After God’s Own Heart – Part 5 – Truth in the Middle
When we become weary in the wilderness there are couple temptations that we can fall into.
Temptation #1 Weariness makes faithful obedience feel pointless.
take a look down at verse 1 –
Now Samuel died. And all Israel assembled and mourned for him, and they buried him in his house at Ramah. (1 Sam. 25:1)
- This is a break from the story that we have heard so far. We have been hearing all about David in the wilderness – We have been hearing about Saul’s antics and the lengths he has gone to locate and track David down –
Now there is this one verse break in the story. We see that the prophet Samuel dies. This is a big deal on multiple levels. Samuel was not only David’s mentor – and Saul’s mentor – but also served as a Spiritual anchor for the people of Israel as a whole.
Then David rose and went down to the wilderness of Paran. 2 And there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel. The man was very rich; he had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. He was shearing his sheep in Carmel. 3 Now the name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail. The woman was discerning and beautiful, but the man was harsh and badly behaved; he was a Calebite.
- After mourning the loss of his mentor – David rises up and goes down into the wilderness.
- Temptation #2 – Weariness can cause justified anger to turn into unjustified actions:
Check out verses 21 and 22. says this, “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 morning I leave so much as one male of all who belong to him.” (1 Samuel 25:21-22)
In the midst of weariness, God’s grace shows up:
In verse 23 – We see that Abigail intercepts David – give him the gifts then falls down on her face before him and speaks. And not only speaks – but has exactly the right things that David needs to hear. this is a longer piece – but this is the linchpin of the whole chapter – this speech isn’t flattery or manipulation – It’s God’s mercy.
‘On me alone, my lord, be the guilt. Please let your servant speak in your ears, and hear the words of your servant. Let not my lord regard this worthless fellow, Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. Nabal is his name, and folly is with him. But I your servant did not see the young men of my lord, whom you sent. Now then, my lord, as the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, because the Lord has restrained you from bloodguilt 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 long as you live. If men rise up to pursue you and to seek your life, the life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living in the care of the Lord your God. And the lives of your enemies he shall sling out as from the hollow of a sling. And when the Lord has done to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you and has appointed you prince over Israel, my lord shall have no cause of grief or pangs of conscience for having shed blood without cause or for my lord working salvation himself. And when the Lord has dealt well with my lord, then remember your servant.'”
Abigails words do two things in the passage – and they are words that we need to hear too.
- and we see David’s response
“‘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 bloodguilt 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 hurried and come to meet me, truly by morning there had not been left to Nabal so much as one male.’…’Go up in peace to your house. See, I have obeyed your voice, and I have granted your petition.'” (1 Sam 25:32-35)