1 SAMEUL 25

INTRO:
 In the previous chapter 24, David is on the run because Saul is trying to kill him, in Chapter 26, David will be on
the run again because Saul is trying to kill him!
 So, Why this story in between?
 For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance
taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope. (Romans 15:4)
 Christ specifically said and in turn implicated that His story is woven throughout the OT!
 So this story is deemed by the inspired author as equally important, and it is – and will tell us a lot about our
relationship with the Lord!
 They said, man has three basic needs: food, shelter, and clothing.

TITLE: THREE OTHER BASIC NEEDS

I. How is God teaching Him (TRUST) (Verse 1 -11)

A. God is teaching him about trust (that he is his reguge)
 It is interesting enough how we have this kind of story in between, but it is also equally interesting how our
chapter began. At first glance it has no connection, but we will that it has! We are told of the death of Prophet
Samuel! He is considered as the top 5 greatest men in the ancient Jewish history!
 We are not only told of a death of a special man, but a man that is very special to David!
 Samuel was the one who told David He would be king one day, remember?
 Samuel was the first person David ran to when he first started running from Saul!
 So this verse in effect is saying, that the best person who could be David’s stronghold has just died!
 It is like in our time today, when a very dear mentor who really care and love you has just died you would be
very sad because you would think: “Who would pray for me now? If worse comes to worse, where would I turn
to?”
 So in effect this story was sandwiched here so to teach David a very important lesson on trust!
 So we will see how God is teaching David to trust Him! And quickly we see that God wants David to realize that
He is his refuge!
 David had tried to hide in a cave, but he was found out (1 Samuel 22); He tried to entrust his life and life of his
family to the priests at Nob, but later around 85 of them were slaughtered because of that; God knew that David
will still constantly be on the run, and so it is important that David learn to fully trust God!
 God knew David will continue to experience rejection, will face more stronger enemies, even betrayals! And so
God is teaching him to learn to trust, gradually, through his experiences and encounters. And that is what we are
seeing and we will continue to see as we progress in the story of David.
 And I think the same is true with us, our struggles – they teach us a lot about trust! We learn from experience
that if we trust our money (person, resources, education) we are going to get what our money can do! But if we
trust God, we are going to get what God can do!
B. God wants David to understand about revenge
 Here the next thing that we see, is how God has taught David about revenge.
 When David learned that the men was rejected by Nabal and have received nothing but insults… His immediate
reaction was revenge! He called on about 400 men and made an oath to annihilate all the men in Nabal’s house
hold!
 And here we are introduced to the person of Abigail! One of the few women in the Bible who are called
beautiful, and the only woman who is said to be very intelligent! Who, God will use to teach David about
revenge! (verses 28-31).
 Abigail is giving David a reputation to live! And that awaken David from his anger!
 You will be surprise to know that David has written many psalms who are imprecatory psalms… I believe they
are indications and proofs that first and foremost the he learned to surrender to the Lord his hatred and anger
to his enemies! He learned to take hold of his emotions! And we will learned more about that in our next point.
C. God wants David to acquire wisdom when he sees it
II. How God is testing Him - How to handle our emotions (SELF-CONTROL) (12-28)
 The story in chapter will tell us also How God is testing him!
 It is interesting how these passage has tell us a lot about David’s great character.
 Notice for example how the servants reported of David (14-15)
 First let me just say that this reminds us that how all we do in life affects others!
 That David has integrity, which is crucial to becoming a great leader except that He also has a temper issue.
 So here, I believe God had placed him in a situation where that would be tested
 He is a type of person: “Kapag may katuwiran ipaglaban mo! Sugod! Mga kapatid!”
A. His emotion is put to the test
 From the previous chapter we see him, sparing King Saul’s life. That’s admirable!
 But that could be easier because he was dealing with the anointed king! And we are not told also until when
David can hold on to his anger!
 Here in this chapter, he is dealing with an ordinary citizen! And so his emotion got the better of Him!
 You know, we need not a commentary on this… we all know that once our emotions got hold of us, we can turn
from becoming a deer to a lion!
 Even David over reacted! David was angry to Nabal for not giving his men any food!
 He bowed to kill all the men!
 Someone has said, this is a classic case of a male overreaction to a problem :-p
 This could also tell us that we might make a worse decision when we are hungry!
 There is an acronym I learned that would remind us to check our behaviour everytime: H.A.L.T (Hungry, Angry,
Lonely, Tired)
B. His ego is put to the test
 Not only was emotion was put to the test, but even His ego! Now, Abigail might be wise and beautiful, but not
that’s not a guarantee that David is going to listen to her!
 Remember, David was in the height of his emotions! Ready to kill!
 But it seems Abigail meet David just in the right time (verse 32-34)
 And if there is one thing we can also admire from David is He recognizes when it is God that is speaking to Him!
 Illustration: Terrence Romeo (What Arwin Santos said of him)
 That is really hard to do, to listen to anybody when we are at height of our emotions, even to God!
 Well you might think it is also because of the wisdom Abigail! Well I would like to believe that is also true, and
quickly let me end our message with this third point…
III. How God is Correcting Him - How to acquire wisdom (WISDOM) (32-44)
 We will see How God corrected David!
 As I told you, David listens and recognizes God’s voice!
 I believe Abigail was intelligent for a purpose! Yes, that is to serve as a rebuke awakening to David!
 Here through Abigail, God is correcting David with wisdom! So this story also tells how important for us to
acquire wisdom!
A. How do we acquire wisdom
 Here, in contrast Nabal was a fool – it is believed that it is not his real name but a nick name.
 A fool (Psalms 14) – Probably Nabal has already accepted this nickname to himself… and though, so what, I don’t
need God! I am rich, I am the boss of myself! God is only for weaklings!
 That’s a person who has no wisdom! How do we acquire wisdom?
 First of all, ask God (James 1:5)
 Experience! Is experience is the best teacher? Evaluated experience is the best teacher!
 Proverbs 19:20-21 (Counsel of godly people)
B. How do we apply wisdom?
 Have the Lord of Wisdom (Jesus Christ is Wisdom)
 When choosing a partner/company (1 Corinthians 15:33)