I'm going to invite you to turn back to 1 Samuel, chapter 25. Guys, if we can go ahead and pull that map up, I'll use that some toward the first part of the message today. So, Pastor John has already read the text. It's a little bit longer than some of the passages preached in 1 Samuel, but I think it makes sense for us to look at this in one account here. And I think we can do that today. 1 Samuel 25. Let's ask the Lord's blessing as we look. Our Father God, we're thankful. We're thankful for the Lord Jesus Christ. We're thankful for how the accounts in the Old Testament and many of the people in the Old Testament, in one way or another, point us to the Lord Jesus Christ. sometimes by their heart, their actions, and sometimes showing us the kinds of sins that we need to be forgiven of. We thank you for the life of David, the life of Samuel, as we've been seeing it on display here in the book of 1 Samuel. And we pray now, Holy Spirit, that you continue to instruct us by your word. As we look at this account of Nabal and Abigail, Lord, that you would teach us how we ought to think, how we ought to live, how we ought to express the heart of our Lord Jesus Christ, and how we can still come to You for forgiveness. Help us, we pray, in Jesus' name. Amen. Wanted to say at the outset that, as I mentioned earlier, I know we've been very busy probably the last week or two. I know personally we've had multiple groups of company come through. I know many have been going to and from college. So we've been busy. But also, it looks like we're heading into what might be the hottest week of the year. And we have a fairly full room today. I'm not sure. It might get a little warm. So I want to invite you, if you need to, it is culturally okay and appropriate if you need to, to get up and stand along the wall or stand in the back. If that helps you, please feel the freedom to do that. It's okay. We'd rather see you in the fight. and trying to profit from our time together in the word. So feel free to do that if you wish. We remind especially our college students throughout the year when things get intense that it's okay to do that if you need to do that. It's a good thing to try to stay engaged even when it's warm and humid and we're exhausted. Now we've been looking at David on the run from Saul for a while now with around four to six hundred men is what it's grown up to, sometimes barely escaping with their lives. And most recently, in chapter 24, David had an unusual opportunity to take Saul's life, had he been so inclined. It took place in a cave in En Gedi, at the rocks of the wild goats, when Saul went in to use the bathroom, and David and his men were farther in that very cave. But instead of taking vengeance on Saul, although the temptation was great, He only cut off a portion of Saul's robe, probably while it was lying on the ground a little ways away from where Saul was relieving himself. And afterward, they had a verbal exchange that was actually pretty humbling for Saul. when David called out to him to show him what he could have done to him, but told Saul that instead he was committed to placing himself into the hands of the Lord instead of taking personal vengeance himself. And this all, at least in the moment, had a significant impact on Saul. And Saul, somewhat surprisingly, ends up blessing David in this exchange, acknowledging that David was headed for the throne in Israel. And he even made David swear that as king, he would not kill Saul's descendants. And chapter 24 ends with Saul going home and David taking his men back to their stronghold. Now I want you to just have a sense of the geography for where we are today. Now, in general, we have been often from Gilgal down to Engedi. This is where we've been recently. And a lot of what is going on today seems to actually be off the map, this particular map, down to the south. the area that is spoken of in our text where it refers to David in verse 1, going down to the wilderness of Paran. That seems to be a pretty extensive wilderness or desert area. And it seems to be to the south. It was the area known for the children of Israel actually wandering through on their way from Egypt to the promised land. And so it's generally south of this territory. Go ahead, let's see if I can do it here. Yeah, it worked. All right, so we looked at this map recently more specifically. Last week's events took place in Ngedi near the shore of the Dead Sea, in that cave that we just recapped. Now, from here, we have David heading south, probably getting away farther from Saul, still not trusting him and needing to protect himself and his men. He decides to head south for a time. And so I think a lot of what occurs today is down in the wilderness of Paran, and then with David coming back north to engage Nabal's men in Carmel and then you see this story play out kind of in that region south of What we often think of as Canaan. All right, we can go ahead and take that down guys. That's good So as we look at the account today here in this chapter, we're going to look at it under a few headings. The first one's not even a verse, but it's significant because Samuel was so significant. We have already taken the time to consider Samuel's life. In fact, the study of 1 Samuel began with, remember, Hannah crying out to the Lord for a son, and that son was Samuel. So we have followed much of his life and ministry in our study. But recently, we haven't been hearing as much about Samuel. And verse 1 of chapter 25 says that Samuel died, and the Israelites gathered together and lamented for him and buried him in his home in Ramah. Now, when you think about the fact that