Dealing with the Fool — Mercy

Text: 1 Samuel 25:1-38

Theme: In the story of David and Nabal, David learns how to deal with fools.

Date: 07/25/21 File name: King_David_06 ID Number: OT09-25

So much of what we’ve been looking at in David’s life is the development of his character. How God is bringing events and people into his life to mold and shape him into the godly man that he becomes. In chapters 24-27 David deals with a series of events that are going to continue to shape the young man’s life.

David dealing with the Lord’s Anointed - David has respect Chpts. 24 & 26

David dealing with a fool - David has mercy Chpt. 25:1-17

David dealing with the needy - David has compassion Chpt. 25:18-43

David dealing with the enemy - David has wisdom Chpt. 27

Last Sunday we looked at how David learned to deal with national leaders who have been anointed by God. David learned to have respect for them, even when their behavior would seem to void that respect. It is a lesson believers need to learn as well.

Tonight I want us to look at an incident that takes place in 1 Samuel, chapter 25. In the journey of life, believers encounter numerous events and people that God uses to develop our character. In chapter twenty-five God uses Nabal to help David understand how to deal with foolish people. You offer them mercy.

We pick up the story of the life of David in 1 Samuel 25:1. These are tumultuous times in Israel. King Saul is becoming more mentally and spiritually disturbed by the day. He has alienated his palace staff, and even his son Jonathan through his outbursts of anger. He sees conspiracies everywhere which is why he is relentlessly pursuing David. The Philistines, sensing that King Saul’s attention is on personal matters and not state matters use the opportunity to begin making military forays into Israelite territory. And in the midst of all this Israel’s spiritual leader, Samuel, dies. “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.” (1 Samuel 25:1, ESV). As a side-note, Samuel’s death marks the end of the period of the Judges and transitions Israel fully into it’s period of monarchy where kings will rule over the nation.

The chapter can be divided into four scenes.

I. Scene 1 — DELIVERANCE SNUBBED

1 Samuel 25:4-13

1. in this first scene Nabal receives, but denies a request from David for provisions

A. DAVID RE-POSITIONS AFTER EN-GEDI

1. after the incident in the wilderness of En-gedi David and his followers — now 600 fighting men strong — moved to the Wilderness of Paran

a. it is on Judah’s southern boarder, and extends all the way down to the northern end of the Sinai Peninsula

b. it is an area that is dry, rugged, and sparsely populated

1) what population there is are herders who raise cattle, sheep and goats

2. the few Jewish residents who lived there were under constant threat from Amalekite and Philistine raiding parties

a. after David and his men move into the area, they become something of a security force for the Jewish inhabitants

3. one of the benefactors of this new-found deliverance is a man named Nabal

“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. 3 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. 4 David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep.” (1 Samuel 25:2–4, ESV)

a. sheep-shearing time often was accompanied by festive celebrations, with the herd owners providing abundant food and refreshments for their workers

b. Nabal, who’s name means fool — an apt description considering the actions we’re about to see him take — is a man of questionable character

1) verse 3 says the man was harsh and badly behaved

2) the Hebrews actually says, hard and evil

c. as we will discover, he’s a difficult man to work for, and a difficult man to be married to

B. NABAL REBUKES DAVID’S REPRESENTATIVES

1. David sends ten of his young men to Carmel to request provisions from Nabal

a. he gives precise instructions on how to approach the man

“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. 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. 7 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. 8 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.’ ”” (1 Samuel 25:5–8, ESV)

b. they are to be respectful ... they are to pronounce a blessing on him ... and they are to remind him that David and his assembly has been scrupulously honest in dealing with Nabal’s herdsman and Nabal’s property

c. they are to ask nicely; not demand

2. Nabal refuses the request

“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?” 12 So David’s young men turned away and came back and told him all this.” (1 Samuel 25:10–12, ESV)

a. 1st, he insults David, basically saying “Who does this David think he is?”

