1 Samuel 25 (Part 2) Bible Study (David and Abigail) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

Let's go to the book of first Samuel together in chapter 25. And where we concluded last week was in verse 13, so let's begin in verse 14. It's good to see you with your bibles today. Let's pray. Lord, this is your holy word.

This is the truth. This is your voice. This is breathed out by you. Lord, we recognize this as the sufficient and errant word of God. We tremble before it.

Lord, help us realize we are not reading a mere story for moral principles. Help us realize that we are not just reading a piece of history. Lord, this word has been given for our training, for our correcting, our reproof, our comfort, our transformation. Lord, we need the empowerment of the Holy Spirit to rest upon the ministry of the word tonight. We've come to feast at your table.

And so, Lord, may we leave here full. May we leave here with a heart that is softened towards you, your will, your purposes for our lives. We surrender this bible study, asking that you would take full control. Lord, filter every word. Man's opinion, Lord, may it fall to the ground, may it not even reach our ears, oh God, may not even come out of this vessel.

May be your word alone, your mind, your will. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. At this point of our study, David is prepared to do something that we never thought David would do. David, this man who has entrusted himself to God in so many ways, especially with how he's been treated by king Saul, is now about to take vengeance for the harm that he had experienced from another.

Up to this point, he has trusted God to deal with Saul, but for some reason, when it came to the insults of Nabal, he thought to himself that it would be better if he were to execute revenge. And this was painful, obviously, for him because he had given good. He had shared good. He had provided good to Nabal, and he experienced nothing but evil and wickedness from this man who was supposed to be his brother, a man from his own tribe. And before we even read another verse, we can we can come to this conclusion up to this point in this chapter that yet again we are given another example about a man of God, one of the most devoted and sanctified servants of God and his kingdom, is but a man still.

And even the best of God's men, God's women, are susceptible to temptation and succumbing to the flesh. And so may we never put too much hope in man. May we never worship man, rely too much on man. The only one that will never fail us is the one that died for us. Others will fail.

Others will have shortcomings. It's no excuse for us to not pursue holiness, but it is an insight to remind us that we are able to fall and fail. Therefore, we need him all the more. If a man like David can fail, surely you and I can fail. And there's much to learn in the remaining of this chapter.

Look how many verses are left in that chapter. So much to learn from this king in training, but not just from David. We are now going to learn so much from another hero, an unsung hero, by the way. Unfortunately, Abigail was not praised in all of Israel through song like David was. But nevertheless, she was still someone to be praised.

She is going to save the day. She is going to, through her intervention, provide much, much, much instruction for you and I. I mean, look again at this chapter and consider this, that most of this content is given for and is reserved for her speech toward David. Not in two verses, not in one verse, but in many, many words and and many, many arguments. Surely God wants to teach us something through this woman named Abigail.

And that's what we're going to see in this chapter. Up to this point, look at verse three. All we know about this woman was that she was a wife of a fool, and that she was discerning and beautiful. She was a woman of good understanding. She was a woman who had outer beauty, but more importantly, inner beauty.

And we are going to see how that's going to flesh out. We're gonna see these qualities come to life. But interestingly enough, what we're gonna see is the discernment of the woman be highlighted way more than her appearance. In fact, her appearance isn't mentioned again. It goes to show what God values.

It goes to show what we should be learning from. And as a people who are called by our God to be wise, and discerning, and prudent, and cautious, we're going to see some marks of a wise individual, of a servant of God, what wisdom actually looks like when it's when it's manifested. And so the main point of this message, of this Bible study, is going to be marks of wisdom. This chapter is so rich that you can have two Bible studies. You can have many Bible studies on it, but two themes.

There is so much of the gospel in this chapter. So much of the gospel. So many parallels to gospel experience, gospel truth. And then there's also the practical implications of what it means to live out as a person who cherishes and pursues and applies something that the Bible values, and that is wisdom. Not knowledge, wisdom.

Knowledge is information. Wisdom is what you do with the data that you receive throughout your life. And as you hear these different points, can I challenge you to do something? Can we all do this together? We're gonna hear one point after the other through Abigail's encounter with David, and and let's ask ourselves, Lord, is this true of me?

Is this true in my life? If not, would you give me the wisdom? Would you give me the impartation necessary so that I can be an effective vessel for your glory? Because we will not be effective if we do not have wisdom. We will do much harm to our testimony, to the testimony of the gospel, and so therefore, the great protection in this life as we navigate through it with all the events and surprises is to be a people who know how to treasure wisdom.

It's quite amazing how much of this text is dedicated to Abigail, so let's begin in verse 14 and see how her life in this moment can help us. The last scene that we have in our minds before we read verse 14 is that David with 400 men are approaching Nabal and his his home with swords. 200 are left behind with the baggage. 400 are marching on towards this man, ready to eradicate them from the face of the earth. And so in verse 14, we read, But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to greet our master, and he railed at them.

Yet the men were very good to us, and we suffered no harm. And we did not 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. Now therefore know this and consider what you should do, for harm is determined against our master and against all his house, and he is such a worthless man that no one that one cannot speak to him. The first thing that we learn about this woman as we read this text is that one of the young servants who observed and learned about, Nabal's, words towards David and what David obviously had done for him and his his readiness to retaliate was that he approaches Abigail.

His instinct, his reflex, his reaction was go to this woman and for good reason. Abigail obviously had a reputation and her reputation was this. She was able to provide worthwhile information, advice. She was a source of guidance. And this says something about her character, something about this woman that is important for us to understand about our own lives.

