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All right, 1 Samuel chapter 25. It's a long chapter, but I do 
think it's good for us to have the text before us before we 
begin. So beginning in verse 1. Then 
Samuel died, and the Israelites gathered together and lamented 
for him and buried him at his home in Ramah. And David arose 
and went down to the wilderness of Paran. Now there was a man 
in Maon whose business was in Carmel, And the man was very 
rich. He had 3,000 sheep and 1,000 
goats. And he was shearing his sheep 
in Carmel. The name of the man was Nabal 
and his wife Abigail. And she was a woman of good understanding 
and beautiful appearance. But the man was harsh and evil 
in his doings. He was of the house of Caleb. 
When David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep, 
David sent 10 young men, and David said to the young men, 
go up to Carmel, go to Nabal, and greet him in my name. And 
thus you shall say to him who lives in prosperity, peace be 
to you, peace to your house, and peace to all that you have. 
Now I have heard that you have shearers. Your shepherds were 
with us, and we did not hurt them, nor was there anything 
missing from them all the while 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 comes to your hand to your servants and to your 
son David. So when David's young men came, 
they spoke to Nabal according to all these words in the name 
of David and waited. And Nabal answered David's servants 
and said, who is David and who is the son of Jesse? There are 
many servants nowadays who break away each one from his master. 
Shall I then take my bread and my water and my meat that I have 
killed for my shearers and give it to men when I do not know 
where they are from? So David's young men turned on 
their heels and went back, and they came and told him all these 
words. Then David said to his men, every 
man gird on his sword. So every man girded on his sword, 
and David also girded on his sword. And about 400 men went 
with David, and 200 stayed with the supplies. Now one of the 
young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, saying, look, David sent 
messengers from the wilderness to greet our master, and he reviled 
them. But 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. Now therefore, know and consider 
what you will do. For harm is determined against 
our master and against all his household. For he is such a scoundrel 
that one cannot speak to him. Then Abigail made haste and took 
200 loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five sheep already dressed, 
five sieves of roasted grain, 100 clusters of raisins, and 
200 cakes of figs, and loaded them on donkeys. And she said 
to her servants, Go on before me. See, I am coming after you.' 
But she did not tell her husband Nabal. So it was, as she wrote 
on the donkey, that she went down under cover of the hill. 
And there were David and his men coming down toward her, and 
she met them. Now David had said, surely in 
vain I have protected all that this fellow has in the wilderness, 
so that nothing was missed of all that belongs to him. And 
he has repaid me evil for good. May God do so, and more also 
to the enemies of David, if I leave one male of all who belong to 
him by morning light. Now when Abigail saw David, she 
dismounted quickly from the donkey, fell on her face before David, 
and bowed down to the ground. So she fell at his feet and said, 
on me my Lord, on me let this iniquity be. And please let your 
maidservant speak in your ears, and hear the words of your maidservant. 
Please, let not my Lord regard this scoundrel Nabal, for as 
his name is, so is he. Nabal is his name, and folly 
is with him. But I, your maidservant, did 
not see the young men of my Lord whom you sent. Now therefore, 
my Lord, as the Lord lives and as your soul lives, since the 
Lord has held you back from coming to bloodshed and from avenging 
yourself with your own hand, Now then, let your enemies and 
those who seek harm for my Lord be as an eight ball. And now 
this present, which your maid servant has brought to my Lord, 
let it be given to the young men who follow my Lord. Please 
forgive the trespass of your maid servant for the Lord will 
certainly make for my Lord and enduring house because my Lord 
fights the battles of the Lord and evil is not found in you 
throughout your days. Yet a man has risen to pursue 
you and seek your life, but the life of my Lord shall be bound 
in the bundle of the living with the Lord, your God, and the lives 
of your enemies. He shall sling out as from the 
pocket of a sling, and it shall come to pass when the Lord has 
done for my Lord, according to all the good that he has spoken 
concerning you and has appointed you ruler over Israel. that this 
will be no grief to you, nor offense of heart to my Lord, 
either that you have shed blood without cause, or that my Lord 
has avenged himself. But when the Lord has dealt well 
with my Lord, then remember your maidservant." And David said 
to Abigail, blessed is the Lord God of Israel, who sent you this 
day to meet me. And 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 morning light, no males would have been left to Nabal. 
So David received from her hand what she had brought him and 
said to her, go up in peace to your house. See, I have heeded 
your voice and respected your person. Now Abigail went to Nabal 
and there he was holding a feast in his house like the feast of 
a king. And Nabal's heart was merry within 
him, for he was very drunk. Therefore, she told him nothing, 
little or much, until morning light. So it was in the morning 
when the wine had gone from Nabal, and his wife had told him these 
things, that his heart died within him, and he became like a stone. 
Then it happened after about 10 days that the Lord struck 
Nabal, and he died. So 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 his 
servant from evil. For the Lord has returned the 
wickedness of Nabal on his own head. And David sent and proposed 
to Abigail to take her as his wife. When the servants of David 
had come to Abigail at Carmel, they spoke to her saying, David 
sent us to you to ask you to become his wife. Then she arose, 
bowed her face to the earth, and said, Here is your maidservant, 
a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my Lord. So Abigail 
rose in haste and rode on a donkey, attended by five of her maidens, 
and she followed the messengers of David and became his wife. 
