1 Samuel 25
McGeeCHAPTER 25THEME: Samuel dies; David meets AbigailIn this chapter Samuel dies in his retirement. David encounters Nabal and Abigail. David in anger is prevented from the rash act of murdering Nabal and his servants by the presence and diplomacy of Abigail, Nabal’s beautiful wife. Nabal dies after a night of drunkenness, and David takes Abigail to wife. She was a good influence in his life.
1 Samuel 25:1
SAMUEL DIESScripture 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 wildernesshe went farther away from Saul than Elijah ever did from Jezebel.
1 Samuel 25:2
DAVID AND ABIGAILAs someone has said, “To be great is to be misunderstood.” This certainly applies to David. He was great, and he was misunderstood. Because the world does not know David, it misjudges him. When the name of David is mentioned, immediately there is called to mind his sins of murder and adultery. There are those who inquire, “How could David commit such sin, and yet the Scriptures say that he was a man after God’s own heart?” We will have an occasion to answer that question. But instead of questioning God’s choice, we ought to investigate David’s character. We will find that only those who are small will be critical of David. He is one of the outstanding characters in Scripture. To know him is to love him. I know of no man who presents such nobility of character. David had a checkered career. He was born a peasant boy in Bethlehem, a son of Jesse of the tribe of Judah. He was brought up a little shepherd boy among seven fine-looking brothers who were older than he. He was passed by. Then one day his life changed. God had not passed him by. God knew his heart. God does not look on the outward side of a man. God knew David’s heart. He was anointed Israel’s future king by Samuel. He slew the giant Goliath. As a musician he is called the “sweet psalmist of Israel.” He penned the most beautiful poetry written in any language or sung in any tongue. If you have any doubt about it, have you anything to compare with Psalms 23?
David married the princess Michal, the daughter of Saul. He was loved by Jonathan, the son of Saul. Never did a man have a friend like Jonathan. David became an outlaw. He gathered together a band of men during this time, and they lived in mountain strongholds. He pretended he was mad, like Hamlet, on one occasion.
He finally became king of Judah and then of the entire nation of Israel. We are going to see that his own son led a rebellion against him, and once again he was forced to flee. He lived to see Solomon, his son, anointed king. Instead of looking at David and Bathsheba and seeing David’s sin, I want you to look at something else. Let’s forget for the moment Goliath and David’s heroic accomplishment and Jonathan’s loyal friendship. Instead I want you to see the very simple story of life in this chapter. It reveals the innermost recesses of his soul. It is a story about David and Abigail, and it reveals how human David really was. It seems that not all of Caleb’s offspring turned out well, as we can see from this man Nabal. The name Nabal means “fool.” I don’t know how he got that name, but he certainly lived up to it. But then, aren’t we all born fools? The Scriptures say that man is born like a wild ass’s colt (Job_11:12). Look at your own life for a moment. Have you ever done anything foolish? I think all of us have done foolish things that we would rather not think about. Nabal was a fool, but he was a rich man. He had neither honor nor honesty. He was a drunken beast. But he had a beautiful and intelligent wife. That is a rare combination in a woman but a pleasing one. The question ishow did this man get such a jewel for a wife? Dr. McConkey called the story of Nabal and Abigail “Beauty and the Beast.” Frankly, I think her parents made the match. They were impressed by this man’s wealth, and it was a case of beauty being sold for goldtraffic in a human soul. Perhaps you are saying, “That’s terrible.” It is terrible, but it happens all the time in our contemporary culture. How often it happens we do not know. It is an awful thing.
1 Samuel 25:4
David had been protecting Nabal’s property. He had quite an army with him, and he could have robbed this man and taken his sheep for food, but he did not. Instead he kept thieves and marauders from getting the sheep. He did many things to assist Nabal. Now that David needs food, he sends his young men to ask for help.
1 Samuel 25:9
Nabal is saying that David has betrayed Saul and that he is disloyal.
1 Samuel 25:11
I told you at the beginning that David is redheaded and hot-headed. He is angry now.
