The Christ Church Wednesday Bible Study Group is studying God's providence or divine providence in the lives of David and Joseph and how we can apply His providence in their lives to our lives today.
The providence of God or divine providence is the governance of God by which He, with wisdom and love, cares for and directs all things in the universe. Divine providence asserts that God is in complete control of all things. He is sovereign over the universe. He is in control of the physical world. He is in control of the affairs of nations. He is in control of human destiny. He is in control of human successes and failures. He protects His people.
We learned in Session 6 that David loses his position in the palace, his wife, Jonathan, his best friend, Samuel, the one that anointed him king, and he loses his self-respect. He ends up in a cave discouraged and probably depressed. How did he respond? In Session 7 we see that David looks at his current situation and makes the decision to make the best out of it using the abilities and skills that God has given him. In Session 8 David gets an opportunity to get even and rid himself of the man who is trying to kill him, but what we saw was that David left the vengeance to God. He made the decision to not touch the Lord's anointed.
However, in Session 9 when David felt that he and his men had been disrespected for the job they had done in protecting the staff and assets of a wealthy man who refused to share his profits which was typically done in those days. God's providence kicked in in the form of a very wise woman to keep David from exacting revenge.
For our study we will be using Great Lives: David: A Man of Passion and Destiny, by Charles R. Swindoll, and The Hand of God by Alistair Begg. To study along with us you can purchase the books by clicking the Links here or the images after the notes.
The providence of God or divine providence is the governance of God by which He, with wisdom and love, cares for and directs all things in the universe. Divine providence asserts that God is in complete control of all things. He is sovereign over the universe as a whole, He is in control of the physical world, He is in control of the affairs of nations, He’s in control of human destiny, He’s in control of human successes and failures, He protects His people. Through divine providence God accomplishes His will.
Last week we talked about David’s response to a very real temptation we all face and that is the temptation to get even when someone has wronged us.
David had every reason to exact revenge. Saul was trying to kill him and David had done nothing to deserve it. He had been a faithful servant to Saul as a military leader and his son in law. All he had done was to win battles against Israel’s enemies, and he had even been the one to settle Saul down when he was oppressed by an evil spirit. So when he got the opportunity to exact revenge and even kill Saul what did he do?
He didn’t kill him and his conscience bothered him about what little he did do which was to show Saul that he could have killed him. He did confront Saul however to let him know that Saul was wrong and that he had not done anything wrong but rather than handling it himself, because Saul was God’s anointed, he would let God handle it.
1 Samuel 24:8-15 NIV Then David went out of the cave and called out to Saul, “My Lord the king!” When Saul looked behind him, David bowed down and prostrated himself with his face to the ground. He said to Saul, “Why do you listen when men say, ‘David is bent on harming you’? This day you have seen with your own eyes how the Lord delivered you into my hands in the cave. Some urged me to kill you, but I spared you; I said, ‘I will not lay my hand on my Lord, because he is the Lord’s anointed.’ See, my father, look at this piece of your robe in my hand! I cut off the corner of your robe but did not kill you. See that there is nothing in my hand to indicate that I am guilty of wrongdoing or rebellion. I have not wronged you, but you are hunting me down to take my life. May the Lord judge between you and me. And may the Lord avenge the wrongs you have done to me, but my hand will not touch you. As the old saying goes, ‘From evildoers come evil deeds,’ so my hand will not touch you. “Against whom has the king of Israel come out? Who are you pursuing? A dead dog? A flea? May the Lord be our judge and decide between us. May he consider my cause and uphold it; may he vindicate me by delivering me from your hand.”
Saul leaves and David, knowing what kind of man Saul was, stayed away with the army he had trained while on the run.
While David spared Saul he didn’t feel the same way when he felt his kindness was unappreciated and disrespected later and he almost made a tragic mistake. But because God had something in store for him in His providence, He provided a way to keep David from making it.
David and his men were in a part of the wilderness known as Paran. Paran would have been familiar to the Isralites because they spent some time there on their way to Cannon from Egypt
Numbers 10:11-12 NIV On the twentieth day of the second month of the second year, the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle of the covenant law. Then the Israelites set out from the Desert of Sinai and traveled from place to place until the cloud came to rest in the Desert of Paran.
After Samuel died that is where David went
1 Samuel 25:1 NIV Now Samuel died, and all Israel assembled and mourned for him; and they buried him at his home in Ramah. Then David moved down into the Desert of Paran.
This is where our story starts
When David and his army of misfits was in the wilderness trying to survive one of the things they did was to protect the shepherds in the area from those who would rob and kill in order to survive.
David and his men were the bodyguards or security guards, so to speak.
David and his men had provided protection for a guy named Nabal, whose name means fool and we will see why in a little bit. Nabal had a large herd of both sheep and goats so he was quite wealthy.
1 Samuel 25:2-3 NIV A certain man in Maon, who had property there at Carmel, was very wealthy. He had a thousand goats and three thousand sheep, which he was shearing in Carmel. His name was Nabal and his wife’s name was Abigail. She was an intelligent and beautiful woman, but her husband was surly and mean in his dealings—he was a Calebite.
