1 Samuel Chapter 25

 David gets advice from Dear Abby

Samuel’s Death

Then Samuel died; and all Israel gathered together and mourned for him, and buried him at his house in Ramah. And David arose and went down to the wilderness of Paran.

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1. Samuel spends his entire life in the service of God and his nation and all he gets is a one line obituary?

You notice God does not spend much time memorializing even the greatest of His servants. Most of the time there is a mention of their death and then he moves on. The reward for a faithful servant of God is not a long 5 paragraph obituary or a lavish “Godfather” type of funeral, but to hear the words: ‘Welldone, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ Matt 25:21 (ESV)

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“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”— 1 Cor 2:9 (ESV)

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Mourning is an appropriate part of Christian living and indeed Jesus wept and mourned for his friend Lazarus.

Still yet from God’s perspective: Precious in the sight of the Lord Is the death of His saints.  Psalms 116:15 (NKJV)

Scripture is quite brief concerning Samuel’s death. It simply says that “all the Israelites were gathered together and lamented him.” Samuel had been a great man of God; there is no question about that. He was outstanding. He was the bridge between the judges and the kings. He was the last of the judges and the first in the office of prophets. There were, of course, many prophets before Samuel, but he represented the office that continued on through the Old Testament and into the New Testament.

Samuel was also a force for good and probably prevented the full force of Saul’s bitterness and hatred from being vented upon David. Samuel was a buffer between David and Saul. When Samuel died, David went a great distance into the wilderness—JVM

Samuel died;… all the Israelites… lamented. This was like our flying the flag at half-mast in tribute to a national figure. All Israel sent delegates to the funeral service. And Samuel was laid to rest in the family estate at Ramah, the city of his birth, judgeship, and death. Paran was the desert that separated Palestine from the Sinai Peninsula.—WBC

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2. Why did David go to the wilderness of Paran?

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This chapter opens with one disappointment for David, the death of his mentor, and it closes with another, the departure of his mate (v. 44). This suggests that the events of chapter 25 took place when David was at a low point in his life emotionally. This may account for the fact that David did not conduct himself completely honorably at this time. He is not the hero of this chapter. Abigail is. God used a woman to avert a tragedy in Israel’s history, again .The wilderness of Paran, to which David fled next, lay just southeast of Maon.

David is a human being with a life of high points and low points. At times he is heroic and Christlike and at other times he is cowardly and acting like a slobbering mad man. This is not one of David’s better moments, but God allows us to see David as a flawed man who still is intent on following God.

Some have suggested that David fled deeper into the wilderness as a defense against the very unpredictable Saul. The death of Samuel might be just the kind of thing to set Saul off on one of his murderous rampages.

Nabal and Abigail

2 Now there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel; and the man was very rich, and he had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. And it came about while he was shearing his sheep in Carmel 3 (now the man’s name was Nabal, and his wife’s name was Abigail. And the woman was intelligent and beautiful in appearance, but the man was harsh and evil in hisdealings, and he was a Calebite),

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3. Oh no, not one of them Calebites !!

In reality this man was about as far from the character of his ancestor Caleb as can be.

“Nabal” must have been a nickname since it means “fool” in Hebrew. Nabal was a descendant of Caleb who had received Hebron and its environs as his inheritance from Joshua (Josh. 15:13). Nabal was unlike his ancestor in many ways. He was foolish, but Caleb was wise. Nabal did not take God into account, but Caleb counted on God’s promises. Nabal opposed God’s purposes and died prematurely, but Caleb cooperated with God and lived long. CN

What a contrast between this knucklehead and his beautiful and godly wife. We are told that he is harsh and evil in his doings (verse 3). His wife is a refreshing contrast. Abigail is a wonderful blend of good looks and good thinking.

The contrast between Nabal and Abigail could not be clearer. He was foolish; she was wise. He was evil; she was good. He was repulsive; she was attractive. He was arrogant; she was humble. He was ungodly; she was godly. He was antagonistic; she was peacemaking.