David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel, and so both of them were his 
wives. Saul had given Michael his daughter, David's wife, to 
Paltiel, the son of Laish, who was from Galim. Amen. Well, oftentimes when men get 
together and they talk about their wives, much to the contrary 
thoughts, perhaps, of some women, they often say they married up. And I think the idea being is 
that they got a woman that is out of their league, or they 
got a woman that is better than they are. I don't know what women 
talk about. They probably talk much the same. Yeah, he married up. He got a 
woman that was out of his league. Well, when we come to chapter 
25, certainly Nabal married up. Abigail is head and shoulders 
over him. in terms of godliness, in terms 
of wisdom. But the chapter ultimately is 
not about Abigail picked a bad guy, or Nabal married up and 
picked a good girl. It's not even about the fact 
that David ultimately ends up with Abigail, and he has a godly 
wife who is full of wisdom. The message, as we will see as 
we proceed, is about God's providence and his restraint of David. Remember 
that in chapters 24 and 26, David refuses to exact vengeance upon 
Saul. In chapter 25, David wants to 
exact vengeance on Nabal. The lesson that he learned or 
the lesson that he imbibed in chapter 24 is quickly gone as 
we get to chapter 25 and it comes back in chapter 26. And had David 
acted upon this desire, as he himself says, he would have been 
taking vengeance into his own hand. Remember, David was tasked 
with fighting the Lord's battles. This is precisely what Abigail 
says to him when she has her speech to him. He is not to avenge 
himself when there is a personal affront to his person. And that's 
precisely what happens in this incident involving Nabal. So 
we'll look at the chapter and then seek to draw out some, what 
I believe, are very practical lessons in chapter 25 of 1 Samuel. There are five sections. We will 
not spend a lot of time on each section, but in the first place, 
the death of Samuel is recorded in verse 1. verses 2 and 3 is 
the setting in Maon, verse 3, I'm sorry, the third section 
is the folly of Nabal in verses 4 to 17, the fourthly is the 
wisdom of Abigail in verses 18 to 35, and then finally the death 
of Nabal in verses 36 to 44. Again, a large chunk of scripture. We won't give attention to every 
jot and detail, but just try to get a feel for the whole as 
we move on. But note the death of Samuel. 
This is the death or the end of a particular era. Samuel was 
the last judge in Israel. He was the kingmaker. He was 
the one that anointed Saul. and the one that anointed David. 
It does help us in terms of timing. We often read biblical narrative, 
and we read through these sections dealing with Saul and David, 
and it seems like they happen Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. 
Well, Samuel died probably around 1030 B.C., and Saul's reign began 
in about 1051 B.C., so there's about a 20-year period there 
where we see all of this stuff going on. And then note specifically 
David's movement. He's moving further south in 
the region of Judah. David arose and went down to 
the wilderness of Paran. He probably spent a short amount 
of time there in Paran and then moved on to Maon. And that brings 
us secondly to this setting in Maon. It's interesting because 
in verses 2 and 3 it introduces us to the two characters, gives 
us a quick summary statement, and then the rest of the chapter 
amplifies or illustrates or fleshes out for us what is said in verses 
2 and 3. Now notice with reference to 
the man, his possessions are mentioned before him. This man 
Nabal quite enjoyed the things that he had. In fact, look over 
at verse 11. Note his emphasis. Shall I then 
take my bread and my water and my meat that I have killed for 
my shearers and give it to men when I do not know where they 
are from? This, in many ways, defines this particular man. 
It starts off by mentioning he's a man of great possessions. And 
it ends with him basically in a drunken state, having feasted 
and rejoiced at the time of sheep shearing, and ultimately dying 
in that particular state. It describes his riches. He had 
3,000 sheep and 1,000 goats, and he was shearing his sheep 
in Carmel. Now, at the time of sheep shearing, it was also a 
time of festival, a time of rejoicing, a time for feasting. This is 
a money-making venture, and when you are shearing these sheep, 
no doubt this is the evidence that God's hand of bounty is 
upon you. So it would be consistent in 
these sorts of settings to have feasting, to have great bounty. Now notice it indicates that 
his name was Nabal. Now, everybody who reads this 
chapter probably wonders what kind of parents name their child 
Nabal. If Nabal does in fact mean fool, 
who looked down at that blessed little bundle and said, I know 
honey, let's call him fool. Some speculate that the root 
might mean something different, but that he takes on the character 
of fool, which is another meaning of Nabal. Either way, by everybody 
else's admission in the chapter, David, the servant that reports 
to Abigail, and then Abigail herself, she holds nothing back 
in relating how foolish and what a scoundrel or a son of Belial 
this Nabal actually is. and realize that the Bible does 
not engage in name-calling. The Bible doesn't just say, oh, 
you're a fool for, you know, just to make you feel bad. There 
is an ethical reference. When you go to the book of Proverbs, 
there is a great distinction between the wise and the foolish. The wise is the man who's godly. The wise is the man who walks 
in righteousness. The fool, rather, is an ungodly 
and an unrighteous person. This speaks not just to the fact 
that he's, you know, a dim bulb, but it speaks to the fact that 
he's a godless man. And that's the heart and essence 
of this man Nabal. So it introduces to us him And 
then it tells us in verse 3, "...and the name of his wife 
was Abigail." And again, in summary fashion that will be developed 
in the rest of the chapter, she was a woman of good understanding 
and beautiful appearance. She's got it all going on. And 
there, again, we would stop and say, well, what is he or what 
is she doing with this particular man? Nevertheless, she conducts 
herself in a godly way, in wisdom, even while she's married to a 
Nabal. And just in case we forgot, the 
writer tells us at the end of verse 3 what manner of man Nabal 
was, but the man was harsh and evil in his doings, he was of 
the house of Caleb." Now let's move on thirdly to the folly 
of Nabal in verses 4 to 17. In the first place, there is 
a request made. David sends men to ask Nabal 
for provision. Now essentially what is happening 
is that David and his 600 men are providing protection for 
Nabal and his shepherds. This isn't a formalized treaty. It's not a formal covenant. Nabal 
hasn't asked David to do it. Rather, David is engaged in this 
particular activity, and as far as David is concerned, it would 
only be right for Nabal to send some provisions their way. Some 
have suggested, some commentators have suggested, that David is 
actually engaged in a protection racket, that he has come to Nabal 
and basically is squeezing him and saying, look, we afforded 
you protection, you need to pay up. That's not how the text reads 
and that's not how the servant reports it to Abigail. Rather, 
the servant reports it to Abigail as David and his men being very 
gracious and very generous and very kind and affording them 
protection. But back to verses 4 to 9, the 
request is specified by David. David is very respectful. Again, 
in the strict definition of contracts, Nabal doesn't owe David anything. Nabal didn't contract David. 
