The Product of Goodness

Passage- 1 Samuel 25:14-31

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Passage-

Attention-

This morning we are not so much going to deal specifically with motherhood.

We will be looking once again at relationships.

I will be a broken record again but relationships are the building blocks of our lives

We need to have a proper foundation for our relationships.

Last week we saw what a poor foundation looks like.

Introduction

What we will be looking at this week is the second half of the account that included the churlish Nabal

We will take a look at his wife Nabal.

There is no biblical proof that she, at least at this point, was a mother.

But her actions in this passage give us all, not just mothers, but all of us a great example of how to respond in our relationships.

Remember, David had protected Nabal’s possessions. His sheep and the shepherds and the shearers.

David, rightfully so because of the culture they were in, is expecting some compensation for his efforts

Nabal responds in Nabal fashion and David gets angry.

He threatens to kill every on of the men

One of the servants that were with the shepherds comes to Abigail and her actions on behalf of both of these men saved the shedding of a lot of blood.

What is the main driving point (CPS)?

Friends, when it comes to situations like this one we are not neutral third party bystanders

Especially when it comes to our families.

Why does the CPS matter, what is the consequence?

There are often times when we can and should step in and fight for our families and stand up for truth.

There is something that is common to the human heart, we all want to be wanted.

Husbands, your wife wants to know that it is just more than the kids that want her…she wants you to seek her out

To desire her

To fight for her

To give of yourself for her

Abigail is a great example of the flip side of this…she puts herself out on the line for her husband.

Transition

Read verses 14-21

I. Purposeful in her responses (14-20 )

Explain

Abigail was brought the news of verses 2-13

She responds purposefully

We see two other responses in this passage

-We see Nabal’s selfish response

-We also see David’s anger…which ultimately is selfishness as well

With Abigail we see a different response

- There is a lot less testosterone in her response

-There is a lot less of self in her response

Were the 200 loaves of bread for her?

Could you imagine, providing 200 loaves of bread

We would be overwhelmed if we needed to purchase 200 loaves much less oversee the preparation of the 200 loaves

Two bottles of wine, and five sheep that were slaughtered and butchered…50 quarts of roasted grain (thats 12 1/2 gallons or 2 1/2 5 gallon buckets) one hundred raisin cakes along with too fig cakes

Yes she had servants…Nabal surely provided her with people work for her and she employs them for this task

I think sometimes we see the goods she is giving but she is also using servants that Nabal is employing.

Someone needs to load all of this onto animals that Nabal owns and take the time to transport this all to David

Then she follows later in secret

Bridge to today

What we see in this portion of Scripture is that let to our own we will often, if not always choose foolishly

In the same way that Nabal needed someone to step in and do something on his behalf that he was not capable of doing

And David needed someone to step in and say, “hold on now, lets think about this”

Jesus Christ steps in on our behalf and enables us to do what we cannot and speaks wisdom to us when we lack it

Relevance

We often don’t see relationships that are that committed

But Jesus Christ is, the bible tells us in that Jesus will never leave us nor forsake us

Matthew 28:20 KJV 1900

Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Romans 8:35–39 KJV 1900

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Why does this matter?

In a world of unfaithfulness we can have a faithful friend in Jesus

He will be there when no one else is

He will not leave you when things get tough

He is dedicated to you

Even when no one else is Jesus will be faithful and trustworthy

Transition

Read verses 21-27

II. Benevolent in her heart (21-27)

Explain

How is this different than the first point?

The first point is showing her outward response to the situation

Here we see what is motivating her

And I believe that the benevolence shows a heart attitude of repentance

When Abigail come to where David is he says “Have I kept this mans possessions safe for nothing!?!?!”

How does Abigail respond to this?

First notice her posture…she bowed before him

Now don’t get me wrong, this is in no way saying that women are to bow before men

I am simply saying that posture can go a long way in a situation and in a relationship

Think back to situations where you have been at odds with another person

What if they came to you with their hands on their hips and their head cocked shaking their head at you

Or with their arms crossed

Or, what if they came with shoulders shrunk and head down low? maybe even holding out their hands in pleading

Posture is important

Notice secondly her initial contact. Posture and what comes out of your mouth will many times determine the atmosphere of the conversation

She says to David...”my lord”…she recognizes David as the king

Again this is not to say that women are to address men in this way…unless they have a certain title

This goes for men as well

If one were to meet Governor Evers it would not be acceptable to call him Tony

If I were to have come across former WI Supreme Court Justice Shirley Abrahamson you wouldn’t have called her Shirley

In the same way, when you begin a conversation, any conversation but especially those that have the potential to become stressful, how you begin in you posture and your first words can make a big difference.

