1
Samuel 25:2-42
1
Samuel 25:32-34 (KJV)
And
David said to Abigail, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, which sent thee this
day to meet me:
And
blessed be thy advice, and blessed be thou, which hast kept me this day from coming
to shed blood, and from avenging myself with mine own hand.
For
in very deed, as the LORD God of Israel liveth, which hath kept me back from
hurting thee, except thou hadst hasted and come to meet me, surely there had
not been left unto Nabal by the morning light any that pisseth against the
wall.
The
Bible tells me, or at least strongly implies, that you and I can know, and I
think ought to know, when we are spiritual.
But
there isn’t, as far as I can tell, anyplace that defines exactly what it means
to be spiritual. There is no checklist I can pull out to test whether I am
spiritual.
I think there is a good reason for that.
If
there were such a list, we would almost surely, just check off the list and
stop trying to grow in grace.
What
we have been doing this year then is looking at various people in the Bible who
might fairly be called spiritual so that we can learn from them what would be
qualities of the spiritual person.
By the way, one of the things I think we are learning is that
spiritual people are “cookie cutter copies” on one another.
·
You don’t have to be exactly like me to be godly and
spiritual.
·
And neither do I have to be exactly like you.
The
path that God sets us on is straight and narrow, and there aren’t many on it.
But
every one of us is:
·
At a different place on the path
·
Has a differing stride on the path and
·
Travels at various speeds on the path
I
have no interest in being a part of that sort of Christianity where every one
of us
·
Cuts our hair exactly the same
·
Wears exactly the same sort of cloths and
·
Enjoys exactly the same sorts of pastimes
Our
Biblical model for today is Abigail.
We
are introduced to her in verse 3 where we learn that she was a woman of:
· Good understanding and
· Beautiful countenance
1
Samuel 25:3 (KJV)
Now
the name of the man was Nabal; and the name of his wife Abigail: and she was a
woman of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance: but the man was
churlish and evil in his doings; and he was of the house of Caleb.
· She was smart and
· She was pretty!
The
Bible says her name was Abigail, which means, “The Joy of Her Father.”
And
I’ll bet she was!
But
she was married to a rotten man.
Nabal,
which means foolish was
· Cruel
· Evil and
· Brutish
·
Most likely Abigail’s marriage to Nabal had been
arranged by her father and
·
Most likely that was because Nabal was wealthy.
But
the best thing about the man was his wife!
Abigail
demonstrates for us the finest traits of the godly woman.
Her
best qualities are not:
· Her beauty nor
· Her wisdom
Her
best traits are:
· Her faithfulness
· Her humbleness[1]
and
· Her helpfulness
You
will read very little else about her in the Bible.
But
that is also a trait of a good wife.
She
doesn’t seek her own fame but serves to help her husband succeed.
Allow
me to show you three wonderful things Abigail does in the passage:
I. SHE SERVED
DAVID AND HIS SOLDIERS
1
Samuel 25:18 (KJV)
Then
Abigail made haste, and took two hundred loaves, and two bottles of wine, and
five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched corn, and an hundred
clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on asses.
1
Samuel 25:35 (KJV)
So
David received of her hand that which she had brought him, and said unto her,
Go up in peace to thine house; see, I have hearkened to thy voice, and have
accepted thy person.
David
and his men, at this point in their lives, were still fleeing from King Saul.
They
were in the wilderness of Paran.
But
they were not idle.
The
Bible says that David and his men had been protecting Nabal’s men and possessions
from thieves.
So
when shearing season came, David asked Nabal for some provisions for he and his
servants.
Nabal
refused, but Abigail did not.
Illustrations:
A. My wife and I used to visit a family in Astoria.
They
were an elderly couple.
They
didn’t have a whole lot.
But
they did raise a huge garden.
Ray
was a kind man, and we loved him a lot. But he wasn’t quite as giving as his
wife Lavina was.
Whenever
we would go to visit them, Ray and I would sit at the kitchen table and talk
while Lavina took Anita to the pantry and filled our car with fruits and
vegetables.
B. The man who discipled me as a Christian is named Mike Riggs.
·
He trained me in my doctrine
·
He taught me Christian living
Outside
of my wife, I would still consider Mike Riggs to be my best friend.
When I met Mike his wife was not a
Christian.
She
got saved just shortly before Anita and I got married.