Nabal didn't ask David. David and his men rather did 
this. But David obviously assumes that it would be legitimate. 
Especially with a man who's rich, a man who has great possessions, 
it's feast time as the sheep are being sheared, why shouldn't 
he throw some things our way to help us get our beaks wet 
too? So he tells his young men to 
go up to Carmel, go to Nabal, greet him in my name, and thus 
you shall say to him who lives in prosperity. Peace be to you, 
peace to your house, and peace to all that you have." You see, 
this isn't him squeezing Nabal for some supposed racket that 
David is engaged in. It is a simple request asking 
Nabal to provide some food for them while they are in the wilderness. Verse 9 tells us they execute 
the task. When David's young men came, 
they spoke to Nabal according to all these words. in the name 
of David and waited." Now notice secondly, under this section, 
the folly of Nabal, the rejection. Here we get to see what Nabal's 
all about. Notice in verse 10. He says, who is David and who 
is the son of Jesse? We know that this is not a genuine 
request for information. If he wondered who David was, 
he wouldn't know David was the son of Jesse. It's probably more 
akin to, who is he? Who does he think he is? I'm 
not going to part with my stuff. I'm not going to give things 
away. I am not going to give these things up to David. Notice, 
who is David and who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants 
nowadays who break away, each one, from his master. Remember 
back in, say, chapter 20, we noted how David was expected 
to be present at the new moon festival that Saul was going 
to have. And we asked the question at 
that point, well, why would David go knowing that Saul, or knowing 
at this time that Saul wants to destroy him? because he was 
still a court official, he was still a military leader, and 
he was supposed to be present at that New Moon Festival. David 
was planning to be there, but he made the arrangement with 
Jonathan to try and figure out if indeed Saul was going to kill 
him. All that to say is that David 
really took pains to make sure it did not look like he was deserting 
Saul. And here what Nabal has in his 
head is that David has been one of those sorts of men. There are many servants nowadays 
who break away, each one from his master. Remember when David 
went and stayed in the cave of Adullam in chapter 22. Those 
were the sorts of people that broke away from their master. 
Perhaps Nabal supposes that David's association with those Adolamites 
meant that he too was one that broke away. Gil says, there be 
many servants nowadays that break away every man from his master. 
Which words also the same writer thinks have no reference to David, 
only to his men. But they seem plainly to strike 
at David himself. and suggest that he had revolted 
from and rebelled against Saul his master, as well as received 
and protected fugitives and renegades such as fled from their masters 
and from their creditors. A wise man who just wanted to 
say no to this request, they could have just said no. He didn't 
have to get nasty about it. But Nabal essentially is getting 
nasty about it. Who is David? Who is the son 
of Jesse? There are many servants nowadays 
who break away each from his master. Basically, what he is 
suggesting is that David is not conducting himself in a righteous 
and godly way. And then as we've already noticed 
in verse 11, shall I then take my bread, my water, my meat that 
I have killed from my shearers and give it to men when I do 
not know where they are from? Basically, he says to the servants 
of David, beat it. There's no possible way I am 
going to give you any of the things that he has asked. Now 
notice the response of David in verses 12 to 13. How does 
David respond? David is upset. Verse 12, David's 
young men turned on their heels and went back and they came and 
told him all these words. You know where the emphasis in 
verse 13 is? It is on the sword. That is David's 
response to Nabal in this regard. David said to his men, every 
man gird on his sword. So every man girded on his sword. And David also girded on his 
sword. Now what do you think David and 
his men were going to do with those girded on swords? They 
were going to go and deal out some retribution to Nabal and 
to his men. David was going to avenge, David 
was going to engage in bloodshed. These are the things that come 
out in the remainder of the chapter. Later on, David praises God for 
Abigail because David was restrained from shedding innocent blood. Nabal was a fool, Nabal was an 
irritant, Nabal certainly didn't help David, but Nabal did not 
deserve to die as a result of that. If the chapter stopped 
here with David going out and engaging in this sort of activity, 
this would have sullied his record. It would have provided a blemish. 
