THE LORD REWARDS EVERY MAN FOR HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS AND FAITHFULNESS

I Samuel 25:1- 26:25

Key Verse 26:23,24- “The Lord rewards every man for his righteousness and faithfulness. The Lord delivered you into my hands today, but I would not lay a hand on the Lord’s anointed. As surely as I valued your life today, so may the Lord value my life and deliver me from all trouble.”

Dr. Samuel C. Lee once said, “It’s okay to make lots of little mistakes, but don’t make big mistakes.” Well, today’s passage shows that David was on the verge of making a BIG mistake. As the next king of Israel, David should be a man known for his righteousness and faithfulness to God. If he indulged his sinful desires, he would have ruined his spirit and his reputation as the main servant of God in Israel. He would only have been known as an ambitious, bloodthirsty assassin. Thankfully, God prevented David from this big mistake. David wanted to please God, therefore he refrained from committing catastrophic sins and instead he looked to God to reward him.

In the same manner, we should strive to consistently live a righteous and faithful life that pleases God. Today’s passage shows some ways for God’s people to do so.

I: Accepting correction when confronted about sin (25:1-35)

Now Samuel died, and all Israel assembled and mourned for him. The passing of Samuel meant the end of an era for Israel. Israel now lost one of the greatest men of God they ever had. Now that he was gone, who would carry on the torch of leading Israel to serve God?

The people may have begun to lose hope because their king Saul was wicked and oppressive. But before Samuel died, God had Samuel anoint David to be the next king. David, however, lived on the run, hiding from Saul who was out to kill him for no good reason other than sheer jealousy.

David had about 600 men with him. For a while, they settled in the desert of Maon, near Carmel. While there, they assisted the workers on the estate of a rich man. Let’s read verses 2 and 3, “A certain man in Maon, who had property there at Carmel was very wealthy. He had a thousand goats and three thousand sheep, which he was shearing in Carmel. His name was Nabal and his wife’s name was Abigail. She was an intelligent and beautiful woman, but her husband, a Calebite, was surly and mean in his dealings.” These two seem like such a mismatch, we wonder how they ever got together. Probably the rich Nabal was able to pay the dowry, the bride-price for any woman he wanted, so he got Abigail.

David and his band of merry men had been voluntarily helping Nabal’s workers in the fields. David sent ten of his guys to go up to Nabal’s mansion and ask for some food. It was the sheep shearing time, which was a festive time. David figured that Nabal had a lot of food prepared for a party, and thought that surely Nabal would be in a good mood and generous at this time. Besides, it was more than just common courtesy for Nabal to give something to David, it was the right thing to do because David had helped him so much by protecting his flocks and his servants from robbers and such.

But what happened? Nabal, true to his character, refused to give anything. He insulted David and then threw out David’s men, empty handed. Nabal said, “Who is this David? Who is this son of Jesse? Many servants are breaking away from their masters these days. Why should I take my bread and water, and the meat I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give it to men coming from who knows where?” Nabal was stingy. He pretended David wasn’t important. He insinuated that David was a wicked servant who must have done something bad to cause his master King Saul to want to kill him. It was a false accusation.

David’s men returned to him on the outskirts of Nabal’s property. They told him word for word what Nabal said. David snapped. He had been worn out and was vulnerable to sin. Now he hit his breaking point. He was also shocked at the intensity of Nabal’s insults. “That does it,” he said, “put on your swords!” He lost all perspective and gave in to his fierce anger. Let’s read v. 21 and 22, “David had just said, ‘It’s been useless- all my watching over this fellow’s property in the desert so that nothing of his was missing. He has paid me back evil for good. May God deal with David, be it ever so severely, if by morning I leave alive one male of all who belong to him!’” David totally overreacted. He wanted to kill Nabal, and every single male family member and servant there!

But remember, Abigail had quite a different character than her husband. When she found out what was going on, Abigail acted wisely. She set out to head off David at the pass.

As she came riding her donkey into a mountain ravine, there were David and his men descending toward her, and she met them. She saw David, got off her donkey and bowed down to David. It was a strange sight for David to see such a beautiful lady stopping them in their path. David and his men stopped and looked at her and all these other people and donkeys loaded up with huge containers of food. It looked like she had just come from shopping at Costco.

