H. A. Ironside was a famous Bible
teacher during the first half of the last century.
On one occasion he was in a
crowded restaurant. Just as he was about
to begin his meal, a man approached and asked if he could join him. Ironside welcomed him to have a seat. Then he bowed his head and quietly gave
thanks for his food. When he opened his
eyes the man looked at him in bemusement and asked, ‘Do you have a
headache?’ Ironside assured him that his
head was fine. ‘Well, is there something
wrong with your food?’ Ironside
explained that he always gave thanks before he eat. The man greeted his words with disdain. ‘Oh, you’re one of those, are you? Well, I want you to know I never give
thanks. I earn my money by the sweat of
my brow and I don’t have to give thanks to anyone when I eat. I just start right in.’
‘Yes, you’re just like my dog,’
replied Ironside. ‘That’s what he does.’
This is a sermon about something
far more important than simply saying grace before meals. I want to talk to you about
thanksgiving. We all have reason to be
thankful to God. James writes, ‘every
good and perfect gift is from above’ (James 1:17a). But the Bible tells us that at the heart of
the problem with humanity is the people neither honour God nor give thanks to
him’ (Romans 1:21).
This morning we are going to see
an ungrateful fool and his heroic wife.
Behold,
the fool (1-11)
Nabal’s name means ‘fool’, and
that is what he was. He had plenty of
possessions and the most wonderful wife, but he was neither thankful nor
generous. In fact he was both harsh and
mean.
David has been good to
Nabal. David has been living in the
territory where Nabal’s herds and flocks grazed. Not only has David resisted the temptation to
steal from Nabal, he has sought to protect Nabal’s possessions from harm.
There was a custom at that time,
that when the sheep were sheered the owner of the animals would set aside a
portion of his profit and give it to those who had protected his shepherds while
they were out in the fields. ‘It was
kind of like tipping a waiter. There was
no written law saying you had to do it, but it was a way of showing gratitude
for a job well done’ (Swindoll). So
David’s request was neither usual nor unreasonable.
In fact it is notable that David’s
request humble and polite. He tells ten
young men, ‘Go up to Carmel, and go to Nabal and greet him in my name. And you shall say to him: “Peace be to you,
and peace to your house, and peace to all that you have … Your shepherds have
been with us, and we did them no harm … Therefore let my young men find favour
in your eyes, for we have come on the feast day. Please give whatever you have at hand to your
servants and to your son David”’ (5-8).
There is absolutely no sense of threat in David’s approach.
However, while David has been
good to Nabal, Nabal responds to David’s kindness with a calculated
insult. ‘Who is David?’ David was famous, everyone knew he was. David was a national hero who had saved the
nation by killing the mighty Goliath.
Yet Nabal insinuates that David is simply a disloyal rebel who is like
any other bandit roaming the land.
Nabal is like that man who said
to Ironside, ‘I never give thanks. I
earn my money by the sweat of my brow and I don’t have to give thanks to anyone.’ Not only is Nabal unthankful for what David
has done for him, much more importantly, he is unthankful to God. Look at how he talks of what he has! ‘Shall
I take my bread and my water and my meat that I have
killed for my sheers and give it to men who come from I do not know
where?’
A
guilt-bearer saves the day (12-35)
As we have studied the life of
David, we have said that there are aspects of his life that point forward to
his great descendant, Jesus Christ, who is referred to as Son of David. However, in this passage David does not act
like Jesus. David is an imperfect man,
and if Abigail had not intervened, this story would be covered in blood.
When David hears that Nabal has
responded to his request with a deliberate rudeness, he tells his men to get
their swords ready.
Bible commentator, Alan Redpath,
writes, ‘David! David! What is wrong with you? Why, one of the most wonderful things we have
learned about you recently is your patience with Saul ... But now, look at
you! Your self-restraint has gone to
pieces and a few insulting words from a fool of a man like Nabal has made you
see red! David, what’s the matter?’
God recently showed me how I am
guilty of David’s sin. I realised that
there was a common characteristic about three people who I find difficult to
love: the each have a tendency to talk down to me. Why should it bother me if people act like
they know better than me? My problem is
arrogance and pride. How are you when
people treat you as a ‘nobody’?
Christians should be the most humble of people. We are loved despite our many failures and
anything truly good about us is a gift from God.
What a contrast there is between
our proud anger and Jesus’ gentle humility.
Peter tells us that when Jesus was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered he did not threaten, but
continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins on the tree, that we
might die to sin and live to righteousness (1 Peter 2:23-24).
Abigail is one of the many
marvellous women heroes in the Bible.
She not only saves the day by facing David and telling him to act in a
Christlike fashion, she actually gives us a picture of what Jesus has done for
us. She takes Nabal’s guilt upon
herself, ‘On me alone, my Lord, be the
guilt’ (24a). ‘Please forgive the trespass of your servant (the
feminine is used here, referring to her)’ (28).
Christ took the guilt of our ungrateful hearts upon himself and so he
saved us from the judgement we deserve.
The
king falls from his throne (36-43)
The chief problem in Nabal’s life
is that he had placed himself at the centre of his world. When Abigail returns home, Nabal is holding a
banquet like that of a king. Nabal’s
lack of generosity was rooted in the fact that he is the king of his life and
he is like his ruler. Our world will
always be small and mean until we take ourselves off the throne and see the beauty
of living under God’s rule.
This passage comes with a health
warning. The next morning, when Abigail
tells him what she has done for him, his
heart died within him … and about ten days later the Lord struck Nabal,
and he died (37-38).
God has been exceedingly generous
to every one of us. He has given us life
and breath and everything else. But
there will be a day when he will no longer be generous towards those who refuse
to honour him. He will show his beauty
in demonstrating his justice. He has
given his Son to die for ungrateful hearts, but if we refuse to have him as our
king we will face the consequences of spurning his kindness. It is not easy to talk about subjects like
judgement and hell, but Jesus spoke of them in the hope that the Holy Spirit
would bring us to our senses and enable you to delight in his forgiving,
generous, kind and gracious love.
Conclusion
The Babylon Bee is a Christian
satirical website—a Christian version of the Waterford Whispers, if you are
familiar with that. It pokes fun at
attitudes within and towards the Christian community. One feature read, ‘“What has God ever done
for me?” asks man breathing air.’
Another headline reads, ‘Local man relieved after spiritual gift test
comes back negative for “giving”.’
However, God calls us to lives of
thankfulness and generosity because he loves us. Unlike David, Jesus does not ask us to give
because he is in need, for he is in need of nothing. The Son of David asks us to give because he
knows that it is more blessed to give than receive. He calls us to a life of thankfulness and
generosity because it enlarges our hearts.
If you have enthroned Christ as
your king, then you are a beloved child of God.
Thankfulness and generosity can’t earn you any more of God’s love—for
you are loved perfectly—it can help you experience more of God’s love. It can help you see how thrilling God’s love
is as you his love flow through you. Tozer
wrote, ‘Gratitude is an offering precious in the sight of God, and it is one
the poorest of us can make and be not poorer but richer for having made it.’
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