It would not be appropriate. Remember back in chapter 19, 
Jonathan pleading with Saul, says specifically to him at the 
end of verse 5, why then will you sin against innocent blood 
to kill David without a cause? Now the pagans engage, or the 
heathen kingdoms, engage in this sort of conduct. The king of 
Israel is supposed to conduct himself in righteousness. He 
is supposed to obey the sixth commandment. Now we see how unwell 
Saul went about, and Saul comes unraveled, and by the time we 
get to chapter 22, he's murdering the priests of Nob. But the king 
of Israel is to be a man of integrity. Had David engaged in this, had 
God not restrained David, this would have been a big blemish 
on his particular record. But this is the response, and 
it's very interesting. In chapter 24, it is David who 
is the restrainer. It is David who calls off his 
men. Remember that his men want Saul 
dead, and David says, no, we are not to touch the Lord's anointed. David does everything in his 
power. In fact, turn back there for just a moment in chapter 
24 at verse 6. And he said to his men, the Lord 
forbid that I should do this thing to my master, the Lord's 
anointed, to stretch out my hand against him, seeing he is the 
anointed of the Lord. So David restrained his servants 
with these words and did not allow them to rise against Saul. And Saul got up from the cave 
and went on his way." The idea here that he restrained them. 
It was with words. It was heated. They probably 
argued to some degree. The servant saying, Saul has 
been served up. He has come to relieve himself 
in our cave. He is a sitting duck. All you 
have to do is cut his throat, stop his heart, and our problems 
will be over. and David restrains them with 
many words and stays them from engaging in this activity. We 
get to chapter 25 and now David must be restrained. It truly 
is something we ought to pay attention to. There are situations 
where the people of God can rightly assess the situation and where 
the people of God make wise decisions and go through in a way that 
is pleasing to the Lord and is thoroughly biblical. And then 
the same people come to a situation and they lose all sense. They 
do not discern. They fall apart and they do something 
that is contrary to the Word of God. The restraint of the 
Lord is what is the preeminent theme in chapter 25. And we can 
praise God for His restraint over David to keep him from shedding 
innocent blood. In fact, later on we'll see that 
it is legitimate for us to praise God not only when He saves us 
from suffering, but when He restrains us from sinning. And that is 
the essence of this particular chapter. David and his men have 
girded on their swords. They're ready to take out Nabal 
and his men. And in so doing, David would 
be guilty of violating the law of God Most High. Vannoy says 
that David's confrontation with Nabal was not a battle of the 
Lord. It was a personal affront that 
provoked David to take personal revenge. I think this section 
as well illustrates for us. I know that there have been times 
in the past, in fact in chapter 24, I am a firm believer in the 
imprecatory Psalms. I believe that we ought to pray 
those things upon the enemies of God. David says as much in 
24 at verse 12. Let the Lord judge between you 
and me and let the Lord avenge me on you. Remember the whole 
idea according to Romans 12. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, 
but rather give place to the wrath of God. I suggested in 
24 and musing on Romans 12, the way that we give place to the 
wrath of God is in our prayers. It is taking up the prayers, 
the war psalms of the Prince of Peace, as one man has called 
them, and we pray those to God concerning his enemies. I think 
this section illustrates for us that we are not to pray those 
Psalms upon our enemies, upon the irritants in our lives, upon 
the nabals that bug us. That is not the one that we are 
to go after. We are not to be vindictive toward 
those particular persons. Actually, we can pray that God 
would deal with those sorts of persons, but ultimately it has 
to be about the Kingdom of God and its progress and its advance. Now notice, the report of verses 
14 to 17, the report of verses 14 to 17, still under the folly 
of Nabal. The servant of Nabal comes and 
tells Abigail what the situation is. Look, David sent messengers 
from the wilderness to greet our master and he reviled them. But 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. Now, therefore, no one consider 
what you will do, for harm is determined against our master 
and against all his household, for he is such a scoundrel that 
one cannot speak to him." No one gets tired of pointing out 
this man's faults, do they? I mean, this is Nabal's claim 
to fame. He is a scoundrel, he is a son 
of Belial, and the whole world is going to know about this from 
various, various corners. Now notice, that report was used 
by God immensely. If we look at 1 Samuel 25, I 
suspect that our first inclination is to see that God is the hero, 
and we would be right, because it's God who restrains David. It's God the Lord who keeps David 
from engaging in this act of vengeance. But then we'd work 
down the line and we'd say, well, wait a minute. In terms of the 
human instrumentality, Abigail's the hero. I mean, from 24 to 
31, she has this long speech that prevails with David. And 
it's because of that, David praises God for Abigail. Abigail's the 
hero in chapter 25. Do you realize that without this 
unnamed servant, Abigail would never have sprang into action? 
This unnamed servant of verses 14 to 17 ought to be given some 
credit in terms of heroism in 1 Samuel 25. Isn't this the Lord's 
way? He oftentimes uses very insignificant, 
very unseen, very small persons to accomplish amazing things. In the book of Acts, in chapter 
23, there is a conspiracy hatched to destroy the apostle Paul. 