She was a person who could solve problems and not one who fueled them. She was a peacemaker, not a troublemaker. She was someone that saw peace between relationships as the ultimate end, and she knew the best way to accomplish that end. And unfortunately, that was not true of Nabal, and that's not true of many people. When a person is a peacemaker, Jesus says that they are blessed.

Not only will they be blessed, but they are a blessing. And surely that is true for any community, any household, any group of friends, any ministry. When you have people who strive for rest among brothers, they are a treasure indeed. In fact, David himself recognized the blessing that Abigail was. Look down at verse 33.

Blessed be your discretion, and blessed be you who have kept me this day from blood guilt and from working salvation with my own hand. This woman was a blessing, and it's a joy to know that you and I can be a blessing to others, that our presence, that our words, that our actions bring about harmony, and not havoc, and not chaos, and not disturbance, and not strife. And what was said of Abigail could not be said of so many people in the Bible, including Job's wife. Have you realized that Satan had access to everything in Job's life? He can destroy anything including his family.

He destroyed Job's kids, but he leaves Job's wife on the scene. Have you ever thought about that? You know what that means? That Satan, with whatever cunning he had, thought to himself, I could kill her, but it would be more destructive for Job if I keep her alive. Imagine that.

And her words proved it. She was nothing more than a greater challenge to the issues that he was experiencing. And and that could be said of people today in churches, again in marriages, in households, among siblings, at workplaces, that their presence only brings more disturbance and difficulty when we are supposed to bring about grace and assistance and lifting each other's burdens. This woman was was of that sort. And we're gonna see just how discerning she was in in these verses.

But one insight about Abigail is actually found in what is said about her husband. Notice what the man says at the ver at the end of verse 17 about Nabal. He is such a worthless man that one cannot speak to him. Nabal was a man that you he couldn't he he would not listen to your advice. He he would not even dare entertain the possibility that your input can actually be better than his outlook.

He he could not humble himself. He would not even listen to what you would have to say. It was his way or the highway. It was his plan or no plan. And this individual, whose name means foolish, is proving that by this very insight here.

He he would not even open his ears to what somebody can say. Even if it was the most trustworthy servant, even if his own wife. And that proves that his wife was the opposite. She was open. She was humble.

She could be approached. She could inquire. She can listen. She could she could consider a better option that didn't stem from her own thinking, her own ideas. And that is in the bible, the first mark in this in this chapter, the first mark of wisdom, someone who is willing to listen.

Someone who is willing to listen. I love this verse. I've quoted it many times because it has blessed me in my life. It's in Ecclesiastes four thirteen. Better to be a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king who no longer knew how to take advice.

What's foolishness according to that verse? A man, no matter how stately he is, no matter what resources he has, a man who cannot take advice is a fool. Is a fool. And that's Nabal, but that's not his wife, Abigail. She could obviously receive, And therefore, one of the marks of somebody who's walking in good understanding is that they're they're willing to give their ear so that they can gain better understanding.

So here's a question to ask ourselves in this very practical bible study. Do you seek advice from godly men and godly women? How does your heart respond to correction, to advice, to input? Is it is it difficult for you to be told that perhaps you're wrong? Or are you in the place where you are so willing to be in the will of God that even if you are in the wrong, you would wanna be told you're in the wrong because you wanna be walking in the light?

There is no way that anybody will graduate in wisdom if they can't get this simple foundational attitude developed. I must be willing to hear. I must be willing to listen. This was this woman. But we go on to verse 18 to see a second mark.

Then Abigail made haste and took 200 loaves and two skins of wine and five sheep already prepared and five seahs of parched grain, and a 100 clusters of raisins, and 200 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 Nabal. Verse 18.

What sticks out to you there when it comes to her response to the news from this young man? Haste. Very good. Then Abigail made haste. Here's point number two of a person who possesses wisdom.

Number one is that they are willing to listen. They are willing to hear. They're willing to humble themselves to the opinions and the insights of others. Number two, they have an ability to foresee. They have an ability to foresee.

I'm not talking about being prophetic in the sense that you can see the future. We'll get to what I mean in a moment. But notice her promptness based on the news. When she was told from this young man the imminent danger, she was able to, in that moment, interpret the urgency of the matter. And she acted appropriately.

So she, she did not, she did not fail to realize how serious this issue was, and so she began to move according to the news that came to her front door. And a person who possesses good understanding may not know exactly how everything in life will unfold, every situation or circumstance, but one thing is for certain. They understand the possible danger of someone or something, and they know to a great degree how they should best either approach or avoid. Approach or avoid. Address or do not address.

They have that kind of a concept. They have that comprehension, and the Bible praises that kind of wisdom. This is not me reading into the text. The Bible speaks exactly about this on more than one occasion in the book that people go to to learn about how to be wise. So in Proverbs 2seven 12, what are we told?

The prudent sees danger and hides himself. But the simple go on and suffer. They suffer for it. So a wise person is able to look out onto the horizon and know what to do based on what is coming their way. They live with a sense of being prepared.

They, they, they work proactively, not always reacting. And this woman is proving that. There are many things in life that will cause you and I, in wisdom, to not respond to. Words of people, the actions of people to say this is not worth investing an iota of energy. Right?

David did that with his older brother. His brother was trying to scorn him and mock him in public. And David's like, okay. Okay. I got I got bigger things to do here.

