Lessons in Providence (Part 2)

1:00This week, we're going to again look at 1 Samuel 25, and we're going to highlight one final lesson in Providence. We are going to look at providential submission. So, in order for us to proceed in this study, we have to define two terms. First, we need to define providence. The best way to understand providence is to contrast it with sovereignty. Is the theological terms of providence and sovereignty differ. Sovereignty is a characteristic or an attribute of God.

1:42It refers to his dominion. It refers to his legal claim over all things. It refers to his absolute control over everything. Sovereignty is who God is over his creation. Providence, on the other hand, is an action of God. It refers to his sovereign plan or purpose. It refers to what he establishes and ordains to come to pass. It refers to how he executes his decrees. Providence is what he does for his creation. So, in other words, sovereignty means God is in control of everything. Providence is the things he does to affect his control and to sustain the world. One thing is something he is, one thing is something he does.

2:48Second, we need to define submission, and that's important for in this lesson, as we deal with providential submission, we are going to see an example of. The need to submit in God's providential plan to difficult circumstances. We also need to understand how do we properly submit in difficult circumstances. And thus, we need a picture as well as a definition of what biblical submission is. And since this is going to be a Christocentric sermon, I want to provide you a picture of submission. And of course, it's the text that Alan read earlier. Look again at Philippians 2, but we'll look at only verses 3 through 8.

3:44Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourself. Let each of you look not to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, he is God himself, did not count equality with God, the Father, a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born. In the likeness of men, and being found in human form, he humbled himself by coming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. That is an example of biblical submission.

4:48But let me help you by giving you a definition, and it's a working definition, it's not out of the scriptures, but it's something that I've borrowed from Bob Deffenbaugh that he did years ago in the Dallas area. It's a very good definition, and I hope it will be helpful. True biblical submission is the active pursuit of moral truth and the best interests of another by the subordination of your own interests. Let me repeat that. True biblical submission is the active pursuit of moral truth and the best interests of another by the subordination of our own personal interests.

5:35Is not that definition seen clearly in the example of submission we just gave you from Philippians 2? Christ in Philippians 2 actively pursues God's need for moral truth. Where do you see that? Sin requires justice and sin. Sin must be punished. And so, Christ, to ensure that moral truth is pursued and achieved, he says, Father, I will pay for the sin of these. He actively pursues moral truth. And clearly, he does do that in the best interests of another, for those for whom he dies. And of course, he does it by subordinating his own personal interest. Though he is God himself, he says, I'm not going to be God. I'm going to take on the form of a servant, humble myself, so that I might pay for the sins of God's people. Praise God for his gift of his son in this picture of true biblical submission.

6:57So, with those preliminaries behind us, let's reset the context of our narrative, particularly for those of you who are not here last week. Last Sunday, we learned that David sent 10 of his men to request a gift of Nabal. This gift, this request was customary and reasonable. But nevertheless, Nabal refuses to give anything to David and his men, and even insults David. In the process, learning that this fool, for the scriptures call him a fool, had refused to give him anything, David blows a gasket.

7:43He tells 400 men to put on their swords, and we're going to go march, and we're going to kill Nabal and every male in his household. But providentially, one of Nabal's servants, a young man, sees what's going on, knows what David and David's men have done for Nabal, and races off to seek out Nabal's wife, Abigail. So now let's pick up the story in verse, I believe I've made this right, we're going to look at it in verse 17 of 1 Samuel 25.

8:20I want you to notice three things: God's providential agent, the providential arrangement, and the providential actions. The agent, the arrangement, and the actions. Let's look at God's providential agent in the story, Abigail. Knowing that Nabal has insulted David, a young man sprints to Abigail and look in verse 17. Now, therefore, know this and consider what you, Abigail, should do. For harm is determined against our master and against all his house. And he is such a worthless man that we are. Cannot speak to him.

9:04Abigail was someone a husband, a servant, or a stranger could talk to. Nabal's servants could interrupt her schedule, bring their problems, and seek her counsel. Abigail was someone who they knew would find a solution, make things right, break a deadlock. Abigail was someone who did not misunderstand the heart of the servant, even though they called her husband a worthless man. In other words, Abigail was a woman of tremendous character. Now, two weeks ago, my daughter was driving on 635 in Dallas and was rear-ended.