Who is it that learns of this conspiracy? It's Paul's nephew. And the nephew goes to Paul, 
not even named, we don't know Oh, we know it's Paul's nephew, 
his sister's son. We don't know his name, little 
Paul, little Johnny, little whoever. We don't know his name, but he 
hears this conspiracy hatch. He goes and tells Paul, and Paul 
says, go and tell the leaders. God uses insignificant and unseen 
things to do amazing things. This servant in 14 to 17 basically 
saved David's bacon. on the human level, because if 
he hadn't instructed Abigail, Abigail wouldn't have loaded 
up the donkeys, Abigail wouldn't have gone to David, Abigail wouldn't 
have prostrated herself before David, and Abigail wouldn't have 
launched into this argument as to why Scoundrel though Nabal 
was, David should not destroy him. Verses 14 to 17 are one 
of those indicators that God the Lord governs all his creatures 
and all their actions to accomplish all of his holy will and he uses 
those persons and those things and those means that are insignificant 
Two men. We want the heroics to be someone 
like Abigail. And again, I'm not taking away 
from Abigail. She's a godly, wise woman. She's beautiful in appearance. 
She has it all going on. But she would have never went 
to David without this unnamed servant. She would have never 
gone about this task without verses 14 to 17. Now notice, 
in the fourth place, in terms of our major point, the wisdom 
of Abigail in verses 18 to 35. What does she do? In the first 
place, she prepares provisions. Now, when we read these things, 
we might ask, how in the world would two skins of wine give 
enough drink to all these? They're probably big sorts of 
things. She's probably dealing with enough 
food, enough provisions to at least make a dent in those 600 
men so that they may all get something. Notice, she gives 
instructions to her servants to go before her, and at the 
end of verse 19 it says, but she did not tell her husband 
Nabal. Again, if she would have told her husband Nabal, it probably 
would not have gone well. She is, under God, doing something 
to ultimately preserve Nabal. And in verse 20, she goes to 
meet with David. Verses 21 to 22 are parenthetical. They probably relate back to 
verse 13. The New King James translates 
verse 21 correctly at the very beginning. It doesn't have, now 
David said. It said, now David had said. This probably refers back to 
verse 13. After the swords were girded, 
after the men were ready, Verses 21 and 22 were probably uttered 
by David. Surely in vain I have protected 
all that this fellow has in the wilderness so that nothing was 
missed of all that belongs to him. And he has repaid me evil 
for good. May God do so and more also to 
the enemies of David if I leave one male of all who belong to 
him by morning light. This is an Anderson text in the 
old King James, right? Yes, you have the King James 
version. Oh, the King James translates one male as those who pisseth 
against the wall. That's a way to refer to men 
in certain instances in the King James Bible. Sorry if that's 
offensive, but that's what the King James has, and that's actually 
what the Hebrew is. It's wall urinators. something 
to that effect. So it's a reference to men. But 
that goes back to verse 13. So David is musing on the reality 
that Nabal has in fact repaid him evil for good and may God 
do so and more also to the enemies of David if I leave one male 
of all who belong to him by morning light. Now notice the meeting. Abigail shows reverence for David. I think 14 times in the section 
she refers to David as Lord. Now when Abigail saw David, verse 
23, she dismounted quickly from the donkey, fell on her face 
before David, and bowed down to the ground. So she petitions 
in the first place that she be charged with responsibility. She fell at his feet and said, 
on me, my lord, on me, let this iniquity be. It's truly amazing. I mean, some might read the end 
of verse 19. She did not tell her husband 
Nabal. Well, a good and godly wife always submits to her husband 
and always tells him everything. Not when she's trying to save 
his life from being executed by David and his men. And so 
she asks that the responsibility be upon her. Then she says, please 
let your maidservant speak in your ears and hear the words 
of your maidservant. Please let not my lord regard 
this scoundrel Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. Nabal 
is his name, and you expect, and folly is his game, but it 
doesn't say that. and folly is with him." But it 
certainly would go that way, wouldn't it? Nabal is his name 
and folly is with him. But I, your maidservant, did 
not see the young men of my Lord, whom you sent. Now notice, she 
recognizes in all of this God's providence. She understands that 
she has a particular mission. I don't know that she understands 
it in the macro level. She wants to save Nabal to be 
sure, but she's also concerned with David's reputation. She's 
also concerned because she knows, and that comes out in her speech, 
that David is going to be the ruler over Israel. and David 
needs to maintain clean hands and David needs to walk up rightly 
before the Lord. Notice in verse 26, Now therefore, 
my Lord, as the Lord lives and as your soul lives, since the 
Lord has held you back from coming to bloodshed and from avenging 
yourself with your own hand, now then let your enemies and 
those who seek harm for my Lord be as an able. So she is pleading 
with him not to engage in this particular activity. She sees 
it at this point, her pleading with David, as a sign that God 
is holding David back from saving himself, specifically in verse 
26. And now this present which your maidservant has brought 
to my Lord, let it be given to the young men who follow my Lord." 
