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Anger and Folly (1 Samuel 25) - Pastor Jonathan Williams · Fairview Presbyterian Church (PCA) Sermons

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I invite you to turn with me in your copy of
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God's Word to the book of Samuel, 1 Samuel 25.
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1 Samuel 25, we're continuing to study the life
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of David. And we're gonna look at another episode
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in David's life that is very true to life. David's
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story in so many ways is our story. as well.
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It shines light onto the world in which we live
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and calls us to live for the Lord as well. First
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Samuel 25, this is a long passage so hang in
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there and it'll be helpful to you if you have
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your copy of God's word open in front of you.
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Beginning at verse one, first Samuel 25, now
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Samuel died and all Israel assembled and mourned
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for him. And they buried him in his house at
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Rama. Then David rose and went down to the wilderness
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of Peran. And there was a man in Maon whose business
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was in Carmel. The man was very rich, and he
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had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats,
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and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel. Now
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the name of the man was Nabal, and the name of
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his wife Abigail. The woman was discerning and
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beautiful, but the man was harsh and badly behaved.
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He was a calabite. David heard in the wilderness
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that Nabal was shearing his sheep. So David sent
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ten young men, and David said to the young men,
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Go up to Carmel and go to Nabal and greet him
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in my name, and thus you shall greet him. Peace
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be to you, and peace be to your house, and peace
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be to all that you have. I hear that you have
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shearers. Now your shepherds have been with us,
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and we did them no harm, and they missed nothing
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all the time that they were in Carmel. Ask your
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young men, and they will tell you. Therefore,
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let my young men find favor in your eyes, for
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we have come on a feast day. Please give whatever
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you have at hand to your servants and to your
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son David." When David's young men came, they
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said all this to Nabal in the name of David,
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and then they waited. And Nabal answered David's
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servants, who is David? Who is this son of Jesse?
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There are many servants these days who are breaking
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away from their masters. Shall I take my bread
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and my water and my meat that I have killed for
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my shears and give it to men who come from I
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do not know where?" So David's young men turned
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away and came back and told him all this. And
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David said to his men, every man strap on his
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sword, and every man of them strapped on his
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sword. And David also strapped on his sword.
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And about 400 men went up after David, while
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200 remained with the baggage. But one of the
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young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, behold,
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David sent messengers out of the wilderness to
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greet our master, and he railed at them. Yet
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the men were very good to us, and we suffered
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no harm, and we did not miss anything when we
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were in the fields, as long as we went with them.
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They were a wall to us both by night and by day
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all the while we were with them keeping the sheep
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Now therefore know this and consider What you
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should do for harm is determined against our
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master and against all his house And he is such
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a worthless man that no one can that one cannot
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speak with him then Abigail made haste and took
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200 loaves and two skins of wine and five sheep
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already prepared and five sias of parched grain
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and a hundred clusters of raisins and two hundred
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cakes of figs and laid them on donkeys. And she
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said to her young men, Go on before me. Behold,
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I come after you. But she did not tell her husband,
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Nabal. And as she rode on the donkey and came
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down under cover of the mountain, behold, David
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and his men came down towards her and she met
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them. Now David had said, surely in vain I have
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guarded all that this fellow has in the wilderness
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so that nothing was missed of all that belonged
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to him and he has returned me evil for good.
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God do so to the enemies of David and more so
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if by morning I leave so much as one male of
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all who belonged to him. When Abigail saw David
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she hurried and got down from the donkey and
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fell before David on her face and bowed to the
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ground. She fell at his feet and said, On me
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alone, my lord, be the guilt. Please let your
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servant speak in your ears, and hear the words
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of your servant. Let not my lord regard this
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worthless fellow, Nabal. For as his name is,
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so is he. Nabal is his name, and Folly is with
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him. But I, your servant, did not see the young
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men of my lord whom you sent. than my Lord as
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the Lord lives and as your soul lives because
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the Lord has restrained you from blood guilt
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and from saving with your own hand. Now then
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let your enemies and those who seek to do evil
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to my Lord be as navel and now let this present
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that your servant has brought to my Lord be given
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to the young men who follow my Lord. Please forgive
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the trespass of your servant, for the Lord will
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certainly make my Lord a sure house, because
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my Lord is fighting the battles of the Lord.
