Open—R. Klassen, E. Pilkington
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Let's open this very precious book to First Samuel, Chapter 25.
First Samuel chapter 25 and verse one.
And Samuel died, and all the Israelites were gathered together.
And lamented him.
And buried him in his house at Raema.
And David arose and went down to the wilderness of Perrin.
There was a man in Moen whose possessions were in Carmel.
And the man was very great and he had 3000 sheep and 1000 goats, and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel.
Now the name of the man was Nabal and the name of his wife Abigail.
And she was a woman of good understanding and of a beautiful countenance. But the man was curlish.
And evil in his doings. And he was of the House of Caleb.
Yesterday we had a very searching word.
In connection with covetousness and contentment.
And I'd just like to compliment that word with just a little supplement by way of illustration.
Of both aspects.
Now we have before us a couple by the name of Nabel and Abigail.
And I suppose that if we had attended their wedding.
That we would have said they make quite a striking pair, and we might have wished them well and prayed that the Lord's blessing would be upon their marriage.
And we would see them begin life together.
And there would be trying to get started.
And to establish a home.
Now we have before us God's account of this couple, and we wonder what happened.
What came in that?
This man neighbor became churlish.
You know there's a time of courtship.
And that courtship is a time when we get acquainted with the one that we love and purpose to marry.
And many of us thought when we got married that we knew each other very well.
But after we got married, we realized that there was some recesses of the heart that were never laid bare.
And consequently.
There come strains.
In the marriage tie.
And you know, I never exposed to my wife.
The fact that I had a covetous heart.
I wanted to keep that head because that might.
Turn the marriage off.
And so as we begin to make our way, we find that things start testing our hearts and exposing what is there.
And so I think of Nabal as having in his heart a root there that he never laid bare to Abigail.
And it began to work, the spirit of covetousness.
And we just asked the question here. It tells us that the man was very great and that he had 3000 sheep and 1000 goats.
And we can ask the question candidly, can we not? Where did he get these things and how did he get them?
If we turn back to the 15th chapter of First Samuel, we'll read there just a little bit.
As perhaps a hint of something.
One Samuel 15 and verse 10.
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Then came the word of the Lord unto Samuel, saying.
It repenteth me that I have set up salt to be king.
For he has turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments.
And it grieves Samuel. And he cried unto the Lord.
All night.
I'd just like to pause.
There, it's an indication of a very serious thing.
To think of a servant of the Lord crying all night.
There is something here that is working that he sees is going to have a sad effect.
Upon God's people.
And thank God for every servant that has passed through this.
Travail to weep all night before the Lord to come in and deliver his people.
Now we read on verse 12 and when Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning.
It was told Samuel saying, Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set him up a place, and has gone about and passed on, and gone down to Gilgal.
Now to get just a little bit of a backdrop here.
Saul was to go and to utterly destroy the Amalekites.
Utterly destroy them.
And he went down and he did some destructive work, but I don't know how much he did and probably didn't do too much.
He looked at all of Amalek's goods and decided we're going to save as much of this as we can.
What for? Well, you know when we got two principles working in our heart, The principle of covetousness.
And trying to appear godly, that we have a real job on our hands.
And this is the position that Saul took, and that is that they saved the best of Amalek.
We're going to use it to sacrifice to the Lord.
But this last verse that we read is a very strange verse. We'll just read it again. And Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set him up a place and has gone about and passed on.
You know that reminds me.
Of what we call making a business deal under the table.
The facts just aren't out in the open. What did Saul do there in Carmel?
Now, I don't know if Nabal was involved in this situation, but I'd like to suppose the principle of it at least.
That he would come to Enable and Abigail and say you know, you've been quite successful in your business.
And we just like to give you an extra help, a helping hand here to get on and to get ahead.
And we'll just leave some of these sheep of Amalek with you, some of the flock, and we'll just divide the profits.
Well, Can you imagine a man and his wife facing this kind of a situation?
And the wife saying, well, you know, I don't know whether we ought to do this.
Enables say, oh, I'm sure it's all right. It'll, it'll turn out OK in the end. The profits that we make will just use it.
As we would use today to help in the gospel and to forward other good causes.
And so The thing is overruled.
And it's the same place. It's Carmel.
Now, if we turn back here to chapter 25 again.
It tells us. And Samuel died.
Samuel died and all the Israelites were gathered together.
