Faith Baptist Church
05/17/26 Worship Service
Psalms 145:8-9KJV
- Worthy Of Praise
- The Mercies Of God
- Grace Greater Than Our Sin
- Worship the Lord
- Jake and Sam are brothers. Their father was very wealthy with a sizable inheritance to pass down to his sons. Jake was the older brother and expected to get the bulk of his father’s inheritance. Before their father passed away Jake began to act foolishly. He became the black sheep of the family. He publically discredited the family name. So, Jake was written out of the will. After Jake and Sam’s father passed away, due to some legal technicalities Jake contested the will in court. Jake attacked Sam with every trick and strategy he could think of to take the sizable inheritance for himself. Jake used his army of lawyers, he used a public smear campaign on social media, he tried to turn the rest of the family against Sam. This battle went on for decades. All the while Sam did nothing wrong. When he was insulted and when he was threatened Sam did not respond with insults and force of his own. He patiently waited and consistently did the right thing. Sam had to endure this scenario for 40 years before the conflict reached its conclusion.How would you fell if you were Sam? Could you imagine having to endure that kind of trial for 40 years?Would you ever be tempted to shake your fist at God? Would you ever be tempted to loose your patience and lash out? Would you be tempted to slip into a depression? To give up on life? Could you patiently wait for 40 years for God to deliver you from such a trial?This was exactly what David had to endure while he waited for God to deliver him from King Saul.Do you need God to deliver you from something in your life?-Marriage?-Finances?-Children?-Job?Is there a trial you have been enduring for a long long time? Is your patience growing thin? Do you still trust the Lord to deliver you?In our narrative this morning, David learns in some very important ways that the Lord will deliver him out of all his trials.Do you believe that about the Lord? Do you believe that the Lord will deliver you? Even if it takes 40 or more years?How does the Lord deliver us?1. God uses unjust situations to deliver us (25:1-22)
1 Samuel 25:1 ESV 1 Now Samuel died. And all Israel assembled and mourned for him, and they buried him in his house at Ramah. Then David rose and went down to the wilderness of Paran.Chapter 24- David spared Saul’s life in the wilderness of Engedi.Saul unjustly pursued David to take his life. How did David respond? He spared Saul’s life. And Saul seems to repent. He apologizes to David and goes home. But Saul’s repentance was not genuine! He will return to his evil ways. But before he can continue to be a thorn in David’s side once again- God allows another unjust and evil man to “disrupt” David’s life.1 Samuel 25:2–8 ESV 2 And there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel. The man was very rich; he had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. He was shearing his sheep in Carmel. 3 Now the name of the man was Nabal (intellectually and/or ethically foolish), and the name of his wife Abigail. The woman was discerning and beautiful, but the man was harsh and badly behaved; he was a Calebite (an esteemed family in Judah and one of David’s kinsmen). 4 David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep. 5 So David sent ten young men. And David said to the young men, “Go up to Carmel, and go to Nabal and greet him in my name. 6 And thus you shall greet him: ‘Peace be to you, and peace be to your house, and peace be to all that you have. 7 I hear that you have shearers. Now your shepherds have been with us, and we did them no harm, and they missed nothing all the time they were in Carmel (David and his men functioned as guards for the sheep and shepherds). C.f. I Sam 23:5 8 Ask your young men, and they will tell you. Therefore let my young men find favor in your eyes, for we come on a feast day. Please give whatever you have at hand to your servants and to your son David.’ ” (“your son David- emphasizes the kindred and familial relationship that should have existed)(V. 7) c.f. 1 Samuel 23:5 “5 And David and his men went to Keilah and fought with the Philistines and brought away their livestock and struck them with a great blow. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.”How does Nabal respond to David’s legitimate and diplomatic request?1 Samuel 25:9–13 ESV 9 When David’s young men came, they said all this to Nabal in the name of David, and then they waited. 10 And Nabal answered David’s servants, “Who is David? Who is the son of Jesse? (same title Saul used of David/ there are many similarities between Nabal and Saul!) There are many servants these days who are breaking away from their masters.Notice Nabal’s reply in v. 11!1 Samuel 25:11 ESV 11 Shall I take my bread and my water and my meat that I have killed for my shearers and give it to men who come from I do not know where?”How many times does Nabal use first-person references in this one verse? 