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.4 that David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep. 5 So David sent ten young men; and David said to the young men, “Go up to Carmel, visit Nabal and greet him in my name; 6 and thus you shall say, ‘ Have a long life, peace be to you, and peace be to your house, and peace be to all that you have. 7 ~’Now I have heard that you have shearers; now your shepherds have been with us and we have not insulted them, nor have they missed anything all the days they were in Carmel. 8 ~’Ask your young men and they will tell you. Therefore let my young men find favor in your eyes, for we have come on a festive day. Please give whatever you find at hand to your servants and to your son David.’“

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4. What is David asking for?

David needs provisions. It takes a lot of Big Macs to feed 600 guys out in the wilderness.

Sheepshearing was a time of festivity as well as work. David addresses Nabal very politely and respectfully. David’s sending ten young men suggests that he was asking for a substantial handout, but hardly enough to feed 600 men. David’s claim that his men had caused Nabal no problem is backed up by Nabal’s servant, who even adds that they were helpful. It may be that David is hoping to develop this spontaneous helpfulness into a regular relationship. ESV

David sends ten of his young men to Nabal, who greet Nabal in David’s name and pronounce a blessing upon him and his household. They call Nabal’s attention to the fact that it is sheering time, reminding him that their presence has not been detrimental to him, but they have performed for Nabal a very beneficial service. David’s men have not harmed any of Nabal’s servants. Indeed, David and his men have protected Nabal’s flocks and shepherds. Nabal is encouraged to ask his servants to verify the truth of these words. And so it is that they very politely ask Nabal for a gift, waiting patiently and expectantly for his response. RD

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9 When David’s young men came, they spoke to Nabal according to all these words in David’s name; then they waited. 10 But Nabal answered David’s servants and said, “Who is David? And who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants today who are each breaking away from his master. 11 Shall I then take my bread and my water and my meat that I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give it to men whose origin I do not know?”

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5. So I take it your answer is no? My boss will be very disappointed.

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Nabal answers David’s polite request not just with refusal (which might have been justifiable) but with contempt. Like Saul and Doeg, Nabal seems to use the son of Jesse as a belittling term. ESV

At first glance, it seems from Nabal’s words that he does not even know who David is. If this were true, Nabal would simply be refusing to give a gift to a stranger. But Nabal does know who David is. From his own words, he informs us that David is “the son of Jesse.”He knows from this that David is one of the descendants of Judah, just as he is. Nabal is a “Calebite” (verse 3), and we know Caleb is the representative of the tribe of Judah sent into Canaan to spy out the land (Numbers 13:6). In other words, David is a distant relative of Nabal, and yet Nabal is unmoved by his request for a gift at this time of celebration.

Nabal knows much more than this, however. Not only does he know that David is a “son of Jesse,” he is also well aware of the tension between Saul and David. Nabal speaks of David as a “servant of Saul,” who is “breaking away from his master.”Abigail, Nabal’s wife, knows that David is the one designated to reign in Saul’s place (verses 30-31). Nabal speaks only of David as a servant who has fled from his master, as though he were a mere runaway slave. I do not think Nabal refuses David’s request out of fear of reprisal from Saul, knowing what happened to Ahimelech and the priests when the high priest gave David some of the sacred bread to eat, along with Goliath’s sword. His message to David is not one of fear of reprisal, but one of pure selfishness and meanness. He will not share with David and his men anything that is his (note the repeated “my”in verse 11).

The final words of refusal Nabal speaks are noteworthy. He says to David’s messengers, “Shall I then take my bread and my water and my meat that I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give it to men whose origin I do not know?”(verse 11, emphasis mine). If I understand Nabal’s words accurately, he is here revealing his own arrogance and snobbery. Nabal is a “Calebite.” He comes from an outstanding family. David and his men, on the other hand, seem to come from obscure or unknown roots. Why should a man of Nabal’s standing give anything to such riffraff?