there's not a lot of scriptural record about Samuel in his latter days, it actually makes some sense. Now, it seems that Samuel remained faithful to the end, as far as we can tell. We know that in his earlier days he was greatly used by God and the nation of Israel, and we've studied those accounts previously. But after some silence, here we just have his brief obituary recorded for us. And I do have some unanswered questions about Samuel's death that I'm gonna have to wait on. For instance, did Saul and David both attend along with their servants? We're not told. I wonder what that was like. Maybe it was close enough to the event we just talked about where Saul was very humbled by David sparing his life. Maybe that created an opportunity for them to both attend. I don't know, we're not told. But the fact that Samuel is not talked about as much, it kind of makes sense. I was thinking about it like this. I think there's a similar aging reality in our culture, in our experience. Think, for instance, about a man, maybe you've heard about a certain pastor at a certain church. Maybe he's not in your church, but you've heard of a man from another church, and over time, maybe you've even blessed by the fact that his ministry has been something you've been able to be a part of at times, hearing him preach, or maybe you know he pastors some of your friends. And then around 65 or 70, maybe this pastor resigns from full-time public ministry, and you just don't really see or hear as much about him for a while, and then eventually you hear that this beloved pastor passed away at age 84. And there might be a period of time from when he's in public ministry to his death that we just don't hear as much about it. And it seems like that's kind of what's happening with Samuel. He's getting older, he's probably not getting around as much, and we just don't have a lot of that record. And it just reminds us, you know, man's life is a vapor. Even good men, men with faithful ministries. And Samuel's significance is certainly in his faithfulness to the Lord. And like Samuel, I think a faithful man's significance in this life, or really any faithful person's significance in this life, will be measured more by their love for God, their ministry and service to others, and their preparation for eternity than most of the things that have to do with the possessions or accomplishments of this life. So Samuel, the beloved priest and prophet, passes away. Now, most of the rest of chapter 25 is a discussion of Nabal and Abigail and David and all that you heard Pastor John read about. And so, really, we're going to begin by looking at Nabal's offense. what he did and why it was so offensive. And then we're going to look at how Abigail wisely and courageously helps out in the situation. And then by God's grace, we'll draw some lessons as we proceed. So, Nabal's offense is described in verses 1 through 22. I already mentioned the wilderness of Paran on the map. It says that after Samuel died, David and his men end up in the wilderness of Paran, somewhere to the south, in that vast area perhaps connected to where, at least somewhat geographically related to where the children of Israel wandered on their way through to the promised land. And we're introduced to this man now in the text named Nabal. He is described to us as a man of the house of Caleb, a man in Maon, which is actually a town in the map that is actually, was on that second map, but he had business in Carmel, which would have been south of there. So think of Carmel and Paran as both down toward the south. Now, what's interesting is we are introduced to Nabal before we're even given his name. And it seems significant that we're actually told about his possessions and his wealthy status before we're even told what his name is. And so like Nabal would have put his earthly things first, that's kind of the way he's introduced to us. We're told he's very rich in this culture, 3,000 sheep and 1,000 goats. And it was sheep shearing time. Now this was actually a pretty significant cultural event. It's a little bit difficult for us to understand how significant it was, but it seems to have been an annual occurrence combined with when the sheep were being shorn. And it was a season of festivity and even generosity in that culture. But even as we're introduced to Nabal, we're told about his sheep and his goats before we even get his name. Because that seems to be indicative of where his heart was. Now in contrast, we have Abigail here introduced to us as a woman of good understanding and beautiful appearance. Now, I think the way that we would often say that today is probably, she is a woman who is beautiful on the inside and on the outside. And that's how the Scriptures portray her. But Nabal, in serious contrast to his wife, is literally described in the Scriptures as harsh and evil in his doings. And there are other descriptions we'll come across as we go. So this man who is harsh and evil in his doings is married to a woman of good understanding and beautiful appearance. Now David and his men were staying in the wilderness area where Nabal's herdsmen and shepherds took care of their livestock. And David and his men developed a relationship of sorts with Nabal's men and probably others as well, providing a measure of security from the outlaws that frequented the wilderness. The wilderness in this day was actually a fairly treacherous place where there would be roving bandits that would come through, and because you were vulnerable and there weren't as many people around, there weren't as many strongholds or walls or protections, where you were more alone out in a deserted