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.