Abigail effectively softened David’s heart and averted his wrath. In doing this, she saved her husband and every male in their household. But it was also important that she saved David from doing something that would destroy his spirit, something that he would surely live to regret.

David had gotten emotional, and only thought about his own honor, his own rights, and what he deserved. But Abigail reminded David that he served the Lord. And that he would surely be the next king of Israel, the main servant of the people who worshipped the living God. She predicted that God himself would bring down all of David’s enemies. She gently warned him that if he gave in to his anger, he would have the staggering burden of needless bloodshed on his conscience. David had to keep his integrity. He had to keep his reputation as a righteous and faithful man. He could not make such a big mistake. So now David stopped and began to ask himself ‘what am I doing?’ He wanted to please God more than anything else, and he had almost blown it. No doubt he was sorry that he decided to do something so evil, something that would offend God and all of God’s people in Israel.

Here we see that David humbly listened to Abigail’s good spiritual advice. Let’s read verses 32, 33 “David said to Abigail, ‘Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, who has sent you today to meet me. May you be blessed for your good judgment and for keeping me from bloodshed this day and from avenging myself with my own hands.’” He was a spiritual man, who was also humble and teachable. He was able to accept correction when confronted about his sin. So he didn’t persist in his wicked plan.

When we’re in the place of a person being tempted, like David was, we need to take a time out. We need to think of God, of what pleases God. We need to remember that we belong to God, not because we’re special, but only by God’s mercy and grace. And God’s people must not give in to temptation no matter how justified they feel about it. Why? Because when we give in to temptation, it displeases God who is the Lord of all, it ruins our spirit- causing us to live in guilt, and it ruins our witness as righteous and faithful people.

There are going to be times when we almost give in to temptation, and there will be times when we do give in. When we become aware of this, the best response is to repent immediately. We can’t let sin take root in us, because then it will grow and grow, and become very difficult to get rid of as time goes by. Who does gardening here (M. Monica Chun?). Do you pull up weeds? Isn’t easier to pull out the weeds when they’re small? You know that if you wait too long, they’ll grow big and choke the nutrition out of your tomatoes and peppers. Like that, we have to throw sin out of our life right away so it doesn’t grow up and kill us. Sometimes we need help from a spiritual brother or sister when we’re weak and giving in to sin. At those times it’s vital to be humble and teachable, to really listen.

But other times, we’re in the position of Abigail. Abigail did a great service for David by helping him to look to God. Actually, she helped save many people’s lives. James 5:19,20 says, “My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.” We’re often tentative about confronting others’ problems. But know this, if we do, the worst that could happen is they won’t listen. The best that could happen- many souls could be saved . So we’ve seen that the best response to sin is to accept correction, to immediately repent when aware of sin. Another way to maintain our righteousness and faithfulness before God is to let God deal with people who mistreat us.

II: Letting God deal with wicked fools (25:36-26:16)

David now realized that Nabal was not worth fighting. He learned that he shouldn’t get back at everyone who did wrong to him. He realized such actions would bring lasting trouble in his life. So he and his men turned back. David trusted that God would make Nabal’s sinfulness backfire. He left the situation in God’s hands.

Abigail waited until the next morning when Nabal was sober. She then told him everything that had happened. It was such a shock that his heart failed him and he became like a stone. About ten days later, the Lord struck Nabal and he died.

Somebody told this news to David. David realized that only ten days after Nabal had mistreated him, this was not a coincidence. He said, “Praise be to the Lord, who has upheld my cause against Nabal for treating me with contempt. He has kept his servant from doing wrong and has brought Nabal’s wrongdoing down on his own head.” David recognized that it was the hand of God that brought down his persecutor. He wasn’t gloating over the death of Nabal, but he saw that it was God’s way of settling accounts.

David asked Abigail to marry him, on the spot. She accepted right away. It seemed that a time of God’s favor was beginning in David’s life. But there wasn’t much rest for the weary David. Saul found out where David was, took 3,000 of his best troops, and went in search of him.