9:54And for those of you who know who 635, she exits right around Hillcrest Road and gets on the service road to get in a residential section. Fortunately, things went really well because the young man who rear-ended her decided to come off the road from the highway and exchange insurance cards. From there, it kind of went south. First of all, he begs her not to call the police because he has a warrant out for his arrest. Next, he pleads with her to listen to. The words of her father on his phone, explaining that we'll take care of this without having to go through the insurance process.

10:41My daughter still is intent on calling the police. And at that point in time, the young man, as she's dialing 911, reaches out to grab her phone from her. Now, with all apologies to some of the women in the room, my daughters tend to be rather independent and impervious to threats. And so my daughter does. And the young man again did something. She hits the dial button. And that's when he leaves the scene. He's gone. But he left his cars and the keys in his car and his insurance car in the car when he ran over the hill.

11:29While I am not sure that Nabal would be quite as foolish as this young man, I do think it's important for us to understand that Nabal is a fool. And it does raise this question: why was such an intelligent woman like Abigail doing with a worthless man like Nabal? Notice that the scriptures never say Nabal was obese, unfaithful, abusive, or ugly. Says one thing, he was worthless. He was a fool. And despite this fact, Abigail faithfully chose to remain in a bad situation, providentially placed in a difficult situation. But we, as New Testament believers, understand this concept or practice because we read in 1 Corinthians chapter 7, verse 13 and 14: If any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever and he consents to live with her, she should not divorce him. For the unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband. Men and women, as believers, we are to be faithful to our commitments and our covenants, even when providentially we find that our spouses are worthless. And that would apply, of course, to other situations where we find ourselves providentially in, that we are to be faithful to our commitments and our covenants, as it would be applicable. Abigail is God's providential agent in this story. Secondly, notice God's providential arrangement starting in verse 18. Then Abigail made haste and took 200 loaves and two skins of wine and five. Sheep already prepared, and five sias of parched grain, and a hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on the donkeys. And she said to her young men, Go on before me, behold, I come after you.

13:48Recognizing from the news of the servant that time is of the essence, that is, she recognizes that David is on his way now to do harm to Nabal and to the men of the household. Abigail gathers up generous portions of food and sends them on ahead of herself with her servants. The question would be: where did Abigail get these supplies so quickly? The supplies that Abigail sent to David very likely came from the supplies that Nabal plans on consuming at his feast. Abigail sends David 200 loaves of bread, two jugs of wine, and five sheep already prepared, in addition to a generous portion of grain, raisins, and figs. And we should note that despite all of that leaving as a gift to David, there is no mention at the end of the chapter that Nabal's feast suffered for any loss of those supplies.

14:57Look at verse 19b. But she did not tell her husband Nabal. Abigail does not ask or inform Nabal what she is doing. Why does she not ask? She does not ask because she knows what Nabal's answer will be. She does not inform because she knew that her order would be reversed or countermanded. Thus, we do arrive at the $64,000 question in this text: How can a woman who refuses to consult with her husband, who acts contrary to his will and word, and calls him a fool, possibly be considered submissive?

15:54I'm going to suggest this morning that it's only in the externals that Abigail appears to be unsubmissive. She certainly acts independently of her husband. What he refuses to do, she does. And yet, in her heart, she's truly submissive. To think that biblical submission is mere blind obedience or giving in to the will and wishes of a higher authority falls short. Short of the essence of true biblical submission. We can see this thirdly by noticing the God's providential actions that are undertaken by Abigail. Now, I called out to the children. We have more children in here. I want you to just listen to this piece of the story. I'm going to tie something in later because I want you to have a picture. And I'm going to use some hand motions. Hopefully, it's helpful. Verse 23.

