A Tale of Two Kings
1 Samuel 25
One of the great perks of my wife’s job is something called Paid Time Off, or PTO. This is a system in the bank where they put a certain percentage of time in an account for every hour she works. So instead of just giving her two weeks off a year and five sick days and three personal days, they just lump it all into a Paid Time Off account for her to use any way she wants. Vacation time, sick leave or just a personal day all comes out of this account. And, the longer she is works at the bank the higher the percentage of time goes into her account. It’s very nice. AND (as if there needs to be another AND!), her time rolls over into the next year. If she has 80 hours in her account at the end of this year she’ll start next year with 80 hours of PTO. Many of us are not so fortunate; if we don’t use it we lose it.
This idea of having a savings account for time off is a great idea. However, this doesn’t really work in the spiritual realm. Lam. 3:22-23 says, “The unfailing love of the LORD never ends! By his mercies we have been kept from complete destruction. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each day.” Let me say that again. His mercies begin fresh each day. This means yesterday’s mercies don’t carry over to today. Every day is a new day to live our life with God. The grace that worked for us yesterday won’t work for us today. We’ll talk about that more as the sermon moves on.
I call this sermon “A Tale of Two Kings” not because I am contrasting Saul and David. Instead, we are going to look at the two sides of David. It is a tale of two kings because just a few months ago David was extending a godly amount of grace and mercy to Saul and now we’re going to see him take a very petty and petulant attitude towards a man named Nabal, a fool who has some money but is too big for his britches. But David is also wise enough to listen to the advice of Nabal’s wife Abigail, who saves the day.
This is a contrast with the tremendous patience David showed Saul versus the quick temper David is going to show a small man foolish enough to insult him. In this chapter we see David losing all sense of his identity as God’s anointed. David, who was able to see Saul as the temple of the Holy Spirit, can’t see an old fool as anything but an ugly dog in need of a whipping. David was on the verge of becoming another Saul, out to get rid of anyone threatening his status and his role as God’s anointed.
Now, before you go and give David a hard time, this is also a tale about us. All of us. God’s children who are saved by grace but sometimes forget just how good God has been and just how good we’ve got it. This sermon is for all the people who wonder how they can have such a great day in the Lord on Sunday and act like the devil’s offspring on Monday. This sermon is for all the people honest enough to say with Paul, “I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing” – Rom. 7:18-19. Life is weird that way. We’re a saint one day and a sinner the next.
So let’s read a few verses and find out just was it means to be a saint today and a sinner tomorrow.
1. The Provocation (vs. 1-12, 21-22). After Samuel’s death, David and his men head to the desert region in the wilderness of Paran far to the south. While they are wandering around the desert they encounter the shepherds and the sheep of Nabal. Eventually it is time to shear the sheep, which took place after the summer grazing. It was also a time when the profits were distributed, accompanied by festivities and celebration. David, knowing what was taking place, sends 10 young men to greet Nabal and see if Nabal will share any of his blessings. David tells the young men to remind Nabal that none of his sheep or his men was ever harmed while David’s entourage was around. Because David depended on the graciousness of the people around him to supply his food, he was very careful not to do anything that would put him in a compromising position with the local people.
Nabal, being the fool that he is, doesn’t go for it. David’s proposal was simple. He tells Nabal he’s been good to him, his servants and his sheep, and now he’d like a little something in return. It sounds like an early form of a protection racket, which it may have been. But these were the customs of the times and David is seeking the good will of a man who has been treated with respect by David and his men. Nabal, however, responds in a way that is befitting his name. He acts as if he had never even heard of David and lumps him in with the common criminals who always wander the deserts – those who have run away from their masters. So not only does Nabal refuse David’s request, he insults him.
Here’s a few points to ponder that should make us a bit uncomfortable. Have we ever played the fool of Nabal? Have we been ungracious and rude to people who have done nothing but be kind to us? Have we responded with disdain, with rumors and insults towards someone who has protected us and treated us well? Have we been jealous of another person’s success because we didn’t like their style or the way they got things done? Perhaps Nabal was upset because he didn’t think he needed David’s help and when it was pointed out that he received it anyway, his pride was wounded and he snapped back verbally. Have we ever become upset because someone helped us when we thought we were good on our own but we really weren’t? Has anyone here ever played the part of Nabal? Is anyone here currently behaving like a Nabal? (Don’t raise your hand). Does anyone want to comment on Nabal’s attitude?