So here what happens typically. At the time the sheep were sheared it was common for the owner of the animals to set aside a portion of the profit he made and giveit to those who had protected his shepherds while they were out in the fields. There was no written law saying you had to do it, but it was a way of showing gratitude for a job well done.
David and his men have been faithfully watching out for the flocks of Nabal, and word reached them that he was shearing his sheep. So it’s payday. It stands to reason, David thinks, that after the careful protection he and his men have provided it is only fair that they receive some remuneration. But remember what we read about Nabal and what his name meant. He was surly and mean in his dealings.
So David figures Nabal would be grateful and do what was traditionally done and pay the body guards from the profits from the shearing if his sheep. So he sends some of his men to get what he felt Nabal owed.
1 Samuel 25:4-8 NIV While David was in the wilderness, he heard that Nabal was shearing sheep. So he sent ten young men and said to them, “Go up to Nabal at Carmel and greet him in my name. Say to him: ‘Long life to you! Good health to you and your household! And good health to all that is yours! “ ‘Now I hear that it is sheep-shearing time. When your shepherds were with us, we did not mistreat them, and the whole time they were at Carmel nothing of theirs was missing. Ask your own servants and they will tell you. Therefore be favorable toward my men, since we come at a festive time. Please give your servants and your son David whatever you can find for them.’ ”
Here’s Nabal’s response
1 Samuel 25:10-11 NIV Nabal answered David’s servants, “Who is this David? Who is this son of Jesse? Many servants are breaking away from their masters these days. Why should I take my bread and water, and the meat I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give it to men coming from who knows where?”
Now you would expect David to respond similar to the way he responded to Saul who was hunting him down to kill him. We read and talked about how he handled Saul. He was going to let God handle it. David was right Saul was wrong but David would let God avenge him.
Maybe it was because Saul was “the Lord’s anointed” or David had just had it but he had an entirely different response this time. He was going to handle it himself.
1 Samuel 25:12-13 NIV David’s men turned around and went back. When they arrived, they reported every word. David said to his men, “Each of you strap on your sword!” So they did, and David strapped his on as well. About four hundred men went up with David, while two hundred stayed with the supplies.
David lost control.
Here’s where I believe that God’s providence God’s will for David and his future as the king and the man after God’s own heart kicks in.
Nabal’s wife, Abigal was the opposite of Nabal who was surly and mean. Abigal was intelligent and beautiful
1 Samuel 25:3 NIV His name was Nabal and his wife’s name was Abigail. She was an intelligent and beautiful woman, but her husband was surly and mean in his dealings—he was a Calebite.
She hears about what her husband tells David’s men from Nabels folk who apparently know that David is really upset and is coming for some retribution.
1 Samuel 25:14-17 NIV One of the servants told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, “David sent messengers from the wilderness to give our master his greetings, but he hurled insults at them. Yet these men were very good to us. They did not mistreat us, and the whole time we were out in the fields near them nothing was missing. Night and day they were a wall around us the whole time we were herding our sheep near them. Now think it over and see what you can do, because disaster is hanging over our master and his whole household. He is such a wicked man that no one can talk to him.”
So Abigail sets out to save her husband and at the same time save David from becoming a murderer.
1 Samuel 25:18-28 NIV Abigail acted quickly. She took two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five dressed sheep, five seahs of roasted grain, a hundred cakes of raisins and two hundred cakes of pressed figs, and loaded them on donkeys. Then she told her servants, “Go on ahead; I’ll follow you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal. As she came riding her donkey into a mountain ravine, there were David and his men descending toward her, and she met them. David had just said, “It’s been useless—all my watching over this fellow’s property in the wilderness so that nothing of his was missing. He has paid me back evil for good. May God deal with David, be it ever so severely, if by morning I leave alive one male of all who belong to him!” When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off her donkey and bowed down before David with her face to the ground. She fell at his feet and said: “Pardon your servant, my Lord, and let me speak to you; hear what your servant has to say. Please pay no attention, my Lord, to that wicked man Nabal. He is just like his name—his name means Fool, and folly goes with him. And as for me, your servant, I did not see the men my Lord sent. And now, my Lord, as surely as the Lord your God lives and as you live, since the Lord has kept you from bloodshed and from avenging yourself with your own hands, may your enemies and all who are intent on harming my Lord be like Nabal. And let this gift, which your servant has brought to my Lord, be given to the men who follow you.“Please forgive your servant’s presumption. The Lord your God will certainly make a lasting dynasty for my Lord, because you fight the Lord’s battles, and no wrongdoing will be found in you as long as you live.
She somehow knows that David is going to be the king and she doesn’t want him going into that position with blood on his hands. God’s providence.
1 Samuel 25:29-31 NIV Even though someone is pursuing you to take your life, the life of my Lord will be bound securely in the bundle of the living by the Lord your God, but the lives of your enemies he will hurl away as from the pocket of a sling. When the Lord has fulfilled for my Lord every good thing he promised concerning him and has appointed him ruler over Israel, my Lord will not have on his conscience the staggering burden of needless bloodshed or of having avenged himself. And when the Lord your God has brought my Lord success, remember your servant.”
