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1 Samuel 16—2 Samuel 1
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Scripture Reading: 1 Sam. 25:1-44; 1 Sam. 26; 1 Sam. 27; 1 Sam. 28:1-2
In this message we will consider further the matter of David's being tried and persecuted by Saul.
In 25:1a we are told that Samuel died. All Israel mourned for him, and they buried him at his house in Ramah.
Samuel died a peaceful death after the proper and full enjoyment of his portion in the good land promised by God. Samuel enjoyed the good land throughout his entire life. His enjoyment of the land exceeded that of everyone else in the Old Testament, including Joshua and Caleb, who spent much time fighting to gain possession of the land. From his youth in the tabernacle until the time of his death, Samuel enjoyed the good land in every way and in every sense.
Samuel became a priest, a prophet, and a judge to usher in the Davidic kingdom for the accomplishment of God's economy on the earth. He was the one who brought in the kingship, anointing both Saul and David, the first two kings. He therefore established the kingdom of God and wrote all the regulations concerning the kingdom of God.
Samuel was deeply disappointed with Saul's kingship and mourned for Saul (15:35). Samuel mourned to such an extent that eventually God said to him, "How long will you mourn for Saul, though I have rejected him from being king over Israel?" (16:1a).
Although Samuel was disappointed with Saul's kingship, he died with the encouraging expectation of David's kingship. This was a comfort to him. When he died, he was assured regarding the Davidic kingdom, a type of the kingdom of God. I believe that as Samuel was dying he was full of joy concerning this.
First Samuel 25:1b-44 is an account of David's dealing with Nabal and Abigail.
In verses 2 through 9 David sought help from Nabal, a wealthy man. David sent ten young men to Nabal, instructing them to say to him, "Live long; and peace be to you, and peace be to your house, and peace be to all that you have" (v. 6). The young men were also to say, "Give whatever you may have on hand to your servants and to your son David" (v. 8). Here David was very humble, considering himself a servant and a son to Nabal.
In his folly, Nabal rejected David's entreating and insulted David's servants. Nabal said to them, "Who is David, or who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants today who break away from their masters. Shall I then take my food and my water and my meat that I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give it to men who come from I do not know where?" (vv. 10-11). When David's servants told him what Nabal said, David charged each of his men to gird on his sword (vv. 12-13). Then David said, "It was certainly in vain that I guarded all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that he has; for he has repaid me evil for good. May God do so to David's enemies, and even more, if I leave so much as a male child of all that he has until morning" (vv. 21-22).
David's word here indicates that he was offended by Nabal. In this matter David did not pass the test. He bore the cross under Saul, but in this small cross he failed. If David had taken the cross in this situation, he might have praised the Lord for Nabal's refusal to provide food. Then God might have come in to inspire Nabal to repent and come to David with an abundance of food. However, with Nabal David did not take the cross.
The situation is often the same with us today. It may be easy for us to prevail in bearing the bigger crosses, but we may be careless in bearing the smaller crosses. Through the small crosses the flesh is exposed.
In this chapter we see not only the folly of Nabal but also the wisdom of Abigail, Nabal's wife, in appeasing David (vv. 14-20, 23-25). She "hurried and took two hundred loaves of bread and two skins of wine and five sheep ready dressed and five measures of parched grain and one hundred clusters of raisins and two hundred cakes of figs, and she put them on her donkeys" (v. 18). When she saw David, she fell at his feet and said, "Upon me alone, my lord, be this iniquity; and let your maidservant speak in your hearing, and hear the words of your maidservant. May my lord not take this worthless man Nabal to heart" (vv. 24-25a). Abigail went on to ask David to please forgive the transgression, and then she concluded, saying, "When Jehovah has done to my lord according to all the good He has spoken concerning you and has appointed you ruler over Israel, this will not be a qualm of conscience to you or a stumbling block in heart to my lord, that you shed blood without cause or that my lord has avenged himself. And when Jehovah has dealt well with my lord, may you remember your maidservant" (vv. 30-31).