Question: Have you ever encountered a “Nabal” attitude?
Let’s read on.
2. The Passion (vs. 11-14). Think about what we talked about last week. David, guided by the Holy Spirit, spares Saul’s life because Saul is God’s anointed. David knows that vengeance is the Lord’s and the Lord will repay in His own good time. However, a few months later David is provoked not by a king over a nation, but by a man who owns a few thousand sheep and goats, and David’s thoughts turn to murder. How did David, and how can we, so easily forget the principles we have claimed to live by?
There is nothing wrong with living passionately. I wish more people had as much passion for the joy of living as they do in playing games on their phone or going on vacation. The word passion comes from a Latin word meaning “suffer,” which is probably why the words love and hate are both described as being passions – they can both cause you to suffer.
When you truly love someone there will be suffering involved. This is not something wise and experienced parents can teach their children. We all know they have to endure the pain of love, which will include the highs of love that is reciprocated and the lows of love that is rejected. The week leading up to the crucifixion of Jesus is called “Passion Week” because of the way He was willing to suffer for His creation. Love involves a measure of suffering.
In our current story David is suffering from anger. And how many know that anger can cause suffering for everyone involved. There is nothing wrong with wanting everyone to behave and get along, but if you are going to let your anger be used as a method of intimidation in order to get things done your way, then you are playing the part of a petulant child who is throwing a fit. And I’ve worked for pastors and business owners who tried to used their anger as a form of intimidation. It makes me sad that these people have yet to really grow up.
But this is just what David is doing in this scene. He is letting his passion get the best of him and he is about to commit murder in order to show Nabal who is boss. And since David’s forces are bigger than Nabal’s employees, David assembles 400 men to take care of one fool who likes to run his mouth before he engages his brain. 400 men? Isn’t that a bit like killing a cockroach with a shotgun? Can you say, “Overkill?”
In his book The Making of the Man of God, Alan Redpath writes: David! David! What is wrong with you? Why, one of the most wonderful things we have learned about you recently is your patience with Saul. You learned to wait upon the Lord, you refused to lift your hand to touch the Lord’s anointed, although he had been your enemy for so many years. But now, look at you! Your self-restraint has gone to pieces and a few insulting words from a fool of a man like Nabal has made you see red! David, what is the matter?
“I am justified in doing this,” David would reply. “There is no reason why Nabal should treat me as he has. He has repaid all my kindness with insults. I will show him he can’t trifle with me. It is one thing to take it from Saul, who is my superior at this point, but this sort of man—this highhanded individual must be taught a lesson.” – The Making of a Man of God, pg. 128.
Here are some more points to ponder. Be very careful when you try to use your anger to teach someone a lesson, because I can guarantee the lessons you teach will not be the ones you intended. You will teach people that you are more interested in getting your way than you are in leading them in righteousness. You will teach them that you cannot control yourself and you do not really have their best interests at heart. You will teach them exactly what they never want to be – which is like you. You will drive a wedge between you and the people you are angry with, and it will be years before these people stop looking at the wedge and seeing you for who you are becoming in Christ.
Question: How have you seen anger used as a weapon?
3. The Principle (vs. 14-31). Abigail is described as being “a sensible and beautiful woman” (vs. 3). Notice she is described as being sensible first and beautiful second. She had good sense and understanding. She was intelligent, smart and beautiful, which is a nice combination in any person. You will also find that many people who do not possess what the world calls physical beauty are seen as beautiful because of their character, while many attractive models and actors can tarnish their physical beauty with their attitudes and selfish personalities. Furthermore, whereas Nabal’s name means “fool,” Abigail’s name means “my father is joy.”
If you remember, last week we saw that David established a principle with his men that judgment was God’s job. Saul was at David’s mercy, but David spared his life and even felt guilty for cutting off a piece of Saul’s robe. David’s men wanted David to rid the world of this Saul who was making all their lives miserable, but David wouldn’t do it. David said that judgment was God’s job and that he would leave it up to God regarding the time He chose to judge Saul. As for David, he was putting his trust in God.