David gets it and sees the hand of God in it.
1 Samuel 25:32-35 NIV David said to Abigail, “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, who has sent you today to meet me. May you be blessed for your good judgment and for keeping me from bloodshed this day and from avenging myself with my own hands. Otherwise, as surely as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, who has kept me from harming you, if you had not come quickly to meet me, not one male belonging to Nabal would have been left alive by daybreak.” Then David accepted from her hand what she had brought him and said, “Go home in peace. I have heard your words and granted your request.”
Remember what we have said about letting God handle it.
Nabal has no idea that his wife has saved his life. He is just partying because he had a successful shearing season. So she waits until the next day to tell him what happened.
1 Samuel 25:36-38 NIV When Abigail went to Nabal, he was in the house holding a banquet like that of a king. He was in high spirits and very drunk. So she told him nothing at all until daybreak. Then in the morning, when Nabal was sober, his wife told him all these things, and his heart failed him and he became like a stone. About ten days later, the Lord struck Nabal and he died.
So as the story ends it works out for David. He and his men get paid, he doesn’t take revenge and become a murderer, Abigal gets rid of a bad husband and then she becomes the wife the guy who is going to become king.
1 Samuel 25:39-44 NIV When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Praise be to the Lord, who has upheld my cause against Nabal for treating me with contempt. He has kept his servant from doing wrong and has brought Nabal’s wrongdoing down on his own head.” Then David sent word to Abigail, asking her to become his wife. His servants went to Carmel and said to Abigail, “David has sent us to you to take you to become his wife.” She bowed down with her face to the ground and said, “I am your servant and am ready to serve you and wash the feet of my Lord’s servants.” Abigail quickly got on a donkey and, attended by her five female servants, went with David’s messengers and became his wife. David had also married Ahinoam of Jezreel, and they both were his wives. But Saul had given his daughter Michal, David’s wife, to Paltiel son of Laish, who was from Gallim.
Keep these last two verses in mind because they show a flaw in David that is going to negatively affect him later after he becomes king.
Lessons Learned
First of all, whatever you do when conflicts arise, be wise. David was not wise he got angry and was going to kill Nabal. If you’re not careful, you will handle conflicts in the energy of the flesh. And then. . . you’ll be sorry.
David made a quick decision without really thinking. I have protected this guy’s assets. He knows what usually happens and yet he refuses to share his profit, so I’ll just go take my share and get rid of him at the same time. I don’t really care that he has others working for him and I don’t care about his family. I want what’s due me.
There is no mention that David consulted God at all. He just said let’s go take what’s coming to us.
Abigail on the other hand used wisdom. She thought it through, and she did what she did and averted a disaster for David and for her and those who worked for Nabal.
Second, take each conflict as it comes . . . and handle it separately.
David acted with wisdom in his encounter with Saul. He could have felt really good about what he did in not killing him yet letting him know that he was wrong but he wasn’t going to take revenge himself has going to let God handle it. Then after that triumph of wisdom and godliness. Handles another conflict entirely differently.
The point is that yesterday’s victory doesn’t carry over because there is a different battle today.
Matthew 6:33-34 NIV But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
You may have won a battle yesterday, but that doesn’t count when today’s skirmish comes. You may have a great measure of patience today, but it makes no difference tomorrow when the attack comes again. God doesn’t give you patience on credit. Everyday is a new day.
Wait before you act. In the case of Saul David didn’t act in haste and didn’t listen to his men who advised that he kill Saul. In fact his conscience bothered him for just cutting off the corner of Saul’s robe. In this instance he didn’t wait to act until Abigail slowed him down by bringing provisions and talking him down.
David obviously learned this lesson well, for he writes in Psalm 40,
Psalms 40:1-17 NIV I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in him. Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods. Many, Lord my God, are the wonders you have done, the things you planned for us. None can compare with you; were I to speak and tell of your deeds, they would be too many to declare. Sacrifice and offering you did not desire— but my ears you have opened— burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require. Then I said, “Here I am, I have come— it is written about me in the scroll. I desire to do your will, my God; your law is within my heart.” I proclaim your saving acts in the great assembly; I do not seal my lips, Lord, as you know. I do not hide your righteousness in my heart; I speak of your faithfulness and your saving help. I do not conceal your love and your faithfulness from the great assembly. Do not withhold your mercy from me, Lord; may your love and faithfulness always protect me. For troubles without number surround me; my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see. They are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart fails within me. Be pleased to save me, Lord; come quickly, Lord, to help me. May all who want to take my life be put to shame and confusion; may all who desire my ruin be turned back in disgrace. May those who say to me, “Aha! Aha!” be appalled at their own shame. But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who long for your saving help always say, “The Lord is great!” But as for me, I am poor and needy; may the Lord think of me. You are my help and my deliverer; you are my God, do not delay.
Psalm 40 never says that David’s situation changed. It says David changed. When you wait, your situation may not change, but you will. In fact, you may discover that the reasonfor waiting was all for your benefit, because you’re the one who needed to change.
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