You know, we can say that Samuel's time of mourning and service were over.
And he was he entered in to God's rest.
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And, you know, it tells us here that all Israel was gathered together.
You know, if we spend our energy to unite the heart of God's people to the Lord.
There's going to be a reflection probably at the day of our departure.
Of hearts that have been touched and want to show respect.
At that particular time.
And so it isn't by chance that it tells us that Samuel died because.
If we could visualize that great company that came together.
That death usually suggests that we come together.
And all arguing and complaining and hard feelings are just off limits for a little bit.
And it's sad when families are united at a time like that, when they can't be united other times.
But I see this little time here where maybe Saul was there with his Royal Courts and David may have been there with his men. We don't know. But when this little span of time is over with David goes where goes to Carmel.
Our brother reminded us, or rather we sang to him yesterday, that God moves a mysterious ways his wonders to perform.
And God moved David providentially to go to Carmel to be a wall of protection to all of Naples interests. That seems strange, doesn't it?
And God is going to use that occasion to expose Nabel's heart, and he's going to teach David a very invaluable lesson.
That is going to remember all the days of his life.
So they're there as a wall of protection. And if we drop down now to verse 15.
But the men were very good unto us, and we were not hurt.
Neither missed we anything as long as we were conversant with them when we were in the fields.
Now no doubt to be a wall of protection was to keep the robbers and those that went about the countryside plundering, and no doubt these servants that were in the field were mighty glad to have David and his men there to protect them.
And so it speaks about being conversant in the field. I'd like to suppose that.
One of Nabal's men said to one of David's man or vice versa. One of David's men said to one of neighbors men.
What is it like to work for your master neighbor?
And the man might say, well, it's kind of slim pickings we.
We do get along all right. He gives us enough to eat.
And we put in long hours for him. I think we recognize language like that today. And then once a year he gives us kind of a a good party to kind of lift our morale and so we can kind of coast into the next year.
And.
So it would be interesting to have heard those conversations, but now this man asked David's man, why are you associated with David?
Seems to me like you have kind of a hard lot.
I understand that David is a runaway slave.
And this servant might say, well, you know, the truth of the matter is that David is the anointed king of Israel and that he's going to sit on the throne of Israel.
According to the ministry of Samuel.
And to think of the effect of these conversations going back and forth.
And now we find that things are brought to the crisis.
David and his men are hungry and they have rendered an invaluable service.
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And they come at a time when Nabal is well able to show his appreciation.
And what does he do?
But he just goads the men that David had sent.
They brought back their report and you know how it affected David.
It affected David to murder.
That's the effect that came over his soul.
You know it tells us in first Peter, let none of you suffer as a murderer.
What a light that sheds upon that expression.
Sometimes circumstances become so hard and so pressing.
That you just feel you would be vindicated in acting in that capacity.
But you know, to murder somebody because you're hungry will not stand in the courts of the land, and neither will it stand before God.
And so he goes with his men.
And here's this lovely character. Abigail meets him in the cupboard of the hill.
I like to think that the servant.
That went to Abigail was one that had been affected by Samuel's ministry.
Samuel's ministry was a ministry of reconciliation.
And reconciliation is that we would be reconciled to God in everything.
And in every aspect of our life, what a ministry that is.
Reconciliation is such a precious ministry that it just molds our hearts and minds to enter into heaven itself.
And I rejoice whenever I hear that ministry, and we've had much of it before us in these last two days.
Abigail was affected by that ministry in such a way that she could meet a man who had murder in his face.
And Pierce through the barrier with the Ministry of Reconciliation.
And I see that rigid form of David, as she's talking, begin to relax, to shift his weight a little bit.
All he recognizes the ministry.
Now to notice a point in verse 28.
Abigail speaking, she says, I pray thee, forgive the trespass.
Of thine handmaid for the Lord will certainly make my Lord as a sure house.
Because my Lord fighteth the battles of the Lord, and evil hath not been found in him all thy days.
Now what did she mean forgive my trespass?
I believe that Abigail's was simply saying this to David. I have to admit that I was of one mind with my husband in connection with his attitude toward you.
I looked at you like he said, as a runaway slave that rebelled against his master, but I realized that that wasn't the case at all. Now why had Nabal imbibe that?
Covetousness. A covetous heart judges everything wrong. A covetous heart has its own advantage in mind and nothing else.
And so Naples going on in high gear, is he not?
