Cracks in the Christian
1 Samuel 25:40-44
Turn to 1 Samuel 25. I said last week that I would come back to these few verses where we saw that David had been treated roughly by Nabal. As remember David’s men had treated Nabal’s men kindly, but Nabal had no intention of returning the favour. Which made David very angry and so and he was ready to go after Nabal and all his crew, until he was stopped by Abigail. As remember Abigail brought the men a great meal, calming David down. And David was grateful that Abigail stopped him in his angry state. But then we read these words:
“Then the servants of David came to Abigail at Carmel and spoke to her, saying, ‘David has sent us to you to take you as his wife.’ And she arose and bowed with her face to the ground and said, ‘Behold, your maidservant is a servant-woman to wash the feet of my lord’s servants.’ Then Abigail hurried and arose, and she rode on a donkey, with her five young women who went about with her; and she went after the messengers of David and became his wife. David had also taken Ahinoam of Jezreel, and they both became his wives. Now Saul had given Michal his daughter, David’s wife, to Palti the son of Laish, who was from Gallim.”
1 Samuel 25:40-44 (LSB)
The realization of David’s actions here along with his anger at Nabal, made me think that we should stop and consider some of the cracks in the life of David, or in our case, “Cracks in the Christian.” Now if we know the whole story of David, we know what is coming. That as we have been reading of the faith of David—and we can especially think of his outstanding speech before Goliath, and his words before Saul a few weeks ago when he had opportunity to kill Saul, yet David treated him so graciously. Yet what is coming is the sin with Bathsheba, the murder of Uriah, and the pride in taking the census of Israel.
When we studied 1 Samuel 24 a few weeks ago, we saw where David’s interaction with Saul was a display of David’s good will. Whereas last week (1 Sam 25) it was only because of the good actions by Abigail that kept David from carrying out his anger on someone he didn’t like. Now since David has been introduced to us we have mostly seen this very likeable young man who is motivated, heroic, and who loves the Lord. But now we are introduced to a slightly different side to David. Robert P. Gordon wrote:
“The episode of Nabal is the very first revelation of evil in David’s character. He can kill. This time he stops short. But the cloud that chapter 25 raises, continues to darken our perception of David’s character.”
Robert P. Gordon
There are two things we need to consider. One, is theologically, our sin nature, as we have all been born in sin and we will fight that battle until the day we die. Even the Apostle Paul fought this battle, as in Romans 7 he spoke about the battle within him, he wrote:
“For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.”
Roman 7:19 (LSB)
Now I know there is the desire within all of us as we study our Bibles to find in the David’s and the Paul’s, the almost perfections like in the Joseph’s and the Daniel’s. But even in the Joseph’s and the Daniel’s, if we knew the whole story, we would not find perfection, though they are men of faith. For if we have a belief as Christians that there are men and women in the Bible who do not struggle with sin, one, we have a skewed understanding of humanity; and two, we have an underestimation of the perfection of Jesus Christ. So, just because we may not read of sin in the life of men like Joseph or Daniel, does not mean that they did not sin as believers. Because biblically, theologically, we know that they sinned. Now this does not excuse sin, nor does it mean that all are sinners to the same degree. But none are righteous, none are perfect like Christ. And it would be heresy to ever believe that we could this side of a transformed body. So, theologically we know from the Bible that David is a sinner.
But we also know this from the narrative as well, as this is not the first time we have seen this as we read of David’s quick temper or David taking two wives. For what have we already noticed? Times when David was not completely honest with people. As when he had Jonathan tell some half-truths to Saul, and when he told Ahimelech that he was on a mission for Saul, which was a lie. So, we need to pause for a bit this morning and take some time to consider some of the cracks that appear in the life of David as well as in us as believers. In fact, if we go back a bit and consider this whole story of Israel and the fact that they asked the Lord for a king, we should soon realize that they were already on shaky ground. We spoke about this, that the whole desire for Israel to have a king came from a wrong heart within the people. John Piper notes this, a quote I gave you before:
“This story has far-reaching implications. The grace of affirming a monarchy conceived in sin signal that every blessing that comes from this kingship is undeserved. Every blessing that flows from this kingship is grace.”
