April
12th 1 Samuel 24 David spares Saul
1: And it came to pass, when Saul was
returned from following the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, Behold,
David is in the wilderness of En-gedi. 2:
Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and went to seek
David and his men upon the rocks of the wild goats. 3: And he came to the sheepcotes by the way, where was a cave;
and Saul went in to cover his feet: and David and his men remained in the sides
of the cave. 4: And the men of
David said unto him, Behold the day of which the LORD said unto thee, Behold, I
will deliver thine enemy into thine hand, that thou mayest do to him as it
shall seem good unto thee. Then David arose, and cut off the skirt of Saul's
robe privily. 5: And it came to
pass afterward, that David's heart smote him, because he had cut off Saul's
skirt. 6: And he said unto his
men, The LORD forbid that I should do this thing unto my master, the LORD's
anointed, to stretch forth mine hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of
the LORD. 7: So David stayed his
servants with these words, and suffered them not to rise against Saul. But Saul
rose up out of the cave, and went on his way. 8: David also arose afterward, and went out of the cave, and
cried after Saul, saying, My lord the king. And when Saul looked behind him,
David stooped with his face to the earth, and bowed himself. 9: And David said to Saul, Wherefore
hearest thou men's words, saying, Behold, David seeketh thy hurt? 10: Behold, this day thine eyes have
seen how that the LORD had delivered thee to day into mine hand in the cave:
and some bade me kill thee: but mine eye spared thee; and I said, I will not
put forth mine hand against my lord; for he is the LORD's anointed. 11: Moreover, my father, see, yea,
see the skirt of thy robe in my hand: for in that I cut off the skirt of thy
robe and killed thee not, know thou and see that there is neither evil nor
transgression in mine hand, and I have not sinned against thee; yet thou
huntest my soul to take it. 12:
The LORD judge between me and thee, and the LORD avenge me of thee: but mine
hand shall not be upon thee. 13:
As saith the proverb of the ancients, Wickedness proceedeth from the wicked:
but mine hand shall not be upon thee. 14:
After whom is the king of Israel come out? after whom dost thou pursue? after a
dead dog, after a flea. 15: The
LORD therefore be judge, and judge between me and thee, and see, and plead my
cause, and deliver me out of thine hand. 16:
And it came to pass, when David had made an end of speaking these words unto
Saul, that Saul said, Is this thy voice, my son David? And Saul lifted up his
voice, and wept. 17: And he
said to David, Thou art more righteous than I: for thou hast rewarded me good,
whereas I have rewarded thee evil. 18:
And thou hast shewed this day how that thou hast dealt well with me: forasmuch
as when the LORD had delivered me into thine hand, thou killedst me not. 19: For if a man find his enemy, will
he let him go well away? wherefore the LORD reward thee good for that thou hast
done unto me this day. 20: And now,
behold, I know well that thou shalt surely be king, and that the kingdom of
Israel shall be established in thine hand. 21: Swear now therefore unto me by the LORD, that thou wilt not
cut off my seed after me, and that thou wilt not destroy my name out of my
father's house. 22: And David
sware unto Saul. And Saul went home; but David and his men gat them up unto the
hold.
1
Samuel 25 Samuel dies
1: And Samuel died; and all the
Israelites were gathered together, and lamented him, and buried him in his house
at Ramah.