Making some goal that is set before him.
And the Lord, you know, allows him to have this great feasting.
Where you just let go and everything runs together and and goes upside down.
A night of folly and pride.
What a night.
To think of that's the night that this world is having and trying to.
Grind their way through.
Oh, how thankful we should be to have been called by God's marvelous grace.
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To be the companions of the Lord Jesus Christ, because that would be our lot.
We would choose that if it had not been for that wonderful grace that we just have sung about.
Now David answers in verse 32 answers Abigail.
And David said to Abigail, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, which sent thee this day to meet me.
And blessed be thy advice.
Blessed be Thou, which has kept me this day from coming to shed blood and from avenging myself with my own hand.
You know, the truth of the matter is that David intended to kill Abigail.
And he admits it if you read it.
And David says, Blessed be thy discernment.
The new translation is Blessed be thy discernment. What is discernment?
Discernment is the ability to see through a thing for what it really is. That's discernment.
There are clouds that come into our own personal life. There are clouds that come over the family. There are clouds, dark clouds that come into the assembly.
And it takes discernment to see through all that what is working and what is the way of deliverance.
What lesson did David learn that day?
I love to think that he learned the lesson of showing mercy.
And that characterized David the rest of his life. What a horrible blot this would have been on David's life to have done this.
And then to become king of Israel, something he would never have lived down.
And so we find several times that wonderful expression.
The sure mercies of David, and we follow him through his life, and when he when he would have had a cause to put a man to death, he would not allow death to come in. He would rather show mercy. And surely that is the character of the one again who has called us. He has shown us mercy.
And now it's our privilege to show mercy and kindness to one another.
Well, it tells us.
In verse 36 in Abigail came to Nabel and behold, he held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king.
And Nabel's heart was merry within him, for he was very drunken.
Wherefore she told him nothing less or more until the morning light. And it came to pass in the morning, when the wine was gone out of Nabel. And his wife had told him these things, that his heart died within him, and he became a stone. They came to pass about 10 days after that the Lord smote Nabal that he died.
Well, to think of the message of the morning light.
Oh, Abigail is a lovely character. She knew how to carry herself.
There was virtue with her. There was a spirit of Christ in her.
And when the morning light comes, what does she say? She says, in essence, to her husband Abel, you know.
Is the king is going to be the king of Israel?
To think of the shocking news that would penetrate that man's armor.
Of self-defense to learn the man that he was deriding was going to be the king of Israel.
How's that going to affect his covetousness?
What advantage is he going to have with David on the throne?
You know, every man decides his own judgment.
For what we mete out shall be meted out to us again.
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You know the Lord gave Nabel 10 days. I believe he had his mind.
I believe he could think clearly.
His whole life coming before him, The sham of it all.
To see the spirit that had overtaken him and ruled him in life.
You know, in this world.
Some business deals are horrible.
And some of us have gotten ahead of the Lord and have undertaken to do things ourselves.
And we got maybe part way or midway in our venture.
And all of a sudden, we found that we were in misfortune.
We couldn't gain the objective that we wanted and the ******* was so terrible that we were just willing to.
To get out from under it anyway we could.
And so a shrewd businessman comes and looks over the situation. He says, well, I'll offer you this.
And you know the value of it is worth more than that, but he sees a good deal.
And we hear his cold words through his teeth. Business is business.
And to be successful, you don't allow your heart to rule your head.
Cold terminologies.
I wonder if Nabel had some reflections like this in these 10 days.
Space to repent, space to make it right.
But buried under the spirit of covetousness, the Lord smote him, and he died.
What a pitiful end to a couple at the beginning seems so promising.
To have it in like this.
It's not the Bible current.
Doesn't it answer two things today so clearly? Oh, how we need the direction of God's word that we be preserved from the snares and the footballs.
Now that someone else might have an opportunity, I just want to conclude verse 41. And she arose and bowed herself on her face to the earth, and said, Behold, let thine handmaid be a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my Lord.
Well, David had sent word to call for Abigail to come and be his wife. And don't you love that language? I want to say that that language is because of contentment of heart. As I look on my brethren and think of so many kindnesses that they have done that we say, you know, they would be willing to do anything for you.
Just like Abigail to think of washing dirty feet.
Of the servants, I'm sure she was willing to do it, but I doubt that she ever did.