David responded to Abigail's appeal by blessing Jehovah, who sent her to meet him, and also by blessing her, who kept him from entering into bloodshed and from avenging himself by his own hand. David then took from her hand what she had brought and said to her, "Go up in peace to your house. See, I have listened to your voice and have accepted your person" (v. 35). Here we see that David's anger was appeased by Abigail's wisdom.
When Abigail told Nabal all these things, "his heart died within him, and he became like a stone. And about ten days later Jehovah struck Nabal, and he died" (vv. 36-38).
This chapter concludes with a word regarding David's marriage to Abigail (vv. 39-44). Her beauty and wisdom caught David, and after Nabal's death he took her as his wife. Here we see the weak point in David's life. He was quite prevailing and overcoming in nearly everything, but he was weak in the matter of sex. David overcame the lion and the bear, but he did not overcome his sexual lust. Eventually, David's weakness and indulgence contaminated the kingship of God's holiness. The root of his later failure in murdering Uriah and taking Bath-sheba was manifested here.
According to chapter twenty-six Jehovah delivered Saul into the hand of David, but David would not kill him because of his fear of God in that Saul was God's anointed. This indicates that before David became king, he set up a good order and pattern showing us how in God's kingdom we should honor God's ordination and respect and regard God's authority. Therefore, when David became king, everything was headed up.
David hid himself on the hill of Hachilah, and Saul was informed of this (v. 1).
Saul sought David again (vv. 2-4). He went out with three thousand choice men of Israel to seek David in the wilderness of Ziph. David sent spies and thereby learned for certain that Saul had come.
In verses 5 through 16 we see that whereas Jehovah delivered Saul into the hand of David, David would not kill him. Saul was "sleeping within the entrenchment, and his spear was stuck in the ground by his head. And Abner and the people lay around him" (v. 7). Abishai said to David, "God has delivered your enemy into your hand today" (v. 8a). He then encouraged David to have Saul killed by striking him with the spear to the ground. But David would not destroy Saul because of his fear of God in that Saul was God's anointed (vv. 9-11). David said to Abishai, "Jehovah forbid that I should stretch forth my hand against Jehovah's anointed" (v. 11a). Although David was weak in losing his temper with Nabal and in taking Abigail his wife, in dealing with Saul David was an outstanding success.
Verses 17 through 20 are concerned with David's appeal to Saul. When Saul recognized David's voice, David asked him, "Why does my lord pursue after his servant? For what have I done? Or what evil is in my hand?" (v. 18).
David begged Saul not to drive him out so that he could not share in Jehovah's inheritance, the good land, but go to serve other gods (vv. 19b-20a). David considered that to remain in the good land was the greatest blessing. To be driven out of the good land and to go to another land to serve other gods was a curse. By this we can see that this book is on the enjoyment of the good land, that is, the enjoyment of Christ.
In his appeal to Saul, David likened himself to a single flea and a partridge in the mountains (v. 20b).
Even though Saul was wicked, he was still human and was touched by David's word and repented (vv. 21-25).
Saul admitted that he had sinned, acted foolishly, and made a very great mistake (v. 21).
Saul said to David, "Blessed are you, my son David. You shall most certainly both do and prevail" (v. 25). However, Saul did not say anything about the kingship or kingdom, because he still wanted his son Jonathan to succeed him as king.
"David said in his heart, I will now one day perish at the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than to escape into the land of the Philistines; then Saul will despair of seeking me any longer within all the territory of Israel. Thus I will escape from his hand" (27:1). After realizing this, David and his men crossed over to Achish (vv. 2-3).
Because David had escaped into the land of the Philistines, Saul ceased to seek him (v. 4). Saul felt that he was at peace because David had gone out of the holy land. This indicates that David had done the right thing in leaving the holy land temporarily.
David stayed in Ziklag (27:5—28:2). According to verse 7 he stayed in the land of the Philistines a year and four months. During that time he attacked and destroyed the Geshurites, Girzites, and Amalekites, but he pretended before King Achish that he attacked the south of Judah (vv. 8-12).
In 28:1-2 we are told that Achish made David his bodyguard for life.