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And evil shall not be found in you so long as
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you live. If men rise up to pursue you and to
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seek your life, the life of my Lord shall be
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bound in the bundle of the living and the care
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of the Lord your God. the lives of your enemies,
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he shall sling out as from the hollow of a sling.
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And when the Lord has done to my Lord according
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to all the good that he has spoken concerning
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you and has appointed you Prince over Israel,
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my Lord shall have no cause for grief or pangs
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of conscience for having shed blood without cause
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or for my Lord working salvation himself. And
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when the Lord has dealt well with my Lord, then
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remember your servant." And David said to Abigail,
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blessed be the Lord God of Israel who sent you
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this day to me. Blessed be your discretion and
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blessed be you who have kept me this day from
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blood guilt and from working salvation with my
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own hand. For as surely as the Lord the God of
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Israel lives who has restrained me from hurting
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you unless you had hurried and come to meet me
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truly by morning there had not been left to enable
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such so much as one male then David received
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from her hand what she had brought him and she
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and he said to her go up in peace to your house
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see I have obeyed your voice and I have granted
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your petition And Abigail came to Nabal and behold
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he was holding a feast in his house like the
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feast of a king. And Nabal's heart was merry
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within him for he was very drunk. So she told
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him nothing at all until morning light. In the
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morning when the wine had gone out of Nabal his
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wife told him these things and his heart died
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within him and he became as stone. About ten
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days later the Lord struck Nabal and he died.
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Well, this week we had that very famous holiday
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that many of us forget. I don't even know if
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it's a holiday, but it's called April Fool's
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Day. Was anybody fooled on April Fool's Day this
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year? I see a couple smiles. You don't have to
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admit if you were fooled on April Fool's Day,
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but the first of April, April Fool's Day, it's
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a little ironic that the first Sunday... of April
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we are studying a man named Nabal whose name
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literally means fool. And there's not just one
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person acting foolishly in this passage. We see
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two men, both Nabal and David behaving very foolishly
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on a collision course for disaster. Aren't you
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glad though as you read this passage and you
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see the actions and the reactions of these men?
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You see how true to life scriptures really are.
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We see in the characters here ordinary problems,
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ordinary sin patterns of pride, of anger, of
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fear. And so this passage is showing us many
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things, our need to be on guard against temptation,
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to anger. It shows us also though, how to develop
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the gospel informed hearts of peacemakers. So
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how do you respond when you are wronged? The
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man after God's own heart, even David himself
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is captivated by this attitude of sinful, vengeful
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anger. He responds in foolishness to an unbeliever
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of even greater foolishness. But what we see
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in this passage today and the thing we need to
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draw from this text is that God's gracious provision,
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what we see here is that God's gracious provision,
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saves us from ourselves and shows us how to respond
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when we are wronged. God's gracious provision
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saves us from ourselves and it shows us how to
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respond when we are wronged. We see firstly the
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reality that people in this world will wrong
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us. We understand this by experience, but we
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see here in scripture that there are nables in
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this world. There are fools. The reality is that
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there are fools in this world who will not treat
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us well when we treat them kindly. You see this
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in David's life beginning in verse 1 and following
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in verse 1. We see the death of Samuel. It's
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been pointed out. We don't have time to dive
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into this, but this is a great moment of transition.
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This is an epochal moment of change from the
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age of the judges to the age of the kings right
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here at the death of Samuel. But then after verse
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one, we hear the description of David's journey
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into the wilderness and the description of this
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man, verse two, from in Mahon, a man by the name
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of Nabal. He's not named it first, he's described.
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The description of his name, the fool, Nabal,
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is given first. He is ungrateful. He has a total
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disregard for others. He's harsh. He has a lack
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of self -awareness. He's a drunkard. He has tons
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of money, but he doesn't have a whole lot up
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here. His servants and his wife describe him
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as worthless. He is bullheaded, so bullheaded
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that people don't even speak to him about issues
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you see in verse 17 because they know that he's
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not going to listen anyway. biblical terms, Nabal
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is a fool. Now if you want to see the description
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of a fool sort of systematically laid out in
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the Old Testament, just turn to Proverbs because
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there's a contrast between the ways of the wise
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and what the fool is and how to relate to the
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fool. Now David's young men who have been watching
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Nabal's flocks, mind you, verse four through
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nine, they go with this legitimate request for
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food to Nabal. It's a legitimate request because
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David's men have been protecting all of Nabal's
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assets in the wilderness at their own risk. taking
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care of and protecting Nabal's sheep and flocks.