Now we see David just a short time later completely dismissing the principle he established with his men. Now he is more than ready to kill a man who insulted him. Think about this. David forgives and releases a man who has been chasing him all over the desert. Saul has tried to perforate David with a spear on more than one occasion. He’s tried to get the Philistines to kill David by sending David out in charge of many men to do battle. Saul put a price tag of one hundred foreskins for the hand of his daughter in marriage, hoping that would put an end to David’s life. Saul even sends assassins to David’s home to bring him back so Saul could kill him personally. And for all that David will not harm Saul. Now some fool decides to speak disdainfully about David and not give him a little something to eat and David is ready to slaughter the man with 400 of his own troops. How quickly David, and how quickly we, forget the principles we’ve spent so long establishing!
I believe one of the most interesting things about this story is the way David allowed Abigail to speak to him. It shows David had a teachable spirit, which is one of the reasons he was a man after God’s own heart. He’s got a sword ready to do some damage, but then he meets this woman for the first time and not only listens to her, he changes his plans. When you talk about a man or a woman after God’s heart, this is one of the characteristics. It is called “being willing to change.”
Here’s another key to understanding this chapter in 1 Samuel: Today’s grace and patience is insufficient for tomorrow. Why? God doesn’t grant grace and patience on credit. Every day is a new day. You may have won a battle yesterday, but that doesn’t count when today’s conflict comes. You may have a great amount of grace and patience today, but that doesn’t make any difference when a new battle starts up tomorrow.
We must be very aware that the grace we have already received in the past will not enable us to stand today. We need to depend on God from day to day, from moment to moment. We must learn that “the Christian life is a succession of holy moments in which we count on His grace and strength to see us through” – Alan Redpath. We cannot coast into today on yesterday’s grace. There may be a cruise control on your car, but there is no cruise control in life. You cannot coast from one day to the next.
Nobody would say to their children, “You ate yesterday, so you should have enough energy to get you through today. I’ll feed you again tomorrow.” Then why do we so often treat our spiritual life that way? If you get your spiritual feeding only on Sundays, then you are spiritually weak for a week! There are no Paid Time Off accounts that roll grace over into the next day. Every day starts fresh.
Finally, this chapter teaches us that we all need to stay flexible and changeable. Charles Swindoll says, “Someone has a word in season for a blind spot in our lives, and we’re nothing more than dummies if we ignore him. David models genuine humility here” (David: A Man of Passion and Destiny, pg. 104). Who do we have in our lives that we will allow to speak into our lives order to turn us away from actions that we will regret?
All of us do what we don’t want to do and don’t do what we really want to do. We all need sensible and wise people in our lives that are willing to risk our wrath in order to turn us away from God’s judgment of our rash decisions. Do you have an Abigail in your life? Do you have somebody who knows God the Father is their joy and wants that joy to be yours? Furthermore, are you an Abigail to someone else?
Abigail is a living example of a person who lives out Prov. 25:11, “A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.” The word “aptly” literally means, “on its wheels.” This means the advice is well balanced, skillfully constructed, beautifully written and of lasting value. Everything Abigail did for David was well balanced and of lasting value. It took time and effort to act and speak the way she did. This was no spur-of-the-moment, off-the-cuff speech. Neither was it a popular quote that seemed to fit the situation. It was well-balanced, valuable and custom made just for David.
But you’ll notice it takes two to communicate: One to speak and one to listen. Are you willing to speak when the time comes? Abigail saved not only Nabal’s life, but also the reputation of David. What a tremendous blessing. However, David was also willing to listen. Do you have a heart that is willing to listen to people when they, like Abigail, go to such great lengths to speak truthfully into your life?
I don’t want to live two lives – one gracious and one bent on unforgiveness and self-justification. I want to live one life with an honest and humble spirit that is willing to listen when I’m headed down the wrong path. I’ve stacked up enough regrets in my life. I don’t need any more. My regret tank is full. So here’s what I want to do. I want to raise my hand to God and say, “Lord, if I get off track I want you to send me an Abigail. By your Holy Spirit show me their words are life to me; that they are like apples of gold in settings of silver; that they are custom made jewelry created especially for me. I don’t want people to say I lived two lives. I want to live one life and live it only for You.”