And so we have to be careful not to invest things into battles that don't matter in the end. But you have some people who have this idea of wisdom, and it's not wisdom. That no matter what the situation is, just leave it to God. It sounds spiritual. Let God deal with it.

Let God deal with it. And yes, it's true. There are some things that we have to, which are out of our control, say, Lord, I can't do anything about this. You must intervene. But if we think that everything that happens in life has to be God dealing with it, meaning that we don't, we don't lift our hands, we don't move, we don't plan, then we have a lot of issues with many men and women of scripture, including Paul.

If Paul said, just leave it to God, don't worry about it, it it it, you know, it's his church, He can take care of it. Then why did he name so many names to warn Christians about agitators and false teachers? Why did he warn churches, be careful of these individuals? Just leave it to the Lord, the Lord no. Don't do that.

Don't do that all the time. That's not wise. But you have people who give that kind of advice. For every single thing, just the Lord will No. God gives you instructions to do something.

He he gives you principles. He gives you guidelines of how to go about certain things, and he will hold us accountable for it. And so we have to we have to pull back here and realize that there are moments where the best thing to do is to be quiet and let the Lord fight that battle. And there are other times where God expects us to do something. How do you know what to do?

At what point? With what situation? Well, that's where wisdom comes in. That's that's why we need God to give us that frame of mind to go, this is the Lord's. This is where I have to do something prayerfully.

Yes, inquiring God to empower me and to give me the guidance, but ultimately I got to do something here. And that's what we see here. Look at verse 34. Look how David comments about Abigail's intervention. For as surely as the Lord the God of Israel lives, who has restrained me from hurting you unless you had hurried and come to meet me, truly by morning there had not been left to Naba'ol so much as one male.

You didn't come and show up, you all would have been dead. Your timing, your promptness was a God thing. But look at her, the same woman who acted in such promptness, Look at her patience in verse 36 in dealing with her husband. And Abigail came to Nabal and behold, 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.

So she told them nothing at all until the morning light. Do you see? There is a moment to act, there is a moment to wait. And the context, the context will determine that. And the wisdom will know what to say, when to say, is this the time?

Is this not the time? So there there's no code of what to do in every situation. You realize that. Right? The Bible would be this big.

But what God does is he imparts something known as wisdom, so that even in 2022, when you're in a situation that is not necessarily in a book of the Bible, you know how to go about in the most righteous and God glorifying way. And with this woman, she knew when to act. She she knew when not to act. And both were very, very prosperous. And as I look at this, as I look at her promptness, her readiness, her hastiness to act upon the news that she receives, don't you don't you get a gospel, a gospel idea here?

That she receives some news of imminent judgment and her comprehension was to be urgent with her response. And that is the same. That is the same kind of attitude people must have when it comes to receiving the news of the gospel, to promptly realize the urgency of the matter and to respond to the demands of such a truth as soon as possible. She did not delay. She did not wait.

She did not think, you know, this this this can hold off till next week. She realized, though not knowing when it was about to happen, that there was a man coming, though unjust was his vengeance, there is one coming who is just with his vengeance. And Paul gave us the time frame of how every person should respond to that truth. Today is the day of salvation. Now.

Why would you wait till tomorrow? If if we looked at Abigail in this situation and she said, you know, I'll think about it. I I gotta contemplate other concepts first. I gotta realize if I really wanna get into this, and we would say whatever. Foolish.

You're a fool. Why would you even hold off on that? It's coming whether you realize it or not. Whether you believe it or not, it's going to happen. And so if we would call Abigail a fool for reacting in such a way, with such delay and hesitation, what would we tell of those who do the same with the coming Christ?

The ultimate manifestation of foolishness. And so we see that there is an ability to interpret the timing of things, the context of things, and to foresee where things can go. That can only come when God by his spirit, through his word, in prayer, gives you something known as wisdom. Look at verse 19. And she said to her young men, go on before me.

Behold, I come after you. But she did not tell her husband Nabal. Here's the third mark of wisdom. First was, you're able to listen. Second, there's an ability to foresee and to act.

To act based on the unique situation, what to do, what not to do. Let me let me emphasize that point again. Solomon knew what to do when those two women came arguing for who who belonged to the baby, and who whose mother was the baby. And he goes, give me a sword, cut it in half, give them each a piece. Where did that come from?

Where did that come from? It didn't come from the book of Deuteronomy. You can't find a verse on that. Prior to that, he asked God for wisdom, and God gave him the the exact ability to know how to evaluate and move about in a situation that was extremely unique, so unique was it, and so profound was it that they said this was from God. What's the wisdom here in verse 19?

Very good. But she did not tell her husband Nava. Now, I don't know if that would sound like wisdom to us, but it is. Because wisdom is not just knowing what to say, it's knowing what not to say. Wisdom is not just being able to give out, wonderful truths about life and how to go about certain situations.

Wisdom also knows how to saying even the right thing to the wrong person. See, this is beyond basics. This is deeper than that. And we see that here with this woman. Unfortunately, in this case, the person who was intentionally uninformed was her own husband.

So we can't look at this as a proof text of being conniving and deceiving and being sneaky, especially when it comes to marriage because a man and woman in that covenant are one. They share many things together. But as we come to a text like this, although she's not working against her husband, she is doing something that her husband should have been doing. Remember, Nabal was not just being rude to David. Nabal was breaking God's commands and his treatment of David by not providing for him as the scripture says to provide.