John Piper, Providence 132
So, we quickly learn that all good things from the hand of God come to us not because of us and who we are, but despite us and despite who we are. In other words, we are undeserving of all good things that come from the hand of God. And this king, that was given to them, of course, was Saul. But then we come to David, a man after God’s own heart. As he was man that God had in His heart, in God’s heart, to choose David. Remember what John Woodhouse wrote:
“‘A man after God’s own heart’ is talking about the place the man has in God’s heart rather than the place God has in the man’s heart.”
John Woodhouse, Looking for a Leader 287
See when God chose King David, it was not because David was some kind of great man. But what God was doing was choosing a man from the line of Judah, which was the tribe God had chosen. He was choosing a man from the city of Bethlehem, which was the city God had chosen. And He was choosing a man through whom He would extend His gracious and sovereign purposes for mankind in bringing to the world His Son Jesus Christ from the tribe of Judah and from the town of Bethlehem. See, this selection is much more about God’s grace and purposes, in other words, God’s heart, than it is about the quality of a man named David.
So, we are dealing with a man, a human man, who is a man of faith, and who God greatly used. And who is a man who is chosen by God through whom God will bring to the earth some day, His perfect King. But for now, we have a man. But this man is as we said a man of faith and he is loyal to Yahweh his God. And in many ways, David is a model leader and a great military leader, and he is loved not only by his men, but he is loved by the nation. And there is no question that if we compared David to Saul, David becomes this shining star, much superior to Saul. And his goodness is recognized by many. Jonathan said that he loved David as he loved his own soul. And (1 Sam 24) even Saul acknowledged that David was more righteous than he was. So, we could read the story of David and conclude that yes that David had his moments, but overall, he was a great man and a great king. Yet if we take that approach, we miss the honesty of the Bible and we miss the real heart of mankind that our Lord is willing to forgive. So, let’s look deeper into this story.
When David is first introduced to us, we see that he was the last of the brothers who his father Jesse thought would ever be the one whom the Lord would choose. And the first description of David we read is that he is was “ruddy, with beautiful eyes and a handsome appearance.” Now this statement is no fault of David, in fact, when we read in the Bible that someone was good-looking, we would tend to think of this as a very good quality, though we also know it was used of men like Saul as well, who was described as tall and handsome. So, it does not have any bearing of the character of a man. But we also know that the gift of good looks can be a snare. For one, it can make a person grow a little prone to be caught up in their own attractiveness. You know that looking in the mirror and singing, “I’m just too good to be true, can’t take my eyes off of me.” Yes, good looks, smarts, money, athleticism, it can easily be the cause of some pride.
And two, it is something that it makes others desire you to a greater extent, and therefore, this can be the cause of temptation. Remember when David looked out of his palace and saw Bathsheba. It doesn’t say he did a double-take because she was bad looking. No, it says (2 Sam 11:2) that she was very beautiful. And there are other things that we notice as we read the story of David. Things that do not necessarily jump out at us as wrong but do leave us with some things to consider. Remember when Goliath was speaking against Israel, it was David who asked, “What will be done for the man who strikes down the Philistine?” And remember his brother Eliab said to him, “Why have you come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I myself know your arrogance and the wickedness of your heart.” Where did that statement come from? Just a simple sibling rivalry. Hard to know if there might be just a little truth to it, we are not told. Yet David may have been one of those kids that as a parent you try to wind-down instead of having to wind-up.
We see this when Saul desired to give Michal to David as his wife, and the price is one hundred Philistines and David brings back how many? Two hundred dead Philistines. And the narrator lets us in a little in the thinking of David, as when he is given Michal we are told (1 Sam 18:26) that it was right in the eyes of David to become the king’s son-in-law. Robert Chisholm writes that David may have been more concerned about being the king’s son-in-law than he was in having Michal as his wife. And then as we have already mentioned that we see David at times not being truthful, and the greatest incident is when he lies to the priest Ahimelech. And after lying to Ahimelech, he asks for a sword to which he is shown the sword of Goliath. And when David sees it, he says, “There is none like it; give it to me.”