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Verse 15 and 16, they were a wall of protection
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to Nabal, protecting the sheep from things like
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robbers and thieves and such. Nabal greatly benefited
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and prospered due to David's kindness. And so
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customarily, it would have been polite and assumed
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that Nabal would return some sort of um, remuneration
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in the form of care and food to David and his
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men. But you see and you heard how Nabal responded
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in verse 10. Nabal responds with the utmost contempt
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for David's request. He basically says that David
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is a no -good runaway slave. And why should I
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give him all my things? How many times his pronoun
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I and my was used in that one verse? It's all
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mine, mine, mine. It's all about me. That's who
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Nabal is. It's all about me. He is a quintessential
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fool and a jerk. His rejection is the height
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of disrespect for David's kindness. He spurns
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David and so David's servants turn and go away.
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Maybe you've come across someone like a navel
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in your life, someone who is so obstinate, so
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sarcastic, so rebellious, refuses to listen to
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reason. You know they won't listen to you anyway
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if you try to persuade them, just as navel servants
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knew about navel. Proverbs says that this kind
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of person is a fool. And it says in Proverbs
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26 verse 4, not to answer a fool according to
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his folly because your words will be wasted.
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At times as well we see from this portion of
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the passage at the beginning that in this world
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when we as Christians display kindness to someone,
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We're not always going to be rewarded with the
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same kindness displayed to us. Many times people
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will return kindness for kindness, but there
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will be times when people respond harshly and
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unjustly, demeaning you in the face of your kindness.
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And so we should not expect to always receive
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kindness from this world. There will be those
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like Nabal, who treat us with contempt even when
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we are kind, even when we are winsome, even when
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we are speaking, especially when we are speaking
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the words of life, the gospel to them. So we
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see firstly just the simple reality of Nabal.
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The simple reality that there are those who will
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respond to, just like David and Nabal, respond
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negatively and get under our skin, which is exactly
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what happens to David here. in this knee -jerk
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reaction. What do you think of David's response?
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Is this in any way relatable? Have you ever been
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triggered in any way by anything that somebody
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has said to you? Let's look at this response
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from David in verses 12 and 13. Now David in
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chapter 24, well you didn't read chapter 24,
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but David in chapter 24 had the opportunity to
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take Saul's life. And he exercises great restraint
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there. But you don't see any of that same restraint
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here when it comes to this sort of lower person
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on the totem pole. David, who had been so patient
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and self -restrained with Saul, instantly, when
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he hears this report from his servants in verse
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12 and 13, instantly flies into a rage that this
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petty man would dare rebuff him for his kindness.
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David takes about 400 men, they all put on their
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weapons and they go, it would seem to do what?
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To kill Nabal and all of his people. David flies
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off the rails and we see his ruminating on that
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anger and the continued anger developing in David
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in verses 21 and 22, his thought process towards
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vengeance. The problem here is with David's knee
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-jerk reaction. And in our immaturity, often
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our knee -jerk reactions are what? Not the best,
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are they, would we say? Is David's anger justified?
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Well, no, not at all. His pride has been wounded,
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and now he's not thinking clearly, and so he's
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driven by his selfish, sinful flesh as he seeks
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vengeance. Well, one of the great problems with
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David's unrighteous anger is that in order to
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deal with Nabal, he's become just like Nabal
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in his foolish, darkened thinking. Proverbs 12
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verse 16 says, the vexation of a fool is known
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at once, but the prudent ignores insult. Oh,
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how David needed to appropriate that truth. He
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lets the insult go deep down. David is not acting
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wisely. Why is he not acting wisely? Well, he's
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not prepared. He's not prepared for the fiery
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darts of the evil one. He's not prepared for
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the aggravation of his own flesh. He's not prepared
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for this attack from the worldliness of the world.
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He's lost the instinct to to respond to Nabal
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with wisdom. And so he quickly falls for this.
