Love Like Ours - David & Abigail

Introduction

I Want to Start Off By Sharing Some Very Real Terrible Baby Names

Abcde

Alphabeta

Airwrecka

Arson

Babyboy

Banana

Blue Jeans

Burger

Carrion (Decaying Flesh of Dead Animals)

Chaos

Colon

Espn

Fellony or Phelony

Gassy

Goodluck

Hashtag

Havoc

Norah and I’s Personal Favorite - Henceforth

Ikea

Jermajesty

This One is a Clever One - KaVIIIlyn (Roman Numeral 8)

Lasagna

Little Sweetmeat

Mercury Constellation Starcruiser

Milady (Pronounced “My Lady”)

Misery

Moxie Crimefighter

Netflix

Riot

Uncle Sam

There are People in This World With Names Like These

What Causes a Person to Look at Their Newborn Baby and Say, “I Think I’ll Call You…

Blue Jeans, Hashtag, or Little Sweetmeat”

But Parents Have Been Naming Their Children Odd Names Since the Beginning of Time

In Our Text Tonight, We Will Meet a Man Who was Given a Very Strange But Accurate Name

February Sunday Night Series - Love Like Ours

With This Series, We are Going to Take a Look at 4 Couples From the Bible…

With the Specific Focus On the Similarities…

Between Their Relationships and the Church’s Relationship to Christ

We are Looking for Love Like Ours

The Relationship of Our Focus Tonight is David and Abigail

Our Story Takes Place While David was Living in a State of Exile…

Because King Saul Had Tried to Kill Him On Several Occasions

The Last Judge of Israel, Samuel, Has Just Died

And David is in the Wilderness of Paran (in Judah)…

When He Hears About a Rich Man Nearby Who was About to Sheer His Sheep

This was a Time of Festivity and Celebration

The Rich Man’s Name is Nabal (Fool)

Who Names Their Child “Fool”?

David Has His 600 Men to Become a Wall of Protection Around Nabal’s Shepherds Day and Night…

In Hopes that Nabal Will Be Grateful and Provide Provisions for David and His Men

1 Samuel 25:5–6 (LEB)

So David sent ten young men, and David said to the young men, “Go up to Carmel and go to Nabal; you will greet him in my name. Then you must say to him, ‘Long life to you, and may it go well with you, with your house, and with all that is yours.

1 Samuel 25:7–8 (NAS)

‘Now I have heard that you have shearers; now your shepherds have been with us and we have not insulted them, nor have they missed anything all the days 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 have come on a festive day. Please give whatever you find at hand to your servants and to your son David.’ ”

David Couldn’t Have Been More Helpful and Polite to Nabal

But Nabal Doesn’t Just Respond With a Simple “No”

He Responds “No” in the Most Degrading and Demeaning Way He Could

1 Samuel 25:10–11 (NIV)

Nabal answered David’s servants, “Who is this David? Who is this son of Jesse? Many servants are breaking away from their masters these days. Why should I take my bread and water, and the meat I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give it to men coming from who knows where?”

Nabal Calls the Anointed King of Israel a Runaway Slave

So David Tells 400 of His 600 Men to Get Their Swords

Nabal and All His Men Were Going to Die for This

But While David and His Men Were On Their Way to Kill Nabal…

They Were Met By a Very Unlikely Intercessor:

Nabal’s Wife, Abigail

At the Beginning of the Story, We Were Informed of the Difference Between These 2

1 Samuel 25:3 (NAS)

(now the man’s name was Nabal, and his wife’s name was Abigail. And the woman was intelligent and beautiful in appearance, but the man was harsh and evil in his dealings, and he was a Calebite),

Nabal (Fool) was Harsh and Evil

But His Wife was Intelligent and Beautiful

And She Intercedes On Behalf of Her Husband

Because of Her Intercession, David Decides Not to Attack Nabal

But a Few Days Later, God Strikes Nabal and He Dies Anyway

So David Proposes to Abigail and She Marries Him

Abigail’s Relationship to David has a Lot of Beautiful Similarities to Our Relationship to Jesus

I Want to Focus Our Attention On the Words of Abigail as She Intercedes for Nabal

What We are Going to Find is a Perfect Example of the Heart a Sinner Must Have in Coming to Jesus

1 Samuel 25:24 (NAS)

She fell at his feet and said, “On me alone, my lord, be the blame. And please let your maidservant speak to you, and listen to the words of your maidservant.

