1 Samuel 25. A heart of wisdom | Niv Lobo | 260920 | Looking for a leader

First thing for us to see, God's kingdom is threatened by sin.

That's the danger here.

Verse 1 tells us that Samuel died.

And we read there that all Israel assembled and mourned.

No wonder they did.

He was such an effective leader.

He brought God's word to the people.

He anointed Saul and then he anointed David.

As readers, we've been following Samuel for chapters.

And now we'll be asking, will Israel be left rudderless without Samuel? How will David get on without Samuel's guidance? What's going to happen? We come close to seeing.

Verse two, we meet a man.

And before we find out his name, we hear all about his wealth.

And that's appropriate because wealth owns this man.

And when we do learn his name, Nabal, it's not very promising because as his own wife says in verse 25, it means fool.

But this fool has an amazing wife, the beautiful and wise Abigail.

Now, David had been protecting Nabal's shepherds.

Remember, he had been a shepherd.

And so he knew all about the dangers they faced.

He'd looked after them well with his men.

And when he hears that it's shearing time, he sends word through some messengers to join the celebration.

And if you look at verse 8, David is not being cheeky.

He's being reasonable in his requests.

He's been looking after these men and looking after their sheep.

And as David sees it, Nabal would have far fewer sheep to shear if it hadn't been for David.

But Nabal's response is grasping and foolish.