So what she is doing here is she is paying the debt that the man owes. She is stepping up because he would not step up. And she in wisdom knew if I include him in this, it will be to our own destruction because surely he would object, and there will be chaos, and it will be to his own demise. And so the best thing to do, though it was a difficult thing to do was, I cannot tell this man. He is just too foolish.

She knew that. The servants knew that. And the only person who didn't believe that was himself. But the principle is still here. Right?

Obviously, the situation is unique. This is a matter of life and death. It's not a matter of you should buy a certain piece of furniture for the house or not, and you're not telling your hubby. That's not what it is. We're gonna die here.

And so she needed to come, and she needed to step up, and she needed to exclude him for his own life, and for her own life, and for many other people's lives. Wisdom knows what not to say, and what not to say to certain people. That's not being secretive, that's being prudent and responsible. Foolishness is seen in the person who is unable to conceal, who is unable to reserve things for the thrill of being some kind of informant, for the for the thrill of engaging in conversations that can easily lead to gossip and other troublesome talk. A person who is wise is quiet.

They know that even what is true and right, if it's in the the hands of the immature or or those who are not able to deal with such information, that could be more harmful than anything else. The Bible tells us in Proverbs 20, do not associate with a simple babbler. Somebody that that can't just stop talking. Somebody that just doesn't they don't calculate their words. They just just word vomit on everything and everybody.

Right? Somebody jokingly said, if you want news to get across the land, don't go to your local news station, just go to your local church. People in the church are very good at spreading information very fast, and it's information that's not needed to be spread. And yet here we see that this woman knew what not to say, and that was actually for the greater good. That was for the greater good.

I can give you many examples of what that looks like, but let me just ask you this question. Remember, we're examining ourselves. Do you always have the urge to share everything that you learn or you experience in life? Is there any privacy in your life? You know, God even encourages you and I to keep things secret.

You know that, right? No? You guys are looking at me like I'm lying. Doesn't he tell you when you pray to do it in secret? Didn't he tell you when you fast to do it in secret?

Doesn't he say when you give to do it in secret? You know, we talk about being having an intimate relationship with the Lord, but there's nothing intimate about it. God even and he wants things to be one on one to a certain level. Yes, we live in community, we live openly, and we're transparent for the sake of accountability, but there must be some things that are just between us and him. He tells us that.

He tells us that. I remember a young brother, he was, young in the faith. When he first got saved, he poor fellow. He thought that he can trust every Christian that he talked to. And so when he first got saved and he just joined a local church, he was telling everybody what God was revealing to his heart, what God was calling him to do, how I I think God's gonna take me there and do this with me.

And somebody wisely put them aside, maybe he broke his heart, but it's okay. You can't be doing that stuff. Why? I'm with Christians. I'm in the church.

Yeah. You'll figure it out long enough. And that person learned from a wise individual, but he also learned from experience. And so there is a wisdom in knowing how to conceal and not being a person who continually and always reveals. Whether that's your personal information, whether that's what you see, whether it's about the sins of other people.

Joseph got in a lot of trouble for it by sharing his dreams. Right? I mean, talk about immaturity. You share it the first time, and you can tell that they're acting different around you. And you go ahead and you add fuel to the fire, and you tell them this next dream.

There's wisdom and concealing. Let's read on here in verse 20. And as she rode on the donkey and came 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 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.

Now, before we go on to this next point, the scripture, it's almost like we're getting a scene cut as we now see in the suspense's building of Abigail preparing the provision for this man. We come to the man and we can see the fumes from his head, and and we even see the frustration so boiled over in his heart, so burning in his soul that he's actually voicing what is bothering him to the bone. He's actually talking to himself. That's how much this man is consumed with rage. And as you read here, you get an idea of why he is angry, and it's really an insight of why many people are disappointed in their Christian walk.

Notice what he says here. Now David had said in verse 21, surely in vain I have guarded all that this fellow has in the wilderness. David believed for a moment that his efforts, that his service, that his sacrifice was a waste. I just wasted my time. I wasted my energy.

I wasted my love. And you know what, my brother, my sister, you will open yourself up to a lot of disappointment in your Christian walk if you are only looking for rewards in this life. Because you have many people that are ready to give up simply because they didn't receive the praise that they were expecting for their service. And you have people who are not only just willing to give up, they're ready to turn their back on God altogether because they receive unjust treatment for their for their good. If you view your ministry in light of how David viewed his service, you're setting yourself up to not have great longevity in your faithfulness to the Lord.

You're setting yourself up for much internal turmoil if you just see your reward in this life. And not just disappointment. If you're not careful, that kind of frustration can lead to justifying certain sins and compromise to medicate yourself because sin always promises immediate reward and gratification. And this man wanted to satisfy it to a certain degree by wanting to just kill all these people in a mini genocide. You know what the antidote is?

You know what the remedy is to this? Believe with all your heart that there is a God in heaven who is keeping account of all your works. All your works. Ones that you wouldn't even consider to be worthy to be rewarded. And I believe God knew.

God knew that in his people throughout time would feel the temptations that David is saying, would believe those lies. And so throughout the scriptures, he's given many promises and assurances that there is a day coming where I will look you in the eyes, and I will reward you though men have ignored you and dismissed you. One of my favorite scriptures is in the New Testament. It's in Hebrews chapter six verse 10. Look what the author says.

For God is not unjust. For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints as you still do. Men might be unjust. Even your spiritual leaders might be unjust by taking advantage of you or never thanking you or never giving you the appreciation that you believe you deserve. But God is not unjust to overlook what you do for the saints.