1) it’s a veiled insinuation that David is being disloyal to Saul — he is not, if anything the reverse is true

b. 2nd, he accuses the young men of being runaway slaves

c. 3rd, in verse 14 we learn that Nabal railed against them

d. 4th, he says that David’s problem is not my problem ... even though his shepherds have profited from David’s protection, not losing any sheep to the Amalekite and Philistine raiding parties

1) Nabal is clear (vs. 11) ... it’s my bread and my water and my meat and my shearers

3. David’s men go back empty-handed

C. DAVID’S RAGE AT NABAL’S REJECTION

“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 Samuel 25:13, ESV)

1. well this seem impetuous, doesn’t it?

a. David is ready to “go to war” because of Nabal’s slight against him

2. inhospitality was considered a serious social slight in the ancient near-East

a. it still is

b. if a neighbor came to you, regardless of the hour of the day, and asked for aid of some kind, if you were able you were to give it

ILLUS. We actually have an example of this in the Parable of the Friend at Midnight in the Gospel of Luke. “And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, 6 for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; 7 and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? 8 I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs.” (Luke 11:5–8, ESV)

c. to be unfriendly and unwelcoming towards people, especially those in need, was socially unacceptable

3. but to “go to war” over this was, yes, to say the least, rash on David’s part

a. again, God is going to work on David’s character

II. Scene 2 — DISASTER FORESEEN

1. Abigail, Nabal’s wife is a whole lot smarter than her husband

a. she receives word of the situation

“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. 15 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. 16 They were a wall to us both by night and by day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep. 17 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.”” (1 Samuel 25:14–17, ESV)

a. I find it illuminating that Nabal’s servant doesn’t think much of his master, referring to him as a worthless man who won’t listen to anyone about anything

1) it’s a Hebrew word that literally means an absolutely worthless person

2) in various translations it’s rendered worthless man, worthless fool, scoundrel, wicked person, and ill-natured

3) it’s an unfaltering portrait of the man

b. I find it equally illuminating that Nabal’s wife does not rebuke the servant who has just insulted her husband!

c. the young man who has come to Abigail is pleading with her to do something because if she doesn’t he tells her that disaster hangs over us all

2. Abigail immediately makes plans to intercede on her husbands behalf

“Then Abigail made haste and took two hundred loaves and two skins of wine and five sheep already prepared and five seahs of parched grain and a hundred clusters of raisins and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on donkeys. 19 And she said to her young men, “Go on before me; behold, I come after you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal. 20 And as she rode on the donkey and came down under cover of the mountain, behold, David and his men came down toward her, and she met them.” (1 Samuel 25:18–20, ESV)

a. Abigail obviously knows here husband well

1) she knows that if David confronts Nabal in anger, Nabal will become equally confrontational, that the situation will escalate and a blood-bath could follow

ILLUS. Sadly, we witness something like this on American highways and roads all the time. “Road-rage” is a growing issue.

3. Abigail knows that if she does not intervene, that disaster will result

a. as a side-note this is the longest speech of any woman in the Old Testament

b. through her words Abigail did three remarkable things:

1) she successfully interceded in behalf of her husband

a) by taking responsibility for her husband’s actions, she effectively became a martyr in behalf of her foolish husband

2) she prophetically revealed David’s destiny as the founder of a dynasty and vanquisher of enemies, and

a) in this passage she refers to David fourteen times as my Lord

b) it’s prophetic in another way though neither of them know it at the time, but my Lord is the title a wife used of her husband in Jewish culture

3) she prevented David from bringing judgment down on himself through an egregious violation of the Torah

III. Scene 3 — DAVID RELENTS

1. the narrative now switches back to David

a. David is on his way with 400 men to Carmel where the sheep-shearing is taking place

b. he’s incensed and he is out for blood

“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. 22 God do so to the enemies of David and more also, if by morning I leave so much as one male of all who belong to him.”” (1 Samuel 25:21–22, ESV)

2. Abigail hurried to gather a sizable gift of provisions and set out to find David and his men

a. when she finds him, she pleaded with him to show clemency to her foolish husband

b. she uses a variety of appeals (vs. 24-31)

1) she humbles herself before David

2) she admits to her husband’s foolish nature

3) she affirms David’s God-secured future as Israel’s king

4) she pleads for mercy

c. she convinces David to stop his plan for personal revenge

3. David recognized that Abigail’s intervention and kept him from acting as rashly and as foolishly has Nabal had

“And David said to Abigail, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me! 33 Blessed be your discretion, and blessed be you, who have kept me this day from bloodguilt and from working salvation with my own hand! 34 For as surely as the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, who has restrained me from hurting you, unless you had hurried and come to meet me, truly by morning there had not been left to Nabal so much as one male.” 35 Then David received from her hand what she had brought him. And he said to her, “Go up in peace to your house. See, I have obeyed your voice, and I have granted your petition.”” (1 Samuel 25:32–35, ESV)

ILLUS. The phrase bloodguiltis literally participating in bloodshed and it is a Hebrew idiom that refers to homicide. David is saying that God’s providential working through Abigail’s intervention has kept him from murdering Nabal, his household, and even his servants.