Notice the Posture of Her Body Mimics the Posture of Her Heart

She Bows Before the Messiah and Confesses Her Guilt

Though in the Story, She is Not in the Wrong…

She Places All the Blame Upon Herself

She Doesn’t Try to Hide Anything From the Messiah

Instead, She Acknowledges and Confesses Her Sinfulness

This is the First True Step in Coming to Christ (Becoming a Christian)

It’s Recognizing Our Sinfulness and Openly Confessing That to Jesus

No One Can Truly Come to Jesus While Claiming to Be Righteous or Trying to Hide Their Sins

There Must Be Complete Acknowledgement of Sin and Open Confession of it

1 Samuel 25:28 (NAS)

“Please forgive the transgression of your maidservant; for the Lord will certainly make for my lord an enduring house, because my lord is fighting the battles of the Lord, and evil will not be found in you all your days.

After Confessing Her Sins to the Messiah, She Pleads for His Forgiveness

She Recognizes that the Messiah is Righteous and On God’s Side

And in Order for Her to Be On the Messiah’s Side, She Must Be Forgiven of Her Sin

The Next Step in a Sinner’s Conversion to Christ is Pleading for His Mercy

Once We Recognize and Confess that We are Sinners…

We Must Then Recognize Our Need for Jesus’ Merciful Forgiveness and Cleansing…

And Call Out for His Compassion

1 Samuel 25:29–31 (NAS)

“Should anyone rise up to pursue you and to seek your life, then the 1life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living with the Lord your God; but the 1lives of your enemies He will sling out as from the hollow of a sling. And when the Lord does for my lord according to all the good that He has spoken concerning you, and appoints you ruler over Israel, this will not cause grief or a troubled heart to my lord, both by having shed blood without cause and by my lord having avenged himself. When the Lord deals well with my lord, then remember your maidservant.”

She Recognized God’s Protection and Deliverance of the Messiah

She Recognized His Victory Over His Enemies

She Recognized that God is Fulfilling Many Things in the Messiah and that He is God’s Chosen Ruler of God’s People

When a Sinner is Converting to Christ, There are Certain Things They Must Believe

They Must Believe in God’s Deliverance of Jesus By Resurrection

They Must Believe that Jesus is Victorious Over All of His Enemies

And They Must Believe that Jesus is the Fulfillment of OT Prophecies and Promises

And That He is the Ruler and King of God’s Holy People

1 Samuel 25:35 (NAS)

So David received from her hand what she had brought him and said to her, “Go up to your house in peace. See, I have listened to you and granted your request.”

Upon Hearing Her Confession of Sin…

Her Plea for Forgiveness…

And Her Confession of Belief in the God-Ordained Rulership of the Messiah…

David Mercifully and Graciously Granted Her Request…

And Sent Her On Her Way in Peace

When We Come to Jesus Confessing Our Sin…

Seeking Forgiveness…

And Confessing Our Belief in His Resurrection and Ascension to the Throne…

He Mercifully and Graciously Grants Our Request As Well

And He Sends Us On Our Way in Peace

But That’s Not the End of Abigail and David’s Story

1 Samuel 25:39–41 (NAS)

When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Blessed be the Lord, who has pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal and has kept back His servant from evil. The Lord has also returned the evildoing of Nabal on his own head.” Then David sent a proposal to Abigail, to take her as his wife.

When the servants of David came to Abigail at Carmel, they spoke to her, saying, “David has sent us to you to take you as his wife.” She arose and bowed with her face to the ground and said, “Behold, your maidservant is a maid to wash the feet of my lord’s servants.”

After Her Foolish and Evil Husband was Dead, the Messiah Took Her as His Bride

But Even Then She Didn’t Expect to Be Treated as Royalty

She Understood Her Life as the Messiah’s Bride to Be a Life of Serving His Servants

As Sinners, Coming to Jesus to Be Forgiven, Saved, Redeemed, and Reconciled…

Jesus Destroys the Foolishness and Evil that We Were Once Bound to

And He Makes Us Citizens of His Church/His Bride

But, Like Abigail, We Shouldn’t See Becoming a Christian as the End of Our Service…

But Only the Beginning

Abigail Became a Queen to the Messiah that Day

But She Recognized Her Duty as a Servant to the Messiah’s Servants

When Converting to Jesus, We Aren’t Choosing a Life of Ease

We are Committing Ourselves to a Life of Service

And the Greatest Service in the Kingdom (Under the Reign and Rule of King Jesus) is:

To Take the Stature of a Lowly Foot-Washer…

Lovingly Serving Our Brothers and Sisters in Christ

When We Look at the Relationship of David and Abigail…

We See a Love Like Ours

We See a Beautiful Picture of:

Humble Confession of Sin

Desperate Seeking of Forgiveness and Cleansing

Deep Faith in the Truths of the Gospel of King Jesus

Gracious and Merciful Forgiveness Extended From the Messiah

And Humble, Loving Service From the Bride of Christ

David and Abigail’s Relationship is a Love Like Ours