1 Samuel 25:13
Someone in Nabal’s household learned of this and informed Abigail.
1 Samuel 25:14
When Abigail heard what had happened between her husband and David’s young men, she knew what David would do. So she got together a great deal of food.
1 Samuel 25:18
Abigail went out to meet David with food before he could get to Nabal because David would have killed him.
1 Samuel 25:21
David’s intention was to kill every man that belonged to Nabal.
1 Samuel 25:23
Around the hill David came, riding at full tilt, flushed with anger, and probably saying to himself, “I’ll get that fellow. He can’t treat me that way.” Then he looks down the road and sees a woman coming on a little donkey. He sees all the foodstuff, and his men are hungry. He halts his band of men before this beautiful woman. For the first time David, God’s anointed, is face to face with a noble woman who means well by him. She bows before David. She gets right down in the dust and asks David to take his revenge upon her because she is Nabal’s wife. She is wise in what she does because David is not about to do anything to a beautiful woman with an appeal like she made! Then she apologizes for the fact that her husband is a fool and a brute.
1 Samuel 25:25
A “man of Belial” is a worthless person.
1 Samuel 25:26
This was just the beginning of David’s career. Sin came into his life later on, but up to this point David’s life was as clean as a hound’s tooth. He has lived for God, and he is attempting to please God. Abigail admires him for it.
1 Samuel 25:29
Although she does not mention him by name, Abigail is speaking about Saul as the one who is pursuing David. Then she says one of the most remarkable things about David, “But the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the LORD thy God.” Friend, that is exactly the position of the believer in Christ Jesus. John, in his first epistle, calls Christ “Eternal Life.” He says, “For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us” (1Jn_1:2). When you and I trust Him as Savior, the Holy Spirit baptizes us into the body of believers. Paul says, “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit” (1Co_12:13). You and I are brought into the body of believersthe body of Christby our faith in Christ. We are said to be in Christ.
And there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ. So we are bound in the bundle of life with the Lord Jesus Christ. Then Abigail said, “The souls of thine enemies God shall sling out.” David knew all about slingshots, and what he had done to Goliath was well known in Israel. Then Abigail continues.
1 Samuel 25:30
Abigail is saying to David, “Don’t hold what my husband has done against us. You are going to be king.” I can just see David sitting astride his horse, looking down at this woman who is actually down in the dust. She is a beautiful and noble woman.
1 Samuel 25:32
David was thankful to this woman for her wisdom in keeping him from an act that would have caused him regret.
1 Samuel 25:35
David accepted Abigail’s food, advice, and person.
1 Samuel 25:36
Nabal had a big party that nighthe was a swinger. He had sobered up the next morning, and Abigail told him what had transpired the day before with David. Then “his heart died within him, and he became as a stone.” He not only had a headache, he had a heartache too. What happened to him? Did he have a heart attack? It is well that God moved Abigail to intervene. David’s hands would have been red with blood, and God didn’t want them that way. Now what is David going to do? There is a beautiful widow who lives in the desert of Paran. She is, actually, the only woman who has been a blessing to him.
1 Samuel 25:39
When David heard that Nabal was dead, he wanted Abigail for his wife. When she had intercepted David on the road, she had said, “When the LORD shall have dealt well with my lord, then remember thine handmaid.” Well, David could not forget her. Do you know why? She had appealed to the best in him. She had advised him, and he knew her advice was right. He knew he loved her, and I think it was love at first sight. David also recognized the hand of God. God can use beauty. That day on the road, as he thanked her for her good advice, two great souls stood in the presence of each other. Now that Nabal was dead, David asked her to become his wife, and she did. This marks the beginning of another phase of David’s life. Now something else took place of which God did not approve.
1 Samuel 25:43
Sin entered into his life, friend. He was a rugged man and he lived a rugged life, but one day he became a murderer. Since God called him a man after His own heart, does that mean He approved of his life? No. We will see that when David longed to build God a magnificent temple, God had to tell him “no.” God would not permit him to build the temple because of the sin in his life.