4. had he continued with his plan of revenge, David would have been acting out of selfish anger rather than a just cause

a. David is surprised by Abigail’s intervention, but he also learned from her wisdom

1) he viewed the intervention as a God thing, and accepts her gift and sends her home in peace

IV. Scene 4 — DEATH INTERVENES

1. Nabal appears oblivious to the imminent danger in which he has put himself and his family

a. it is Abigail who works to avoid a massacre

2. after her successful intervention with David, she heads to Carmel to find her husband

a. she finds him making merry and feasting like a king

ILLUS. In the language of our day, He’s drunk as a skunk.

b. she does not tell him about the events that transpired with David until he has sobered up

“Then in the morning, when Nabal was sober, his wife told him all these things, and his heart failed him and he became like a stone.” (1 Samuel 25:37, NIV84)

1) he does not take the news well

c. ten days later he dies

“About ten days later, the LORD struck Nabal and he died.” (1 Samuel 25:38, NIV84)

V. DEALING WITH THE NABAL’S OF LIFE

1. Nabal’s name is certainly appropriate to his behavior in 1 Samuel 25

a. I have a suspicion that every time David refers to the fool in the Book of Psalms that Nabal must have come to mind

b. one of the things we need to understand is that our understanding of a fool and the Bible’s understanding of a fool are two different things

1) Hebrew scholar Jon D. Levenson of Harvard Divinity School describes a fool “ ... not a harmless simpleton, but rather a vicious, materialistic, and egocentric misfit''

2. in the narrative of our story, Nabal was a vivid personification of the vile traits of a God-denying fool

a. in sharp contrast, his courageous wife Abigail embodied the true wisdom of one who walks with God

b. the Prophet Isaiah gives a sense of Nabal’s character

“For the fool speaks folly, his mind is busy with evil: He practices ungodliness and spreads error concerning the LORD; the hungry he leaves empty and from the thirsty he withholds water.” (Isaiah 32:6, NIV84)

3. lessons

A. FOOLS ARE A PART OF LIFE BUT YOU DON’T HAVE TO LET THEM CONTROL YOUR LIFE

1. there’s no nice way to say it ... Nabal was a jerk

a. he was ruled by his ego and insecurities

b. he lacked a certain common sense, getting worked up about things that were not really important while ignoring problems that spelled doom in the long-term

2. you don’t have to let them control your life

B. DON’T PROVOKE FOOLS, OR YOU WILL BRING GRIEF ON YOURSELF

“A stone is heavy and the sand weighty, but the provocation of a fool is heavier than both of them” (Prov. 27:3)

1. there is something about our nature that enjoys poking the bear just to see what happens

a. don’t — that’s the advise of Solomon

C. DON’T LOWER YOURSELF TO THE FOOLS STANDARDS

1. people like Nabal annoy you, get under your skin, and draw you into a battle

a. when they do, you can lose a sense of what is really important

b. you can’t win an argument or get them to see your side or change their behavior, because rationality and results don’t matter to them

2. in the end, you simply waste valuable time and emotional energy

a. it’s Abigail that tells David “Let no wrongdoing be found in you as long as you live, my master will not have on his conscience the staggering burden of needless bloodshed or of having avenged himself.”

b. translation? “Yes. My husband is an insensitive jerk, but please don’t lower yourself to his standards”

D. GOD ALLOWS "NABALS" TO TEST OUR FAITH AND PATIENCE

1. remember ... God is using people and event to mold and shape David’s character

a. he’s doing the same for us

2. the results of "passing the test" are patience and godly character

“because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” (James 1:3–4, NIV84)

E. WE NEED TO OFFER THE FOOL MERCY FOR THE SAKE OF THOSE AROUND THEM

1. ultimately, this is what David does