1sam25v8

1 SAMUEL 25:1-13 TEXT: v8 WE COME IN A GOOD DAY

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.

Context: David/men are on the run from Saul and living as fugitives. Part of that life was effectively earning food where they could and it was socially acceptable to seek food in the way they did here…by providing some unasked for security.
If this should sounds a bit rich to us in our day/age and open to abuse:
[i] David did not take advantage of the poor.
Nabal was a very rich man with plenty/money as the extravagance (v36) proves.
[ii] David did not demand a specified fee.
He simply asked that he might find some grace/Nabal's sight (v8)
He would have been satisfied with whatever came to Nabal's hand i.e. a simple wage for a simple work.
He was only looking to eat/drink in order to survive and keep ahead of Saul.
[iii] David's opening words (v6) show that no mischief of any kind or threats etc., were intended.
Part of David's argument was that he came to Nabal on a good day and therefore could hope that some grace and generosity might be shown to him.
Why was it a good day?
4 reasons:

1) ALL HIS FLOCKS AND YOUNG MEN HAD BEEN KEPT SAFE:

A/ This was the original/obvious reason David gave when looking for food (v7)
He invited his version/events to be investigated (v8) The young men themselves testified /truth (v15-16)

B/ David's work in this regard could not have been bettered.
He was not claiming for services he did not/could not provide.
David's men were as a wall round about Nabal's men and this both day/night and absolutely nothing amiss was done/missing.
A good day.

C/ It is always a good day for us when we have been preserved and kept by the power/God.
A soul out of hell is a good day.
A soul safe for evermore in the nail pierced hand of the Lord Jesus is a good day.
Just as there were bands/robbers and wolves etc., in the days/David…so too in our day, only of a spiritual kind (worse again) but our Good Shepherd flees not when the wolf cometh (John 10)
There is a wall round about us:
[i] Satan admitted as much (Job 1:10)
[ii] God said so:
For I, saith the LORD, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her. (Zechariah 2:5)

D/ Even one of the names given to the Holy Spirit indicates this: Paraclete i.e. one who draws along side.
This is what David and his men did.
Not along side to harass or merely watch…but to actively protect so that none are lost.
It was a good day for Nabal because not only were his flocks and men safe but…

2) HERE WAS HIS OPPORTUNITY TO HELP FOLK IN NEED:

A/ It was not such a good day for David.
Not called to be a shepherd or a wanderer but a king and yet he was struggling to keep his head above the water.
He was hungry/tired.

B/ God tells us that we ought to look after those who are in need.
Not to aid/abet or encourage laziness…but David could hardly be so described.
His credentials were impressive:
[i] He had felled the great Goliath when none else dared try (17)
[ii] He had laboured in Saul's house as a musician (16)
[iii] His name had been much set by for wisdom (18)
[iv] Again…his last few days had successfully secured Nabal's possessions.
This could not be dismissed.

C/ It was not David's fault he was on the run.
Saul had twice sought to kill him with a javelin and was even now seeking to kill him.
Recent events (24:8-22) would not last long (as subsequent history proved)
David really was in need.

D/ This being so…it would have been to Nabal's credit to help him.
Plenty of food.
Nabal's wife had no difficulty either in gathering it up (v18) or in parting with it (even without the threat) - v25)
As said: he certainly consumed and drank much Like the feast of a king (v36) and his young men saw the refusal (as well as its manner of delivery) as churlish (v17)

E/ What satisfaction would flow from Nabal helping others.
In doing good to the people/God…we are doing good (as it were) to God Himself.
Central teaching: sheep/goats (Matthew 25)
Inasmuch as ye did it unto these the least of my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Consider how much the Lord Jesus did for people that (while illustrating spiritual truth) yet was basically physical.
Not all the 5,000 were converted/God (John 6:66ff) but they were all fed nevertheless.
It is most Christ-like for a Christian to go about doing good (Acts 10:38)
Poor Nabal lets this opportunity slip him by.
Could hardly say it would have involved any sacrificial giving.
If no sheep were lost, then his profits were greater.
Even to have shared this larger (and surely unexpected) profit was the least he could have done.

3) HERE WAS A GLORIOUS OPPORTUNITY TO BEFRIEND THE FUTURE KING OF ISRAEL:

A/ Enough had David been but a commoner to have helped him.
But how much that he was a future king/waiting.
Nabal was hardly ignorant of this fact. His wife certainly wasn't (v30)

B/ To have succoured David would have brought him great favour.
David would not have slow to repay him.
See the kindness of David to Saul to whom he owed nothing (24:17-18)
Objection: Was Nabal not afraid of Saul?
[i] Saul had called a kind of cease-fire at this time (24:19)
While it would not last…yet it was lasting then.
[ii] Nabal did not make mention any fear/Saul.
Just insulted David (v10) so there were no excuses.

C/ But Nabal lets all this go by. Consider the things we could do for the Lord Jesus.
Today in this world He is despised/rejected of men.
Will be no applause here.
Scarcely any to come as the age draws to an end.
But there will be a day when He will be seen to reign.
One day, every knee shall bow etc., and it will be good to have contributed perhaps in some small way to His kingdom.
These are the ones to whom he will say:
Well done thou good and faithful servants (Matthew 25:21)
Remember:
God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister. (Hebrews 6:10)

4) HERE WAS AN OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN AN ALTERNATIVE TO HIS CHURLISH BEHAVIOUR:

A/ Nabal certainly had a problem (v3/v17)
Well…here was David with a band of men who not only protected, but coversed with the men/Nabal (v15)
It would have been a good day all round had Nabal done as requested.
A good day for Nabal. A good day for Nabal's wife and family.
A good day for Nabal's men.
A good day for poor David and his men.

B/ The more we serve God, the more we will want to serve Him.
The more precious the things/God will become to us.
The more we strive after holiness, the more obnoxious sin and its many manifestations will become.
Let today be a good day! It is largely what we make it.
Pray God for grace to make it a day of revival and much good.
Like Nabal, we have nothing lacking to make it happen.
We have all we need in the person/work of Jesus Christ.