Today, on the verdict with Pastor John Monroe. Wives. Your husband may not be as wise or as spiritual as you are. But that doesn't mean that you sink to that level. Abigail is an example of a godly woman.
who is married in a sense to a reprobate, to a fool. But she's a woman who walks with God and she does not allow her husband to discourage her in her spiritual life. Welcome to the verdict. featuring the Bible teaching of Pastor John Monroe. Senior Pastor of Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.
David was a biblical hero and the only person described as a man after God's own heart. But just like all great men, David wasn't perfect. And today we'll see David almost commit a terrible sin. But what stopped him? What lessons can we learn?
To introduce today's lesson, here's Pastor John Monroe. In our current series, we're considering a man after God's own heart. That doesn't mean to say that he's perfect. as is a human being. But he is a great man.
The greatest king of Israel. And his name is frequently mentioned throughout the Old and the New Testaments. I'm speaking about King David. The man who killed Goliath. At this point in the story, David and his men are in exile.
as David is being pursued by King Saul. Yet David shows great patience and godliness. Today, we see David in an interesting encounter with a man who is a fool. And his foolish actions and attitudes find him in conflict with David. How will David respond?
A wise woman is going to play a critical role in the story. First Samuel twenty five, verse one. No, Samuel died. And all Israel assembled and mourned for him. And they buried him in his house at Rama.
Samuel, the great prophet, the man who had anointed David, the man who, in a sense, we would say today, in today's vernacular, had mentored David, is now dead. And although the Israelites had not always listened to godly Samuel, they gather and mourn. His passing. Samuel, I think, was the greatest leader since Joshua. Certainly, there were many judges, but Samuel is one of the outstanding leaders.
in Scripture. He is dead. Even men, all men, even great men like Samuel die. And David now may I this is speculative. He may have felt a sense of freedom Now that Samuel is no longer watching his actions.
Perhaps you've worked with someone. And uh they retire and they move on. And while you miss them, your life is a little different. And I wonder that about David.
Now David at this point as we come into 1 Samuel chapter 25 has been anointed. He's been anointed king, but he has not yet been crowned as king. King Saul, the Lord's anointed, is still on the throne. As we saw last week, Uh so The king of Israel not only hates David, is actively trying To kill him. And so David and his men, his mighty men, are outlaws at this point, and they're living in the wilderness.
Sometimes They got down to Engedi.
Some of you have traveled to Israel with Goody and myself, you may may remember En Geddy. down near uh the Dead Sea. And sometimes they go to what is called the stronghold. Look at the end of chapter 24, for example, 1 Samuel 24, verse 22. David swore this to Saul.
Then Saul went home. But David and his men went up to the stronghold. Uh perhaps That is what we now call Masada. We saw last time that during the years when Saul is hunting David, there are at least a couple of opportunities. when David can kill King Saul, but he doesn't do so.
He's a man after God's own heart. And he shows great patience, great godliness, I think, great wisdom and great respect for the Lord's anointed. Yes. Saul is an evil man. But this man, David, the man after God's own heart, Knows that the time will come.
When Saul will pass away, And he then David will be king. But that time, is in the Lord's hand and David patiently waits. On God. No. This evening in our study of David, we come to this very interesting incident which is narrated in 1 Samuel 25.
David Although he's described as a man after God's own heart, and our Lord Jesus is called a son of David. David is not sinless. The reality is good men like David Men after God's own heart can lose their temper. can be overcome by anger and pride. And we're going to see that in part.
In 1 Samuel chapter 25. And apart from the intervention of a woman David would have committed a horrific Sin. Do you realize that the heroes Of our faith in Scripture, both Old Testament and New Testament, are not cardboard cut-out figures, are they? They are real men and real women. That's what makes the Bible authentic.
And as the Bible deals Uh with these characters. such as David. Certainly we see the strength of David, we see his great faith. But we also realize that David gifted and talented. And a great spiritual heart for God.
is also a man with faults. and failures and sins. As a leader, can I say don't expect your leaders to be perfect. You say, well, there's no sense of that. We know you well.
