29th April 2026

29th April 2026


Pray (ACts)


Read (1 Samuel 25 focus v14-31)


Message (Alan Burke)


"But by the grace of God, go I”. I’m sure you heard that, you might have even said it. What it conveys is a recognition that our circumstances could easily be different without divine grace or circumstances that we found ourselves in, and it acknowledges that what others have faced could have been our own if it were not for divine grace or the circumstances that we found ourselves in. Well, David found himself in a situation that if it were not for the restraining grace of God, he would have disqualified himself to be king; he would have been no better than the rejected king Saul, who was still on the throne, and here we see the LORD at work in a very real way in David’s life. Remember where we are: Saul is hunting David; he’s gone far south to the Sinai Peninsula so that he is out of reach of Saul; he’s been living in the wilderness and, having asked for aid from Nabal and his request being rejected, he’s left in a rage so much so that his intention is to go and kill Nabal and all the men in his camp. It seems out of character for David, but knowing all that he has been through, knowing his circumstances helps us to see the reason, at least in part, that caused him to react in this way. 


Nabal’s wife, we have already been introduced to, is Abigail. Described as intelligent and beautiful, whereas he, while he was an incredibly rich man in the day he lived, was surly— that’s the word the NIV84 uses; the KJV uses churlish and the ESV harsh and badly behaved— he was a man whose name suited him well for he was a fool, and his name literally means food. Now we are told of how one of the servants told Abigail about what Nabal had said. He makes it clear not only what Nabal had said but also the goodness of David and his men, how they were a wall of protection, and this servant, unlike his master, is no fool. He said to Abigail: “…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” (17). 


What an indictment of Nabal from his servants; they knew that their master was a wicked man. The Hebrew word, though the ESV translates as worthless, the KJV as a son of Belial means, to "waste away" or "decay" like rotting flesh. That was the view of Nabal’s men towards him; they saw him as a worthless, wicked waster. Yet the LORD in his restraining grace uses Abigail to restrain the hand of David from doing something incredibly foolhardy. She acts; we’re told that she lost no time (18). In fact, Abigail sees the folly of her husband; she gathers together enough food not to feed six hundred men, but enough to act as a token gesture. She doesn't tell her husband when she goes and rides a donkey out to meet David, and when she sees him coming towards her, she quickly gets off her donkey, bows before David, accepts the guilt of her husband as her own (23). She does all that she can to try to de-escalate the situation, seeking forgiveness for the insult of her husband.


The Lord used this woman to restrain David from sinning, to stop him in his tracks, and he had revealed to her the truth of who David was and is. The LORD, through Abigail, used his restraining grace to stop David’s murderous rage before it was too late. “But by the grace of God go I” those words could be rightly attributed to David here in his situation and yet the LORD continues to work by his restraining grace in our lives. The Lord used Abigail to stop David in his tracks, to stop him from sinning and the same the LORD uses people in our lives, he causes things to happen to us, he helps us, leads us and guides us. Many times we will never see or understand, sometimes we can look back and see, sometimes he lets us go head first into our sin and make an absolute mess of things yet by his providence God is at work, for he by his most holy, wise, and powerful preserving and governing all his creatures, and all their actions is at work.


Pray (acTS)


Sing


WSC
Q54 What is required in the third commandment?
A. The third commandment requireth the holy and reverent use of God’s names, titles, attributes, ordinances, word, and works.
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