Here is the key though...

She says, let this iniquity be on me. She is willing to take the weight of the situation.

Bridge to today

Her love for Nabal was something that is incomprehensable to most of us.

This is a man that everyone in the area knows is an angry, selfish, evil, and stubborn man

Yet when it comes time for Nabal to receive what he justly deserves Abigail intercedes.

Relevance

We live in a culture of love…but the problem is that we have the wrong definition of love.

We feel love and as soon as we no longer have any of the lovey dovey feelings then its over.

That is not love!

That is infatuation…that is lust…that is not love

Love is not primarily a feeling

Love often starts as a feeling but love is primarily a choice.

Why does this matter?

I am not certain that the humanity of Jesus felt like allowing those Roman soldiers to drive those nails through his body.

He agonized over it just the evening before

Luke 22:44 KJV 1900

And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

Luke 22:

He agonized but after he pleaded with the Father, he arose and allowed the Romans to arrest him

He allowed them to try him

He allowed them to falsely accuse him

He allowed them to beat him

He allowed them to nail him to the cross

He chose to die

Matthew 27:50 KJV 1900

Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.

Transition

Read verses 28-31

III. Dedicated to her marriage (28-31 )

Explain

I believe that no matter how you look at this you cannot use a better word to describe Abigail than dedicated

When you look at this situation Abigail was not responding for herself…she was responding for her marriage

Look at the beginning of verse 28 what is her response?

Please forgive Nabal? No, it is please forgive me.

She didn’t do anything wrong, what in the world is she apologizing for?

I believe that she is apologizing because she and Nabal were married, they were one flesh…she felt as responsible as he should have.

She knew full well that he was not well liked, verse 25 she calls him a man of Belail…in other words a man if wickedness

Yet knowing full well the type of man she was and probably rightly assuming what he said to David and his men she asks for forgiveness

And asks David to overlook Nabal’s foolishness

Bridge to today

Relevance

Title-

Passage-

Attention-

Introduction

What is the main driving point (CPS)?

Friends,

Why does the CPS matter, what is the consequence?

Transition

I. ( )

Explain

Bridge to today

Relevance

Why does this matter?

Transition

II. ( )

Explain

Why does this matter?

Bridge to today

Relevance

Why does this matter?

Transition

III. ( )

Explain

Bridge to today

Relevance

Why does this matter?

Conclusion

Review of the Principles and the Sermon Proposition

Challenge to act now (your part)…immanence

Visualize Audience Implementation

Final Statement

Would you bow your heads and close your eyes with me?

Closing HymnWhy does this matter?

I believe that her dedication to Nabal is a picture of Jesus Christs dedication to us

Her desire to work on Nabal’s behalf to restore his relationship with David.

She was willing to be do the work as the substitute for what Nabal should have done.

She is the one who made it possible for Nabal to experience David’s mercy

That is a very clear picture of what we see Jesus Christ doing on our behalf in the New Testament

Jesus loved us enough, even while we did not love him, chose to give his life that we might be restored once again to God, the creator of the universe

Conclusion

Review of the Principles and the Sermon Proposition

Friends, even Abigail didn’t have the strength of wisdom to be who Nabal and David needed her to be.

But with God’s help she was able to mediate a peaceful end between two parties that were at odds

Apart form the Lord Jesus Christ we will never be able to be who we need to be in our relationships.

We need His power and wisdom

The only way we can obtain that wisdom and power is through Jesus’ death and resurrection, through the Gospel

Challenge to act now (your part)…immanence

If you are here this morning and have never asked Jesus to forgive you of your sins then that is the first relationship that needs to be restored. You can do that in just a moment

Visualize Audience Implementation

If you are here this morning and have asked for forgiveness, it doesn’t end there...

We need to keep coming back to that same truth

That it is only through the Gospel that we can have please the Lord or please others in our relationships.

As we gaze at the cross and allow the truths of the Gospel to become the focus of our lives then we will see changes in our relationships

We could look at this passage as three easy steps to right relationships but then at some point we would slip up on one of the steps

When we focus on the Savior and strive to be more like Him, it is then that change happens

It is then that we receive the wisdom we need

It is then that we are empowered to respond rightly

It is through the power of the cross

The apostle Paul says that to the world the cross is foolishness

But to us it is the power of God

Do you want the power of God in your life…don’t go looking for a self help preacher or a 12 step program

Final Statement

The power we need in our lives is found in the cross of Jesus Christ

Would you bow your heads and close your eyes with me?

Closing Hymn