Beauty and Two Beasts, Part 2

When Abigail saw David, she hurried and got down from the donkey and fell before David on her face and bowed to the ground.

What's she doing? She's treating him like a king. She fell on his feet and said, Let not my Lord regard this worthless fellow Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. That's another way of saying, David, look, before you strike back, consider the source. What do you expect from a foolish man but foolish actions? David, don't get down in the gutter with him.

Don't stoop to his level. As the Old Testament teaches us about King David's life, we read of his encounter with a man named Nabal. Nabal was a foolish man with a quick tongue that got him into trouble. But Nabal was married to a wise and God-fearing woman named Abigail.

Abigail was able to gently and calmly diffuse the situation. Do you have any foolish people in your life? I hope you don't have many, but if you do, this lesson is for you. As we look at this account today, we're going to learn some important principles for dealing with foolish people.

This is Wisdom for the Heart with Stephen Davey. Stephen's calling today's lesson, The Beauty and Two Beasts. I have been aware as a pastor over these years of many women like Abigail. One woman came to my mind in particular who no longer attends, moved away, but came several years ago. She would be beaten if she attended church without her husband's permission. She had to ask every week.

She demonstrated incredible perseverance and insight and patience. In fact, on one occasion she came up to me and asked for prayer so that she might wisely approach her husband with the request that she attend a woman's special meeting here at church. I couldn't help but think she is married to a fool who doesn't know what he has in her. I wonder how many wives today in the evangelical church at large who have to discreetly give money to the Lord. How many women suffer silently because they love the Lord as much as their husband loves his career path or his toys, his games, his stuff? How many women have insight spiritually and their husbands are spiritually blind? They are living out the exhortation of the apostle Paul who commended believing women in that early church who were married to unbelieving men or husbands who didn't act as believers, who sanctified their homes and blessed their husbands and their children more than their families could ever realize with their biblical insight and their spiritual dedication and godly commitment.

As I read this I want to tip my hat to every woman who can experience something of what she is experiencing. May your tribe increase. Now with that as a backdrop here comes the crisis verse 4. 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 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 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 ask your shepherds they'll tell you. Therefore let my young men find favor in your eyes we've come on a feast day. Please give whatever you have at hand to your servants and to your son David.

Very kindly tactfully asking him for food. By the way if you go down to verse 15 one of the servants confirms to Abigail with these interesting words he says you know it's true we suffered no harm we didn't miss anything when we were in the fields as long as we went with them, David's men. They were a wall verse 16 to us both by night and by day all the while we were with them keeping the sheep.

Here's what's happening. Roving bands of rustlers would steal from flocks and herds certainly the Philistines would making the life of a shepherd all the more dangerous but not when David and his men were around they were like a wall. They protected the shepherds of Nabal and the flocks from being stolen.

In fact they didn't take any of them which reveals some of their character. This isn't blackmail by the way. David isn't some mafia guy asking you know for payment for protection. It would be typical for farmers and ranchers to kind of tip the waiter here so to speak to give for those who provided protection for their shepherds and their flocks. They had performed a wonderful service without being asked and now was appropriate.

Can you give us some food? Sheep shearing furthermore was a time of celebration. David has waited for the most positive moment the most advantageous moment when everybody would be feeling generous.

The crops are in. The sheep are shorn for Nabal to provide food. Notice his rather shocking reply verse 10. Nabal answered David's servants who is David? Who is the son of Jesse?

In other words who does he think he is? This stinging accusation notice there are many servants these days who are breaking away from their masters. Those are fighting words right there. Nabal is insinuating that David has rebelled against his master Saul. You know he's just roaming around the country with these good for nothings.

Disloyal to the throne good for nothing. This is a scathing response. Look at verse 11. Shall I take my bread and my water and my meat that I've killed for my shearers and give it to the men these men who come from I do not know where.

You just hear the bite and the spit. Notice his repeated use of my. This is my bread my water my meat my shearers it's all about I me and mine. He's terribly inflicted with the disease of me. He won't even give bread and water.

Do you notice? Nabal effectively says I don't know where you've come from. Simply another way of saying you and your men mean absolutely nothing to me. If you took care of my shepherds well tough luck. I didn't ask you to. I don't know you and I couldn't care less about the lot of you.