And you know, I believe it's that way in our lives, that we would be willing to do anything for our brethren, regardless of how grungy the task may be. But very seldom are we ever called to it. But nevertheless, the potential and the willingness of it is there because we have come into divine contentment.
Now how does this story end?
David took Abigail to be his wife.
And they were blessed with a boy by the name of Daniel.
You read it in two Chronicles 3 and verse one.
Blessed with a son named Daniel.
And you say?
Well, do you read anymore about him?
No, the curtain of silence comes over Daniel and his life.
What happened to him?
He was in that family, you know, where there's a lot of strife and competition.
And a lot of things going.
Things in high gear.
There's no mention of Daniel.
He's not in that picture. Why I love to think that, Daniel. Fruit of contentment.
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He was a concerted boy, he was a contented young man just to be on the outskirts of things, to keep out of the middle of the fast lane and just let life go by as it will.
It is a fruit of contentment.
And as.
Wives and husbands, fathers and mothers.
How invaluable it is.
That we bear the character of contentment in every aspect of our life.
If the challenge as it was mentioned yesterday.
It's 13.
But it's the path of blessing.
And I'd like to just re echo from the depth of my heart what was quoted yesterday.
Godliness.
With contentment.
It was great game.
I'm sure we've all enjoyed the.
The Life of David.
And I would like to continue.
Ray, David.
We return to our first Chronicles chapter 12.
We know that, David.
Is the United king of Israel.
But we find.
That he is not raining.
We find that he is rejected.
And he's living in exile.
Well, we know what the Lord Jesus.
Is rejected by this world.
And as we think.
At that time of day when he's going to have us with himself.
In the glory.
Or how it becomes that how worthwhile to be followers by bless the Lord and to be guided by him that they don't allow anything or anybody come in between him and us. And so if we think of David, we know that David.
Was rejected.
And after he gets that wonderful victory over Goliath.
When all that Saul thought to kill David.
It was that spirit of jealousy.
Install that caused him to seek the life of David know how careful that and we need to be because we all have that old nature within us.
And that old nature can lead to a lot of jealousy and if we allow it in our lives and our hearts.
It is going to bring Saul.
Not only to ourselves, but the God's people. Well, to continue with David, I'd like to read the first Chronicles chapter 12.
Now these are they that came to David to ziglag.
Well, yet kept himself close because of Saul, the son of Kate.
And they were a mighty man, helpers of the war.
They are armed with bulls that could use both the right hand and the left and hurling stones and cute narrow of a bowl, even a small thread of Benjamin. Nice to see that the whole brethren who killed the Benjamins were following David to go down now to the verse 8.
And of the Ganites they separate themselves onto David, into the whole, to the wilderness.
Men of might and men of war fit for the battle. Look at how Shield and Buckler whose faces were like the face of Lion.
They were swift as a rose upon the mountain.
Make it down a little further.
16 And there came of the children of Benjamin and Judah to the whole unto David.
And David went out to meet them.
And answer instead of them. If you become peaceably through unto me to help me, my heart shall be knit unto you.
But if you become to betray me to mine enemies, then there is no wrong in mine hands.
The God of our fathers looked around and reduced it. Then the Spirit came upon a mafia to a thief of the captains, and he said, Thine are we David, and on my side, thou son of death, a teeth speak beyond to the peace be design helpers for thy God helpeth thee. And Dave received them, and made them cast them of the dam.
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I just stopped there, just for a few moments. We find here Amassia.
And Hamas was chief of captains.
But his heart was attracted to David.
Oh, I'm sure Amassy I never forgot as those who followed David never forgot.
That David was Israel's savior.
He had saved them from the hands of the Philistines, and so their heart was with David.
And here we find a Matthias going out to David. He still rejected.
But his heart was with Damon. And so he leads Saul, and he goes to David. And I like his confession. He says to David of verse 18. When are we David? And on my side, thou son of Jesse?
And Amassia means my burden.
And you know, for those who have a burden, we reminded this morning that Matthew.
11 and 28 come on to me. Oh yeah, we're in our heavy laden and I will give you rest. All master could have no rest while he wasn't with David. He had no arrests as he was there with Saul. And so the time came when he separated from Saul, he left Saul and he killed himself to David. So I like that confession and I hope everybody hear this afternoon can say to the Lord Jesus.
Thine are we the Lord Jesus, and are thy side? Oh, how wonderful tooth belong to him.
