27th April 2026

27th April 2026


Pray (ACts)


Read (1 Samuel 25 focus v1-13)


Message (Alan Burke) 


Every year we meet countless people, from when we go to get the hair done, walk into a shop, head to the doctor, or go to worship. The settings can be as varied as the interactions. If we were getting the hair done, there might be quite a lot of chat, but in the shop getting a few groceries, we might just pass someone by and smile and even pay at the self-checkout, not having to talk to anyone. For each and every person that we meet as we go, there is a story, lots that we do not know. We often don’t know what is behind the facade that someone is putting on. We don’t know what has caused a man to stand on a roof wanting to jump, but there are other times that we’ve got to know someone and we know what is going on. We know the triggers that cause them to see the red mist. We know the important dates that will bring a tear to their eyes. We know that the dog is sick and they are a wee bit sensitive at the moment, and it helps us to know whether something is out of character for them and even the causes behind it. 


We’ve been following the account of David for a while now, the anointed king, and he is being hunted relentlessly by the rejected king Saul. He’s running from place to place, hiding in the wilderness, having put distance between himself and all those whom he cares about. So as we come to 1 Samuel 25, we know a lot of what is going on behind the facade, and it’s amazing that David has kept it together for so long, but now David is at breaking point. We are told that Samuel died, Israel assembled and mourned, and then David moved into the Desert of Paran, also referred to as Maon. If you’re wondering where that is, on the Sinai Peninsula where the people wandered for 40 years in the wilderness, and David has tried to put distance between himself and Saul. For David, he would have been a pretty low ebb. The scene is set for us in this opening verse, which helps us make sense of what follows, which seems totally out of character for David. 


We are introduced to a certain man called Nabal. He is minted, an incredibly rich man in the day he lived. He was surly, that’s the word the NIV84 uses; the KJV uses churlish, and the ESV harsh and badly behaved. In the verses that follow as David sends his men to Nabal, we learn that in effect he’d been running a protection racket. Now the sheep shearing time was a time where it was all hands on deck; in effect, you’d have everyone together. The sheep that were out in the field were vulnerable to being taken, and throughout this, David and his men had been there making sure that nothing happened to Nabal’s men or stock. He had kept them from thieves, and they had taken nothing of Nabal’s for themselves. And he sends some of his men to Nabal looking for some provisions.


Nabal mocks David’s request to his men, asking “Who is this David?”. Everyone knew who David was, so Nabal is showing his character, and he was a fool. Not only in his actions, but also in his name, which literally means fool. Having worked through 1 Samuel, we see just how out of character David’s response is when he heard of what Nabal had said. We can factor in all that was going on in his life, which gives us some understanding, but David responds just as Nabal, foolishly. It was more than a bit of an overreaction; he was going to slaughter Nabal and his men. David was a sinner like you and I. In Psalm 51, David confessed, “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me” (51:5). David is not held out to us as a model for our life, for he was a sinner who was saved by grace through faith. Instead, we must look to the one who would come from David’s line, the one in whom David looked to, the Messiah, the Christ, Jesus, the sinless, spotless lamb who came to atone for our sin (Ps 110:1). So that even in our sin every day and in those times of weakness when we respond to a fool like David did and become a fool ourselves, it is Jesus and what he has done for us that matters in our salvation.


Pray (acTS)


Sing


WSC
Q52 What are the reasons annexed to the second commandment?
A. The reasons annexed to the second commandment are, God’s sovereignty over us, his propriety in us, and the zeal he hath to his own worship.