16:59When Abigail saw David, she hurried out, got down from her donkey, and fell before David on her face and bowed to the ground. She fell at his feet and said, On me alone, my Lord, be the guilt. Please let your servant speak in your ears and hear the words of your servant. Let not my Lord regard this worthless fellow, Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. Nabal is his name, and folly is with him. But I, your servant, did not see the young men of my Lord whom you sent. Now then, my Lord, there's in third character, as the Lord lives, and as your soul lives. Lives because the Lord has restrained you from blood guilt and from saving with your own hand. Now let your enemies and those who seek to do evil to my Lord be as Nabal. And now let this present that your servant has brought to my Lord be given to the young men who follow my Lord. But please forgive the trespass of your servant. For the Lord will certainly make my Lord a sure house, because my Lord is fighting the battles of the Lord, and evil shall not be found in you so long as you shall live. If men rise up to pursue you and to seek your life, the life of my Lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living in the care of the Lord your God.

18:56And the lives of your enemies he shall sling out as from the hollow of a sling. And when the Lord has done to my Lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you, and has appointed you prince over Israel, my Lord shall have no cause of grief or pangs of conscience for having shed blood without cause for my Lord working salvation or my Lord working salvation himself. And when the Lord has dealt well with my Lord, then remember. Your servant.

19:34So, I want to take a look at this passage, this text we just read, using our working definition of true biblical submission and say, is Abigail truly submissive? First, notice how she actively pursues moral truth. She reminds David of God's promise that God's going to appoint him ruler over Israel. How tragic would it be for David to have this dark cloud over his kingdom, a cloud brought on by impetuous acts of seeking vengeance and shedding innocent blood? And as there's so many subtle messages in here, notice indirectly how she reminds David of the Old Testament law of Moses that set down the principle of justice: an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. She says, Shedding blood without cause is not an eye for an eye.

20:42To kill Nabal and the males of his household due to Nabal's selfishness and just his insult is to shed innocent blood, making the punishment worse. Than the crime. I'm appealing to you, David, to follow moral truth, because Abigail actively pursues moral truth. Second, notice how Abigail actively pursues the interests of Nabal and David. First, she knows she has to be very careful neither to exonerate Nabal while not appearing disloyal to him. In short, she has to win David without betraying Nabal. So Abigail devises a perfect solution to this dilemma. She's going to intercede on behalf of Nabal. She's going to plead with David not to take her husband seriously. She tells David that her husband's character is aptly depicted by his name Nabal, which means fool.

22:00How can this woman call her husband a fool and be looked on so favorably and obviously in our text? The answer is really not that difficult. Her husband is a fool. Servant knows it. We know it. She knows it. But I will suggest, we don't know for a fact, but I will suggest that there's another possible reason that she is going to emphasize to David that. Nabal is a fool. Many of you may remember that when David was hiding from Saul and racing around the country, at one point in time, he ended up in Gath. And when he was in Gath, which is the hometown of Goliath, well after Goliath is gone, he recognizing that he could be perceived as a threat as the future king and potentially be killed, David humbles himself in Gath. He takes on the appearance of a spittle-caked, gate-carving lunatic.

23:06Look at this verse in 1 Samuel 21, verse 12. And David took these words to heart, and he was much afraid of Achish, the king of Gath, so he changed his behavior before him and pretended to be insane in their hands, and made marks on the doors of the gate and let his spittle run down his beard. Then Achish said to his servants, Behold, you see the man is mad. Why then have you brought him to me? Do I lack mad men that you have brought this fellow to behave as a madman in my presence? There's been a lot of madmen in that place. I don't know. Shall this fellow come into my house?

23:44Achish would very easily have killed David if he thought he was sane. But when he became convinced that David was crazy, he did not kill him, but chose to drive him out of town. There is no honor, there is no status in killing fools. But pretending to be a fool saves David's life. I might suggest that Abigail, by calling her husband a fool, is pleading to David to say, just like Achish saved you because you acted as a fool, maybe you should save Nabal's life because he actually is a fool.

24:30So Abigail actively pursues the best interests of Nabal, but she also actively pursues the best interests of David. She knows that David is the future king of Israel and that his kingdom is going to last. And that while David fights the Lord's battles, for this reason, evil shall not be found in him in all his days. And if anyone rises up against David to seek his life, David should know that his life is precious to God, and the lives of his enemy are worthless. They are so worthless that God is going to sling them out as from the hollow of a sling. Another subtle reminder, Trevor Longman points this out in his commentary, of what?

