Sunday Morning Podcast November 3, 2019. Bro. Dave Goble.
TEXT: 1 SAMUEL 25:1-12
1 And Samuel died; and all the Israelites were gathered together, and lamented him, and buried him in his house at Ramah. And David arose, and went down to the wilderness of Paran.
2 And there was a man in Maon, whose possessions were in Carmel; and the man was very great, and he had three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats: and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel.
3 Now the name of the man was Nabal; and the name of his wife Abigail: and she was a woman of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance: but the man was churlish and evil in his doings; and he was of the house of Caleb.
4 And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal did shear his sheep.
5 And David sent out ten young men, and David said unto the young men, Get you up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and greet him in my name:
6 And thus shall ye say to him that liveth in prosperity, Peace be both to thee, and peace be to thine house, and peace be unto all that thou hast.
7 And now I have heard that thou hast shearers: now thy shepherds which were with us, we hurt them not, neither was there ought missing unto them, all the while they were in Carmel.
8 Ask thy young men, and they will shew thee. Wherefore let the young men find favour in thine eyes: for we come in a good day: give, I pray thee, whatsoever cometh to thine hand unto thy servants, and to thy son David.
9 And when David’s young men came, they spake to Nabal according to all those words in the name of David, and ceased.
10 And Nabal answered David’s servants, and said, Who is David? and who is the son of Jesse? there be many servants now a days that break away every man from his master.
11 Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my flesh that I have killed for my shearers, and give it unto men, whom I know not whence they be?
12 So David’s young men turned their way, and went again, and came and told him all those sayings.
We don’t have to end foolish, or simple, but can seek God for His Wisdom. The world is full of simple and foolish ideas. We have all been this way, but with God we can be wise. Often being simple, (those without judgement) is what affects mostly the younger generation. But sometimes, we have all been found here, as many others, seeking to find out what really is being wise, or of wisdom. And of course being of a simple understanding, affects any who lacks the determination to seek God’s thoughts and ways over their own will. Nabal is the example of being foolish in this message. Here the benevolence from God being shown him through and from David, and yet he showed scorn, and mockery. Abigail on the other hand, was an example of wisdom. And so it was, that David determined to fight and win over the enemy Nabal for his foolish pride, mockery, and wickedness. ” And David said unto his men, Gird ye on every man his sword. And they girded on every man his sword; and David also girded on his sword: and there went up after David about four hundred men, and two hundred abode by the stuff. I Samuel 25:13 It is true in that era of time, that it was risky to ask for help, from one not of your own. Yet David had also put himself at risk to guard Nabal’s servants and herds. But God had a humble and wise vessel in Abigail. One of Nabal’s servants came to warn Abigail how David was determined to fight Nabal, (verse 22) and against all he had. (“Now David had said, Surely in vain have I kept all that this fellow hath in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all the pertained unto him: and he hath requited me evil for good. 1 Samuel 25: 21). So then wise Abigail prepared much nourishment for their sustenance, hoping to make peace with David, to avoid the harm intended against her evil husband, people and properties. (“Then Abigail made haste, and took two hundred loaves, and two bottles of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched corn, and an hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on asses”.1 Samuel 25:18) Abigail knew that otherwise, her family would be destroyed because of her churlish, wicked and foolish husband, so she humbly begged .David to not destroy them because of Nabal’s foolishness ( verses 23-31) , prophesying her confidence that he had God as his keeper, and that would yet make him ruler, so that this would later be of no grief or offense. The lesson is, that when humility and repentance intervenes, it saves us from a multitude of sins. There was a great deal of pride with Nabal’s thinking, but Abigail’s great humility was the needed remedy. She was wise, because of humility. Nabal’s heart being full of his pride, feasted and drank, and then his heart died like a stone by morning. A price of his great foolishness. And foolishness brings delusion, and in Nabal’s case…sudden death. Simple thinking also brings harm. The world too thinks the simples are of no harm. The foolish are merry in their wickedness. The world is full of this, …that there is no wisdom but their own. The foolish will accept no counsel from anything or anyone in their pride and arrogance. We can’t appreciate wise thinking unless we first consider the simple and foolish spirits in the world, that also wants to make its way into the church. For after all, we also are human, growing up in the same environment.
The association of the church doesn’t make us immune from foolish thinking. If you think it does, you have already become foolish in your thinking. “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God……..” Psalms 53:1 There is so much wickedness with so little good in the world, because the simple have yet to realize they are sick in their simple thinking. So then they become foolish! Pride has ruined their life! Life is so much better when we seek the wisdom of God! Never depreciate the wisdom of God! You will never find joy without finding all things in Christ! Without thinking and meditating on how good it is to be saved! To love God more than the world! To want truth more than error! Don’t be interested in religious thinking, but rather the Truth! “…..but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.” Proverbs 11:14 The foolish think there is no need to counsel or change, because their pride prevents them. Have I allowed foolishness in any part of my life? If pride resides in your heart, you won’t accept the godly counsel of God and Truth, (Ezekiel 13:3). Nabal because of foolishness would not listen to David’s request to help him. It was then David knew that Nabal was the enemy, and would have destroyed wicked Nabal, because of Nabal’s foolish arrogant thinking! Distorted thinking can affect anyone! 2 Kings 5th chapter, Naman, a great and honorable man, captain of the host of the king of Syria, but was also a leper. He had a “thorn” in his flesh, of fleshly knowledge, valor, and self importance. When counseled by Elisha to wash in the muddy river of Jordan seven times to become healed, his pride caused him to rise up in anger. When his servants entreated him to see how wise it was to humbly submit to the prophets counsel, then Naman also humbled himself, and was healed. God is only asking you, us, all, to submit your will to His! Humility, and Submission, makes one Steadfast! On the other hand stubbornness makes one arrogant full of pride, and foolish. You need to ask God to change you, as He desires to.
The Simple, The Foolish, and The Wise…….