area, it was common. Just like that road to Jericho in the New Testament, it was common for bandits, for thieves to come and to attack and to take what they could with those who were vulnerable. And so in that context, David and his men seemed to be developing something of a relationship, probably because they're in the wilderness. They're a ways from home. They have to somehow survive. And so they develop this kind of a relationship. And one of the servants of Nabal and Abigail actually describes it to Abigail in verses 15 and 16 like this. He said, the men, talking about David and his men, the men were very good to us. And we were not hurt, nor did we miss anything as long as we accompanied them when we were in the fields. They were a wall to us, both by night and day, all the time we were with them, keeping the sheep." So the testimony of Nabal's own men was that David and his men were actually a strength to them, a protection for them, a wall keeping evil out by day and by night. Eugene H. Peterson describes it this way, we can imagine David's men as a kind of unofficial neighborhood watch and emergency ambulance service. Now because David and his men are trying to survive, in exchange for this, likely David and his men would have received information and supplies from the ones that they were befriending and protecting. And so it was a mutual relationship that helped both parties. And the protection of David's men was a gracious kind of protection. We've probably all seen those movies where, you know, the bad guys go and protect the shopkeeper by extorting money from them. And if you pay me, this money will protect you from bad things happening to you, except that the bad things that are going to happen to you are from us if you don't pay us. That's not what was going on here. David and his men were actually graciously protecting the ones that they had befriended. So when it came time for Nabal's annual sheep shearing in Carmel, which was a time of celebration and feasting, David asked to be included with his men. Now in this culture, this is not an unusual request, and with the relationship they had, it was not an unusual request. He sent a message with 10 young men to Nabal, summarizing the relationship that David and his men had had with Nabal's men. And he said, we have been kind and gracious and protective of your men, and now we're asking that during this time of feasting and celebration, that you would include us and provide for us, because we certainly know that you can. Now this is a little bit difficult probably for us in our Western minds to fully grasp, but this kind of hospitality to those who were traveling or to those who were out in the wilderness, this was often the norm, certainly for those who had character and generosity. And so this kind of request was actually culturally acceptable and would make a lot more sense than what you and I would probably understand in our Western culture. Now, Nabal's response, and what's significant here, is that it wasn't just indifferent. Every indication is that it was insulting and mean. He had in his hands the opportunity to do good. And he absolutely, defiantly refused to show generosity. In fact, what's interesting is Nabal acts like he doesn't even know David. And yet, a little bit later on, if you caught when Pastor John was reading, Abigail knew plenty about David and his road heading toward the throne. So if Nabal didn't know David, it was either willful ignorance or he was simply being mean and manipulative. He's clearly displayed in this passage and termed in this passage a wicked man. So his response was to David's men, I don't know you. Tell David I don't know who you really are. I don't know those of you who are following him. For all I know, David could be a runaway slave. There are a lot of those around in the countryside these days. Everything about Nabal's response was extremely insulting. and cheap and short-sighted to cut David and his men out from the feasting and the celebration where he certainly had it within his hands to provide. Now here is where we definitely see David's feet of clay. Kids, when we talk about people having feet of clay, what we're saying is they're human. They're not superheroes. They're not on some level way up here. David was who David was by God's grace. And he was in many ways an amazing man and an effective leader, but there were times when his sin and his emotion and his inconsistency and his parenting were horrific. And here's a case where in contrast to the previous chapter, He almost looks like he's going off the rails. By the way, you know how, I know I've said many times, and you've probably thought similar things, you know how a lot of times our strengths and our weaknesses are really closely related, like two sides of the same coin? Well, here we have David, the passionate poet, who wrote so many of the Psalms for our worship, and this same guy is responding in passion in a very wrong way. David was human. He struggled with remaining sin. Even though the Scriptures tell us, and Paul tells us, that David was justified by faith in the coming Messiah, he still struggled with remaining sin. So in the last chapter, we see David's courageous wisdom and restraint and rejecting the counsel of his own men who were encouraging him to kill Saul. He's right there, David. He's right there, and he's vulnerable. Get him. And it even seemed last week like maybe David was kind of caught up a little bit, but all he did was cut off the corner of Saul's robe, and then even that struck his conscience. he would not raise his hand against the Lord's anointed. And in the last chapter, David