That's true. But I would say, in all seriousness, don't expect your pastors and your elders and your deacons and those that lead the life groups and those that are in leadership and in women's ministry, don't expect perfection. We are all Prone to sin, aren't we? Alan Redpath writes: The Bible never flatters its heroes, it tells us the truth about each of them in order. That against the background of human breakdown and failure, we may magnify the grace of God and recognize that it is the delight of the Spirit of God to work upon the platform of human impossibilities.
Well said, Alan Redpath. Paul writes, Therefore, if anyone thinks he stands, Take heed lest he fall. You're here tonight and you think you're spiritually strong, you're on the mountaintop. God is using you and God is blessing you. And how wonderful that it's be very, very Careful.
In 1 Samuel 25, David lets down his guard. Isn't it the case that we can be one day on the spiritual mountaintop And then swi very quickly succumb. To temptation, to allow our ego, our sinful desires to get the better of us.
So let's look at this chapter. I want to divide it into three main sections. Here's the first. David's request. In the first 13 So let me read with you.
1 Samuel 25. Verses one through Thirteen. Verse 1 again.
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. And there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel. The man was very rich, he had 3,000 sheep.
and the thousand gods. He was shearing his sheep in Carmel.
Now the name of the man was Nabel. and the name of his wife Abigail. The woman was discerning and beautiful, but the man was harsh and badly behaved. He was a kilobite. David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep, 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. And thus you shall greet him. Peace be to you, and peace be to your house, and peace be to all that you have. 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. 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.
When David's young men came, they sent all of this in Abel in the name of David, and then they waited. And Nabel 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 don't 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 400 men went up after David, while 200 remained with the baggage.
Interesting, isn't it? End of chapter 24. David and his men are in the stronghold. Up in a fortress, high place. And now they go down to the wilderness in Paran.
Perhaps they're going down. It was a metaphor also that they were going down spiritually. David has hundreds of men with him now. He's a very charismatic leader. He attracts people.
They're prepared to fight for him and they're with him. And we're now introduced to this man called Nabel. His name means a fool. And he's going to act very foolishly.
Now this fool, Nabel, Is a very rich fool. He has three thousand sheep, we're told, and a thousand goats. in verse 2. The sheep have to be sheared. In Carmel.
And he's married to a woman called Abigail, who's described as discerning and beautiful. Man, that's what you look for in a woman. Beauty and brains. Discerning and beautiful. What a blessing to have a wife like that.
But Abigail is married to a man. Don't know what he looked like in appearance, but he was far from discerning. When the Bible uses the word fool, It doesn't mean that Nabal is lacking in intelligence. No, this man is not lacking in intelligence. He's a very shrewd man.
He's a very successful farmer. And he comes from, in fact, from a good family. He's a Calebite. But he's the scribe, did you notice it in verse 3? He's described as harsh.
And badly behaved. You ever done business with someone like that? Very successful. But they're harsh. and badly behaved.
Now, what was the request?
Well, David and his men, as was the custom of the day, have been helping Nabel. and these men with their sheep, they've been protecting them. Look down, verse 15. Yeah, the men were very good to us, and we suffered no harm. And we didn't 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.
So David and his men had been protecting Nabal and his Flocks of sheep and goat. And David then. Knowing this, he thinks we've been working hard for this man, and he sends 10 of his men to go to Carmel to speak with Nabel. And in verse 6, David instructs them: we have the word peace. I think most of us know the Hebrew word for peace, don't we?
Shalom. It is used three times. Notice how respectful David instructs his servants to be to Nabel. Peace be to you. Peace be to your house.
Shalom to all that you Have. He's been very, very cordious, very, very. Consider it. And it makes it clear: we don't want any harm, Nabel. It's just that we've worked and we're hungry, and can you give us something?
And he asked for provisions to feed his hungry men. There's 600 of them. That's a lot. of uh food, isn't it? And that was not an unusual request in that culture.
