of this assumes you know enough BIBLE to know the basics of true justice

hint - if you don’t - we’re going to be starting a series on Biblical justice in Sunday School in the next few weeks.

AND THEN - if you are righteously angry - if you’ve self examined - if you’ve carefully found the sin and decided to deal with it rightly

then you discipline the channeling of your anger the right way.

and even here - you do so with humility. not pride.

and you do it with no ill will in your heart - but desirous that the offender would be saved from wrath and death.

your desire is for restoration, not condemnation.

Principle #4: How do you suffer a fool? You listen.

David isn’t listening. He’s reacting. He’s not judging wisely.

if you’re going to be a good judge, both of yourself and of others… if you’re going to learn to channel your anger well

you need all the information - which means you gotta listen.

Pro 18:13 “If one gives an answer before he hears, it is his folly and shame.”

James 1:19 “Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;”

James 1:20 “for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.”

what do we often do in our anger - we shoot off our mouth.

but be quick to listen. and listen long.

Some good questions to ask to help the listening:

#1 - Do I have the right to be angry?

I think David did. He was angry for his men who had sacrificed so much for Nabal.

#2 - Why am I angry?

for God’s sake? for the innocent? David could probably say yes - but this is where things get sticky.

your motives and your righteousness get mixed up. And you can have sinful motives to pursue a righteous cause.

In this instance, probably David’s pride is getting in the way...

but lets say that it was only about his men’s compensation for their work (it wasn’t) what would be the right hting to do?

#3 - What is the goal?

Well, David’s goal is revenge. So. That’s not gonna work.

David’s gonna roll up and kill everybody, over some food.

obviously not a balanced response. That’s not Biblical justice.

So, if it’s just a salary issue then David needs to take him to court.

(the appropriate court for the appropriate sphere of course)

but PROBLEM - David is an outlaw… no court will take him. Soooo what should he do?

Rely on the Lord. Give up your anger.

Trust in the Lord for justice when justice is unatainable.

but the text doesn’t allow for a court hearing, remember, there’s no sins happening against David that demand restitution.

Did David have a contract with Nabal? no

Did Nabal ask David to keep his flocks safe? no

so nothing can be demanded.

David was just doing Christian service - going the extra mile.

So the only actually rebuttal David can provide is:

from now on, figure it out yourself. We’re pulling up anchor.