In the next scene we see David running to Gath to the Philistines king, Achish. And because he fears Achish he acts like a madman, a scene hard to line up with his earlier victories and accomplishments. And of course, Achish says, get this crazy man out of here. Now admittedly, when David was told about the slaughter of all the eighty-five priests of Nob, he somewhat admits it was because of his lie. But we do see a seed there for David to lie to get himself out of trouble, not unlike when he later lies to get rid of Uriah on the battlefield. And then of course, when we come to our current study, after seeing how graciously he dealt with Saul, that quality seems to disappear in his interaction with Nabal, until Abigail steps in.
And so, David listens to her, and then we read that David asked Abigail to be his wife. And our hearts may be comforted somewhat when we read a couple of verses later that Saul had taken Michal away from David and given her to another man named Palti. But then we get a little lump in our throats when we read that David took another wife.
“David had also taken Ahinoam of Jezreel, and they both became his wives.”
1 Samuel 25:43 (LSB)
I haven’t done a whole lot of marriage counseling where the perspective bride or groom says that they want to marry two spouses. So, here we have David who was destined to be the next king, and he was tempted to commit murder motivated by a desire for vengeance, yet he listened to the wise voice of Abigail. And we stop and want to go, bravo David! And then right after he marries two women. Now for David this was certainly more of a cultural thing, though we know that this was never God’s intent. For Christ said that from the very beginning man was to leave his Mom and Dad and be united with his wife, not wives. I guess this is one of those times when we might say, this is the way it was, not the way it should be. And so, we might like to excuse David here, however, we also see that this is just the beginning, unfortunately, of some cracks coming to the surface in David’s life. For we read this in 2 Samuel 3:
“And sons were born to David at Hebron: his firstborn was Amnon, by Ahinoam the Jezreelitess; and his second, Chileab, by Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite; and the third, Absalom the son of Maacah, the daughter of Talmai king of Geshur; and the fourth, Adonijah the son of Haggith; and the fifth, Shephatiah the son of Abital; and the sixth, Ithream, by David’s wife Eglah. These were born to David at Hebron.”
2 Samuel 3:2-5 (LSB)
Later we know that he married Bathsheba after he had killed Uriah. We also read a bizarre story in 2 Samuel 3, that after the death of Saul and when David became king, he told Saul’s son Ish-bosheth, get me Michal my wife—remember Michal had been given to this guy named Paltiel. And when Michal was taken from Paltiel and brought to David, we read that “Paltiel went with her, weeping as he went, and followed her as far as Bahurim,” until Abner told him to go home. Now if we were watching this scene on a movie, who would we be feeling sorry for? Especially since for David this is wife number seven, until he gets wife number eight, Bathsheba. I like what Robert Chisholm writes here regarding this incident:
“David called Michal ‘my wife’ in his message to Ish-bosheth, but the narrator calls Paltiel ‘her husband,’ as if to challenge David’s perspective.”
Robert B. Chislom
We sort of see the same victimization of Paltiel later when Uriah will not go to battle and dishonour the king. And in both accounts the narrators tells us that David took Michal and David took Bathsheba. Later in David’s life, under his leadership his commander Joab murders Abner, and yet David will turn a blind eye to this as king. Though interesting enough when David is dying, he tells his son Solomon that when you become king, take out Joab. And then later though he was upset about his son’s Amnon’s rape of Tamar, David does nothing to Amnon. Then later in 2 Samuel 5 we read:
“And David took more concubines and wives from Jerusalem, after he came from Hebron; and
more sons and daughters were born to David.”
2 Samuel 5:13 (LSB)
Last week we talked about leaving a legacy, and we only need to look at the life of Solomon, David’s son, whose downfall was his many wives. And we do need to ask the question, “What is going on here!” Years earlier Moses had given the command that a man shall leave his father and mother, and that the two shall become one flesh. Moses also wrote this command of the Lord regarding those who would later become kings of Israel:
“And he [the king] shall not multiply wives for himself, or else his heart will turn away; nor shall he greatly increase silver and gold for himself.”
Deuteronomy 17:17 (LSB)
When we read such statements in the Bible that God was with David—this means what it says—that God was with David. But it does not mean that everyone of David’s actions should be interpreted as okay. And of course, David does murder Uriah. and then later on, David decides to take a census of all Israel, as the devil appealed to David’s pride, as we read in 1 Chronicles:
“Then Satan stood up against Israel and incited David to number Israel.”