But
despite the fact that she was a baby Christian and he had been saved many
years,
His
wife helped us out financially while we were in Bible College, not Mike.
C. Anita’s mom has been gone to heaven for years now.
When
she was alive, Anita and I would see them at least a couple of times a month.
We
would go to Springfield, OR to see them once a month and they would come to see
us once a month.
One
of the biggest stresses about going to visit them was finding room in the car
for all of the things they gave us.
And
whenever they came to visit they always came with loads and loads of stuff for
us.
Anita’s
mom would tell her, “Your dad insisted I get these things for you.”
But
when she died we found out the truth because the gifts stopped when she was
gone.
I
know some men who are givers by nature.
But
I know a great many more ladies who are givers.
I
just want to go on record saying,
I
am so thankful God gave us wives.
Abigail
served David’s soldiers
Secondly,
II. ABIGAIL
SAVED NABAL FROM SLAUGHTER
1
Samuel 25:21-22 (KJV)
Now
David had said, Surely in vain have I kept all that this fellow hath in the
wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained unto him: and he
hath requited me evil for good.
So
and more also do God unto the enemies of David, if I leave of all that pertain
to him by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall.
A. David’s men returned to him and told him that Nabal had not
only refused to give them food but had railed on them.
David
then ordered his men to put on their swords.
They
were about to wipe Nabal and his servants off of the face of the earth.
And
Nabal is dumb to it all.
People
all around us face the wrath and judgment of God, dumb to it, blindly going
about doing evil – unaware of the doom that hangs over their heads.
B. A servant of Nabal’s had enough sense to tell Abigail about
it.
She
quickly put together a large quantity of food and went out to meet David.
C. In those days it was customary to make a big show when giving
gifts.
You
might have 10 presents and they would have all fit easily on one animal.
But
you would put each gift on one beast.
Then
you would line the animals single file with a servant attending each animal.
When
you arrived in the presence of the one who was to get the gifts, he would
receive each one in line.
·
It made it take time and
·
It made it look like a grand event.
Finally,
the person who was giving the gifts would come last and present themselves.
D. After David had received all of the food and had seen it was
enough and more to meet the needs of his army Abigail arrived
· She humbled herself
· She apologized for her husband
· She admitted that she knew God’s hand was on David and
· She asked for forgiveness for her husband.
If it had not been for this gift, every male in Nabal’s house, servants and all would
have been slaughtered by David and his men.
Notice
that Abigail had the kind of character she had BECAUSE SHE WAS A BELIEVER.
Vs
29
….the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the
Lord thy God.
Is
your life bound up in the bundle of life with God?
E. Nabal, whose name means, “The fool”
Was
home playing the fool while all this was going on.
By
the time Abigail had returned home, Nabal was drunk so it would have done no
good to tell him what had happened.
The
next morning she told Nabal all that took place and Nabal, instead of
repenting, turned cold and hardhearted.
Since
the Bible says he died ten days later because the Lord smote him[2]
I think there is the possibility that his heart turning as a stone isn’t what
killed him but a description of his wicked callousness to God.
Too
many of us turn cold and angry with God when we hear of His chastisement
instead of getting repentant and tender.
Abigail
Served
David’s soldiers
Saved
Nabal from destruction
Finally
III. ABIGAIL
SPARED DAVID FROM SINNING
1
Samuel 25:32-33 (KJV)
And
David said to Abigail, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, which sent thee this
day to meet me:
And
blessed be thy advice, and blessed be thou, which hast kept me this day from
coming to shed blood, and from avenging myself with mine own hand.
· Nabal had been obnoxious to David
· Nabal had been unkind to David
· Nabal had been disrespectful of David
But
Nabal had done nothing deserving of death.
And
even King David had no authority to execute vengeance for a personal offense.
Rom
12:19 says,
Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto
wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. (KJV)
David
said had it not been that Abigail hasted to come and meet David he would have
committed this great sin.
Someone
has said,
“Behind every great man, is an even greater woman.”
There
is nothing greater a woman could do for her husband and children than to prevent
them from falling into sin.
Conclusion:
James
5:19-20 (KJV)
Brethren,
if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him;
Let
him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall
save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.
Abigail
is a powerful example of spiritual character as she:
·
Served David’s soldiers
·
Saved Nabal from Slaughter and
·
Spared David from sinning