7What does this tell us about Nabal? This wealthy man is really self-centered! It is his self-centered sinfulness that leads to his doom!This is like Nabal spitting in the face of David!How will David respond to such an insult?1 Samuel 25:12 ESV 12 So David’s young men turned away and came back and told him all this.1 Samuel 25:13 ESV 13 And David said to his men, “Every man strap on his sword!” And every man of them strapped on his sword. David also strapped on his sword. And about four hundred men went up after David, while two hundred remained with the baggage.What is David’s first reaction to the insults of such a self-centered jerk? It’s go time!Isn’t this the way many of us naturally respond when we are unjustly treated? What is our natural inclination? Why is that a problem? It’s a work of our flesh!Galatians 5:19–20 ESV 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions,David has been harassed and pursued by Saul through the dry and barren wilderness for too long. Saul has always had the superior force. David has always had to run. BUT, now David has 400 abled bodied men. And Nabal has nothing but shepherds. And David reacts to this injury to his honor with anger, strife, rivalry, dissension, division…Is David going to do something really stupid that could possibly jeopardize the blessing of God on his kingship?Thankfully, God can uses even unjust situations to deliver us.Why did God allow a Nabal to come into David’s life? Didn’t David have enough to deal with from Saul? What we will find out is God is using the lesser conflict with Nabal to prepare David for the greater conflict with Saul.God mercifully uses Nabal to show David how quickly the sinful human heart can lash out when we face unjust acts commited against us. God wants to use Nabal to graciously change David’s heart so he is ready for future more complicated trials ahead.Friend how about you? Has God allowed some Nabals into your life to reveal to you that your natural inclination is to respond in your flesh instead of in the Spirit?How might you need to repent and change? How did David need to repent and change?2. God uses unlikely servants to deliver us (25:14-35)1 Samuel 25:14–21 ESV 14 But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, “Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to greet our master, and he railed at them. 15 Yet the men were very good to us, and we suffered no harm, and we did not miss anything when we were in the fields, as long as we went with them. 16 They were a wall to us both by night and by day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep. 17 Now therefore know this and consider what you should do, for harm is determined against our master and against all his house, and he is such a worthless man that one cannot speak to him.” 18 Then Abigail made haste and took two hundred loaves and two skins of wine and five sheep already prepared and five seahs of parched grain and a hundred clusters of raisins and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on donkeys. 19 And she said to her young men, “Go on before me; behold, I come after you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal. 20 And as she rode on the donkey and came down under cover of the mountain, behold, David and his men came down toward her, and she met them.1, 2 Samuel (10) The Lord Spares David from Sin against Nabal (25:2–44)Abigail’s initiative and independence were certainly rare for a married woman in the ancient Near East. In this case it was downright scandalous, since it entailed a clandestine meeting with one of her husband’s enemies
1 Samuel 25:21–22 ESV 21 Now David had said, “Surely in vain have I guarded all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belonged to him, and he has returned me evil for good. 22 God do so to the enemies of David and more also, if by morning I leave so much as one male of all who belong to him.”How is Abigail going to turn David away from this sinful, fleshly response to Nabal’s foolishness?This is the longest speech by a woman in the OT (153 Hebrew words).1 Samuel 25:23–33 ESV 23 When Abigail saw David, she hurried and got down from the donkey and fell before David on her face and bowed to the ground. 24 She fell at his feet and said, “On me alone, my lord, be the guilt. Please let your servant speak in your ears, and hear the words of your servant. 25 Let not my lord regard this worthless fellow, Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. Nabal (Fool) is his name, and folly (Foolishness) is with him. But I your servant did not see the young men of my lord, whom you sent. 26 Now then, my lord, as the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, because the Lord has restrained you from bloodguilt and from saving with your own hand, now then let your enemies and those who seek to do evil to my lord be as Nabal. 