He will in fact reward you, and it'll be greater than if all the world was given to you. See, if David believed that, that what he had done for Nabal, though he was mistreated, I'm sure that this would have subsided much more than what's happening here. But we're coming back to Abigail, right? She's about to face this enraged warrior. When Abigail saw David in verse 23, she hurried and got down from the donkey and 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. Alright. Marks of wisdom. Number one, you're able to listen.

Number two, you have an ability to foresee. You don't have blinders on. You understand the possible dangers or rewards, the best outcome of the decisions that you would make in a certain circumstance. Number three, we learned that wisdom also knows not what to say, and to say the right thing to the wrong person is not beneficial. There's an element of concealment for the sake of people's protection and your own protection at times.

Number four, a wise person possesses a calculated ability to approach a specific audience in a specific way. A wise person knows what to say, how to say it, depending on the person who is receiving what you want to offer, And that's what we see in this woman. This encounter, this confrontation is is very unique. It is dripping with grace. It is dripping with divine wisdom, and it is an encouragement in a world where you will deal with conflict and people who will step on your toes.

And that's what we see with this woman. She comes to David, and what's the first thing that she does in verse 23? She falls before him. She bows before him. Before she says anything, she's already demonstrating a posture of respect.

I love that. You know why? Because not only with all the supplies that she brought, all the the the food that she brought, not only is she supplying and paying for the debt that the mall did not pay, she's also providing the respect that he refused to give. She comes with humility, and she falls at his feet, and she gently appeals to him. Read this.

I I don't know if you read it before the bible study. Read it after. You'll realize it as we read it together. How many times she refers to him as my lord? My lord, my lord, my lord, my lord, my lord.

This is this is amazing because she's doing the exact opposite of what her husband was doing. She knows exactly what the wound is and she's treating it. She's not just she's doing something very very intentional here. And what I love about her initial approach is that she could have come off immediately with a sharp rebuke. You know why?

Because David is about to do something that is extremely sinful. He's about to kill people unjustly. And maybe with the news coming to us about a person who was about to do that, and with the power that you have as a wealthy woman with with many servants at your disposal, she could have come up and says, who do you think you are? What do you think you're doing? Would it would it have been justified?

Perhaps. Would it have been the best option? Perhaps not. Wouldn't it have been the most effective way of approaching the situation? She comes in a way that wins David and his attention and his willingness to pause and consider what she has to say.

That's wisdom. That is wisdom. And we heard it earlier about how a gentle answer turns away wrath. You know, I've put that to test a couple of times in my life with strangers, and it works. It actually works, especially in a day and especially in a nation like America where it doesn't take much for people to be upset with you.

It's incredible. And we see it, we see it lived out here. She respects the man. She comes with that kind of aura. She comes with that kind of attitude.

And what's even more impressive was she is a wealthy and beautiful woman. She didn't come with a sense of superiority. She didn't come with a snobby kind of, feel about her. She came like a servant. She came and bowed before him.

That's amazing because I I learned by that that this woman, though she had the money, though she had the beauty, that didn't poison her character. She didn't she didn't she didn't allow that to interfere with her treatment of other people. And so while she comes with this, we learn here that the fragrance of humility is attractive. And you and I are to apply that as a perfume on our garments so that the closer we get to people, the more inviting we are. Because nothing repels people more than pride and arrogance.

Even if what you have to say is right, if you stink with that stench, people will wanna walk away from you without even giving you a chance to say what you think you have to say. She's so, she's so adorable. Not in the cute sense, but in the sense of just just her her sensitivity and her willingness to come so low is wonderful. And look what she does here in verse 24. On me alone, my lord, be the guilt.

Please let your servant speak in your ears and hear the words of your servant. This is what she this is so so she doesn't come with respect. Now she come she's coming with a form of repentance. She says put the guilt on me. Now hold on.

That seems noble, but that's also that's also wrong to our sense of justice because we know that the person who's in the wrong is Nabal, not her. And she admits that in the next verse. She confesses, I was ignorant of what took place here. But but she still, as her initial call to him, wants to take the attention away from the bowel and put it on her. And she's willing to pay for whatever trouble her husband has caused.

This is astounding. Now here's the prophetic picture. Who does that sound like? Your Lord. Our savior.

Who's more beautiful than 10,000? Who's wiser than Solomon? And who, like Abigail, is willing to stand in the way between wrath and the guilty, who's willing to take the guilt of another and for it to be placed upon herself. This is this is a picture of Christ. Let me stand in the way.

Though they are deserving of it, I will take it upon myself, and I will do so in the form of great humility as we are told in Philippians two, that he humbled himself by becoming a servant and dying not just any death, but even death on a cross. And so we see a gospel picture here, but we also see something very, very, very important when it comes to our practical life. Right? What she is doing in her desire to evade this and to bring this to rest is that she is not downplaying the seriousness of the offense. She is not ignoring.

She is not trying to dismiss or give excuse of what was done against David. Listen, and she does it in verse 25. Look here. 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.

But I, your servant, did not see the young man of my lord whom you sent. Does that sound like somebody who is downplaying what happened? No. She's calling it as it is. And she is pinning the guilt exactly where it should go.

She's recognizing the foolishness of this man, and that is good. Because if you and I are striving to bring about reconciliation, whether in our own lives or between others, one of the worst things that you can do is either make an excuse or to dismiss the pain that somebody experienced from the wrong wrong of somebody else. That this is especially hard when we are the offender. And we are a techno you know, Christ said you have to reconcile us. Let me just do this.