committed himself into the hands of the Lord and was willing, as Paul teaches us in Romans 12, willing to let Jehovah have the vengeance. It was one thing for a king acting as the leader of a nation to go out to war, which was justified by God in certain settings. It was different to be that kind of a leader leading his people out to war and taking personal vengeance on someone like Saul or Nabal because of his own seething anger against those individuals. And throughout Scripture, the testimony is clear. While a case might be made for just war, God says, vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. And He forbids throughout the Old and New Testament for His people to take personal vengeance in anger and retribution. And so, whereas in the previous chapter, David committed himself into the hands of Jehovah to execute justice when he thought it was time, In this chapter, we see a very different David, at least for a time. And we know he was in the wrong, because as you follow through the entire chapter, Abigail makes it clear that she thinks he's in the wrong, and then David agrees with her and has a very significant change of heart. So David is acting in sinful emotion and beginning to bring about a plan which, if brought to fruition, would significantly change the trajectory of his future rule. To have this kind of a slaughter on his own conscience and on his own record. I mean, think about it. Those of you who have been in the study, you remember the slaughter at Nob of all of the priests at the command of Saul and at the hand of Doeg. And think about Saul's murderous heart toward David. And so often we've seen a contrast between David and men like Doeg and men like Saul. But here, for the time, and this is instructive for us, our sin can look a lot like other people's sin. Even those who don't love the Lord and are unbelievers, our sin can look like the sin of an unbeliever when we go against God's law and His command ourselves. He seems to be blinded with rage at this insult. Now, let's be real here. David might kind of be at a point where he sort of had it. Running from Saul, out in the wilderness, having to befriend shepherds and herdsmen to make a go of it just to survive. He has been promised the throne, but man, the throne seems a long ways away, geographically and in every way. And here he is, well to the south, trying to get away from Saul, hiding out, just trying to survive. And I think to myself, David is human, and at times he must have been just weary and frustrated with all of the evil around him. And here he is tempted to respond, to pay evil for evil. And I think if we looked at our own hearts, we would understand the temptation. David was greatly used of God, but he was human. So once he hears Nabal's response, he assigns 200 men to stay with the supplies and begins heading out with the other 400 men to take care of this rude, vulgar, insolent man, Nabal. Well, thankfully, Abigail finds out about the exchange between David's men and the ball from that servant that I quoted a minute ago. And the servant warns her that danger is on its way because of the stubborn pride and the selfish actions and just the sheer meanness of her husband. So Abigail quickly pulls together a significant gift of food. the very thing that her husband denied David and his men. And she sends her servants on ahead, but she doesn't tell her husband any of this. Now, by the way, we have to be careful about what lessons we glean from the narratives of Scripture. Sometimes the narratives just tell us what happened. We're not always given the moral value of what is going on. One question that might arise regards Abigail and her husband. There are at least two times we're told in this text that she did not communicate things with her husband. One is here and one is later on where we will see that she had an opportunity to tell him about how he almost died and she decided to wait till he'd had a night's sleep and wasn't drunk anymore. One of the things that sticks out to me about Abigail though in this is that the reason that she chose not to communicate certain things to her husband was out of a godly motivation and a love for others. We literally see Abigail in the right way of doing it, showing a godly kind of love for both Nabal and David and his men in this account. In other words, she was thinking about what Jehovah desired, and what would cause the prosperity of those around her, especially in spiritual ways. And so when she's keeping things from her husband, it's actually so that there will be life, and there will be health, and there will not be murder, and people will not suffer needlessly. So it's actually, I think, because of her godliness and her wisdom, that for the moment, she doesn't want to tell Nabal, she doesn't want to be stopped. She knows that if she doesn't go and stop David, it's going to get violent very quickly in her own household. Now, David was already on his way. He has already sworn vengeance that not one male would be left of Nabal's household by morning light. He was on his way. So she then, after she sends her servants ahead with the food, she gets on a donkey and quietly makes her way without being seen, it seems from the text, on her way to meet David and his men on their way to kill her husband. So we move from Nabal's offense to Abigail's intercession, particularly in verses 23 to 38. So here we have this interesting picture in front of us, a beautiful woman humbly pleading for the life of her scoundrel husband. Makes you wonder, it makes you ask a question, doesn't it? How in the world did those two get together? We probably all know of marriages where