25:23Of David and Goliath. Another subtle reminder of David's Divinely empowered victory over Goliath. Abigail actively pursues moral truth and the best interest of others, but finally, notice how she subordinates her own personal interests. And please stay with me. Abigail would be better off to act like the perfect U.S. American wife by doing exactly what Nabal says. Why? Had she stayed at home after learning this information and done exactly what Nabal wanted, she would have been liberated from Nabal by David.

26:12Her worthless husband would have been put to death, and she would be free from his foolishness forever. She can get out of that providential, difficult circumstance that God has placed her in. And all she had to do was to do nothing and appear to be submissive. Instead, Abigail is truly submissive in that she seeks to save her husband and all of the other males in the household, and in seeking to save them, she has to put her own life on the line. She goes out alone to encounter a man who is not only willing but able to kill her, her husband, and her entire household.

26:58And when she encounters, David, she asked that his full anger be spent on who? Look at verse 20. It's actually verse 34. She fell at his feet and said, On me and me alone, my Lord, be the guilt. That is verse 24, I'm sorry. To save Nabal's life, she assumes his guilt. His sin is her sin. Abigail is submissive in that she acts in a way that will benefit her husband at her own expense. Let me repeat what I alluded to earlier. I'm going to say it very clearly now. Had Abigail done nothing and appeared to be submissive, she would have furthered her own interests at the expense of Nabal. Let me repeat that. Had she done nothing and appeared to be submissive, she would have furthered her own interests. God, please get rid of Nabal for me at her husband's expense.

28:10Thus, Abigail's actions illustrate the essence of what we defined earlier of true biblical submission. She actively pursues moral truth. She actively pursues the best interests of others. And she subordinates her own personal interests. So let me pause here. Here and issue a word of caution. I want to be very careful in what I'm saying, and I want you to be very clear in what you think I'm saying. Most of the time, submission is evidenced by our obedience to the one in higher authority. Most of the time, our admission, submission, is evidenced by bringing honor to those to whom we are subject. But there are times when submission is going to look like something else. There are times when we must act contrary to the wishes of the one to whom we are in submission. And that can only be when we are pursuing moral truth, and they are not. And when it's costly to us and will benefit the other and not ourself. And it can only be in matters where God's will is clearly contradictory to the will and wishes of our superior. Abigail had to pursue moral truth, allowing David to commit sin by murdering people. That's not pursuing moral truth. I sit back and do nothing. David sins. Who benefits? Moi.

29:53The fool's gone. No, so what does she do? She subordinates her own interest. And pursues moral truth for the benefit of others. What I'm trying to say is that this kind of submission, Abigail's kind of submission, is the exception and not the rule. This is sometimes because, I want to be very clear, we console ourselves for caving in by calling it submission when we are not really submitting. That is, we will allow something bad to go on. Oh, but that's not my job to comment on that to my husband or to my boss or to my father. I need to be in submission, so I'm a cave.

30:42Godly submission always submits first to God and secondarily to men. It always seeks to pursue the best interests of another above our own interests. And sometimes godly submission requires us to act contrary to the will and wishes of the one to whom we are in submission. I said these things, not that you will redefine your definition or throw out your definition of submission, but I want you to expand it. But I want you to be very careful. Don't turn this expanded definition of submission into a pretext for sin.

31:20So, in closing, let me answer three final questions that arise out of this narrative. What is one of the best postures from which we can admonish? And correct a fellow believer. Look at verse 32. And David said to Abigail, Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me. Blessed be your discretion. Blessed be you, who have kept me this day from blood guilt and from working salvation with my own hand. For as surely as the Lord, the God of Israel lives, who has restrained me from hurting you, unless you had hurried and come to meet me, truly by mourning, there had not been left to Nabal so much as one male. Then David received from her hand what she brought him, and he said to her, Go up in peace to your house. See, I have obeyed your voice and have granted your petition.