And you approach the person that you have offended, and in that process, you are we've all done it. We've all we've all thought it. How can I downplay my offense as much as possible? And the reason why we do that is because we don't want our pride to be hurt. Right?

You're saying, why why is that why is that our inclination? Because we inherited it from Adam and Eve, that's why. Almost immediately after the fall, one of the reflexes of men in his fallen state was to go, it's her fault. Yeah, I did it, but you did that for me to do this. Have you said it before?

Have you thought it before? Nothing of the sort from this woman. Because you and I have to determine in those moments of potential reconciliation, am I willing for my pride to be hurt so that the hurt can be restored? Am I willing for my pride to be hurt so that the the genuinely hurting can be healed? And that's gonna require acknowledgement.

It's gonna require honest assessment. I was wrong. I cannot tell you how over the years of seeing people attempt to reconcile, how that is one of the most powerful healing forces to seeing something rebuild again. When there's, like, no hint of excuses, just like, I'm wrong. It's wrong.

It was evil. It was wicked. I was in the flesh. It just, like, you can even in the atmosphere, it just, like, something happens. This is what she's doing.

And I have a feeling that in this moment, already there was cool water poured on the inflamed heart of this this mighty soldier. She had this ability to know how to come, what to say, how to say it, and already there's been great success in her attempt to bring about peace in this situation. A wise person knows how to approach a specific audience in a specific way. If they're filled with fury, you're not gonna fight fire with fire. That's that's unwise.

If they are hurting and and and they are hurting because of their sin and they're showing remote remorse and brokenness, you're not gonna come and take another whip at them. You're gonna come in a way in which you can encourage them and build them up. If there's somebody who is extremely arrogant in their sin, no sign of repentance, no sign of conviction, you might have to be a little bit more stern. How do you apply all of that? Something called wisdom.

But we come here and we see something else, a fifth sign of wisdom, and it's here in 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 your own hand, Now then let your enemies and those who seek to do evil to my Lord be as Nabal. 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 sure house because my lord is fighting the battles of the lord. And evil shall not be found in you, so 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 and the care of the Lord your God.

And the lives of your enemies he shall sling out 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 working salvation himself. And when the Lord has dealt well with my Lord, then remember your servant. Beautiful. Incredible.

Piercing. Gripping. What's happening here? So after she addresses him with respect and reverence and with balm in her voice and in her words, There's much to learn in the remainder of the speech here, but one specific thing needs to be highlighted. She now includes the Lord in the matter.

Seven times, she names the Lord, and she's doing this strategically. She knows who she's speaking to. She's speaking to a man of God, a man who loves God. She didn't know him personally, but she knew enough about him that David would care about how God would see the situation. And that tells me something about what temptation does, what sin does, is that it is able to blind you to the awareness of God and his involvement in situations in your life.

It's amazing how sin, when it is, indulged or when it is answered to, it has an intoxicating effect upon the mind. And oftentimes, if people are not careful, when they are just consumed with passion, they exclude God from their thinking. And if they're not careful, they might include God, but they will twist something about God's word and his will and his person to justify the behavior that they are premeditating to act upon. What she does is she's trying to sober him up. And here's the fifth mark of a person who possesses wisdom.

They have a theological frame of mind. In other words, they know God's word and they know how it applies to daily life. Does wisdom not come from God? Surely. You can have practical wisdom in life to know how to go about certain things, but ultimate wisdom comes from God.

So how are you gonna know greater heights of wisdom without knowing God and his word and how it applies to people's lives. Christians should be the best counselors in the world. And obviously, it doesn't help much for the person who's unregenerate, but but to us, we have to understand what's happening here. She is including God in the matter, and she knows God's word specifically and is applying it specifically. How is she doing that?

Look again here in verse 26. What do you see from this? 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. What is she talking about right there? She's talking about what's happening in this very moment, is she not?

So so what's Abigail doing? She realizes that this interruption is providence. Hey David, God, God is trying to get your attention. In this moment right here, I'm telling you that this is not Abigail coming to you. This is God providing you a chance to not move forward in your sin.

This woman understood how providence worked. That this young man coming up to her and her catching David on time, that was God. And she is rehearsing that over this man. God is giving you a chance not to act in the flesh. And she's doing it so carefully.

Realize that she is indirectly telling him, you are about to do evil. You're about to do wrong, and God is trying to stop you. Like, brilliant. And so she's now interpreting providence in the matter. She believed in providence and she knew how to see providence when it presented itself.

But look at verse 28. What does she say in verse 28? Please forgive the trespass of your servant. Look at this part, for the Lord will certainly make my lord a sure house, because my lord is fighting the battles of the Lord and evil shall not be found in you as long as you live. She's reminding David that as a servant of God, you are fighting God's battles.

You are doing his will. You are accomplishing his purposes. Because of this, David, know this, that your future is secure. Your future God has your future in his hand. She believed that.

She believed that for David. She wanted David to believe, don't don't forget how this is going to affect the days to come. Realize the goodness of God. He's brought you up to this point, and he wants to continue to lead you. Don't take matters into your own hands.

So she had an understanding of of God's plans and God's involvement in the purposes that he has and she's counseling this man with that truth. Verse 29. What does she say? If men rise up to pursue you and to seek your life, the life of my Lord shall be bound up in the bundle of the living and the care of the Lord your God. God's protection.

This is not your fight to fight. God will protect you. And look at look at the language she uses here. He shall sling out as from the hollow of a sling. What is that alluding to?