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12 So David’s young men retraced their way and went back; and they came and told him according to all these words. 13 David said to his men, “Each of you gird on his sword.” So each man girded on his sword. And David also girded on his sword, and about four hundred men went up behind David while two hundred stayed with the baggage.

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6. So how does Christlike David react to this rebuke?

He is real unhappy and is ready to do his Conan thing on this fool.

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I crush them, and they cannot get up; they fall beneath my feet. Psalms 18:38

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14 But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, saying, “Behold, David sent messengers from the wilderness to greet our master, and he scorned them. 15 Yet the men were very good to us, and we were not insulted, nor did we miss anything as long as we went about with them, while we were in the fields. 16 They were a wall to us both by night and by day, all the time we were with them tending the sheep. 17 Now therefore, know and consider what you should do, for evil is plotted against our master and against all his household; and he is such a worthless man that no one can speak to him.”

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7. How do Nabel’s servants respond to the news of David’s rebuff by their master?

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It would seem even Nabel’s servants are smart enough know that David, the man who slew Goliath and who women sang “Saul killed his thousands and David his ten thousands” about, would not be wise to cross. Nabel is certainly living up to his name.

Abigail Intercedes

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18 Then Abigail hurried and took two hundred loaves of bread and two jugs of wine and five sheep already prepared and five measures of roasted grain and a hundred clusters of raisins and two hundred cakes of figs, and loaded them on donkeys. 19 She said to her young men, ” Go on before me; behold, I am coming after you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal. 20 It came about as she was riding on her donkey and coming down by the hidden part of the mountain, that behold, David and his men were coming down toward her; so she met them. 21 Now David had said, “Surely in vain I have guarded all that this man has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belonged to him; and he has returned me evil for good. 22 May God do so to the enemies of David, and more also, if by morning I leave as much as one male of any who belong to him.” 23 When Abigail saw David, she hurried and dismounted from her donkey, and fell on her face before David and bowed herself to the ground. 24 She fell at his feet and said, “On me alone, my lord, be the blame. And please let your maidservant speak to you, and listen to the words of your maidservant.25 Please do not let my lord pay attention to this worthless man, Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. Nabal is his name and folly is with him; but I your maidservant did not see the young men of my lord whom you sent. 26 “Now therefore, my lord, as the Lordlives, and as your soul lives, since the Lordhas restrained you from shedding blood, and from avenging yourself by your own hand, now then let your enemies and those who seek evil against my lord, be as Nabal. 27 Now let this gift which your maidservant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who accompany my lord. 28 Please forgive the transgression of your maidservant; for the Lordwill certainly make for my lord an enduring house, because my lord is fighting the battles of the Lord, and evil will not be found in you all your days. 29 Should anyone rise up to pursue you and to seek your life, then the life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living with the Lord your God; but the lives of your enemies He will sling out as from the hollow of a sling. 30 And when the Lord does for my lord according to all the good that He has spoken concerning you, and appoints you ruler over Israel, 31 this will not cause grief or a troubled heart to my lord, both by having shed blood without cause and by my lord having avenged himself. When the Lord deals well with my lord, then remember your maidservant.” 32 Then David said to Abigail, ” Blessed be the LordGod of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me, 33 and blessed be your discernment, and blessed be you, who have kept me this day from bloodshed and from avenging myself by my own hand. 34 Nevertheless, as the Lord God of Israel lives, who has restrained me from harming you, unless you had come quickly to meet me, surely there would not have been left to Nabal until the morning light as much as one male.” 35 So David received from her hand what she had brought him and said to her, “Go up to your house in peace. See, I have listened to you and granted your request.” 36 Then Abigail came to Nabal, and behold, he was holding a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. And Nabal’s heart was merry within him, for he was very drunk; so she did not tell him anything at all until the morning light. 37 But in the morning, when the wine had gone out of Nabal, his wife told him these things, and his heart died within him so that he became as a stone. 38 About ten days later, the Lord struck Nabal and he died.

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8. How does Dear Abby defuse the situation?