This is what you wanted, this is what you can have. You see, 
she's a wise woman, she's an upright woman, she's a godly 
woman. She comes, she petitions, she pleads, she says, please 
don't do this, here's the provision, spare Nabal. But she does invoke 
God's wrath, let your enemies and those who seek harm from 
my Lord be as Nabal. Now verse 28, please forgive 
the trespass of your maidservant for the Lord will certainly make 
for my Lord an enduring house. You see, everybody knows that 
David is on his way to the throne. Abigail is no exception. Remember, 
Jonathan is told in this in chapter 23 and in other places. David is destined for the throne 
and Abigail sees this as God's restraint over David. to preserve 
him and to keep him in that state until he gets on the throne. 
Now, unfortunately, David does have his downfalls as well. By the time we get to 2 Samuel 
11 and 12, we will see that to be sure. But notice, in this 
instance, the Lord will certainly make for my Lord an enduring 
house, because my Lord fights the battles of the Lord, and 
evil is not found in you throughout your days. Yet a man has risen 
to pursue you and seek your life. This is a reference to Saul. 
But the life of my Lord shall be bound in the bundle of the 
living with the Lord your God and the lives of your enemies 
he shall sling out as from the pocket of a sling. So what is 
going on is that this wise woman is interceding on behalf, first 
and foremost, for the glory of God, for the good of David in 
terms of his accession to the throne, and for Nabal, her husband. And then verse 30, it shall come 
to pass when the Lord has done for my Lord, according to all 
the good that he has spoken concerning you and has appointed you ruler 
over Israel, that this will be no grief to you nor offensive 
heart to my Lord, either that you have shed blood without cause 
or that my Lord has avenged himself. But when the Lord has dealt well 
with my Lord, then remember your maid servant. So her case is 
presented the day that now notice his response. in verses 32 to 
35. David recognizes God's providence. David recognizes God's providence. Blessed is the Lord God of Israel 
who sent you this day to meet me and 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 in Ebal. So David 
received from her hand what she had brought him and said to her, 
go up in peace to your house. See, I have heeded your voice 
and respected your person." David recognizes the sovereign providence 
of God delivered to him via Abigail. Davis makes this comment. He says, David confesses that 
Yahweh, through Abigail, has kept him from tragic wrong. You see, verse 34 and verse 33, 
David acknowledges this. We know that there were differences 
in that era as opposed to ours. But the contrast between Saul 
and David must be maintained. What we have in this whole Saul-David 
story in 16 to 31 is the decline of Saul and the rise to power 
of David. Saul may order Doeg the Edomite 
to turn the sword against the priests at Naph, but David, the 
man after God's own heart, is not supposed to do that. If David 
would have acted on this desire to exact revenge upon Nabal, 
he would have been acting in a Saul-like fashion. It is the 
hand of God in his providence to send Abigail to him, and David 
recognizes it, and he blesses God for it. This is something 
we should appreciate in the chapter. Bless God that He restrains us 
from acting upon the things that we would undertake. Bless God 
that He restrains us from engaging in the sorts of evil that come 
into our hearts and minds. It's not only the deliverance 
from a suffering and distressful situation, but it's the fact 
that God has not let us go into that by restraining us. Davis again. Abigail's intervention 
kept David from walking in Saul's sandals, kept him from turning 
Nabal's carmel into another knob. The rejected king may practice 
sheer butchery, but that is not the way for the chosen king. 
Yet the Chosen One wanted His gore and would have obtained 
it had Yahweh not sent Him a Savior in skirts. God sent a savior 
in skirts to David to restrain him from engaging in assault-like 
practice in executing an innocent man. Again, not a virtuous man, 
not an upright man, but stupid men don't deserve to be put to 
death. It is criminals. It is those 
who engage in vile activity. I mean, if stupid was punishable 
by death, this world would be empty. It is criminal activity 
and David did not have the right, he did not have the just cause 
to go and execute Nabal. And David recognizes that. And 
if you see this over and over again, the Lord has held you 
back. You have kept me this day. God 
who has kept me back from hurting you. David recognizes the hand 
of providence in all of this, and he exercises praise and thanksgiving 
to David. So he responds to Abigail in 
the affirmative. He has respected her person. 
He has said to her, go up in peace to your house. And that 
brings us finally to the death of Nabal in verses 36 to 34. Verses 36 to 38, the report. Abigail went to Nabal, and there 
he was, holding a feast in his house like the feast of a king. 
Nabal's heart was merry within him, for he was very drunk. Therefore 
she told him nothing, little or much, until morning light. 
So it was in the morning when the wine had gone from Nabal, 
and his wife had told him these things, that his heart died within 
him, and he became like a stone. Now notice the brevity of verse 
38, then it happened after about 10 days that the Lord struck 
Nabal and he died. Vengeance is mine I will repay 
says the Lord. God undertakes on behalf of David. What's a lesson for us? We don't 
need to go out and shoot our enemies. We need to give it to 
the Lord God. We need to pray to the Lord God, 
and we need to trust that the Lord God will undertake on behalf 
of His people. In this instance, Yahweh strikes 
Nabal, and Nabal dies. David hears that Nabal is dead 
and David rejoices. Blessed be the Lord, verse 39, 
who has pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of 
Nabal and has kept his servant from evil. You see this constant 
refrain? David knows he got to the precipice 
of Saul-like behavior, but God stopped him through Abigail. 
