(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

80. There will never be a sweeter story, story of the Savior's love divine, love that brought him from the realms of glory, just to save a sinful soul like mine. Isn't the love of Jesus something wonderful, wonderful, wonderful? Oh, isn't the love of Jesus something wonderful, wonderful it is to me? Boundless as the universe around me, reaching to the farthest soul away, saving, keeping love it was that found me. That is why my heart can truly say, isn't the love of Jesus something wonderful, wonderful, wonderful? Oh, isn't the love of Jesus something wonderful, wonderful it is to me? Love beyond our human comprehending, love of God and Christ, how can it be? This will be my theme and never ending, great redeeming love of Calvary. Isn't the love of Jesus something wonderful, wonderful, wonderful? Oh, isn't the love of Jesus something wonderful, wonderful it is to me? And let's pray, heavenly Father of the Lord again, we just want to thank you God for another Wednesday night that we can meet in your house and to hear your word preached, I pray Lord now that you would just fill our paths with your power and spirit, we love you, for it's in Jesus name we ask all, but amen. All right, you may be seated and take your Mountain Baptist song books, your Mountain Baptist psalms, hymns and spiritual song books and turn to page number four, page number four in your song books, we'll sing psalm 67 on page number four. God be merciful unto us and bless us and cause his face to shine upon us that thy way may be known upon earth, thy saving health among all nations, let the people praise thee, oh God, let all the people praise thee, oh, let the nations be glad and sing for joy. Good night, here we go on the second, ready? Ready, here we go, for thou shalt judge the people, righteously and govern the nations upon earth, the nations upon earth, see, let the people praise thee, oh God, let all the people praise thee, oh, let the nations be glad and sing for joy. Then shall the earth yield her increase and God even our own God shall bless us, God shall bless us and all the ends of the earth shall fear him, let the people praise thee, oh God, let all the people praise thee, oh, let the nations be glad and sing for joy. All right, if you would, let's see, let's look at the bulletins, so let's see. So everything on the schedule seems like normal. Okay, February 18th is the Ladies' Prayer, is that the Sunday, are we gonna try that again? Cool, so hopefully that, we'll see how that works out. Men's prayer meeting is the 23rd of the month, and let's see, what day does leap year fall on this year? I know it's, Joseph, what, did I say what year, or did I say what day? No, yeah, thank you, I need another witness, okay. We got one on one, yeah, so it's on a Thursday, 29th, so February 23rd is the Men's Prayer meeting, obviously we have the services on Sunday are as normal, and then the chapter of memory for the month is Jonah chapter one, and the book of Jonah, I'll tell you what, so I just did the book of Jonah, maybe, I don't know, four or five months ago, super easy, it was short chapters, and so, and it was, like the pastor said, it was actually really easy to memorize, just because it kinda goes, like, you kinda know the story, so it just goes, even if you're forgetting, you're like, where am I having the story, and just, anyway, it was a good book to memorize. Let's see, Matthew 5, 16 is our verse for the week, and then be in prayer for Tabby and Anastasia, and, I mean, I thought Friday we were gonna have a baby, but Tabby decided not to, okay, this was all Tabby's decision not to have our child, I am bitter, so I am still working, I do not have a week off of work, and I blame my wife, so, anyway, welcome to Mom and Baptist, everybody, no? Anyway, just pray for us, she's having, yeah, so hopefully it's soon, because I wanna meet the little girl, so. So, yeah, that's pretty much it for announcements, and we will do another song, and let's see, who is reading tonight? What are you reading, brother? 1 Samuel 25, so we'll sing another song, and then brother Wade will read 1 Samuel, chapter number 25, for us. Let's see, all right, take your song books, and turn to song 183. Song 183 in your song books. We'll sing Oh, How I Love Jesus, song 183. There is a name I love to hear, I love to sing, it's worth, it sounds like music in my ear, the sweetest name on earth. Oh, how I love Jesus, oh, how I love Jesus, oh, how I love Jesus, because he first loved me. It tells me of a savior's love, who died to set me free. It tells me of his precious blood, the sinner's perfect plea. Oh, how I love Jesus, oh, how I love Jesus, oh, how I love Jesus, because he first loved me. It tells me what my father hath, in store for every day. And though I tread a darksome path, yield sunshine all the way. Oh, how I love Jesus, oh, how I love Jesus, oh, how I love Jesus, because he first loved me. It tells of one whose loving heart, can feel my deepest woe, who in each sorrow bears apart, that none can bear below. Oh, how I love Jesus, oh, how I love Jesus, oh, how I love Jesus, because he first loved me. All right, if you would take your Bibles, and turn to the book of 1 Samuel, chapter number 25, 1 Samuel 25, and your Bibles, and we'll have Brother Wade come and read that for us. 1 Samuel 25. And Samuel died, and all the Israelites were gathered together and lamented him, and buried him in his house in Ramah, and David arose and went down to the wilderness of Paran. And there was a man in Mahon, whose possessions were in Carmel, and the man was very great, and he had 3,000 sheep and 1,000 goats, and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel. Now the name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail, and she was a woman of good understanding, and of beautiful countenance, but the man was churlish and evil in his doings, and he was of the house of Caleb. And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal did shear his sheep, and David sent out 10 young men, and David said unto the young men, get you up to Carmel and go to Nabal, and greet him in my name. And thus shall you say to him that liveth in prosperity, peace be both to thee and peace be to thine house, and peace be unto all that that hell hast. And now I have heard that thou hast shears, now thy shepherds which were with us, we hurt them not, neither was there aught missing