David
and Abigail
And David arose, and went down to the wilderness of Paran. 2: And there was a man in Maon, whose
possessions were in Carmel; and the man was very great, and he had three
thousand sheep, and a thousand goats: and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel. 3: Now the name of the man was Nabal;
and the name of his wife Abigail: and she was a woman of good understanding,
and of a beautiful countenance: but the man was churlish and evil in his
doings; and he was of the house of Caleb. 4: And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal did shear his
sheep. 5: And David sent out
ten young men, and David said unto the young men, Get you up to Carmel, and go
to Nabal, and greet him in my name: 6:
And thus shall ye say to him that liveth in prosperity, Peace be both to thee,
and peace be to thine house, and peace be unto all that thou hast. 7: And now I have heard that thou
hast shearers: now thy shepherds which were with us, we hurt them not, neither
was there ought missing unto them, all the while they were in Carmel. 8: Ask thy young men, and they will
shew thee. Wherefore let the young men find favour in thine eyes: for we come
in a good day: give, I pray thee, whatsoever cometh to thine hand unto thy
servants, and to thy son David. 9:
And when David's young men came, they spake to Nabal according to all those
words in the name of David, and ceased. 10:
And Nabal answered David's servants, and said, Who is David? and who is the son
of Jesse? there be many servants now a days that break away every man from his
master. 11: Shall I then take
my bread, and my water, and my flesh that I have killed for my shearers, and
give it unto men, whom I know not whence they be? 12: So David's young men turned their way, and went again, and
came and told him all those sayings. 13:
And David said unto his men, Gird ye on every man his sword. And they girded on
every man his sword; and David also girded on his sword: and there went up
after David about four hundred men; and two hundred abode by the stuff. 14: But one of the young men told
Abigail, Nabal's wife, saying, Behold, David sent messengers out of the
wilderness to salute our master; and he railed on them. 15: But the men were very good unto us, and we were not hurt,
neither missed we any thing, as long as we were conversant with them, when we
were in the fields: 16: They
were a wall unto us both by night and day, all the while we were with them
keeping the sheep. 17: Now
therefore know and consider what thou wilt do; for evil is determined against
our master, and against all his household: for he is such a son of Belial, that
a man cannot speak to him. 18:
Then Abigail made haste, and took two hundred loaves, and two bottles of wine,
and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched corn, and an hundred
clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on asses. 19: And she said unto her servants,
Go on before me; behold, I come after you. But she told not her husband Nabal. 20: And it was so, as she rode on the
ass, that she came down by the covert of the hill, and, behold, David and his
men came down against her; and she met them. 21: Now David had said, Surely in vain have I kept all that this
fellow hath in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained
unto him: and he hath requited me evil for good. 22: So and more also do God unto the enemies of David, if I
leave of all that pertain to him by the morning light any that pisseth against
the wall. 23: And when Abigail
saw David, she hasted, and lighted off the ass, and fell before David on her
face, and bowed herself to the ground, 24:
And fell at his feet, and said, Upon me, my lord, upon me let this iniquity be:
and let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thine audience, and hear the
words of thine handmaid. 25:
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. 26: 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. 27: And now this blessing which thine
handmaid hath brought unto my lord, let it even be given unto the young men
that follow my lord. 28: I pray
thee, forgive the trespass of thine handmaid: for the LORD will certainly make
my lord a sure house; because my lord fighteth the battles of the LORD, and
evil hath not been found in thee all thy days. 29: Yet a man is risen to pursue thee, and to seek thy soul: but
the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the LORD thy God;
and the souls of thine enemies, them shall he sling out, as out of the middle
of a sling. 30: And it shall
come to pass, when the LORD shall have done to my lord according to all the
good that he hath spoken concerning thee, and shall have appointed thee ruler
over Israel; 31: That this
shall be no grief unto thee, nor offence of heart unto my lord, either that
thou hast shed blood causeless, or that my lord hath avenged himself: but when
the LORD shall have dealt well with my lord, then remember thine handmaid. 32: And David said to Abigail,
Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, which sent thee this day to meet me: 33: And blessed be thy advice, and
blessed be thou, which hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood, and
from avenging myself with mine own hand. 34:
For in very deed, as the LORD God of Israel liveth, which hath kept me back
from hurting thee, except thou hadst hasted and come to meet me, surely there
had not been left unto Nabal by the morning light any that pisseth against the
wall. 35: So David received of
her hand that which she had brought him, and said unto her, Go up in peace to
thine house; see, I have hearkened to thy voice, and have accepted thy person. 36: And Abigail came to Nabal; and,
behold, he held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king; and Nabal's
heart was merry within him, for he was very drunken: wherefore she told him
nothing, less or more, until the morning light. 37: But it came to pass in the morning, when the wine was gone
out of Nabal, and his wife had told him these things, that his heart died
within him, and he became as a stone. 38:
And it came to pass about ten days after, that the LORD smote Nabal, that he
died. 39: And when David heard
that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed be the LORD, that hath pleaded the cause
of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and hath kept his servant from evil: for
the LORD hath returned the wickedness of Nabal upon his own head, And David
sent and communed with Abigail, to take her to him to wife. 40: And when the servants of David
were come to Abigail to Carmel, they spake unto her, saying, David sent us unto
thee to take thee to him to wife. 41:
And she arose, and bowed herself on her face to the earth, and said, Behold,
let thine handmaid be a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord. 42: And Abigail hasted, and arose, and
rode upon an ass, with five damsels of hers that went after her; and she went
after the messengers of David, and became his wife. 43: David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel; and they were also both
of them his wives. 44: But Saul
had given Michal his daughter, David's wife, to Phalti the son of Laish, which
was of Gallim.
Today we read of David sparing Saul his king and of the
death of Samuel. One of Israel’s greatest men dies after a life of integrity
and godliness. And then we have the story of David with Abigail. After David
returned from the destructionof the Philistine army Saul is informed that David
is in the wilderness of En-gedi. Does he go to thank him? No, he gathers 3,000
men to destroy him. Sauil found a cave and went in to use the toilet but David
and his men were also in the cave. His men said to him, Today the LORD has
delivered Saul into your hand. David rose up and cut off the corner of his
robe, but Saul didn’t know it. But when he had done it his heart fell because
he thought he had done wrong. David said forbid me Lord from doing anything
against my Lord Saul. He is the LORD’s anointed and l will not put out my hand
against the LORD’s anointed. David prevented his men from attacking Saul. Saul
when he had finished went on his way. Then David came out of the cave after him
and called to him, my lord – king and he bowed down to the earth. Then David
asked him why do you seek to hurt me? Today the Lord delivered you into my hand
and my men encouraged me to kill you but l would not put out my hand to touch
you because you are the Lord’s anointed one. But l did cut off a part of your
robe for which l am sorry. I have never sought to hurt you yet you seek to hurt
me. The LORD will judge between us and he will avenge me of you, but my hand
will not be against you. When Saul heard the voice of David he wept and he
said, you are more righteous than me because you rewarded me good when l only
did evil toward you. So may God bless you today and reward you according to
your kindness. And l know that you will be king and that the kingdom will be
made secure by you. Please swear that you will not destroy my family. Saul went
home but David went to his secure place. Then we read of the death of Samuel.
Samuel stands out as a man of incredible godliness alongside Noah and Daniel.
The whole nation gathered to weep for him. David went north to the wilderness
of Paran where there lived a man who had great possessions yet he was an
ignorant and cantankerous man. David sent ten men asking for food but he spoke
rudely to them and refused common hospitality. When David heard of the abusive
reply he armed his men and set out to avenge the slur. However Nabal had a wife
who was wise an kind and she remembered that Davids men had given her shepherds
protection. So she very hurredly let out to meet David bring huge qualities of
food with her. When David met her she pleaded for mercy for her husband and
David relented and turned away his anger for her sake. When Abigail returned
home she found her husband at a huge feast and she waited until the morning to
tell him what she had done. When she finally told her husband what she had done
his heart died within him. (Perhaps this was a stroke) He became like a stone
but ten days later he was struck by the Lord and died. It seems that those who
treat the Lords anointed badly face the judgment of God. When David heard that
he was dead he blessed God because the LORD had acted in the matter and David
himself had not needed to. Then David came and took Abagail to be his wife.
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