David doesn't forget this. He is happy. He is blessing God. He is rejoicing in God. And now 
he realizes he didn't need to undertake against Abel. God the 
Lord will fight the battles for David, and God the Lord will 
take care of his enemies. He says at the end of verse 39, 
for the Lord has returned the wickedness of Nabal on his own 
head. And then essentially the chapter 
ends by telling us that David and Abigail got married and they 
lived happily ever after. There were still some troubles 
in David's house, to be sure. But Abigail marries David as 
well as Ahinoam of Jezreel. Probably Ahinoam preceded Abigail. Michael, his daughter, David's 
wife, was given to Peltie, the son of Laish, who was from Galilee. Well, in terms of some lessons. 
First thing, we've already touched on this a little bit, so we won't 
spend a whole lot of time here, the contrast between chapters 
24 and 25. David exercising restraint upon 
himself in 24, in chapter 25, David ready to take matters into 
his own hands. Brethren, we need God's wisdom 
constantly. We may rightly assess and rightly 
deal with the situation in chapter 24, and then we get to chapter 
25 and we lose it. Maybe you all don't lose it, 
but there are Christians out there that do a good thing in 
chapter 24 and they don't go into a certain place, they don't 
engage in a certain activity where they restrain themselves 
or engage in some personal self-government and self-discipline and they 
do a fine job on Monday. Come Tuesday, it's like they're 
a different person. They lose all wherewithal. They've 
fallen apart. Now they're going in places they 
shouldn't have gone. They're doing things they shouldn't 
have done. We constantly stand in need of God's grace, God's 
wisdom. And we have the blessed promise 
from James that if anyone lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who 
gives to all liberally and without reproach. When David heard the 
response of Nabal, David could have stopped for just a moment 
and said to the Lord, what would you have me to do? But that's 
not what David did. David takes his sword and girds 
it upon his thigh. David calls upon his fellow men 
to gird their swords upon their thighs. Brethren, we need to 
guard against making these reactions. We need to stand back, consider 
the situation, and pray to our God. The Proverbs say that the 
heart of the righteous studies how to answer, but the mouth 
of the wicked pours forth evil. Are you a reactionary sort of 
person? Does something happen in your 
life and you flip out? Does something happen in your 
life and you lose it? You just come unglued? You're 
girding on your sword, metaphorically speaking, and you're hacking 
everybody that stands in your way. You need to back it down, 
you need to trust in the Lord, you need to give these things 
to God, and you need to be consistent, not only in chapter 24, but in 
chapter 25. Not only with Saul, the appointed 
king, but with Nabal, the irritating landowner. You've got to maintain 
consistency, and the way to do that is through the grace of 
God and the wisdom that he gives to his people. In the second 
place, we see there is constant opposition facing the Kingdom 
of God. In chapter 24, it's the extravagant 
wickedness of Saul who is trying to destroy David. In chapter 
25, it is the irritating friction of Nabals who get in the way 
of kingdom progress. Now, I would submit that most 
of us won't have the extravagant wickedness of a Saul that opposes 
us, but we will have the irritating friction of many a Nabal. And 
we need wisdom, and we need grace, and we need to understand that 
this is the way it's going to be. Jesus Christ underscored 
this lesson in John 16. In this world you will have nabals. In this world you will have tribulation. But be of good cheer, for I have 
overcome the world. There's always going to be nabals 
in your life. to pray for, or to think rather, 
of a life without nabals, it's not going to happen. There is 
always the irritating friction that other persons are going 
to bring to you as a kingdom citizen. You can't cut their 
heads off. You can't utterly destroy them. 
You can't throw, you know, acid into their faces. You need the 
grace and the wisdom that God gives to his people tried in 
the opposition, from the opposition facing the kingdom. In the third 
place, the blessing of the Lord's restraint. We have seen this 
many times. Verses 26, 33, 34, and 39. All 
of those highlight this reality that God stopped David. And we ought to praise God that 
he stops us. I often thought, when my children 
were younger, that whenever they got caught doing something, it 
was a blessing. It's a blessing to be caught, 
even if you're caught in sin. And then you repent. Sometimes 
people have a problem with that. Well, he didn't repent until 
he got caught. That's exactly what happened 
to David when he lied with Bathsheba and he commits murder against 
Shariah. David wasn't forthcoming about 
that, was he? No, he wasn't. That's why Nathan 
the prophet came and prosecuted the case and said, Thou art the 
man. His repentance was still legit. Repentance is repentance, even 
if it comes after the sin. We need to be Christian in our 
understanding of this particular situation. But be that as it 
may, we ought to praise the Lord God for His restraint. That he 
either, A, keeps us from a particular path, or B, he causes us to be 
found out in a particular path. What would it be if we didn't 
get found out? We continued down a pathway of 
sin. We continued down a pathway of 
wickedness. We continued down a pathway of 
evil. Good things don't come at that 
end. It's better to be found out up here than to end up down 
there. Blakey says, it is a mark of 
sincere and genuine godliness to be not less thankful for being 
kept from sinning than from being rescued from suffering. Praise 
God that he restrains us from our wickedness. In the fourth 
place, again, we've already seen this sort of showed my hand throughout 
the exposition, but the instruments of God's providence. Not only 
the speech of Abigail, or the speech of Abigail, not only in 
the restraint of David, but in the encouragement of David. The 
encouragement of David. How do you think this felt for 
David, who is basically a fugitive, when in 23, Jonathan says, I 
know you're going to be the king. And here in chapter 25, Abigail 
says the same thing. You are going to be the ruler 
over Israel. That had to be an encouragement to David, didn't 
it? I mean, probably at some point, David's thinking, wait 
a minute, didn't Samuel anoint me in chapter 16? What was the 
significance of that? When is this going to happen? 