1 Chronicles 21:1 (LSB)
This is not an easy message, as it forces us to take a hard look at David, a man that we do want to exonerate, but we also know that men and women are sinners. And even those of faith will struggle with sin. So, what is the response to such a message from God’s Word? God’s Word that does not try to cover up sin in the life of its people. I suppose we could walk away this morning and flippantly say, “Whew! I can be a man or woman of faith and so yeah, I struggle with sin as David did. But I believe we should want to be warned by such a response. So, let me close with four thoughts from this message this morning regarding sin. That as the writer of Hebrews said that it can so easily beset us or entangle us or come through the cracks.
- The Consequences of Sin
We do not have to read far into the second half of David’s life to see some of the fallout of David’s sin, as David would go on to experience numerous family issues because of his sin—though he was forgiven by God. Understand that forgiveness from God does not mean that a Christian can sin and not suffer consequences—though if he is a true believer—he will be forgiven. Yet the forgiveness of God is eternal, in other words, you will die eternally, for the wages is in is death. But God may still discipline us for our sin in this life. As what the Lord is sparing us from is eternal punishment, but not necessarily earthly discipline. Secondly, not only the consequences of sin but:
- The Defeat of Sin
Though Paul shared his struggle with sin, he also wrote to the Colossians:
“Therefore, consider the members of your earthly body as dead to sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which is idolatry. On account of these things, the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them.”
Colossians 3:5-7 (LSB)
Paul taught that the believer will be eager to put sin to death, understanding that it was our sin that caused Christ to die. And this is the way in which the unbeliever lives. Remember when Paul was writing to the Roman Christians, he said:
“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?”
Romans 6:1-2 (LSB)
Paul’s rebuke here to them in even asking the question, shall we continue to sin? Is almost like, no, a thousand times no! You have Christianity all backwards. For this is what you have come out of, for this is the life that you have chosen to leave behind. And I know that we have been awful hard of David this morning critiquing his life, but we also need to understand that David did not have the complete Word of God in his possession like we do, nor did he live with the indwelling Spirit of God as we do. Yes, David sinned, but we cannot compare our lives with his, so that we might start to feel good about ourselves. For Christianity is not only a call to heaven, it is not only a call to forgiveness, but it is also a call to repent and leave sin behind. As the concept of a battle in the Scripture regarding sin means that there is a battle going on, that a person is working hard to defeat sin, not allowing it to continue. So, the consequences of sin and the defeat of sin. Next:
- The Judgement of Sin
If we follow the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, we see a story of creation that God called good. Then we see a story of creation that was tainted by sin which affected every part of creation. And the unfolding of the Bible is the plan of God in dealing with that sin problem. And when Satan tempted Eve, and both Adam and Eve sinned (Gen 3), the promise that God had already given was fulfilled in that they would both surely die. For after that first disobedience, they were both on a crash course towards death. Therefore, death for you and I is not the result of bad luck in the case of genes or sickness or an accident. Our boys always laugh when they get some kind of ache or pain and speak about the lack of longevity amongst the Ottaways. And I try to encourage them that Ottaways don’t get sick, we just die young. Yet in all seriousness, all of us will die, not because of an accident, disease, or old age. But we will all die because of the effect of sin on the world. William Philip wrote that it is entirely due to the revolt against the Lord, expressed in disobedience to His command. Philip says it is rather strange that the Bible gives no real explanation of why Eve chose to sin, but he said that the Bible is clear on this:
“[Sin] has no defense: ‘the enigma remains total, and the evil rebellion inexcusable.’ Instead, the text forces us to apprehend fully the grim horror of the punishment and the disastrous fall-out which follows sin.”
William Philip, Genesis: Christian Beginnings 81
And that leaning towards sin in the hearts of human beings, and that blaming of others and things for our own weaknesses and wrongdoing and trying to justify ourselves. As Adam and Eve tried to justify themselves by blaming each other and the serpent, as this was just the start of the great shadow that hangs over the whole world today. And when Satan won over the man and the woman, we must see here the tremendous victory of not only death over life, but the tremendous victory of Satan over mankind and creation. But that is not the end of the story. For God said this about Satan:
“And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her seed;
He shall bruise you on the head,
And you shall bruise him on the heel.”
