Leave it to God

Leave it to God 2021 03 07

1Samuel 25:2 – 39

What an ugly time we are living in.  The world we once knew has been locked down because of a pandemic that was almost certainly caused by the actions of one of the most brutal regimes this world has ever known.  Christians are being targeted and killed around the world for being Christians, and even here, in our once free western world, Christians are being singled out while churches are deemed “non-essential.” All ideas and opinions that do not agree with the increasingly radical left are being shut down.  You can no longer disagree with many very ungodly and vile ideas without risking having all your social media accounts shut down.  Conservatives who dare to speak are having their bank accounts canceled, their businesses boycotted, and all means of communicating outside of their immediate households shut down.  Christians are being labeled as far-right extremists.  Even Dr. Suess has been canceled.  You can no longer buy or sell his children’s books on Ebay or Amazon!  Yet you can buy or sell disgusting and vulgar books masquerading as children’s books freely.  Young girls are being kidnapped and sold into slavery with scarcely a whimper from the West, but if you say anything negative about abortion or a rainbow crosswalk, you can end up on headline news and have all your social media accounts canceled.

All this might make you feel like screaming at all the unfairness and injustice in the world!  But in our passage this morning, we’ll read about the way we should all view injustice, even when it seems like someone is “getting away with it.”

1Samuel 25:2 – 39

Romans 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.”  The scripture referred to in this verse is found in Deuteronomy 32:35: “To me belongeth vengeance, and recompence; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste.”

The passage in Deuteronomy is an answer to the constant rebellion of the nation of Israel, yet it did not come alone.  The very next verse promised that only the wicked would be punished.  God doesn’t miss anything, but He is also just.

I A Wealthy Man 2,3

  1. Although Saul had gone home after trying to capture David, there was still a price on David’s head. He and his men were hiding out in the Wilderness of Paran, sometimes called the Wilderness of Maon, a town, along with Carmel, in southeast Judah (now part of the territory known as the West Bank).  This particular town of Carmel is not to be confused with Mount Carmel, far to the west near the Mediterranean Sea.  In fact, there is an Arab village, today, named el-Kharmil, probably very close to the same location as this one mentioned in our passage.
  2. A very wealthy man dwelt in this area, named Nabal, who owned thousands of sheep and goats. He had a very attractive young wife named, Abigail.  It was the season for shearing the sheep and goats, which was done in the same wilderness where the sheep were typically grazed.  Shearing time was a time where many people, animals, and food were concentrated in one spot, a very tempting target for bandits.
    1. David and his men, about 600 strong, were like a wall about the people of the area, keeping them safe from all harm.

II  A King’s Need  4 – 9

  1. Note: David was not yet recognized as king by Israel, but he had already been anointed king by Samuel (1Samuel 16:13)
    1. Saul, even though he had not lifted the price from David’s head, still recognized that David was going to replace him and his line as king, and asked him to promise to spare his family when the time came (1Samuel 24:20 – 22)
  2. David and his men needed provisions. It is not simple to feed 600 men in a wilderness!
    1. He therefore sent to Nabal for supplies, knowing that since it was shearing season, Nabal was bringing a lot of food and drink out for his servants.

 III  A Thankless Man  10, 11

  1. Nabal was completely ungrateful. Worse than that, he insulted David’s lineage.  (In the Wild West, David would have stood up, eyed up Nabal, and said, “Draw!”) Furthermore, he had to have known full well who David wa – that he was considered the rival of King Saul, himself.  It would also be hard to believe that he did not know about the anointing of David by the prophet, Samuel.  That was the reason for Saul constantly trying to kill him.
    1. Nabal and all that he had thrived under the watchful eye of this future king, yet he called him a complete nobody and sent David’s envoys away empty-handed.

 IV A King’s Anger  12,13

  1. When David received Nabal’s reply, he was furious. He took four hundred of his armed men and headed out to take what he felt was owed them and to get revenge for the great insult.  Indeed, he planned to kill every man of Nabal’s household.
    1. The fury of man is not righteous. “Proud and haughty scorner is his name, who dealeth in proud wrath.”  Proverbs 21:24.
    2. Leave it to God. “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.” Romans 12:19

 V  A Righteous Woman  14 – 31

  1. Thanks be to God, there was a righteous woman, Abigail, the wife of Nabal.
    1. One of the young men, probably a shearer, heard how Nabal insulted David, and had quickly sought out Abigail to let her know.
    2. This young man told Abigail the whole story, how David and his men had protected them, how David had politely asked for provisions, how Nabal had insulted him, and how Nabal was such a son of the devil that there was no reasoning with him and convincing him to apologize for such ungrateful stupidity.
    3. Abigail very quickly had a large amount of provisions loaded up on donkey, which she sent by her servants to David and his men.
      1. She followed the provisions without telling her husband. She did what she did to save his life and the lives of their household.  It was a very brave thing that she did.
    4. Next, this righteous woman dared to speak to David, which could have brought her harm or death, and warned him prophetically to leave it to God, because God would deal with Nabal in his time.
      1. Oh, that we had such women and men as Abigail, today! A couple of years ago, an American woman went to jail for obeying God and suddenly Christians were fighting with each other!
      2. Abigail dared to speak the truth to David in obedience to God and saved her house by doing so.
  • Abigail dared to speak the truth to David in obedience to God and saved him from shedding innocent blood in anger.

VI  A Recognition of God  32 – 35

  1. David recognized the word of God coming from Abigail.
    1. “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.”
    2. Leave it to God when you have been wronged. Judgment is God’s department.

VII  A Judgment of God  36 – 38

  1. Nabal did not get away with insulting the anointed of God as he did. Within days, he was dead.
    1. David decided to heed the word of God and leave it to God, and God dealt with Nabal. God is the righteous judge of human wickedness.

 VIII  A Blessing of God  39

  1. God blessed David by keeping him from doing the evil he had planned to do against Nabal and his household.
  2. There is no mention of the time that elapsed between when Nabal died and when Abigail became David’s wife, but it is certain, due to the customs of the day, that even after a loveless marriage as she well may have been in, she would have been expected t at least go through the usual mourning time of seven days first. But then this righteous woman became the wife of the future king of Israel.

 Conclusion:  Leave it to God.  People may wrong you.  People may even harm you.  In fact, if you obey God in Christ Jesus, you are going to be at the very least spoken evil of, especially in this increasingly godless world.  But Psalm 37:8 exhorts you to “Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.”

  1. Leave it to God and when people do you wrong, remember what Jesus said in Matthew 10:22 “And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.” 
    1. And in Matthew 24:9 “Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.”
    2. In John 15:21 “But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me.”
    3. Finally, in Luke 23:34 “Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do…”
  2. Leave it to God. Perhaps some will still come to Him, even as the thief did on the cross next to our Saviour, as his life in the world faded away.