Ever since that anointing took place, I've had nothing but hardships 
and difficulties and trials. Well, God, in the midst of those 
hardship, difficulties, and trials, sends a Jonathan with an encouraging 
word in 23, sends an Abigail with an encouraging word in 25. 
See, God's purpose here is not only to restrain David from killing, 
from murdering Nabal, but it's also to encourage him with the 
reality that in God's time, You will be ruler over Israel. You don't have to fast pace or 
fast track this particular process. Killing Nabal isn't going to 
get you on that throne any sooner. You just need to trust in the 
Lord. And then the report of the unnamed 
servant. Again, don't forget that unnamed fellow in verses 
14 to 17. Davis says, in retrospect, everything 
depends on his having spoken to Abigail. Doesn't it? Everything. 14 to 17 is huge 
in chapter 25. He says, Abigail's intervention 
depends on the servant's information. He is a minor character of major 
significance. His role is small but essential. I think there's encouragement 
there for all of us. We're not going to be Spurgeon. 
We're not going to be Calvin. Ladies, you're not going to be 
Amy Carmichael. You're not going to be Abigail. Men, we're not 
going to be Davids. It's just not going to happen. 
We're going to be obscure. We're going to make our mark 
on a very small part of this world. We're going to die and 
people are probably going to forget about us. But God uses 
us nonetheless. God uses the unnamed servant 
in 14 to 17, nonetheless, whether we know him, whether we understand 
his name, his heritage, his background, God used this man in a very powerful 
way. A fifth observation is the execution 
of God's wrath. The observation we made last 
time in light of 2412, we need to give place to the wrath of 
God. David was going to take wrath into his own hands and 
execute it upon Nabal. What does God teach him? That 
what he says in 2412 is real. Go back to 2412, let the Lord 
judge between you and me and let the Lord avenge me on you. but my hand shall not be against 
you." Now, did God immediately kill Saul? No, he didn't. David 
prays this in 2412. David says this to Saul in 2412, 
but Saul doesn't immediately die. This is an encouragement 
in 25. I'm sorry, Nabal, but this is 
an encouragement that God killed you. Because David had said this 
in 24.12, and here in chapter 25, God underscores that what 
David said was in fact true. David doesn't have to avenge 
himself upon his enemies. The Lord God Almighty will avenge 
his avenge David from his enemies. And that is precisely what he 
does with Nabal. And then the final observation, 
leaning on Davis here, the triumph of God's kingdom. The triumph 
of God's kingdom. It's tough to get this kingdom 
going, isn't it? Isn't it? I mean, we've been 
at this for some weeks now. And if we understand rightly, 
the time when Samuel died and when Saul was appointed king, 
there's been a span of time. And it seems like the kingdom 
just sort of does like this. Davis says anyone who stands 
back and looks at 1 Samuel 25 as a whole should sense the necessity 
of God's providence. 1 Samuel is depicting how God 
is establishing His kingdom on earth and is showing us why that 
can only be His work. The task can never be fully entrusted 
to human instruments, for one will honor his sons above Yahweh, 
Eli, and another will not be ruled by Yahweh's word, Saul. The kingdom is not even safe 
in the hands of godly servants. For Samuel would have chosen 
another Saul as king. Remember that? 1 Samuel 16. Samuel's 
choice was not David. Samuel looked at the best and 
the brightest that Jesse had to offer in terms of son. In 
fact, the way that Eliab is described in chapter 16 is akin to the 
way that Saul was described. So Samuel was ready to choose 
another Saul to replace the bad Saul. And then he says, and David, 
for his part, would have greased the kingdom path with Nabal's 
blood. There was only one servant who 
could be trusted with the kingdom. He understood that kingdom glory 
came from enduring the hostility of Nabal's against him. So, again, what we have in 25 
is typical of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, who would 
not achieve the throne by engaging in the sorts of things that men 
in 1 Samuel engaged in. So we ought to praise God for 
His Son, the greater Son of David, that does, in fact, achieve what 
David only typified in his earthly reign. Let us pray. Father, we 
thank you for your word and we thank you for your grace and 
your mercy and for your restraint. For certainly, God, we are not 
as wicked as we could be and we thank you for that. Even so, 
we pray that you would grant us the spirit so that we may 
be much holier than we are, that we may pursue those things which 
are pleasing in your sight. We thank you for this chapter 
and what it describes concerning your providence, concerning your 
goodness to your people, to your servant David. And we pray that 
you'd help us to learn these lessons, to learn what Paul tells 
us in Romans 12, to not avenge ourselves, but to give place 
to the wrath of God. We know that you are perfect 
in the way that you execute these things. And we know, God, that 
our trust in you is the source of great comfort and joy and 
great peace in this lower world. We ask that you would go with 
us now and watch over us in the remainder of this week. Be with 
our brothers and our sisters and grant grace to your people 
here. And we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.