Genesis 3:15 (LSB)
And what this promise was foretelling is of a time when Satan would be completely crushed under the feet of the woman’s triumphant Seed. And in our study of David, we have been following that seed. For we know that through Adam and Eve came children. Where eventually God chose Abraham to Isaac, Jacob, who had the twelve sons who became the twelve tribes of Israel. And Saul came from the tribe of Benjamin, but David came from—God’s choice, God’s heart—the tribe of Judah. And from David would come Christ, the One who would crush and destroy Satan. See, these stories that we have been studying are not just self-contained stories about a king and a people. No, they are stories that are progressing toward God’s ultimate King, Jesus Christ. As Christ came as the ultimate Seed to give His life on a cross. So that sin and death for mankind would be defeated as would Satan, as Christ died for every sin, ever committed, by every person, who would ever believe. Finally:
- The Forgiveness of Sin
It is important in our Christianity to understand that though we strive for Christlikeness, though we embrace all that Christ loves, that in these frail human sinful bodies, we will still fail. Hence, the continued need to be forgiven. In fact, it is important that we never forget this, as our love for our Lord swells from our reliance upon Him to do for us, what we cannot do, therefore knowing this forgiveness. And forgiveness is not only a one-time act when we became a believer, but it is also a daily act as we strive to be like Christ. Forgiveness is a result of our repentance at salvation, and it is a result of our daily repentance.
Yet we must also resonate with Him regarding His victory over sin. In other words, if we follow Christ, it must mean that we celebrate what Christ celebrates, and therefore, we must also hate what Christ hates. And God, who devised a plan over the course of history to defeat sin and Satan, is the same God that we embrace and celebrate, amen? And yet when we sin it is like embracing the enemy that God has defeated. This is sort of the same puzzling question that Apostle Paul asks, “How shall we who died to sin still live in it?” He says, no, no, you have been made to walk in the newness of life. So, the obvious response of the Christian is to repent of that sin daily.
And we also must consider the great punishment that God has determined for those who are outside of Him. In Matthew 25, Jesus is telling about the time when He will separate those who are His sheep and those who are not. He first says this about His sheep, “Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom, which has been prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” He then turns to those who are not His sheep and says, “Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels.” Why? Because they rejected His forgiveness, they have not embraced Him. And therefore, they will be punished for what? their sin. Folks, wouldn’t it be strange to embrace Christ, and yet not embrace His view of sin, considering the work and love that caused Him to defeat it. This is part of the Lordship of Christ in our lives, that we might love what He loves and hate what He hates. John MacArthur wrote:
“Everyone who receives [Christ] must surrender to His authority, for to say we receive Christ when we in fact reject His right to reign over us is utter absurdity. It is a futile attempt to hold on to sin with one hand and take Jesus with the other. What kind of salvation is it if we are left in bondage to sin?”
John MacArthur, The Gospel According to Jesus: What is Authentic Faith? 233
This is why we must walk away from sin, repent, turn away. This is why we must be obedient. This is why church is important and worship and service for Christ. This is why we would tremble when we understand the Lord’s great punishment to those who are not His. And because we at times have cracks in our lives and sin, therefore, we embrace His wonderful forgiveness as we imperfectly strive to serve Him. Cracks in the Christian, the issue of allowing sin to sneak in. So, Elim, let’s be diligent. As Paul wrote, “Do you not know that you are a sanctuary of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” Let’s pray. Lord, might we know the great cost of sin, that You would give Your life, that You would die for those who would come to You. Might we realize the great sorrow and judgement of those who reject Your call, that we might know the awful punishment of sin. Help us to be aware of the reality of hell and the everlasting horror for those still in their sin. And so, Lord, we praise you for Your forgiveness. Might we be the most grateful of people. Those who embrace of truth, who embrace salvation, and who embrace everything about our wonderful Saviour and His forgiveness to us—though we are undeserving. And all God’s people said, amen.