And so whether that love for Him, it will lead us to separate it from the things of this world, from those in this world, it was cautious to separate because we can have no peace nor fellowship for those who do not love our Lord Jesus Christ.
Now there's something else here.
They not only join themselves with David and own allegiance to David, I bought they they followed him now electrical down a little further in verse 33 instead of time.
Of Zebulun such as went forth to battle, well, we might read 32.
And other children of Issager, which were men of understanding of the times to know what is or ought to do.
The heads of them are 200, and all their brothers were at their commandments.
Of zebulun such as went forth to war to battle expert in war with all into the war 50,000 which could keep ranked they were not a double heart.
Well, you notice in verse 32, but the man of Israel, they had an understanding of the time.
And they love. We need to have an understanding of the times today.
You have an understanding of what the Lord wants you to do. Do I?
You know, I often think of the 111Th song, I think it's the 10th verse. It says this a good understanding have all they that do his commandments. And so if we want to have a good understanding, we know what God's will is for us.
We must obey.
A good understanding of all they do. That little word do has only two letters.
But it is so important.
You know on John epistle it says love not the world.
And so that little word do is very, very important.
The Lord Jesus said to his own, If you love me.
Keep my word. And that is the proof, the evidence that we do love the Lord Jesus.
When we keep his word, when we fall off him, even though it might mean reproach. And so these men, their heart were attracted.
I like to notice something else in this 33rd verse. These men.
They could keep rent, there were 50,000 of them but they could keep the rank.
And I believe rather than that is what is needed today. God wants his people.
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To keep rank, that is to go on together.
How are we going to keep rank?
There's only one way to keep our eye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and if we get our eye on any other, we will not be able to keep rain. I sometimes tell of a.
A parade in our town.
We're all a college students March down a Main St.
And they were marching and they were keeping rank. It was just a pleasure to stand on the side and watch how they could keep rank as they marched down the street.
There was a leader at the front.
They had their eye on the leader.
And as I stood on the side, I noticed one young man.
He turned his head just for a moment to look that a friend on the sidewalk. And that one look caused him to get out of rank and he bumped into the other. And you know what that means? They're close together and it gets upset. And so I felt sorry for that young man. But I often think how if we get our eye on somebody else, anything in this world that would take our eye off the Lord who is a captain of our salvation.
We're not going to be able to keep rent, no. And so what's nice about these men, They were not only export of war, but they could keep rent.
Going down to verse 38.
All these men of war that could keep rank came with a perfect heart.
To Hebron to make David king over all Israel and all the rest also visible with one heart.
The next David King.
And there they were with David three days, eating and drinking for their brethren.
Had prepared for them.
Moreover, they that were not even on Isaac or and Zebra and NASA brought bread of Nazareth on camels and mules.
And so on. And there was great joy in Israel. Well, it makes me think, you know, all these three days of meeting, how good it seems to be here. Our brethren have prepared so abundantly for every need, and all that fellowship has been sweet. But you know, if we leave this bill needing, and we go back to our home.
Are we going to be able to keep ranked with our brethren? Are we going to be able to go on or are we going to allow little things to come in that would hinder us from keeping right? Oh, how sad it is when brethren do not keep rest. It causes there's a reason for it and the reason we can point inward to ourselves. It's pride and how we need to judge that we have the flesh, each one of us, and the Word of God.
I think my dear old brother.
Here's the report, best often from John's Section 63. It is a spirit that quicken us. The flesh profiteth nothing. We all have the flesh. Let's remember. It's a spirit that quicken us. And the flesh prophet of nothing.
And then when we think of other verses, why we can think also of Galatians 6 is that we might just turn to it.
You walk in the spirit, you will not fulfill a lust of effect.
It's not the 6th chapter, but I must find everything.
Thank you.
Yes, that's the worst. Blatant 5 and 16.
This I say, then walk in the Spirit.
And ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
For the flesh less against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary 1 to the other.
So that you cannot do the things that ye would.
Well.
That's just what I had before me, brethren, how important it is to walk in the Spirit. And if we walk in the Spirit.
We are not going to fulfill the lust of the flesh.
Unless we remember in Romans 8, I believe it's eight. These are in the flesh. Cannot please God.
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And I'm sure in our inmost heart, we all who love the Lord want to please Him.
And so I just had those two verses on my heart.
And may the Lord help us.
To keep right, to go on together, keeping our eyes on our blessed Lord till He comes.