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A soft answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger. Prov 15:1 (NKJV)

Abigail’s approach to David was a model of tact and courage. Visualize this solitary woman, riding a donkey, approaching 400 armed men who were riding horses and were bent on slaughtering her household. It took immense courage and boldness, as well as great wisdom, for Abigail to take her life in her hands and do what she did.

First, Abigail took all the blame for her husband’s foolish actions. In this she reminds us of Jesus Christ who also rode into the teeth of His enemies on a donkey, took on Himself the sins of generations of fools, and was willing to suffer the consequences unselfishly. Abigail begged David to listen to her; her own husband would not (cf. v. 17). Nabal had proudly described David as a runaway servant (v. 10), but Abigail presented herself humbly as a servant to David (v. 24).

She described her husband as a fool. Is this how a wife should speak of her husband, even if he is a fool? Perhaps she meant that in responding to David as he had Nabal had substantiated what others called him. If David had interpreted her description of her husband as disloyal, it is doubtful that David would have asked her to marry him later. She might have proved disloyal to him too.

Abigail proceeded to help David view his situation from God’s perspective. She referred to the Lord as the One who, in response to her words, was restraining him from shedding innocent blood. She was anticipating David’s proper response to her appeal. She further wished that all who opposed David, as Nabal had done, would be ineffective. She presented her gift of food and asked for David’s forgiveness, again as the substitute for her husband. She believed that Yahweh would give David an enduring dynasty because he fought the Lord’s battles, not just Saul’s battles, and because David would do the Lord’s will. In this she again anticipated David’s proper response to her request. She believed God would preserve David alive, a blessing promised in the Mosaic Law for those who obeyed God.

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9. Does God kill people?

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Now at midnight the Lord struck every firstborn ⌊male⌋ in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the prisoner who was in the dungeon, and every firstborn of the livestock. 30 During the night Pharaoh got up, he along with all his officials and all the Egyptians, and there was a loud wailing throughout Egypt because there wasn’t a house without someone dead. Ex 12:29-30 (HCSB)

So on an appointed day, dressed in royal robes and seated on the throne, Herod delivered a public address to them. 22 The assembled people began to shout, “It’s the voice of a god and not of a man!” 23 At once an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give the glory to God, and he became infected with worms and died. Acts 12:21-23 (HCSB)

39 When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Blessed be the Lord, who has pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal and has kept back His servant from evil. The Lord has also returned the evildoing of Nabal on his own head.” Then David sent a proposal to Abigail, to take her as his wife. 40 When the servants of David came to Abigail at Carmel, they spoke to her, saying, “David has sent us to you to take you as his wife.” 41 She arose and bowed with her face to the ground and said, “Behold, your maidservant is a maid to wash the feet of my lord’s servants.” 42 Then Abigail quickly arose, and rode on a donkey, with her five maidens who attended her; and she followed the messengers of David and became his wife. 43 David had also taken Ahinoam of Jezreel, and they both became his wives. 44 Now Saul had given Michal his daughter, David’s wife, to Palti the son of Laish, who was from Gallim.

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10. Isn’t maybe David a little impulsive here?

He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord.  Prov 18:22 (ESV)

A capable wife is her husband’s crown, but a wife who causes shame is like rottenness in his bones. Prov 12:4 (HCSB)

Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies. 11 The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil. 12 She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.  Prov 31:10-12 (KJV)

Smart, godly and good looking. These are hard to find.

And they didn’t have Christian dating services back then.

·        ACC …. Adam Clarke’s Commentary

·        CN …… Constables Notes

·        ESVN………….ESV Study Bible Notes                          

·        Gill………..John Gill Exposition of the Bible                                                        

·        JFB…………..Jamieson  Fausset Brown Commentary

·        JVM ….J Vernon McGee,

·        MH………..Matthew Henry Commentary

·        MSBN…….MacArthur NASB Study Notes      

·        NET………Net Bible Study Notes.

·        RD………….Robert Deffinbaugh  bible.org

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