By the way this has political overtones to it. Nabal is denying David the respect of the king elect. In fact if you're wondering well maybe Nabal had never heard of David.

Legitimate question. He would have known what his wife knew. In fact just listen to his wife look over verse 28 the latter part. Listen to what she says to David. For the Lord will certainly make my Lord referring to David a sure house. That word sure certain house refers to a royal dynasty. It's a political term. She's saying David we know you're the anointed one by God to sit on the throne as the prince of Israel and we know that God will give your reign your house a royal dynasty. Nabal is saying you're a nobody. I'm not going to pay you.

I'm not going to treat you as the king elect. Verse 12 so David young men turned away and came back and told David all this. David said to his men every man strap on his sword.

Get your guns on. Every man of them strapped on his sword. David also strapped on his sword. And about 400 men.

This is overkill literally. 400 men went up after David while 200 remained with the baggage. That is they stayed back to guard the camp. Now if you're wondering what David plans on doing let me eliminate any question.

He is not negotiating. He didn't pack a peace pipe in there with his sword. Look down at verse 21. David said surely in vain have I guarded all that this fellow has in the wilderness so that nothing was missed of all that belong to him and he has returned me evil for good. David that's not new is it?

The king's been returning evil for your good for years. He says verse 22 but God do so to the enemies of David and more also by morning I leave so much as one male alive. In other words David and his men are going to slaughter this fool and all his descendants. Now David has a right to be angry but he doesn't have the right to murder anybody. Isn't it interesting that he knew he had no right to take vengeance against Saul? Now he's ready to chop off heads because he doesn't get a dozen sheep and some wine skins as payment for bunking down with Nabal shepherds and keeping them safe.

But don't miss it. David doesn't have a right to murder but he does have a right to be angry. Be slow to anger. James 1 19 means there are times when you can be angry for the right thing to the right amount with the right intention.

I wonder if maybe you can identify here with David. Maybe you're still reeling from the fact that you've been recently perhaps cheated. You shook hands. You kept your word. Maybe you even went above and beyond the call of duty. You worked hard.

You were faithful. Somebody forgot to pay up or notice or reward even worse. Your kindness was returned with harshness. Your service was intentionally overlooked. Your motives were misrepresented. Your self-sacrifice has been unrewarded. Maybe you were expecting a promotion or a pay raise or maybe just a compliment or an honest response.

Maybe you just tried to do a simple deed and it backfired. You helped an older woman across the street and you got to the other side and she hit you over the head with her umbrella because you walked too fast or something like that. I clipped this news article some time ago. It happened recently.

The Denver Post ran it. Two teenage girls just on a whim decided to bake chocolate chip cookies and give them to their neighbors in their neighborhood. If you're living in my neighborhood, that's a wonderful idea. However, after baking the cookies, it was a little late at night, just after 10. They decided to take the cookies only to the houses that had the lights on. They knocked on the door of one home, several houses down.

The lights were on. The 49-year-old woman inside didn't answer but instead called the police. She would then complain that these girls caused her anxiety and she made a trip to the emergency room. The next day, she sued these two young girls and won.

They had to pay her $900 fee to cover the emergency room visit and the woman later told a reporter she hoped the girls had learned their lesson. What lesson? That she's a wacko? That didn't sound very spiritual, did it? In fact, that's not in my notes.

For David, the stakes are a lot higher, obviously. It isn't about cookies but he is reacting with rage that is now consuming him. He actually has a bad case of the disease of me. I've been insulted. I have been mistreated.

I have done right and I'm being treated wrong. One of the shepherds informs Abigail that David is on the march. Verse 18, then Abigail made haste and took 200 loaves and two skins of wine and five sheep already prepared and about 30 quarts of parched grain and 100 clusters of raisin and 200 cakes of figs and laid them on donkeys. This is the original catering business and she is amazing. And she, all that, verse 19, she said to her young men, go on before me.

Behold, I come after you. She did not tell her husband, Nabal. She knows he'd never let her go. He would cut off his nose to spite his face.

He's unteachable. Diplomacy and Nabal don't show up in the same sentence. But David is about to commit a crime. In fact, he's about to do something that goes way beyond the crime and Abigail perceives it all. She's going to deliver a speech as she reaches him eventually.