someone is following the Lord and someone clearly is not, and they can be very difficult. But in a culture of arranged marriages and dowries, he probably paid a significant bride price to get someone like her, and that kind of thing culturally could explain it. Well, there are several significant elements to Abigail's advice that she says to David. One is she just comes right out and says to him, my husband is a scoundrel, literally a man of Belial. That's a phrase we hear throughout Scripture. It means a wicked and worthless man. There might be times where we would say, it's not wise to call your husband those kinds of names, you know, in a marital context. You imagine being in, you know, biblical counseling or sitting across from your pastor and saying, my husband, I'll tell you what my husband is. He's a son of Belial. He's a wicked and worthless man. Oh, thanks, honey. Well, let me tell him what you are. But it seems like what Abigail is doing is she's saying to David, look, you're not going to tell me something I don't know. I understand who my husband is. I understand that he has no heart for Jehovah. And I believe that how he responded to you was likely mean and wicked and stubborn and proud and with no ounce of caring or gentility or compassion at all. He is a fool. He's well-named. He is an immoral and a profane person. Understand, I'm married to him. If anybody knows these things, I do." And she says, David, I didn't see your men when they came to talk to my husband. I fully understand why my husband responded the way that he did, but I didn't see your men. I'm sorry that this happened. I will take responsibility for my husband's sin. but please don't proceed to kill the fool and all of his household. We're not all like him. Please receive this present for your young men. Another significant line of thinking in her advice to David is, and this is fantastic, I mean, here we have an element of what you might call biblical counseling in the Old Testament. I mean, she says to him, David, God is in the process of using me to stop you from doing something you will literally regret for the rest of your life. So David, stop and think. When God eventually brings you to the throne, do you want to have it on your conscience that you shed innocent blood needlessly? Not that Nabal is an innocent man, but the way you're coming to seek vengeance on him and the whole household, you will be shedding blood that would be considered judicially to be innocent. You should not be doing this. Do you want that on your conscience? What kind of a king will you be if people are able to look back and say to you, David, do you remember the incident with the ball? It literally would become David's knob hill. And she says to him, think biblically. I mean, she might not have said it that way, but that's what we would say. Think the thoughts of Jehovah. Think according to His instruction. Think according to how He's told us we ought to think and live. Right now, David, your heart is filled with pride and violence and bloodshed, but that is not the heart of a godly king of Israel. That is not the heart of a man after God's own heart. I love her courage here and the way she talks to him because she knew that this kind of courage and this kind of clear thinking and conversation was what David needed right now to prevent not only the killing of her husband and her household, but to keep David from doing something that would forever tarnish his kingdom. What a courageous, godly woman. And yet, we don't see her being manipulative here. We don't see her trying to gain some sort of a sinful advantage. We see her humbly and clearly communicating the truth that will help David's soul to prosper. What an amazing picture we have here of how to live in a godly way in the midst of a very heated situation. Now, as I mentioned a few moments ago, I do have a question. I mean, was Nabal really that clueless about David? Or did he just choose to play dumb so that he didn't have to be generous and he had an excuse to be the way he usually was? We're not sure, but Abigail sure knows a great deal about David. And it's interesting to me how much she knows and how she actually says it back to David. as an incentive for him to be godly in this situation. She says, David, Jehovah will make for you an enduring house. Your reputation, David, is that you fight the battles of the Lord and evil is not found in you. You want to change that? And even though Saul is pursuing you and trying to kill you, She says, quote, the life of my Lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living with the Lord your God, which is a Jewish way of saying that your life is considered precious and safe with Jehovah. Even though Saul is pursuing you and wants you to die, your life is precious and valuable and Jehovah will preserve you for his purposes. Now if you like dad jokes, you'll appreciate what she says next. She says, and God will sling out of the lives of your, or I'm sorry, will sling out the lives of your enemies like stones in a sling. And she says this really in the form of a blessing, but in our vernacular, I imagine David saying to her, and he's probably calmed down a little bit by now, I imagine him saying to you, or to Abigail, I see what you did there. A sling, stones, yeah, okay, good one, Abby. She says, God will sling out the lives of your enemies like stones in a sling. Do you think she knew some things? Do you think people knew something about David? And she gives him this powerful, godly advice. She says, David, once you are finally king and you look back on this time, do you want this on your conscience, that you have shed