27 And now let this present that your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who follow my lord. (Abigail does three remarkable things- 1. She successfully intercedes in behalf of her husband) 28 Please forgive the trespass of your servant. For the Lord will certainly make my lord a sure house (dynasty), because my lord is fighting the battles of the Lord, and evil shall not be found in you so long as you live. (May no evil be found in you so long as you live.) 2- She prophetically revealed David’s dynasty 29 If men rise up to pursue you and to seek your life, the life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle (bag or place where the Lord protects) of the living in the care of the Lord your God. And the lives of your enemies he shall sling out as from the hollow of a sling. 30 And when the Lord has done to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you and has appointed you prince over Israel, 31 my lord shall have no cause of grief or pangs of conscience for having shed blood without cause or for my lord working salvation himself. And when the Lord has dealt well with my lord, then remember your servant.”3- She prevented David from brining judgement down on himself through an egregious violation of the OT Law.Situation: 1. David had provided services for Nabal.1 Samuel 25:21 ESV 21 Now David had said, “Surely in vain have I guarded all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belonged to him, and he has returned me evil for good.2. Nabal had violated the OT law and wronged David with-holding due payment for services rendered.Leviticus 19:13 ESV 13 “You shall not oppress your neighbor or rob him. The wages of a hired worker shall not remain with you all night until the morning.3. However, David did not possess the right to enact vengeance upon Nabal.Leviticus 19:18 ESV 18 You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.Deuteronomy 24:15 ESV 15 You shall give him his wages on the same day, before the sun sets (for he is poor and counts on it), lest he cry against you to the Lord, and you be guilty of sin.Deuteronomy 32:35 ESV 35 Vengeance is mine, and recompense, for the time when their foot shall slip; for the day of their calamity is at hand, and their doom comes swiftly.’Abagail saved David from violating the Law and risking God’s blessing on his future dynasty.1, 2 Samuel (10) The Lord Spares David from Sin against Nabal (25:2–44)David could tarnish or destroy God’s future plans for him if he acted foolishly in the present
And yet God delivered David from HIMSELF! through the unlikely servant heart of Abagail.1 Samuel 25:32–33 ESV 32 And David said to Abigail, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me! 33 Blessed be your discretion, and blessed be you, who have kept me this day from bloodguilt and from working salvation with my own hand!1 Samuel 25:34 ESV 34 For as surely as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, who has restrained me from hurting you, unless you had hurried and come to meet me, truly by morning there had not been left to Nabal so much as one male.”1 Samuel 25:35 ESV 35 Then David received from her hand what she had brought him. And he said to her, “Go up in peace to your house. See, I have obeyed your voice, and I have granted your petition.”David (man after God’s own heart)- response to his sin? he spared Nabal’s clan including those who offended him.Saul (a king like the nations)- response to sin? Remember the priests at Nob? Remember how Ahimelech helped David with bread and the sword of Goliath? What did Saul do to Ahimelech?1 Samuel 22:19 “19 And Nob, the city of the priests, he put to the sword; both man and woman, child and infant, ox, donkey and sheep, he put to the sword.”How do you respond when someone confronts you with your sin? God may just be trying to deliver you from yourself by sending a brother or sister from your own church!1 Thessalonians 5:14 ESV 14 And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.How do you respond when someone admonishes you?Do you respond like David? Or like Saul?Maybe God wants to use you like an Abagail! Maybe God wants to send you to get into someone’s path so they don’t sin against the Lord! Do you have that kind of courage? Things could have gone very poorly for Abigail. Imagine if she went to Saul and not David! Yet, she acted discernment and courage! How about you?God uses unlikely servants to deliver us.3. God uses unavoidable providence to deliver us (25:36-44)1 Samuel 25:36–38 ESV 36 And Abigail came to Nabal, and behold, he was holding a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. And Nabal’s heart was merry within him, for he was very drunk. So she told him nothing at all until the morning light. 