David’s scouts saw where Saul made camp. That night, David took one of his nephews named Abishai and they snuck up on Saul. Saul, Abner, and every single person with them were fast asleep, even the guards, because God had put them into a deep sleep.

Now this was a second golden opportunity for David to kill Saul. Abishai knew that David probably wouldn’t want to kill Saul since God had anointed Saul as the king. So Abishai offered to do it. He said, “Today God has delivered your enemy into your hands. Now let me pin him to the ground with one thrust of my spear; I won’t strike him twice.”

But David again refused to kill Saul. Let’s read verses 10 and 11 to see David’s reasoning, “’As surely as the Lord lives’, he said, ‘the lord himself will strike him; either his time will come and he will die, or he will go into battle and perish. But the Lord forbid that I should lay a hand on the Lord’s anointed. Now get the spear and water jug that are near his head, and let’s go.’”

David had just seen how God dealt with Nabal, now he believed God would do the same with Saul. He even prevented Abishai from sinning by killing the Lord’s anointed. So they took Saul’s spear and water jug and went out. Saul, Abner, and their men woke up and wondered who was shouting for them. David asked them to look around, saying ‘Where are the king’s spear and water jug?’ In this, David proved that he was righteous. He did not dare lay a hand on king Saul. David did not want to become known as man of blood who became king only because he assassinated the previous king. He again did not want guilty bloodshed on his conscience. So he waited upon God to bring down Saul.

The Bible says to leave room for God’s vengeance. Deuteronomy 32:35 shows this truth, let’s read it together- “It is mine to avenge; I will repay. In due time their foot will slip; their day of disaster is near and their doom rushes upon them.” (That was God warning his own people Israel that he would bring disaster on them when they became corrupt). David fully trusted that in due time, Saul’s foot would slip. Somehow God would remove Saul, by an illness or maybe Saul would die in battle. David could sense that all he had to do was hang in there just a little bit longer, and this was his decision of faith.

We all encounter people who hate us, who are jealous of us and mistreat us for no reason. If they’re of no consequence, we easily walk away and ignore them. But what if they are family member or someone we have to work with every day? What if it is someone you have to deal with and can’t avoid? Think now, is there such a person that really mistreats you? If not now, has there been, did you experience this? Maybe someone cheated you. Maybe they spread a damaging story about you and ruined your reputation. How did you handle it? When dealing with such wicked fools, we’re tempted to claim our rights, to strike back because they deserve it.

But it’s God’s job to ‘teach them a lesson’, not ours. Don’t be so quick to defend your honor or claim your rights in a vengeful and vindictive way. You should stick up for yourself but revenge is never the way to do so. This means don’t take matters into your own hands. You jeopardize your future when you take revenge. You will lose your righteousness and faithfulness if you do so.

God will bring about his justice when we pray to him. We need forgiveness and patience, and a humble spirit, even towards someone who mistreats us. If there is any righteousness in that person, perhaps he will even repent because of your love and example. But if they persist in remaining a wicked fool, then God will deal with them according to Proverbs 29:1, “A man who remains stiff-necked after many rebukes will suddenly be destroyed- without remedy.” Therefore, leave such people in God’s hands.

So far, this passage shows that we can maintain our good standing before God and before other people by accepting correction when confronted with our sin, and by letting God deal with the wicked fools who mistreat us. The remaining passage shows another way- by looking forward to God’s rewards.

III: Looking forward to God’s rewards (26:17-25)

So David refused to grab the kingship for himself in an illegitimate way. He spoke to Saul (from a safe distance). He pointed out that he was not guilty of any wrong. He wanted Saul to stop chasing him. David said that evil men had driven him from the Lord’s inheritance. He had no place to live in a secure house. He owned no property, or if he did, he couldn’t live there. He even went out of the country, to the Philistine land and to Moab because Saul constantly pursued him.