I believe she's alluding back to the battle between David and Goliath. All of Israel heard about it. Surely she heard about it. And she's using the same language of that experience to say, listen, David, the God that was faithful to you between you and Goliath will deal with this situation. If he dealt with Goliath, he'll deal with Nabal.

If he dealt with that giant, he'll deal with this fool. Don't get involved with this. She was aware of God's acts. She was aware of what he's done throughout history, even if it was obviously in her time, but she was aware and she applied that. She reminded David of that.

Look at verse 30. 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. God's promises. Look look how confident she is in God's promises. What does she say in verse 30?

And when the Lord She didn't say if. She didn't say if the Lord has done to my Lord, but when. It's a matter of when. It's gonna happen. So confident, so anchored.

If God said something, it's gonna happen. And she is so confident in what God said that she's calling David to build the foundation of his life and his trust upon the reliance of the character and the faithfulness of God. This woman is wise, surely, because she knows who her God is. And she knows how God's his character bleeds into our lives, and how we act in our lives will determine how things play out. And if we if we obey, then here's a blessing.

If we disobey, there's risk of great loss. Wisdom is found in the person who knows their God. And that's why you should strive to find people in your life who walk with God if you're gonna get counsel on anything. Because this is the ultimate source of truth and light in this life. Verse 31, here's the final sign of wisdom.

I'm sure if we dissected it more, we can find many others. Let's look at verse 31. Here's the final one. My Lord shall have no cause of grief or pangs of conscience for having shed blood without cause, or for my lord working salvation himself. What is she concerned about?

The future. She's concerned about the days to come. She's concerned about when the dust settles, and and the the emotion subsides, and the deed has been done, what will happen after the fact? That's wisdom. Fools only think about the moment.

Wise people think about how the moment affects tomorrow. Fool thinks about immediate results. Wisdom thinks about the long lasting effects. And and we become fools when we're tempted with sin because we don't think about the consequences. We only think about what we can get from the moment.

But a person who has wisdom even in the midst of the tornadoes of temptation can see, if I give in to this, this is what can happen potentially. And so I will not give in to this because I see that the sin and the consequences outweighs whatever promises or pleasure or gratification that I can get right now. And she's reminding him of this. If you do this, if you do this, your testimony is gonna be ruined. How are people gonna look up to you as a king when they know that you have massacred a man and his employees and his family?

How are people gonna think that you're consistent with Saul? You've claimed to be a one who trusted in God's vengeance and left things into his own hands, but in this case you didn't. Think about this. What is Saul gonna be able to say about you if you kill this man without cause? Will he not win more people to come against you?

Will he not have something on you if you go about this? You see what wisdom does? Wisdom thinks about the future, not just today. And that is true even in face of sin. And so here's a woman who's radiating, who almost personifies wisdom.

It's incredible. And we can go on to finish the rest of this chapter to look at different, different things concerning that theme. But let's just look at David's response real quickly. So you can imagine, once she pauses on this, I don't know if she just kept her head down, I don't know if she looked into his eyes, I don't know how it looked. But you can just imagine the tension in the air as David was there, I don't know if he even had his hand on his sword, as this woman just appeared out of nowhere.

And David said to Abigail, blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me. Blessed be your discretion and blessed be you who have kept me this day from blood guilt and from working salvation with my own hand. For as surely as the Lord the God of Israel lives, who has restrained me from hurting you, unless you had heard and come to meet me, truly by morning there had not been left to Nabal so much as one male. Then David received from her hand what she had brought him. And he said to her, go up in peace in your house.

See, I have obeyed your voice and I have granted your petition. This man was sobered. It worked. It was a success. He humbled himself.

He acknowledged that he was ready to commit a great sin. He realized that she was right and he was in the wrong. And in this moment here, we can learn so much from his response, but here's here's a point I wanna make out of many points. What does he bless about Abigail? In verse three, what did we learn about her two things?

She was what? The street. The street and what? Beautiful. What is he praising here?

Is he praising her hair? Her eyes? Her figure? Is that what won his heart? No.

It's her discretion. It's her character. You You know why this is encouraging? By the end of the chapter, he's gonna marry this woman. He's gonna marry this woman because he didn't realize this is someone that pushes me towards righteousness.

This is someone that stirs me up to godliness. This is someone that doesn't cause me to be tempted more, but causes me to live for my god more. I want her as a partner in life. My single brothers and sisters consider that as a candidate. Consider what truly matters and lasts in the long run.

Consider as you want to serve God and be faithful to him, that whoever you're gonna run this race with will help you. I heard from somebody that whoever your spouse is gonna be, they'll either give you weights or they're gonna give you wings. And may the person by God's grace give you wings to soar into greater holiness and effectiveness and fruitfulness for the kingdom of God. He praises God. He praises God for her.

And he wants to marry her. And he's gonna do that, though I don't agree the way he does it because he marries different people too. What do we do with the rest of this chapter? It would be awkward to finish here, so let's complete it. And the way we're gonna look at it is we're gonna see here in a moment Abigail's fate and Nabal's fate.

They both received the same revelation and opportunity concerning David. They both responded to it differently, and they both will experience different outcomes as a result. So it is with the sinner in light of the truth of Jesus Christ. Nabal will prove what will happen to the sinner, and Abigail will prove to some degree what is the end result of the person who acknowledges the true son of David. Verse 36, and Abigail came to Nabal and behold 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. So she told him nothing at all until the morning light. Look at that little phrase, and behold. It's almost as though the Holy Spirit said, could you believe what's happening right now? Check this out.