blood without cause in avenging yourself? If you kill my husband, and maybe the implication in her mind might have been, and he sort of could, you could make the case he deserves it, but not in this context. If you kill my husband and his household, it will become a permanent grief to you. that will never completely leave your mind. And once you become king, you'll remember this moment, and you'll remember my advice. So please, David, make the right Jehovah-honoring choice, and not just for my husband or for me, but for yourself, because this behavior is not fitting for a future king of Israel. Well, God clearly here uses Abigail to affect David's heart, which obviously changes as they are talking. And David blesses her. In fact, verse 33 says, blessed is your advice. I love that. You know, we've talked a lot about Arbor, how we are called to exhort one another to love and good works, to lovingly, humbly, clearly speak truth to one another, even when it's hard, to keep short accounts in our relationships, and when necessary, even to confront sin. Not that we're on a mission to do that, but when we're called to that. And I love, listen to everything he's just been told by this woman. And he says to her, Blessed is your advice. I love that, because it resonated with him that she was God's vessel to tell him the truth at this point. And because he was the Lord's, it connected with him, it resonated in him. The truth that she spoke, and it was truth that she spoke, connected with him. And he says, blessed is your advice and blessed are you because you have kept me this day from coming to bloodshed and from avenging myself with my own hand. For indeed, as the Lord God of Israel lives who has kept me back from hurting you, unless you had hurried and come to meet me, surely by morning light no males would have been left to Nabal. I mean, David is literally saying to her, God has used you to turn the whole course of this series of events, and it's a good thing. I am so thankful because I was about to do one of the stupidest things I've ever done, and it would have had consequences for the rest of my life on this earth. And then David receives her gift and sends her to the house in peace. Well, that night, Abigail couldn't tell Nabal anything because he was partying like the wicked unbeliever that he was. He was a man given to excess. And so he was feasting like a king, like an unbelieving king in all of his extravagance. And we're told that he was very drunk. But in the morning, when he was sober enough at least to comprehend, she told him how close he had just come to death. and he suffered a significant medical event. We're not sure if this was entirely a natural thing. I mean, God is still sovereign over that too. Or if this is something that we would recognize as being specifically brought on by God in judgment. But it seems that he might have had something like a heart attack or a stroke, because it seems like he remains pretty much paralyzed. Scriptures say like a stone for about 10 days. And then it does say that Jehovah struck him and he died. Now it's at this point in the chapter, we've looked at Nabal's offense and Abigail's intercession. Now this part I'm calling wedding. Now a lot of times when we talk about wedding, it's a happy thing, right? But we need to be careful here. This is where we could really end up heading a wrong direction if we're not careful when it comes to applying the narratives of Scripture. There are a lot of different directions you could go with this narrative. And just because the Scriptures record something does not mean that it's all holy. For instance, David seems to enter this chapter as, well, at least something of a single man. I mean, he had been married to Michal, Saul's daughter at one point, but he had not been living with her as a married couple for quite some time. So he comes into this chapter living single, and by the end of the chapter, he's a polygamist. And we need to be careful not to draw the wrong conclusions. Just because the Scriptures record that for us does not mean that that was ever God's design. I believe that one man and one woman in marriage has always been God's design starting back in Genesis, that creation. But God has put up with many things that were not His will for His people. Things like divorce were provided because of the hardness of some people's hearts. And I think that polygamy was tolerated, but was not something that God designed. Neither should we get some sort of twisted mandate from this passage that maybe we should consider eliminating the wicked husband of a godly, beautiful Christian woman so we can marry her. That's not what we're taught in this passage either. And I'm not saying that's what David was setting out to do originally, or that Abigail had those kinds of thoughts in her mind, but we need to be careful not to have, you know, there've been some pretty crazy things that have come out of narrative passages of the Old Testament. And you think I'm kidding, but it's sad that sometimes some pretty crazy things are taught. We should never teach anything as a lesson from an Old Testament narrative that contradicts God's clear will in other passages of Scripture. So we read in this chapter what happened, but we use the rest of Scripture to guide us in the lessons that we take away from it. So David does take Abigail to be his wife. You can certainly understand the attraction. He's been living as a single man since Michal was taken from him. And Abigail was not only beautiful, but she was wise, godly, courageous, and humble. So she was, from everything we can tell, again, she's human. She would have had her