But worst of all, David could not worship God as he wanted. He couldn’t show himself in public at religious feasts prescribed by God’s word. He couldn’t go to the tabernacle, the house of God. That’s why in verses 19 and 20 he points out that he had been driven away from the presence of the Lord. David longed to be with God’s people in safety, to live openly and securely in Judah, and to be able to go to the tabernacle and freely do all that God’s word commanded.

Yet he still didn’t overthrow Saul. Why is this? It’s because he looked forward to God’s rewards, coming from God, in the due time that God appointed, in the right way that pleased God. Therefore, he would not forcefully take the kingdom from Saul. Let’s read verses 23 and 24 to hear David’s testimony- “The Lord rewards every man for his righteousness and faithfulness. The Lord delivered you into my hands today, but I would not lay a hand on the Lord’s anointed. As surely as I valued your life today, so may the Lord value my life and deliver me from all trouble.” David continued to do good in the face of great stress and temptation, because he knew that God would reward him. He knew that he should not seize the blessing of the kingship from Saul. Therefore, he was able to forgive Nabal and king Saul, and patiently waited for God to bless and reward his life.

David gave his testimony to Saul and ended it with “One word: The Lord rewards every man for his righteousness and faithfulness.” David saw that God rewards his righteous and faithful servants. In what ways did God bless David for doing good? Well, Saul had taken away his daughter who had married David, and gave her to another man. But then David married Abigail, who had wonderful beauty and intelligence. Most of all, she too lived to please God. The two could help each other in serving the Lord. God had also brought down Nabal, who had mistreated David. In the end, David and his men received a large amount food in return for their service at the estate of Nabal. They received what the earned and needed. It was refreshing to them. And now Saul and David parted. David went on his way, and Saul returned home. So David got a restful and peaceful time without Saul hounding him and chasing him to the ends of the earth. David believed that in the future, God would reward him with the promised kingship, but for now, he already recognized the hand of God reaching down and giving him his rewards because he did what was right.

As it was with David, so the Lord rewards every man for his righteousness and faithfulness. Righteousness means doing what is right according to God’s absolute standards. Faithfulness means consistently doing what is right by God’s standards. The two are inseparable. In living the Christian life, righteousness and faithfulness are a necessity. They are the very characteristics of God himself. As his people, we should possess these qualities. Jesus, by the way, came from the family line of David- David was his ancestor. We also like to see David as a prototype of Jesus, since David strove to live that righteous and faithful life. But being human, he failed on occasion. And who was ever faithful 100% without fail, but only Jesus? Because Jesus was faithful to right 100%, he could even humble himself to follow God’s will in going to the cross. In doing this, he saves all who believe in him from sin. And this is why we put all our faith in Him. But that was not the end. Philippians 2:9 says, “Therefore, God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name.” God the Father gave Jesus the highest reward for his perfect righteousness and faithfulness.

It’s hard to continue to do what is right when we lose sight of the rewards. We wonder why we should continue to bear with the mistreatment of other people. We get worn out resisting temptation, thinking it’s too hard to live by such a high standard that God sets. When we lose our hope that God will reward us, we try to reward ourselves. We get impatient. Then we think that we should take what we want when we have the chance.

Rather than taking what we want, we should make sure that we receive God’s best gifts that He wants for us, and at right time and in the right way. God will reward such faithfulness, and can even send a blessing from halfway across the world. I received a blessing from halfway across the world. Now I heard that Sarah Brown, who has patiently lived in righteousness and faithfulness, has also received a blessing from halfway across the world. The buzz is all about Sarah Brown these days. But her greatest reward will be what the Bible promises in Romans 2:6,7- “God ‘will give to each person according to what he has done.’ To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life.” But we must also be warned, because the following verse says, “But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.” It doesn’t say it outright, but it means eternal condemnation in hell for those who follow that path.

Today we will hear two testimonies from those who have persisted on the righteous and faithful path- M. Matthew Lim from Mongolia and Pastor Jacob Lee. It will be interesting to hear how they kept striving to please God by looking forward to His rewards and how they overcame many temptations. As with these two, may God strengthen all of us to stay on the path of righteousness and faithfulness by accepting correction when confronted with our sin, by letting God deal with wicked fools who mistreat us, and by continuing to look to Him for our rewards.