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He quickly falls into sin. And how easily at
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times we fall. How quickly we fall at times,
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don't we? For the trap of anger. David here demonstrates
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the necessity of keeping in step with the Spirit,
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as Paul talks about in Galatians chapter five,
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verse 25. It's as we keep in step with the Spirit,
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day by day, putting on the spiritual armor of
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God, storing up God's Word in our heart, not
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just reading the Word, but storing it up in our
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heart that we are equipped to not sin against
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God. David doesn't seem here in this moment to
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be meditating on God and His goodness and God
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and His mercy and His tenderness. No, David is
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very proud and very entitled. He doesn't seem
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to be feasting on God's Word, engaging with God
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in prayer. And so if we are not standing firm
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in prayer and in the Word, bearing spiritual
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fruit likewise, Like David, we will quickly fall
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to all kinds of temptation. David was not ready.
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And so David quickly falls here. And I think
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if we look at David's life and we see how quickly
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David, the man after God's own heart, fell and
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we see in our own lives how prone we are to certain
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sins. Anger is probably one of the big ones for
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many of us, many of all of us. we recognize how
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weak we are. And so we need to see hope in this
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passage and that hope comes from the God who
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is greater than ourselves and the God who protects
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us even from ourselves. And that's what you see
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in this passage, God protecting David and David's
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kingdom even from David the King. So there's
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another thread in this story. In contrast to
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Nabal's folly and David's sinful anger, there's
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another side of this story. There is a servant
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in verse 14 through 17 who goes to Abigail, Nabal's
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wife, and he is wise and he is brave and he informs...
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Abigail of all that David had requested and the
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way that Nabal had responded so foolishly. And
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he says to Abigail, you've got to do something
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because David is about to kill Nabal and everything
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is going to be bad. So Abigail, who is the picture
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of a Proverbs 31 woman, she does good to her
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husband, even though her husband is kind of a
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curse to her. She is wise. And she goes about
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quickly employing biblical peacemaking principles,
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biblical peacemaking principles to pursue David
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and to bring reconciliation. She is wise, the
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scripture says in this passage that she's beautiful
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inside and out. And then she responds to the
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foolishness of Nabal. with wisdom that is pure
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and peaceable. Rick Phillips points out the biblical
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wisdom that she models in peacemaking. And I
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think this is very, it's immensely practical.
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If you're in the middle of a spat with someone
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or you're dealing with a conflict or you've got
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some sort of reconciliation that needs to happen
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between you and someone else, Abigail is a picture
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and a model of biblical peace -making principles
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that you and I ought to employ in our relationships.
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First thing, note what she does in verses 23
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through 31. You can read in depth later. I'm
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gonna comment on that briefly here. She humbles
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herself by going to David and bowing down to
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him. First thing she does is she humbles herself.
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She has a Christ -like attitude of humility.
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Second thing she does, she confesses her own
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guilt in verse 24. So she is one flesh would
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enable her husband. And we don't know all of
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the ways that she was involved with Nabal's decision
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here, but she confesses her own guilt in this
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situation. So she's humble and she confesses
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her guilt. The third thing she does is she offers
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restitution. And you see that list of food that
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she brings in verse 18. She brings restitution.
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This is the food that was rightly owed to David
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for his service rendered. So she humbles herself,
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she confesses her guilt, she brings, she makes
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restitution. And you see this elsewhere in scripture,
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remember Zacchaeus? Remember what he did after
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he, as part of his repentance, he offered to
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restore, was it fourfold from those he had defrauded?
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So humility, confession, restitution, four things
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she does in verse 28 as she pleads. for forgiveness.
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You see that posture and those actions of Abigail
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and how God uses that. God is with her in that
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and touches David's heart. And David acknowledges
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that this is a holy moment. Look with me in verse
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32. David says to Abigail, blessed be the Lord,
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the God of Israel, who sent you this day to me.
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Who is really saving David here? It's not Abigail,
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it's the Lord. The Lord has intervened and has
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turned David's heart back to himself. Make no
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mistake here, David may be a man after God's
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own heart, but it's only because the Lord continually
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brings David's heart back to him. At times he's
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doing well spiritually and at times he falls
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for this sinful anger. He is up and he is down
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spiritually. But God is more interested in preserving
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David's honor. God is more interested in preserving
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David's kingdom than even David is. God intervenes
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in his life to prevent David from falling to
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the foolishness of his own decision making. How
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gracious is our God and how relatable is this
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story? How many times in your life has God spared
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you the full consequences of foolish decisions?