32:22Let us learn from Abigail that submission is perhaps the best posture from which to admonish and correct a fellow believer. Abigail is not only in submission to her husband, she's submission to her future king. Notice in that long paragraph that I read, six times she calls herself what? A servant, your servant. 14 times she calls David my Lord. So, in this most humble And submissive way, she subtly seeks to rebuke David and admonish him. And this man, who was hot-headed and was getting ready to do the stupidest thing, maybe not the stupidest thing, one of the stupidest things in his life, her actions, her demeanor, her words are used by God to turn him. And this takes place solely because of what? Her submissive attitude. Brothers and sisters, being subject to a person, particularly another believer, is no excuse for us to look the other way when we see them acting contrary to the will and word of God. All too often, I have heard people excuse themselves from their brotherly or sisterly duties because I don't want to admonish, I don't want to rebuke. Why? Because I'm in subordination to that person.

34:04I'm going to suggest that from this text that a submissive attitude, a submissive demeanor is the best posture from which to seek to correct another. Let us face up to our responsibility to pursue the best interests of our superiors and our brothers and our sisters by rebuking them when required, but in a way. That demonstrates humility and submission. Second question: Who is best able to mete out justice? Look at verse 38. And about 10 days later, the Lord struck Nabal and he died.

34:47Abigail saves Nabal's rear end. And guess what he does? She shows up and he's drunk. She doesn't explain it to him until the next morning. And in the next morning, Nabal wakes with a clearer head and he comprehends from what Abigail tells him how close he came to dying. And then we find out from the text that his heart died within him so that he became as a stone. And then 10 days later, the Lord strikes Nabal dead.

35:27How much better was it that this fool died at God's providential hand than at the hand of David? Who is best able to mete out justice in his timing and in his manner? It's God and not ourselves. And finally, children, I told you earlier to pay attention to the passage I read, but I want to tie that together with what Beau mentioned so that you don't miss this. Finally, I'm going to ask: where is Christ in this narrative. Both suggested, and I agree, that Abigail is an illustration. If you prefer a type of God's provision for man's salvation, listen, due to the folly of Nabal, Abigail's whole household is in danger. They are already condemned to death, and they don't even know it. There are 400 men getting ready to come, children, to do some bad things to Nabal and Nabal's household. They don't know it. They're dead. They're already condemned to death.

36:42But there is a woman who, in wisdom and humility, steps forward, takes on the guilt of all of the condemned, and offers herself in their place. Is this not a picture, a prototype of our Lord Jesus Christ? Due to Adam's sin and our sin, we are already condemned to death, whether we know it or not. And there is a man with justice on the way. We are doomed. But the Lord Jesus Christ, who was completely innocent, without fault, he will be. Stepping forward, take the guilt on himself. He will offer himself in our place on the cross of Calvary. He will bear the penalty of our sins. And through our faith in his work on the cross, not our work, we can obtain eternal life. Christ is clearly in this story. Let us pray.

38:07Father, we thank you for this text. We in humility come before you and ask in forgiveness that we have only dealt with some of the truths in it. May what we have taught this morning, may what we have studied be true. Lord, submission is a very difficult subject. It is a subject that is despised by our generation, and yet it is biblical. But may we understand through the example of Christ what biblical submission looks like. And when we submit to those in authority, when we submit even to our peers, may we actively pursue moral truth.

39:15May we seek the best interests of others while placing our interests below and behind everyone else. For in that, we follow the example of Jesus Christ. And for those here in this room who may be part of the condemned and who don't know it, Judgment Day does hasten. There is a time in which your death, which is already certain, will come to fruition. And there is only one hope. And that hope is in the Son of God, who emptied himself of Godhood to come into this world to take on himself the sins of a multitude so that God's justice would be served, but that that multitude may, by placing faith in his work on the cross, can be saved.

40:30And saved from that doom. It is my prayer that there would be one that would embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ. For it is not only their hope, but it is our hope. And we thank you once again for this incredible picture of what biblical submission looks like. For it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Thank you for listening to the sermon audio from New Life Baptist Church in College Station, Texas. For more information or to support our ministry, visit us online at newlifecs.net.