1 Samuel 25-27
What I Noticed Today (1 Samuel 25-27)
1 Samuel 25
1 Samuel 25 opens with the death of Samuel and includes the story of Nabal, the Calebite, and his wife, Abigail.
Note: Nabal means “folly” or “fool.” He was a descendant of Caleb, who entered the promised land with Joshua (Numbers 13:6, Joshua 14:6-14).
In verse 1, Samuel died and was buried near his home in Ramah. Afterward, David went to the Wilderness of Paran (see Genesis 21:21, Numbers 10:12, 1 Samuel 13:3).
In verses 2-8, David and his men had been providing protection to the people of the area. When it was harvest/sheep-shearing time, he sent some men to ask Nabal for a contribution to help support the 600 men who were with him (600 men and their families, probably a band of 2,400 people).
In verses 9-43, Nabal refused, his response is both arrogant and insulting.
- When David heard of Nabal’s response, he vowed to kill him.
- Abigail gathered an offering together, took it to David, and implored him not to kill Nabal and bring bloodguilt on himself.
- David relented.
- Ultimately, Nabal had a seizure and died 10-days later, struck down by the Lord.
- David then took Abigail as his wife.
- David also married Ahinoam of Jezreel.
1 Samuel 26
1 Samuel 26 is another case of Saul setting out on a journey to find and kill David.
In verses 1-3, Saul was told by the Ziphites that David was hiding in the hills of Hachilah near Jeshimon.
In verses 4-6, David sent out spies to confirm Saul’s location and planned to infiltrate Saul’s camp.
In verses 7-25, David is again able to sneak up to Saul and could have killed him but did not because he was “the Lord’s anointed.”
- When David called out to Saul and Saul understood that David spared him once again, Saul admitted his sin and foolishness. He promised never to harm David and blessed David for considering his life valuable. David and Saul parted, and both returned home.
Note: These were the last words spoken between Saul and David.
1 Samuel 27
1 Samuel 27 recounts David’s decision to journey into the Philistine territory to Achish, king of Gath, to seek refuge from Saul.
In verses 1-8, David asked Achish for a town to live in, and Achish gave him Ziklag.
Note: Ziklag was one of the cities that the Israelites were promised, but had never captured.
In verses 8-12, from his headquarters in Ziklag, David conducted raids against Geshurites, Girzites, and Amalekites.
- Whenever Achish asked David where he was raiding, David would give a technically correct answer but was deceiving Achish by letting him think he was waring against his own people.
- David left no one alive in the towns he raided, so there would be no one alive to report back to Achish.
Note: David’s actions fulfilled the Lord’s command to wipe out the evil inhabitants of the land (Joshua 13:1-7).
- This made Achish trust David, thinking that David was more of a friend to him than an enemy.
Some thoughts for further consideration:
- David’s encounter with Nabal reminds us that we can respond to situations in several ways. We can return evil for good as Nabal did when he refused to return David’s kindness. We can return evil for evil, as David considered when he swore to kill Nabal. Or, we can return evil for good as David ultimately did when he accepted Abigail’s offering and an apology for her husband.
- While David was following God by sparing Saul’s life, he made a poor decision by going to live in Philistine territory without consulting God. It seems he was more concerned with survival and avoiding conflict with Saul than trusting in God and seeking His will.
What did you notice in your study today? Feel free to visit the website and leave a question or a comment.