37 In the morning, when the wine had gone out of Nabal, his wife told him these things, and his heart died within him, and he became as a stone. (In contemporary medical terms Nabal may have experienced a stroke that resulted in a coma!) 38 And about ten days later the Lord struck Nabal, and he died.1 Samuel 25:39 ESV 39 When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Blessed be the Lord who has avenged the insult I received at the hand of Nabal, and has kept back his servant from wrongdoing. The Lord has returned the evil of Nabal on his own head.”Providence! God can uses even the wicked desires of evil men to accomplish his plan.Nabal’s heart gave out because Abigail gave a way a sizable portion of his wealthy to David. Nabal’s selfish nature literally caused his own death.And yet David said, “The Lord has returned the evil of Nabal on his own head.”Do you think that this was a timely lesson for David to sear into his faith?What acts of providence can you point to that have helped you grow in your faith?New church building / Tajikistan leaders being deliveredDo you have an overwhelming confidence in the providence of God? Do you know how critical this is?This friends is the key to peace that passes all understanding.Philippians 4:6–7 ESV 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.These verses don’t work unless you have an overwhelming confidence in the providence of God!God uses unavoidable providence to deliver us. Do you believe that?4. God uses unshakable faith to deliver us (26:1-12)I Sam 25 39b-43 gives a description of David taking Abagail as his wife. He also marries Ahinoam of Jezreel. Plus he had already married Michal Saul’s daughter, but Saul gave Michal to another man.Issue: Polygamy- descriptive not prescriptive. Every time polygamy is present in the Bible it ends in disaster. Later on in the life of David one of the greatest heart-aches in his life will come from the sons of his multiple wives. Then after that Solomon will take what David did and go insane. None of the results of polygamy are desirable in any way. God’s plan since the beginning (Gen. 1) is one man and one woman for life.1 Samuel 26:1–9 ESV 1 Then the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is not David hiding himself on the hill of Hachilah, which is on the east of Jeshimon?” 2 So Saul arose and went down to the wilderness of Ziph with three thousand chosen men of Israel to seek David in the wilderness of Ziph. 3 And Saul encamped on the hill of Hachilah, which is beside the road on the east of Jeshimon. But David remained in the wilderness. When he saw that Saul came after him into the wilderness, 4 David sent out spies and learned that Saul had indeed come. 5 Then David rose and came to the place where Saul had encamped. And David saw the place where Saul lay, with Abner the son of Ner, the commander of his army. Saul was lying within the encampment, while the army was encamped around him. 6 Then David said to Ahimelech the Hittite, and to Joab’s brother Abishai the son of Zeruiah, “Who will go down with me into the camp to Saul?” And Abishai said, “I will go down with you.” 7 So David and Abishai went to the army by night. And there lay Saul sleeping within the encampment, with his spear stuck in the ground at his head, and Abner and the army lay around him. 8 Then Abishai said to David, “God has given your enemy into your hand this day. Now please let me pin him to the earth with one stroke of the spear, and I will not strike him twice.” 9 But David said to Abishai, “Do not destroy him, for who can put out his hand against the Lord’s anointed and be guiltless?”1 Samuel 26:10 ESV 10 And David said, “As the Lord lives, the Lord will strike him, or his day will come to die, or he will go down into battle and perish.Where do you think David’s faith came from?1 Samuel 25:38 “38 And about ten days later the Lord struck Nabal, and he died.”Do we have that kind of faith?Romans 12:18–19 ESV 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”Do we have 40 years worth of faith in this verse?Illustration: when I was a child when someone wronged me (if someone splashed me in the pool, what did I have to do? I had to drench them with an avalanche of water. If someone hit me, I had to do what? Hit them back twice as hard).Do we still act like children when it comes to revenge? Do we really have unshakable faith in the vengeance of God? Even if that vengeance doesn’t happen in this lifetime?1 Samuel 26:10–11 ESV 10 And David said, “As the Lord lives, the Lord will strike him, or his day will come to die, or he will go down into battle and perish. 