own remaining sin, but she was an amazing woman, as we can see from the text. But then, almost as an afterthought, we're told in verse 43 that, oh, David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel, and so both of them were his wives. No details in the text, just took Abigail and then took Ahinoam. Verse 44 at least makes you wonder if David was partially reacting to difficult providence by drowning his sorrows in women in a sort of acceptable way. Because if you look at verse 44, we're told that Saul had given Michal, his daughter, David's wife, to Palti, the son of Laish, who was from Galim. Well, it seems, as we covered this originally, that David had actually come to love Michal, but because of Saul's hatred for David, he ended up taking his wife away from him as David had to flee. And they never, from what we can tell, he never lived with Michal after that night that she helped him escape. So here, In the same context that we're being told that Michal had been taken from him, we're told that he takes these two wives. And it just makes you wonder if there was some relation in the series of events. Now it's hard for me to imagine what things actually looked like in David's life because he was really still on the run in the sense of being a fugitive from Israel and from King Saul. And while I'm sure that there were extended periods of time when he tried to live in stability with his wives, he's still a wanted man and he's not yet the king of Israel. And it makes you wonder what that life was like because it's still going to be a period of time before he ascends to the throne. Now, for just a few minutes as we wrap this up, I want us to just ask ourselves, how do the characters in this story, particularly David, Nabal, and Abigail, how do they teach us to live? There's a lot we could say out of this passage, but let's just briefly ask. First, how does David teach us to live? You know, one of the lessons we learn from the text is that our past obedience does not replace today's obedience. We don't stop following the Lord. We don't rest on our laurels. We don't become satisfied that I used to follow Christ. And so the things that have been done in the past, as glorious as they may be, they don't replace today's obedience and the fact that I'm continuing to persevere in following after the Lord Jesus Christ. And it seems that sometimes There are periods of time in our life where maybe there is significant obedience and blessing. Maybe we would even use the term victory. Sometimes those periods that are marked by our obedience and God's blessing can be followed by significant times of temptation and sin. One of the classic examples I often think of is the Lord Jesus Christ gets baptized, begins his public ministry, and finds himself in the wilderness being tempted by Satan. Now, of course, Jesus never sinned, but my point is is that sometimes you can go from glorious events or periods of time to periods of great temptation and difficulty. So, you have David reacting really well in chapter 25 where Saul was concerned, and then turning around and doing almost the opposite where Nabal was concerned. So, it would be good for us to just recognize that Satan desires our destruction and our sin, and to be on guard perhaps when we've had periods of blessing and obedience and victory, to be on guard that perhaps Satan is going to come a little bit harder at us because maybe we're gonna let down our guard or become a little bit comfortable with the way that things are. Also, when we look at David, I think we must cultivate a heart that listens to godly counsel. And this is one of the marks of true Christianity. Does this person listen to the wisdom of the Word when confronted, which I think David just did? Maybe not perfectly, maybe not immediately, but a believer in the general course of their lives is going to listen to the Word of God and to godly counsel when it's given. So do we receive it or do we fight it? Are we willing to listen to what we know is true when God especially maybe sends a messenger or a friend or a preacher or someone to show us our sin and our need to repent and turn from it? Do we have a heart that is being cultivated to listen to godly counsel? And I think one of the things that God used when Abigail spoke to David is that David recognized this as truth, and it connected with his heart, which had followed the Lord often in times past, and so it connected with him. And we need to develop that kind of a heart that even if we're struggling with stubbornness, or defensiveness, or we're kind of stuck in some sin, and maybe our hearts are even a bit cold, that by God's grace we cultivate a responsiveness to His Word. And when we hear that sound of truth, the Holy Spirit causes us to respond to the truth that we're being confronted with. Now, how does Nabal teach us to live? Well, what we see of Nabal is the portrait of a wicked man. That's pretty consistent in the text. He is described as one who is selfish. with his heart wrapped up in his possessions. He's given to excess, to feasting and to drunkenness. He appears to be controlling. He's building his own kingdom for his own glory. He's just plain mean oftentimes. And he doesn't listen. His reputation is that you can't tell him anything. Now you know, brothers and sisters, even if we know and love the Lord Jesus, it's possible for our sin to look a lot like Nabal's at times. I think maybe it's important, especially as men, I want to speak to the men for a moment, because I think sometimes we men, and those of us who are blessed to be husbands, sometimes one of the things that can mark men is to be irritable. And as