There's no bow jangles, there are no Chick-fil-As. There's not even a Ruth Crisp steakhouse around.
So he they ask food. from NAPO. Did you notice the refusal? Nabal answers David's servants very arrogantly and very dismissively. Verse 8: Who is David?
Who is the son of Jesse? He knew who David was. He was the Lord's anointed. He knew David's father. He says.
His name, Jesse. And then his arrogance, he says, you know, there's many... People who break away from their master, like this David. I have no responsibility for them. I don't even know who these men are.
Why should I give meat and water and provision to To people I don't even know, is his response. Here is a man. Let's stop and think of this. Here is a man who's been tremendously blessed. By God.
Furthermore, he's been helped by David's men. and is characterized by arrogance. Harshness. Greed, and also we would say sheer bad manners. Many of you I've been blessed financially.
Success in business, success in a profession. Perhaps inherited. Wealth Let me ask you, are you are you a generous person?
Alright. When there's a need, you always, you're the kind of person that always looks. for a way not to minister to the need? to help someone, an individual, or the church. The work of the Lord.
Would you say that you're generous? This enable He was a very, very wealthy man in that culture. And he is far. From Janice. Generous.
Did you notice David's response? When David's men report what Nabal had said, David is furious. Notice what he says, verse 13. Strap on his sword. He's 600 men and he organizes 400 of them to go and deal with Nabo.
A little bit of an overreaction, David. Two hundred of them are staying in the base camp. David's response is very interesting, isn't it? You made a call after the killing of Goliath When Saul is going to the ward, The person who killed Goliath. By giving his daughter in marriage David says.
Chapter 18, verse 18. Who am I? And who are my relatives, my father's clan in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king? David is very, very humble. Who am I that I should be related to the king?
I come from a very ordinary family. In Bethlehem. Why should I be favored? But when Nabel says, who is David? Who is this son of Jesse?
David's humility is gone. And he responds in anger, in effect, saying, I'll show him who David is. Who is Nabel? Who is this man who's opposed to me? Get your swords on, men.
We're going to teach this man a lesson. He killed Goliath with just a stone. But he's saying to his men, every one of you, get your sword. And we're gonna decimate that man. Do I mean do you really need four hundred men, David?
David, the man after God's own heart. The man who was so patient with Saul is now furious. because he's been refused some provisions.
Someone has questioned who David is. Lesson. of this one. Great men, men after God's own heart, are capable of committing sins in anger, in retaliation. and pride.
You think you're something?
Someone ignores you.
Someone doesn't give you the respect that you think you do. Is this your reaction, David? And yes, David reacts in a very, very carnal way. Yeah. He's going to kill Nabo.
He's going to decimate his household. The man questions who is David. Notice how the story unfolds.
Now we have Abigail's provision. Verse fourteen. But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabel's wife. Remember, she's discerning and beautiful. Verse 3.
Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to greet our master, and he railed at them. Yeah, the men were very good to us and we suffered no harm and we didn't miss anything when we were in the fields as long as we went with them. They were a wall to us both by day and by night, 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's such a worthless man that one can't speak to him. There's no point in speaking to Nabel, he won't listen to you. He's worthless, he's harsh. Notice what his wife does.
Verse 18, then Abigail made haste, took two hundred loaves, and two skins of wine, and five sheep already prepared, and five sias of parched grain, and a hundred clusters of raisins, two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on donkeys. And she said to her young men, Go on before me. Behold, I come after you. But she did not tell her husband Nabel. 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.
Now David had said, surely in vain Have I guarded all this fellow, 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. God do so to the enemies of David, and more also, if by mourning I leave so much as one male of all who belong to him. David is fuming. And it's gonna kill he's gonna decimate Nabal and his family.
When Abigail saw David, she hurried and got down from the donkey, fell before David on her face and bowed to the ground. She fell at his feet and said, On me alone, my lord, be the guilt. Please let your servant speak in your ears and hear the words of your servant. Let not my Lord regard this worthless fellow, Nabal, for as is his name, so is he. Nabel is his name, and folly is with him.