11 The Lord forbid that I should put out my hand against the Lord’s anointed.So how does David act?1 Samuel 26:11–12 ESV 11 But take now the spear that is at his head and the jar of water, and let us go.” 12 So David took the spear and the jar of water from Saul’s head, and they went away. No man saw it or knew it, nor did any awake, for they were all asleep, because a deep sleep from the Lord had fallen upon them.5. God uses undeterred righteousness to deliver us (26:13-25)1 Samuel 26:13–22 ESV 13 Then David went over to the other side and stood far off on the top of the hill, with a great space between them. 14 And David called to the army, and to Abner the son of Ner, saying, “Will you not answer, Abner?” Then Abner answered, “Who are you who calls to the king?” 15 And David said to Abner, “Are you not a man? Who is like you in Israel? Why then have you not kept watch over your lord the king? For one of the people came in to destroy the king your lord. 16 This thing that you have done is not good. As the Lord lives, you deserve to die, because you have not kept watch over your lord, the Lord’s anointed. And now see where the king’s spear is and the jar of water that was at his head.” 17 Saul recognized David’s voice and said, “Is this your voice, my son David?” And David said, “It is my voice, my lord, O king.” 18 And he said, “Why does my lord pursue after his servant? For what have I done? What evil is on my hands? 19 Now therefore let my lord the king hear the words of his servant. If it is the Lord who has stirred you up against me, may he accept an offering, but if it is men, may they be cursed before the Lord, for they have driven me out this day that I should have no share in the heritage of the Lord, saying, ‘Go, serve other gods.’ 20 Now therefore, let not my blood fall to the earth away from the presence of the Lord, for the king of Israel has come out to seek a single flea like one who hunts a partridge in the mountains.” 21 Then Saul said, “I have sinned. Return, my son David, for I will no more do you harm, because my life was precious in your eyes this day. Behold, I have acted foolishly, and have made a great mistake.” 22 And David answered and said, “Here is the spear, O king! Let one of the young men come over and take it.1 Samuel 26:23 ESV 23 The Lord rewards every man for his righteousness and his faithfulness, for the Lord gave you into my hand today, and I would not put out my hand against the Lord’s anointed.Because David acted with faithfulness and righteousness God was able to bless David. David acted with faithfulness and righteousness, and yet it was God who was the one working behind the scenes the whole time!Philippians 2:12–13 ESV 12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.Do you have this kind of undeterred righteousness in your own life? What might that look like?Romans 12:19 ESV 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”Romans 12:20 ESV 20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.”Do we have that kind of undeterred righteousness?Do I trust in the deliverance of God so concretely that I can feed my enemy? That I can give my enemy something to drink?That’s what David did!1 Samuel 26:24 ESV 24 Behold, as your life was precious this day in my sight, so may my life be precious in the sight of the Lord, and may he deliver me out of all tribulation.”Because David acted with faithfulness and righteousness he was able to experience God’s blessing. David’s life was precious in the sight of the Lord and God delivered David out of all his tribulations.David wasn’t perfect was he? He eventually fell into some very serious sin. And his sons after him fell into some very serious sin. And because of their sin God judgement the nation of Israel. Because of their sin David’s throne is empty. But we have the hope of a greater David who will one day come again. Jesus, the Son of David. He actually can live perfectly righteous. Jesus is always faithful. And through Jesus alone can we find the deliverance that we truly need.Romans 7:24–25 ESV 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!Friends, do you believe that God is able to deliver you from all of your tribulations?God can deliver us in so many ways.God uses unjust situations, unlikely servants, unavoidable providence, unshakable faith, and undeterred righteousness.How do you need the Lord to deliver you?Salvation?Marriage?Broken friendship?Financial hardship?How have you been responding to these circumstances?How do you need to trust the Lord who delivers us out of all our tribulations? 1 Samuel 25:11ESV
1 Samuel 25:13ESV
Galatians 5:19–20ESV
1 Samuel 25:21–22ESV
1 Samuel 25:21ESV
Leviticus 19:13ESV
Leviticus 19:18ESV
Deuteronomy 24:15ESV
Deuteronomy 32:35ESV
1 Samuel 25:32–33ESV
1 Samuel 25:34ESV
1 Samuel 25:35ESV
1 Thessalonians 5:14ESV
1 Samuel 25:39ESV
Philippians 4:6–7ESV
1 Samuel 26:10ESV
Romans 12:18–19ESV
1 Samuel 26:10–11ESV
1 Samuel 26:23ESV
Philippians 2:12–13ESV
Romans 12:19ESV
Romans 12:20ESV
1 Samuel 26:24ESV
Romans 7:24–25ESV
- He Is Able To Deliver Thee
