1 Samuel 25
Psalms 141 and 142 reflect David’s experiences in being on the run from Saul and hiding out in the Cave of Adullam.
Let’s put ourselves in his sandals for a moment. You and I have likely never had a gang member, mafia Don, or clandestine government agency put out a hit on us. Imagine if they did. 🎯
What if “they” have gotten to a friend or family member and threatened them? Can you trust anyone? You can’t go anywhere openly. What kind of life or future do you have? There is no “normal” anymore.
We have brothers and sisters in faith in parts of the world where it is dangerous to have faith in Christ or possess a Bible. Some of them – their village was burned to the ground, their friends and neighbors massacred… They are living, TODAY, in an exile experience like David.
- Let’s remember to pray for them. 🙏
- Let’s stop thinking we have it rough. 🙄
What is endlessly fascinating to me is that this is inspired scripture. The LORD is taking what the Enemy meant for evil and He’s turning it into good. He’s making “all things work together for good.” When we go through something and we trust God and grow, we have the experience and confidence to encourage others who go through something similar. That’s what Paul said to the Corinthians:
“All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.” 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 NLT
I’m a little late to the Forrest Frank party, but this past week I heard the song, Lemonade, that he made with a couple music creators who call themselves “The Figs.” (Thanks, Jarrod & Amy!) It captures the idea of God making something good out of the bad. “Life gave me some lemons but my Jesus, He be makin’ lemonade.” ☺️🍋
David is having to LIVE the lemon so the LORD can turn his experience into the lemonade of an encouraging psalm to refresh God’s people for many centuries. The Lord transformed his troubles, and not only defeated the intent of Evil to destroy David, but turned the attacks into inspired text. That’s basically what the Gospel is.
The troubles you are facing right now aren’t just your lemons. If we will allow the LORD to “Gospelify” our unpleasant circumstances, they can be transformed into lemonade- not just for us, but for the comfort of others.
PSALM 141 opens up with something that many of us take for granted:
“Let my prayer be counted as incense before you, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.” Psalm 141:2 ESV
For many-a-century, the Church has held the idea that prayer and worship are a spiritual parallel to material offerings by fire. It’s so deeply understood and part of the woodwork that we may not realize that it was once a radically new idea. And David was the primary person who introduced it and wrote about it.
But he didn’t get here voluntarily. He was forced into this predicament where he could not have access to the Tabernacle. Saul would no doubt have had guards posted there.
It’s hard for us in the age of grace, where the Holy Spirit indwells the believer, to get our heads around the idea that if you want to be close to God, you had to go to a certain address. If you want to worship Yahweh, if you want to thank Him, you get some unleavened cakes or a goat 🐐 or a sheep 🐑 or something, and you go to a particular location and that’s how you connect with the LORD. You could technically pray from anywhere, but you can’t give God the gifts He asks for – you can’t do the things you’re supposed to do if you’ve sinned or if you’re unclean if you do not have access to the Tabernacle.
Think about that.
David longs to be in right standing with Yahweh. And so he asks that his prayer be “counted as incense” (which David wouldn’t have been allowed to burn anyway since he’s not a priest), and the lifting up of his hands equal to, or counted as the evening sacrifice – also something only the priests would offer.
The priests would lift up 🙌🏼 a portion of the offering and literally wave the meat 🍖 or bread in the air before it got either burned up on the altar or cooked in a sacred pot. David is lifting up hands 🙌🏼 that look empty but are in fact filled with an invisible offering of David’s gratitude and praise. ❤️
With this one simple verse, David is reaching way ahead into the idea of the priesthood of all believers. David was 1000 years ahead of his time. He is going to say and do things that are like little previews of the Church dropped back into the OT. And most of them have to do with worship. He breaks ground. He’s not a Levite or a priest, yet he’s engaging in priestly worship.
PSALM 142 – a maskil of David
A maskil is believed to be connected with the ideas of wisdom and contemplation. The Septuagint has it as “understanding.” There are 13 psalms with this designation; 6 of which were written by David. So perhaps David meant for us to really take time to reflect and contemplate this psalm and seek for insight and understanding.
This psalm’s heading also tells us that it is connected to David’s time in the Cave of Adullam. It’s likely that he composed this psalm while hiding out in the cave. And why not? Caves often have fantastic acoustics. 😏
He opens with a cry for mercy and says,
“I pour out my complaint before him; I tell my trouble before him.” Psalm 142:2 ESV
Then he proceeds to do just that. The tone of this psalm is one of deep loneliness. “No one cares for my soul,” verse 4.