But I, your servant, did not see the young men of my Lord whom you sent.
Now then, my Lord, as the Lord lives and as your soul lives, because the Lord has restrained you from blood guilt and from saving with your own hand, now then let your enemies and those who seek to do evil to my Lord be as an able. And now let this Present that your servant has brought to my Lord be given to the young men who follow my Lord. Please forgive the trespass of your servant, for the Lord will certainly make my Lord a surehouse, because my Lord is fighting the battles of the Lord. And evil shall not be found in you as long as you live. If men rise up to pursue you and to seek your life, the life of my Lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living in the care of the Lord your God.
And the lives of your enemies he shall sling out as from the hollow of a sling. And when the Lord has done to my Lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you, and has appointed you prince over Israel. My Lord shall have no cause of grief or pangs of conscience for having shed blood without cause, or for my Lord taking vengeance himself. And when the Lord has dealt well with my Lord. Then remember Your servant.
Is that amazing, this woman? A wise woman. Abigail is one of the outstanding women in Scripture. Proverbs 31, verse 10 says: An excellent wife who can find, she's far more precious than jewels. Abigail is a very excellent woman, although she's married to a fool.
And hearing from one of Nabel's men, that David and his 400 men are about to attack. She takes very wise action. And she gets together this meal. She's very quick at organizing. Uh Emil, I mean, this woman is discerning, she's beautiful, she's a great cook.
I mean, what more could you want? Being married to a rich man, of course, you'd have had many servants. But she's a woman of action. She's a woman of initiative. And she knows better because she's discerning.
She knows better than to consult her husband on such a situation. And she goes out to meet David. That took not only great wisdom But that took courage. She's heard that David is about to attack her husband. For all she knows, she's going to be the first to be killed.
But her trust is in The Lord. Wives. Your husband may not be as wise or as spiritual as you are. But that doesn't mean that you sink to that level. Abigail is an example of a godly woman.
who is married in a sense to a reprobate, to a fool. But she's a woman who walks with God. And she does not allow her husband to drag her down and to discourage her in her spiritual life. You see, each of us are responsible before God for our own spiritual progress. And what does she do?
She bows to the ground as she knows that David is the anointed of God. And she confesses that her husband, verse 25, is a worthless fellow and that he's acted in accordance with his name. His name means fool, and he's acted like a fool. And she asks for forgiveness.
However, She does more than that. Do you notice what she said? She begins to reprove David. And then she begins to reprove David. This woman of discernment, this woman of wisdom, does it in a very, very skillful way.
She's very wise, she's very gracious. After all, David is going to be the future king, and he's got 400 men with him. She asked David to forgive her husband. He's worthless. This is the verdict with Pastor John Monroe and a lesson titled.
David encounters a fool. John has more to share in just a moment, so stay with us. And as we continue this study on the life of David, We want to make sure you don't miss out on the valuable study guide that goes along with each of these lessons. To help you follow along and interact with our study during this series, John has created a special listening guide full of insightful notes, engaging questions, and helpful prompts.
so that you can apply these biblical teachings to your everyday life. Just go to our website to download your free copy of the Life of David Listening Guide. You'll find it at the verdict.org. And when you do, don't forget to sign up for John's monthly email newsletter to get a first-hand look at the new series, resources, and special events coming up here at The Verdict. Before we close today's program, we invite you to join in what God is doing through these daily biblical messages by supporting us with a financial gift of any amount.
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Now, here's Pastor John Monroe.
Well, what's your verdict? We've seen David lose his temper when faced with a fool. But through the intervention of Abigail, he realizes there's a better way to respond. Do you lose your temper easily? Scripture says that when we're angry, We have to be very careful that we do not sin.
The Apostle James writes that the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Don't be a fool, be wise.
Next time we'll see the conclusion of this interesting story of David encountering a fool. Thanks for joining us today on The Verdict. I'm Michelle Davies. Today's program with Pastor John Monroe was produced and sponsored by Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. Mm.