We'll get into it in just a moment. But it is, I've got to tell you how to tell you, it is an incredibly tactful, wise, discerning speech. She's obviously praying as she travels toward the king elect.

Keep in mind, she has to confront him. He's wrong. And as he's marching along, he's muttering under his breath. I watch that worthless man's sheep and his shepherds and he pays me nothing. He is angry. Stop for just a moment on this path.

Think about it. David has passed some really big tests of character so far with flying colors. Attempts on his life don't anger him. His wife is taken away and he isn't embittered.

A treacherous, deceptive king cannot stop his composing of what are now best known songs in Israel. He's entrusting it all to God. God, you take care of vindicating my character. You take care of protecting me. I give myself to you. You're my rock.

You're my refuge. And now some egotistical sheep herder insults him. That's it. He's ready for murder. He's handled some big tests in life. Now he's stumbling over a lesser test of his character. The truth is, temptation is always changing clothes. It's always adapting new strategies as the enemy exegetes your life, your reactions, responses. It's always changing his bait.

Who would have thought he'd be a foolish, old sheep herder? Let me outline Abigail's discerning comments and give them contemporary titles, sort of in our own vernacular. She, by the way, is going to step in between these two beasts. They're both acting like wild beasts. They're both infected with the disease of me.

I like to think of this scene as beauty and two beasts here. The first of five points in this speech of a lifetime is simply this. Don't stoop to a lower level. The first thing she effectively says to David is don't stoop to a lower level. Look at verse 23. When Abigail saw David, she hurried and got down from the donkey and fell before David on her face and bowed to the ground.

What's she doing? She's treating him like a king. 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 his name is, so is he. Nabal is his name and folly is with him. That's another way of saying, David, look, before you strike back, consider the source. What do you expect from a foolish man but foolish words and foolish actions?

Nabal is acting like Nabal. David, don't get down in the gutter with him. Don't stoop to his level. Secondly, Abigail effectively says, don't take matters into your own hands. Verse 26, 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, note this, your own hand.

She's gently reminding him that he's taking matters into his own hands. As if to say, David, this is uncharacteristic of you. From everything I've heard, you have left your past, present, and future in the hands of God. They're already singing your songs.

You probably knew some of them by heart. David, don't take matters into your own hands. Thirdly, Abigail says, don't diminish your high calling. I love this reminder, verse 28, please forgive the trespass of your servant for the Lord will certainly make my Lord a sure house because my Lord is fighting the battles of the Lord. In other words, David, you're battling the Philistines and we know you're our champion and these are the battles of the Lord. You're the protector of the nation. You're acting as a king ought to be acting.

So what are you going to do? You're going to kill a foolish sheepherder. This isn't a battle of the Lord. Stick to fighting battles in which the Lord is honored.

What a great reminder, by the way, for the church. Our battle is spiritual. We fight for the souls of men and women, but we're not fighting for our creature comforts. Our battle isn't for the respect of our culture. We're not battling for some kind of conservative resurgence. We're not hoping Jesus will come back because our neighbors don't like us. If you haven't noticed, we're slipping back to the idolatry of Ephesus and the immorality of Corinth and the marginalization of the empire of Rome. What countries around us have been facing, we are beginning to face. The battle that is won by prayer, the battle of the Lord for the church, is the winning and discipling of believers.

It's inside out. It is the sound teaching of scripture. It is the advancement of the gospel. The church isn't to mess around with fools like Nabal. He's simply living up to his name.

Nabals, do what Nabals do. Don't diminish your calling. For the church, the reminder would be to stay the course and focus on the gospel. Fourthly, Abigail wisely yet rather courageously kind of cuts to the heart of David's sinful intentions by saying, if I can contemporize it, don't play the part of God. Verse 29, 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 and the care of the Lord your God. In the lives of your enemies, he shall sling out as from the hollow of a sling. This is absolutely brilliant.

Convicting and encouraging. She uses two expressions here in this text that are loaded with subtle meaning. In their culture, if they were going to go on a journey, they'd take their jewels and they'd wrap them up in a bundle of claws.