But I’d like to compare two versions of verse 7. I have the NASB (but it is typical of most texts based on the Masoretic Text) and the Septuagint.
“Give Your attention to my cry, For I have been brought very low; Rescue me from my persecutors, For they are too strong for me.”
Psalm 142:6 NASB2020
“Attend to my supplication, for I was humbled exceedingly. Deliver me from my persecutors for they are stronger than I.” Psalm 142:7 St. Athanasius LXX
We’ve all been “low.” But it may be that David is not writing here just about being in a blue funk. He had gone from being a war hero with a hit song, a general, married to the princess and living in the palace to being an outlaw, living like a cave man, dressed in rags and scrounging for food.
That’s about as far a demotion as you can get. And it probably DID bring him down low emotionally. But it has also put him at a deep disadvantage. Saul has a whole army and tax-funded resources to go after David. David has a rag-tag band of “Merry Men” hiding in a cave. For all practical purposes, David is in the weaker position.
David never said anything like that before fighting Goliath. Goliath was a giant defying the armies of Israel. He was clearly an enemy. But Saul is an Israelite anointed to be king. What’s David supposed to do with that? He can’t murder God’s anointed. He can’t divide the nation. All he can really do is trust God and wait. And stay alive.
1 SAMUEL 25
Samuel has died… 🪦
The wording of verse 1 suggests that David might’ve been at the funeral (incognito of course). Then he goes to “the wilderness of Paran,” which is most likely not the same “Wilderness of Paran” that is way out in the Sinai Peninsula. It more likely to be the wilderness just south of the stronghold of En Gedi.
And out in this wilderness there are HUGE flocks of sheep (3000) and goats (1000) owned by a mean old skin-flint called Nabal. David and his men have not rustled any cattle (and I’m sure that would’ve been tempting for a bunch of under-fed men). Not only that, but they’ve actually served as a kind of bodyguard for the shepherds. I mean, David DOES know a thing or two about taking care of sheep. 🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑
Sheep shearing time is basically like harvest time for people who own sheep. It was a lot of work and big meals were provided for the shearers and shepherds. How humbling it must’ve been for David to ask for a handout. But Nabal dismisses David (with a reply that shows he knows about the political drama of the day) and he takes Saul’s side.
Verse 3 gave us the detail that Nabal was a Calebite. This apple has fallen FAR from the tree. If great great great grandpa Caleb could come outa his grave, he’d tan Nabal’s backside.
I’d say David was hangry, hungry and angry. When his men come back with no food and only insults from Nabal…
“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.” 1 Samuel 25:13 ESV
I picture hundreds of men buckling on leather straps and slinging normal-sized swords across their backs. Then David straps Goliath’s big ol honkin’ sword across his back. It’s nearly as tall as he is.
I don’t know for a fact that David continued to use Goliath’s sword. He may have gotten himself a normal sword by now and just kept Goliath’s as a souvenir, but I like to imagine that he used it. 🗡️
While the men are headed to show-down with Nabal, Mrs. Nabal – Abigail – has heard what her ogre of a husband has done in sending David’s men away empty-handed. She’s an intelligent woman. And she’s about to save her husband’s sorry hide.
Abigail is a compound name in Hebrew that means “source of joy”. Ab means father (source). Giyl means to spin around or twirl with joy. (Imagine an excited child.) I’m guessing that little Abigail was the apple of her daddy’s eye. How she ended up married to the Grinch, is anyone’s guess.
She brings a peace-offering and goes out to meet David’s militia before they arrive to kill every male of Nabal’s household.
After David has cooled off a bit (and probably had something to eat) he realizes that he very nearly became a brutal killer over the insults of foolish man. And he is sorry for this. They take the food and go back to camp.
After a night of drunken partying, Nabal has a stroke the next morning when Abigail tells him what happened with David. And 10 days later he dies and David marries her.
This is the beginning of so much icky drama. 😒 Saul gave David’s wife Michael to another man. It’s like Saul was saying David was dead as far as he was concerned. The women had zero say in any of this. David marries not only Abigail but also a woman named Ahinoam of Jezreel and we really know nothing about her except that she was the mother of his first son, Amnon.
To The Reader 