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Samuel_25-26_-_message.hwp|
1 Samuel 25-26 Key Verse 26:23,24 The Lord Rewards “The Lord rewards every man for his righteousness and faithfulness. The Lord delivered you into my hands today, but I would not lay a hand on the Lord’s anointed. As surely as I valued your life today, so may the Lord value my life and deliver me from all trouble.” David was just about to make a big mistake. If he did, he would have ruined his spirit and his reputation as the shepherd king of Israel. He would only have been known as an ambitious wicked man. Thankfully, God helped him this time again. David wanted to please God, therefore he did not commit sins. Instead, he looked toward God who would reward him. In the same manner, we should struggle to consistently live a righteous and faithful life. This pleases God. 1. David Keeps Away From His Sin (25) Look at verses 2-3, “A certain man in Maon, who had property there at Carmel was very wealthy. He had a thousand goats and three thousand sheep, which he was shearing in Carmel. His name was Nabal and his wife’s name was Abigail. She was an intelligent and beautiful woman, but her husband, a Calebite, was surly and mean in his dealings.” Nabal was a very rich man with an intelligent beautiful wife. David sent his people to go to Nabal and ask for some food. It was the sheep shearing time. David knew that Nabal had sufficient food. He thought that Nabal would be in a good mood and generous. Besides, it was more than just common courtesy for Nabal to give something to David. David had helped him by protecting his flocks and his servants from robbers and dangers. But what happened? Look at verse 11. "Why should I take my bread and water, and the meat I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give it to men coming from who knows where?" Nabal, true to his character, refused to give anything. He insulted David and then threw out David’s men, empty handed. David’s men returned and reported every word Nabal said. David became very upset and commanded his people, “put on your swords!” He completely lost his temper. Look at verses 21-22. “David had just said, ‘It’s been useless- all my watching over this fellow’s property in the desert so that nothing of his was missing. He has paid me back evil for good. May God deal with David, be it ever so severely, if by morning I leave alive one male of all who belong to him!’” David totally overreacted. He wanted to kill Nabal, and every single male family member and servant. Abigail, an intelligent and beautiful wife of Nabal found what was going on. She immediately prepared food and went to David. As she came riding her donkey, there were David and his men descending toward her. She got off her donkey and bowed down to David. Abigail effectively softened David’s heart and his wrath. In doing this, she saved her husband and every male in their household. But it was also important that she saved David from doing something that would destroy his spirit, something that he would surely regret. David became emotional, and only thought about his own honor, his own rights, and what he deserved. But Abigail reminded David that he served the Lord. She reminded that he would surely be the next king of Israel. God himself would bring down all of David’s enemies. She gently warned him that if he gave in to his anger, he would have the staggering burden on his conscience. David had to keep his integrity. He could not make such a big mistake. So now David stopped and began to ask himself. He wanted to please God more than anything else. But he decided to do something evil that would offend God and all of God’s people in Israel. Look at verses 32-33. “David said to Abigail, ‘Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, who has sent you today to meet me. May you be blessed for your good judgment and for keeping me from bloodshed this day and from avenging myself with my own hands.’” He was a spiritual humble man who would listen and turn away from his sins. When we are tempted like David was, We need to think of God. We need to remember that we belong to God. We need to know that we live only by God’s mercy and grace. And God’s people must not give in to temptation no matter what. When we give in to temptation, it displeases God who is the Lord of all, it ruins our spirit- causing us to live in guilt There are times when we give in to temptation. When we become aware of this, the best action is to repent immediately. We cannot let sin take root in us, then it will grow and grow, and become very difficult to get rid of later on. We have to throw sin out of our life right away so it does not grow up and kill us. We should humbly listen to God's warning that keeps us away from sins. 2. The Lord Rewards (26) Look at verse 1. The Ziphites went to Saul and reported where David was. He had no safe place in Israel to hide. Saul immediately pursued David with 3,000 of his best troops. Because the king Saul was pursuing him, David had no place to live in a secure house. He owned no property. He even went out of the country to run away. Look at verse 5. David saw Saul's camp. That night, David went in to Saul's camp with Abishai. Very strangely, Saul, Abner, and every single person were lying inside the camp. There were no single guards awaken, because God had put them into a deep sleep. This was a golden opportunity for David to kill Saul. Then he would not need to run away anymore. Abishai knew that David would not probably want to kill Saul, so he offered that he would do. Look at verse 8. “Today God has delivered your enemy into your hands. Now let me pin him to the ground with one thrust of my spear; I won’t strike him twice.” But David refused to kill Saul. He learned from Nabal's case. He did not want to make any mistake again. Let’s read verses 10-11. “’As surely as the Lord lives’, he said, ‘the lord himself will strike him; either his time will come and he will die, or he will go into battle and perish. But the Lord forbid that I should lay a hand on the Lord’s anointed. Now get the spear and water jug that are near his head, and let’s go.’” David prevented Abishai from sinning by killing the Lord’s anointed. They just took away Saul’s spear and water jug and went out. Saul, Abner, and their men woke up and wondered who was shouting for them. David asked them to look around, saying ‘Where are the king’s spear and water jug? David proved that he was righteous. He did not dare to lay a hand on king Saul. He waited upon God's judgement on king Saul. We have people who hate us, or mistreat us. We want to do something against them and claim our own rights. But it is the time to look up to God. God will bring about his justice when we pray to him. What we need to do is to forgive and wait patiently. Then God will deal with them and moreover God rewards us. Look at verses 23-24. “The Lord rewards every man for his righteousness and faithfulness. The Lord delivered you into my hands today, but I would not lay a hand on the Lord’s anointed. As surely as I valued your life today, so may the Lord value my life and deliver me from all trouble.” David continued to do good in the middle of danger and temptation, because he knew that God would reward him. He patiently waited for God to bless and reward his life. David gave his testimony to Saul and ended it with “One word: The Lord rewards every man for his righteousness and faithfulness.” David saw that God rewards his righteous and faithful servants. Also this time, God gave David needed reward. Saul left David with his 3000 men. David went on his way, and Saul returned home. David did not shed any blood. So David got some time for rest and peace without running away to the ends of the earth. David believed in the hand of God giving him his rewards. As it was with David, so the Lord rewards every man for his righteousness and faithfulness. Righteousness means doing what is right according to God’s standard. Faithfulness means consistently doing what is right by God’s standards. The two are inseparable. In living the Christian life, righteousness and faithfulness are essential. They are the very characteristics of God himself. We should also possess these qualities. But we fail many times, and even David did. There is only Jesus who was faithful and righteous 100%. When we rely on this Jesus, he saves us and leads our way. Jesus always becomes our perfect reward. We should learn to put our hope in God. When we only focus on ourselves, we try to reward ourselves. We get impatient. Then we make mistakes. But when we focus on God, we grow like David who was a man of faith and patience. Let's learn to put our hope in God that we may get his reward. |
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