I think about it, you just have to imagine that Nabal was constantly irritable. Nothing satisfied him. He didn't have generosity or compassion in his heart. He was mean, and I just see him as an irritable man. Nothing would ever have pleased him. And I think men, especially, if that's a struggle for us, we need to repent of the times when we treat our wives and our children with the heart of Nabal. not listening, being unreasonable, being selfish, being committed to our own comfort, but not willing to share our time and our possessions with others. At the same time, I want us to remember the hope that we have in the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, that if we're struggling with the sins of Nabal, we can come back to Christ, and He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from our unrighteousness. How does Abigail teach us how to live? Well, in this account, she shows Jesus to us far more than David does. Nabal, he doesn't show us Jesus at all. He shows us the kind of person who is desperately in need of the forgiveness that Christ extends. But in this chapter, Abigail shows us Jesus, even more than David, although he kind of comes around. Even though Abby's life circumstances are a lot like Nabal's when it comes to riches and comforts, her heart is clearly concerned by what it is that Jehovah is doing. And we see that her believing heart causes her to react to this situation completely differently than her husband did. Same request, same basic situation, completely different responses because Nabal had an unconverted heart and Abbey was a believer. She's generous. Her heart is wrapped up in advancing Jehovah's purposes. She seems to be given to kindness and she loves and helps others get what they need. You see a Christ-like humility coursing through her veins in her interactions with David and his men, as well as with her own servants and her own husband. And she seems to be, this is kind of an ambiguous word, but she seems to be sweet, even though she's also quite capable and wise and courageous, quickly doing what needs to be done. And unlike her husband, she listens. reminded me of our study in the book of James. You remember James 1, 19 and 20? So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath, for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. For most of that chapter, Abbie is the only one who is living out that passage in James. Even David, for a time, was taken over by wrath. Now think about this, and we're on the home stretch here. By the way, you guys are doing amazing. I thought it was gonna be a little rough this morning, to be honest with you. The heat and the humidity, you guys are doing fantastic. I'm pushing the time here. We'll just go a couple minutes and wrap this up. Think about this. What if Abigail had had a heart of selfish ambition? What would that have looked like? If she had had a heart to further her own desires, Man, this situation would have allowed her so much opportunity to be as manipulative as you could imagine if that was what was in her heart. I mean, she could have helped bring about the death of her own husband if that's what she wanted to do and still come out looking pretty. She could have done that if she had a heart bent that way. But Abigail maintains a powerful testimony here of integrity and righteousness because she was determined to speak truth and do what was in the best interest of both her husband and David. For the sake of time, I'll just refer this to you, but when you get a chance, go back over James 3, 13 to 18. It's the contrast between heavenly wisdom and earthly wisdom, or godly wisdom and devilish wisdom. It is the contrast between Abigail and Nabal here in the text. So if you have a chance this afternoon, James 3, 13 to 18, spend some time meditating on that and think about it in light of our text today. Well, as we wrap up these thoughts, again, I just want to point us to Christ. First, don't pass by Nabal simply condemning him and his sin. but rather let's see ourselves just as needy, just as much in need of the grace of God as Nabal was. And then remember that Christ forgives us of our ugly, Nabal-type of sin. Whether we're coming to Him for the first time in repentance and faith, or whether we're coming back to Him as a child of God for the thousandth time, Christ forgives us of our ugly, Nabal-type of sin. Made me think of the hymn, there is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins. And sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains. And then to encourage you on your way out the door, maybe for some of you on your way home this afternoon, the Holy Spirit enables us to cultivate the heart of Abigail instead of the heart of Nabal. Take James 3, 13 to 18 with you and pray that into your heart. Let it guide your relationships, your actions, your tongue. that our wisdom would be known as being peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits. Well, may the Lord bless as we continue to benefit from this chapter. Let's pray together. Our Father God, we thank You for Your Word and we pray, Holy Spirit, that You continue to minister in the ways most needed in our hearts today. Lord, we think of some, maybe a larger number than usual, who may be traveling this afternoon or heading back home, heading somewhere. We ask, Lord, for safety and travel. We ask that even in the midst of weariness, that you would allow alertness on the roads and safety to the destination, but that also, Lord, on the way there, perhaps our time together would be beneficial as we continue to contemplate the things we've heard. We ask your blessing, Lord, in Jesus' name, amen.