Kind of like if you go to a pottery store and you're traveling and maybe you're at the airport and you buy something that's breakable, they'll wrap it in all that tissue paper because of the journey. That's what they would do with their precious jewels as they go on a journey. She's saying effectively, David, we know you're journeying to the throne and God has you in his bundle. You're one of his precious jewels.

God will take care of you. Then she ever so kindly reminds him of his greatest moment where God's power shone through him so wonderfully publicly when he ran at that giant Goliath with his slingshot. Notice here effectively she's saying, look, God can take care of all of your enemies in just the same way that he used you with a sling against a giant. What are you doing strapping on a sword?

What are you marching against an Israelite for with a sword? Don't play the part of God. Don't stoop to a lower level. Don't take matters into your own hands. Don't diminish your high calling.

One more. This is the finale to her amazing speech. Abigail says, David, don't forget your future. Look at verse 30. And when the Lord has done to my Lord according to all the good that he's 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 taking vengeance himself.

And the Lord has dealt well with my Lord. Remember your servant. David, she's saying here, don't solely your royal robes of tomorrow with the blood of revenge and self-centeredness today. David, you're angry about today. Abigail knew that and she acknowledged his anger, by the way.

I know you're angry about today. Just don't forget about tomorrow, which is wonderful advice, by the way, to every New Testament Christian. Paul knew he was writing Christians who were being mistreated, defrauded, ignored, marginalized. He writes, don't forget you shall one day judge angels.

God is going to open the record of angelic service and allow us, says his bride, to literally render judgment, 1 Corinthians chapter 6. So is justice dead in your life? Is life unfair? Are those scales not balanced when it comes to you?

You've often wondered why. You may not have an answer, but the answer here would be don't forget tomorrow. One day God will allow you to balance the scales of justice and you'll reign with him and his kingdom and you'll judge even the angels.

By the way, there's another implication in this insight from Abigail. Don't treat people the way you treat them because of who they are. Treat them the way you treat them because of who you are. Don't forget who you are. Who are you? It's easy to forget. You are followers of the Son of David, slandered by Israel's leaders, mocked concerning his birth to an unmarried woman, denigrated.

He and his disciples, his nobodies, denied his rightful place as king and refused honorable worship. He endured the worst of it and he endured it with joy. How? He knew his future. Beloved, don't forget yours. That whatever momentary affliction you have that's temporary, it's going to be replaced by an incredible weight of glory. You, sir, are a crown prince. You, ma'am, are a crown princess. Your robes have already been sized. Mine's going to be two sizes smaller. I just want you to know ahead of time.

I'm back to 38 long. Don't forget who you are. Let me just summarize the rest of this chapter, okay? Here it is.

We're going to fly over it. David responds with humility, transparency. He is teachable. Nabal is not teachable.

Nabal will not listen. David listens. He returns. He thanks Abigail then returns back to his wilderness hideout.

Abigail returns to find her husband drunk at the festival. She waits then tells him the next morning of his close brush with death of her actions and it literally brings about a heart attack, some kind of collapse. Ten days later, God takes his life in judgment. David hears the news, comes back and asks the president of this catering company to marry him and she says yes.

Imagine he married the woman who straightened him out and all the women said that we better stop and all the men said that's what I thought. God bless you. Abigail is a tremendous example to us and I hope you were encouraged by this lesson today. This is Wisdom for the Heart with Stephen Davey. Stephen is in a series on the life of King David called The Singer.

This is lesson seven in that series and it's called The Beauty and Two Beasts. In addition to equipping you with these daily Bible lessons, we also have a magazine that includes articles written by Stephen to help you dive deeper into various topics related to the Christian life. The magazine also has a daily devotional guide that you can use to remain grounded in God's Word every day. The magazine is called Heart to Heart.

We send Heart to Heart magazine to all of our Wisdom partners but we'd be happy to send you the next three issues if you'd like to see it for yourself. You can sign up for it on our website or you can call us today. Our number is 866-48-BIBLE. That's 866-482-4253. Our mailing address is Wisdom International P.O. Box 37297 Raleigh, North Carolina 27627. Well thanks again for joining us today and I hope you'll be with us for our next Bible message tomorrow right here on Wisdom for the Heart.