Making a Differencewith Pastor Phil Erickson

Apr 6th, 2023 Payback or Pardon? by Sarah Camillo

Today’s Passage – 1 Samuel 25 – 27 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)

(Second Milers read – Matthew 11 – 12; Proverbs 6; Psalms 26 – 30)

Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Ephesians 4:32

Read the “0405 Evening and Morning” devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

“Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this man of Belial, even Nabal: for as his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him: but I thine handmaid saw not the young men of my lord, whom thou didst send. Now therefore, my lord, as the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, seeing the LORD hath withholden thee from coming to shed blood, and from avenging thyself with thine own hand, now let thine enemies, and they that seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal.” – (1 Samuel 25:25-26)

“And David said to Abishai, Destroy him not: for who can stretch forth his hand against the LORD’S anointed, and be guiltless? David said furthermore, As the LORD liveth, the LORD shall smite him; or his day shall come to die; or he shall descend into battle, and perish.” – (1 Samuel 26:9-10)

In this portion of scripture, we read about David’s interactions with Nabal and Abigail. Nabal was a very rich man but he was an ungenerous and unkind man. David and his men had been protecting Nabal’s flocks from the Philistines. At the right time, David kindly asked for compensation but Nabal reacted with a bad attitude! Basically saying, “Who does he think he is?” This made David angry and it wasn’t the way God would have wanted him to respond. In his anger,David intended to kill all the men of Nabal’s household. Nabal’s wife, Abigail, was told about the situation. We are told that she was not only beautiful woman but also a wise one. She gathered food, drink, and gifts and hurried to meet David. Abigail went in humility and took the blame for her husband’s actions and asked David for forgiveness. She, in her wisdom, asked David to think about how much worse the situation would be if he proceeded to kill all the men. Abigail’s request to David lifted David up instead of beating him down. David responded to Abigail in the right way, being wise enough himself to listen and consider her advice and then to praise her for her boldness. We learn later in the chapter that Nabal dies; God’s judgement. David left the revenge to God instead of taking revenge himself. God, at the right time, took care of the wrong that was done. 

Most of us are familiar with the story that is told in Chapter 26. David and his men sneak up on Saul’s camp. While Saul and Abner (Saul’s commander of his army)  are asleep David has the opportunity to kill them. David is encouraged by Abishai who was with him, to take Saul’s life. Saul’s spear was beside him, the same spear was thrown at David to try and kill him previously. (I Sam 18:10-11, 19:9-10) Using Saul’s own spear seemed like the perfect time for revenge giving Saul what he deserved! Instead, David took the spear and a jug of water that was there next to Saul, instead of killing him, to show he had the opportunity to do so. David did not feel that Saul was right in what he was doing but because Saul was God’s anointed. David knew that God was able to kill Saul at any time, for every breath we breathe is given by God.

In our human nature and in the culture we live in today, revenge runs rampant.  We must be careful in our thoughts and actions when we are hurt or treated unfairly by believers or non-believers. Always consider what God tells us in Romans 12:19 “…for it is written, vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.” God will do a much better job taking care of the situation then we ever could!