What's happening here? That while there's impending judgment on the way, this man is partying. This man isn't swimming in debauchery. This man is enjoying his worldly success, drinking, and being merry, and being loud, and indulging. All the while, there was someone on his way to bring about a finality of his life.

What a picture of the world. What a picture of what's happening this Friday night. That there is the son of David, the root and descendant of David, who is on his way, not with unjust revenge, but just revenge upon the wicked or those who did not obey the gospel, and he will bring about eternal judgment. And yet the world is drowning in the sound of pleasure, and flesh, and sin. And it didn't change the fact of what was coming his way.

And some would look at Abigail and consider her to be the fool. You're not gonna celebrate in this time of shearing of sheep of the harvest? You're not gonna join in this? Who is the real fool? The one who wasn't joining the party or the one who was getting right before they were judged?

In the end, the real fool as we know is Nabal, and the person who, who knew what to do with their time and their lives was, was Abigail. So it is with the Christian. First Peter tells us that the world is surprised when you do not join them with their filth. And then Peter goes on to say, but but these people in their debauchery and in their wilderness will be judged. Will be judged.

See, while while Nabal here is is numbing himself, Abigail was was getting reconciliation accomplished. Because she looked forward, she looked at the future, even if that, in our context, in our understanding of this, even if it was the eternal aspect. And this man, he's partying, he's enjoying himself, but look at verse 37, in the morning when the wine had gone out of Nabal, the wine of the world runs out eventually, guys. His wife told him these things and his heart died within him and he became a stone. About ten days later, the Lord struck Nabal and he died.

Think about it. So the night before your heart is merry, you're talking about your success, you're boasting about your success. Like what Jesus said in Luke, right, about the man who had barns and he filled the barns and he goes, I gotta build more barns. What am I gonna do with all this stuff? And then he says, you fool.

You do not know on this night your soul is required of you? And here's a man the night before, he's the he's the the heart of the party. Everybody's coming because of him. He's splurging. And the next day he has a stroke.

The next day he becomes a stone. What a picture of the unpredictability of life. And here's this man ten days in a vegetable like condition, sealed in his state of the soul, and God kills him. What about your your sheep now? What about the 3,000 and the 1,000 goats?

What about it? What's that gonna matter now? What's that gonna matter now as you stand before God and answer for your life? But look at the fate of Abigail. Verse 39, when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, blessed be the Lord who has avenged the insult I received at the hand of Nabal and has kept back his servant from wrongdoing.

The Lord has returned the evil of Nabal in his own head. Then David sent and spoke to Abigail to take her as his wife. When the servants of David came to Abigail at Carmel, they said to her, David has sent us to you to take you to him as his wife. Now, this is incredible. This is a woman who knew wealth, who knew comfort, who knew luxury, who probably even knew fame on a local level.

And look how she responds to this news. As she rose, and she rose rather, and bowed with her face to the ground and said, behold, your handmaid is a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my Lord. Can you imagine that? She she didn't get up and say, yeah, that's right. I am I am I am a queen.

You picked the right one. No. She goes, I wanna wash the feet, not just of David. I wanna wash the feet of the servants of David. She accepts the invitation to be wedded to this king.

And she saw greater treasure to be associated and to be intimate with this king than to have all the land, all the goats, all the sheep, all the property, all the security that this life can offer. So it is with the Christian. So it is with the Christian. And you know what's incredible here? She is not entering into a palace by saying yes to David.

She's entering into a wilderness. There is no immediate benefit out of this. It would be much later until until David becomes the actual ruler and king of all of Israel, and there is a room with Abigail's name on it. But she still saw it of great worth to say, I wanna walk this life with this king and serve him, even if I have to turn my back on all of what I've known, all that has been granted to me, all the protection and pleasure and provision in this life. I'd rather be with this king even if the reward is down the road.

Believer, do you feel that way with your relationship with Christ? Or do you have a tension in your life between the lifestyle of Nabal and living for Christ? I hope you see his beauty. See, David here was attractive to this woman even though he was a fallen man who'd made mistakes. But there's nothing that we can point at Christ and say there's something wrong here.

He's perfect. He's altogether lovely. And if you see him for who he truly is, you cannot help but be magnetized towards him. And if you haven't realized it long enough, if you haven't realized it up to this point, ask God to show you just how incredible he is. Ask him to give you such a revelation of who he is that you wouldn't even look over your shoulder and say, I wonder if I should have stayed.

I wonder if I should have gave half of myself while I I don't know if this is really worth it. She became his wife to wash feet. She saw serving David as a greater treasure than whatever Nabal had to provide and leave for her. May we be the same as a testimony to this world. Let's pray.

Lord, thank you for making us your bride. Thank you, oh god, that as you sent Abigail away with peace, so you do with us who are reconciled to Christ in the gospel. Well, we pray in this moment that you would renew our vision of the goodness of Jesus. And we ask, oh, God, that you would give us a fresh dose of wisdom. Rewire us.

Show us where we need to grow. Instill within us a sense of understanding so that we can be prepared with surprises in life. We wanna be found as faithful ambassadors of Jesus Christ. And so Lord, give us and equip us and furnish us with what is necessary so that we would not taint that testimony. And we pray, oh lord, that you would receive the worship you deserve as a result of what we ate today together.

We bless you for your goodness through your word. We thank you for how you've spoken to our hearts. Be glorified now as we worship you. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen.

Let's stand together.