1 Samuel 25-27

1 Samuel 25:1 – Death of Samuel

Samuel died and all Israel mourned.  Samuel was a prophet of God who designated and anointed Saul as Israel’s first king.  He was the prophet who told Saul his kingship would be taken away.  He was the prophet who anointed David as Saul’s replacement.  It was Samuel who David could flee to when pursued by Saul.  David was very close to Samuel and must have suffered a great loss at Samuel’s death.

1 Samuel 25:2-44 – Mercy Through Abigail

David took his men to Maon to serve as guards for the sheep owners, which was the custom.  Nabal was one of the owners who was very wealthy and had lots of goats and sheep.  The proper time for payment was when the sheep were sheared.  It was shearing time so David sent men to Nabal with a polite request for his share of the payment.  Nabal refused to pay and used cruel and nasty words.  He said he didn’t know David or his family so why should he pay. 

David’s men were offended.  They returned to David and told him what Nabal had said.  David had endured Saul’s threats, but Nabal’s mean words caught him off guard.  After all David was used to getting his way and the people honoring him.  Nabal words made David angry and David was ready to attack and kill Nabal and his entire household.  But Nabal’s wife, Abigail realized she must act quickly and smooth things over with David.  Without telling Nabal she ordered her servants to take supplies to David and his men.  She would ride behind.  She got there just in time and urged David not to carry out his attack.  She accepted the blame for Nabal and offered herself as a sacrificed if David would spare Nabal and all the innocent lives.

She urged David to accept the gift and prayed that God would act against all David’s enemies.  It was God who should punish Nabal.  Abigail convinced David saving Nabal and his servants.  She was a wise woman.  She was humble, brave, courageous and ready to take Nabal’s punishment.  God was using her to save David from doing this evil thing. 

Nabal was greedy, mean, prideful, arrogant, self-centered, cruel and ungrateful that David and his men had guarded and protected his property.  He didn’t want to pay for David for his protection.  He was a cheater and was pleased about it.  He was a proud and foolish man.  His name means Fool.

What impresses me about David is that he never hesitates to confess.  He had no wrong deeds to confess, but he confessed that his plans were wrong.  Many confess their sins, but refuse to change their attitudes.  David confessed and changed his attitudes immediately.  He expressed thanks to Abigail and to God.

God dealt with Nabal.  His heart became like a stone since he was unwilling to change his attitudes.  Soon Nabal died.  He died because of God’s judgment.  Nabal was rich and successful.  He had stored for himself material things of this world, but lost it all.   

Principle:  Conviction of sin is God’s mercy.

David extended God’s grace to Abigail by asking her to marry him which would honor her and protect her from any hardships.  David already had 2 wives, Michal and Ahinoam.  God doesn’t condone polygamy.  God established from the beginning that marriage was between 1 man and 1 woman.  David’s marriages would cause problems in the future to his family and to the nation, but God is merciful to sinners.

David loved God but was still not a perfect person.  God used Abigail to keep David safe and hold him back from doing wrong.  If you are a child of God by trusting Jesus, He will show you where you are doing wrong by using other people like Abigail or through His Word.  His mercy is great. 

God doesn’t keep us from every sin, but apart from God’s intervention in our daily affairs there would be a whole lot more sin in our lives than there is.   David was willing to listen to Abigail.  He may have been acting foolishly, but he recognized her wisdom. 

When has God used someone to tell you of a sinful attitude or action?

Did you listen and recognized their wisdom?

Are you an Abigail to others?

1 Samuel 26 – Mercy to Saul

This chapter is similar to chapter 24 where David found Saul asleep which gave him the opportunity to kill him and then David would be free from Saul for good.  It is a kind of replay.  When God wants to teach us a lesson and we fail to learn that lesson, He will continue to bring experiences our way which confront us with the same basic test.  God wanted David to retake the test so he could receive a higher score.

Now in this chapter Saul’s men reminded him about his anger towards David.  They told him where David was and urged him to kill David.  Saul went with his men and camped close to where David was.  When David saw that Saul had followed him there, he and Abishai went into Saul’s camp at night while Saul and his men were asleep.  Abishai told David that God had delivered Saul into his hands and to kill him.  Again David refused to kill Saul not because he was afraid of Saul.  He was more concerned with doing what God wanted and doing it God’s way.  By David’s obedience to God, be had grown into a man of integrity.  He had just seen how God had dealt with Nabal and David knew God would punish Saul, too.  David considered Saul as a holy man and a servant of God.  He had not been loyal to God, but he was still Israel’s king.  David was loyal it Israel and to Saul.

David wanted to reason with Saul so he went a distance from the camp and called out to Saul and demanded answers, but he already knew the answers.  Saul was wicked from the sin in his heart.  Saul confessed he had sinned and didn’t chase David again.  David didn’t acknowledge Saul’s confession, but he spoke of God’s justice – “The Lord rewards everyone for their righteousness and faithfulness.” – 1 Samuel 26:23.  David trusted God, but he didn’t trust Saul.  True repentance goes beyond words.  It’s shown by our actions.

Saul admitted he had sinned, but quickly went back to hating David.  He may have realized it was wrong to try to kill David, but he failed to tell God he was wrong to be jealous of David.  He still had sin in his heart so his heart became hard.

In this chapter we learn that God defends His own.  God defends the innocent and will bring about justice.  We should be confident of God’s protection and care.

Have you truly repented from your heart or have you just said the words?

What keeps you from true confession and repentance?

Principle: God defends His own.

1 Samuel 27 – Mercy in David’s Move

David didn’t trust Saul and thought that someday Saul would find him.  He knew he couldn’t continue to hide from Saul in Judah.  He became desperate and decided if he and his men along with their families would move to Philistine country Saul would stop searching for him and he would be safe.  So he asked Achish son of Maoch king of Gath if they could live there.  Achish accepted David and his men probably because they are both enemies of Saul and because David brought 600 fighting men with him.  David lived there for 1 year and 4 months.  While David lived among the Philistines, he went out and attacked Israel’s enemies killing men and women.  He took sheep, cattle, donkeys, camels, and clothes.  David lied to Achish by telling him he was fighting only Israel, which was Achish’s enemy.

David was not acting like a man of God.  He had become a liar, a robber and a murderer.  God waited patiently for David to realize what he was doing and to come back the Him.

When have you taken matters into your own hands and made a desperate choice without consulting God?

Do you listen to your fears rather than to God?

This was not the first time David lied.  He loved God, but still sinned.  This story teaches us to be careful and not fall into against sin and to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus.  When you sin, quickly confess it and repent.  Ask for God’s help to return to obeying Him.  If you are a child of God, you know you are in His family because of Jesus’ work on the cross.  You may be a child of God, but if you keep going in the wrong direction, God gives consequences.  However, He will never take away His love or your salvation.

Principle:  Temptation fools us into thinking sin is okay.

Next time we will continue our study in 1 Samuel.  See you here.

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