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How many times has God been so kind to not allow
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us to experience the full weight of the consequences
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of foolish actions? Oh, he does that for David.
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He does that for us. And he shows here in verses
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36 through 39 that God truly does bring justice
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justice for his people and justice upon those
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who insult and malign and seek to harm his people.
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Vengeance belongs to who? Deuteronomy chapter
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32. Vengeance belongs to the Lord. He will make
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things right. David sees here and we see in this
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passage that Nabal dies very quickly here. The
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Lord handles this situation. A few things today.
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a few things today to see how this passage helps
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us. Now we already see ourselves in this passage,
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we already see our problem, our need, but how
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else does this passage help us? Well the passage
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teaches us to be grateful for God's intervention.
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David is expressing gratitude to Abigail, but
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he's really expressing gratitude to God for his
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intervention in his life. Abigail is is God's
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divine stop sign. Abigail is God's divine stoplight
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in David's life. You know, when God sees his
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children running out in the road, so to speak,
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about to be hit by a car, of their own foolishness,
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a situation of their own making, because of their
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ungodly decisions, times he will turn us right
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around. At times he does allow us to experience
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consequences, but here he is so gracious to turn
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David around. Be grateful for those moments where
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God halts you in your tracks. Second, be vigilant
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lest you fall. Be vigilant over your own life.
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Guard yourself against the deceitfulness of sin.
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Galatians says, walk by the Spirit. so that you
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will not gratify the desires of the flesh. Are
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you walking by the Spirit? Are you in the Word?
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Are you surrounding yourself with godly people?
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Do you have people in your life who can both
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speak comfort to you and candidly speak the truth
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and love to you? And so thirdly, receive that
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counsel confronted by sin. Don't rebuff someone
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when they come to you in in love with who you
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really are in the way that your offenses have
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hurt someone. Don't rebuff someone when they
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come to you with your sin because they love you.
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In Christ, in the household of faith, when we
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speak the truth in love to one another, it's
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because we want to see one another restored.
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Receive that. Fourthly, be your brother's keeper.
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Be willing to be like Abigail and do the hard
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thing. Galatians 6 .1 says, if anyone is caught
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in a transgression, you who are spiritual should
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restore him in a spirit of gentleness, but keep
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watch on yourself lest you be tempted. Dear ones,
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be willing to be like Abigail and speak hard
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life -giving truths as well as receive hard life
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-giving truths, leaving justice to God as well.
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Lastly, I want to say, if you look at this passage
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in today, you recognize that you actually identify
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not with Abigail or David as much as you identify
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with Nabal. It could be today that God is waking
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you up to the fact that you have acted like Nabal
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your whole life, earned his goodness and his
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love and his people, and you have lived as an
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island to yourself as if it's all about me, mine,
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and I. I have good news for you. If you wake
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up today and you realize you're not a believer
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and you've lived only for yourself, you've never
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trusted Christ, today is the day of salvation
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for you. Repent of your folly and trust in Christ
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and you will be saved. And you will not be living
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in foolishness and in darkness anymore, but in
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light and in wisdom. And he will give you a new
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spirit and cause you to walk in his ways. There's
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so much in this passage today, but we need to
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conclude not with King David, the King to be,
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but the Lord Jesus, the King, the greater Son
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of David who has come from David's line. It's
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not David or any other friend or any other person
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or ourselves that can deliver us from our sinful
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anger, but it's only David's greater Son, the
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Lord Jesus Christ. While we're yet sinners, While
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we were yet in rebellion and in anger, Christ
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died for us. Though we were like Nabal, worthless,
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though we were swift to shed blood like David,
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Christ Jesus, the true King, shed his blood to
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cover all of our sins and ransom us from a multitude
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of sins. So the true solution to our problem
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of anger and our responses is not even our own
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efforts, but the good news of the gospel that
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redeems us from our sin, the Father and the Son,
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who send His Spirit to all those whom Christ
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has redeemed. And by His power, we can make peace
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because God has made peace through the blood
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of His Son with us. Let's keep seeking Him and
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let's keep remembering the gospel of grace that
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empowers us to live at peace with others because
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God in Christ has made peace with the Father
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through His own blood. Let's pray.