unto them all the while they were in Carmel. Ask thy young men, and they will show thee. Wherefore let the young men find favor in thy eyes, for we come in a good way, in a good day, give I pray thee whatsoever cometh to thine hand unto thy servants and to thy son David. And when David's young men came, they spake to Nabal according to all those words in the name of David, and ceased. And Nabal answered David's servants and said, who is David, and who is the son of Jesse? There be many servants nowadays that break away every man from his master. Shall I then take by bread, and my water, and my flesh that I have killed for my shears, and give it unto men whom I know not whence they be? So David's young men turned their way and went again, and came and told him all those things. And David said unto his men, gird ye on every man his sword, and they girded on every man's sword, and David also girded on his sword, and there went up after David about 400 men and 200 abode by the stuff. But one of the young men told Abigail Nabal's wife, saying, behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to salute our master, and he railed on them. But the men were very good unto us, and were not hurt, neither missed we anything, as long as we were conversed with them when we were in the fields. They were a wall unto us, both by night and day. All the while we were with them, keeping the sheep. Now therefore, know and consider what thou will do, for evil is determined against our master and against all his household, for he is such a son of Belial that a man cannot speak to him. Then Abigail made haste and took 200 loaves and two bottles of wine and five sheep ready, dressed in five measures of parched corn and 100 clusters of raisins and 200 cakes of figs and laid them on asses. And she said unto her servants, go on before me, before I come after you, but she told not her husband Nabal. And it was so, as she rode on the ass that she came down by the covert of the hill, and behold David and his men came down against her, and she met them. Now David had said, surely in vain, have I kept all that this fellow hath in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained unto him and he hath requited me evil for good. So and more also do God unto the enemies of David if I leave all that pertain to him by the morning light, any that passeth against the wall. And when Abigail saw David, she hasted and lighted off the ass and fell before David on her face and bowed herself to the ground and fell at his feet and said, upon me, O my lord, upon me, let this iniquity be, and let thy handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thine audience and hear the words of thine handmaid. Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this man, Abigail, even Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. Nabal is his name, and folly is with him. But I, thine handmaid, saw not the young men of my lord who thou didst sin. Now therefore, my lord, as the lord liveth and as thy soul liveth, seeing the lord hath withholden thee from coming to shed blood and from avenging thyself with thine own hand. Now let thine enemies and they that seek evil to my lord be as Nabal. And now this blessing which thine handmaid hath brought unto my lord, let it even be given unto the young men that follow my lord. I pray thee, forgive the trespass of thine handmaid, for the lord will certainly make my lord a sure house because my lord fighteth the battles of the lord and evil hath not been found in thee all thy days. Yet a man is risen to pursue thee and to seek thy soul. But the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the lord thy god and the souls of thine enemies. Them shall he sling out, as out of the middle of a sling. And it shall come to pass when the lord shall have done to my lord according to all the good that he hath spoken concerning thee and shall have appointed the ruler of Israel, that this shall be no grief unto thee, nor offense of heart unto my lord, either that thou hast shed blood causeless or that my lord hath avenged himself. But when the lord shall have dealt well with my lord, then remember thine handmaid. And David said to Abigail, blessed be the lord god of Israel, which sent thee this day to meet me. And blessed be thy advice, and blessed be thou which hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood and from avenging myself with my own hand. For in very deed, as the lord god of Israel liveth, which hath kept me back from hurting thee, except thou hast hasted and come to meet me, surely there had not been left unto Nabal by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall. So David received of her hand that which she had brought him, and said unto her, go up in peace to thine house. See, I have hearkened to thy voice and have accepted thy person. And Abigail came to Nabal, and behold, he held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. And Nabal's heart was merry within him, for he was very drunken, wherefore she told him nothing less or more until the morning light. But it came to pass in the morning when the wine was gone, out of Nabal and his wife had told him these things, that his heart died within him, and he became as a stone. And it came to pass about 10 days after that the lord smote Nabal that he died. And when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, blessed be the lord that hath pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and hath kept his servant from evil. For the lord hath returned the wakenness of Nabal upon his own head, and David sent and communed with Abigail to take her to him to wife. And when the servants of David were come to Abigail to Carmel, they spake unto her, saying, David sent us unto thee to take thee to him to wife. And she arose and bowed herself on her face to the earth, and said, behold, let thy hand made me a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord. And Abigail hasted and rose and rode upon an ass and five damsels of hers that went after her, and she went after the messenger of David and became his wife. David also took Anawim of Jezreel, and they were also both of them, his wives. But Saul had given Michael, his daughter, David's wife, to Falti, the son of Laish, which was of Gallo. Let us pray, dear lord, let us hear your word tonight, and let us get something from the message, in Jesus' name I pray, amen. Amen, so you're there in 1 Samuel, chapter 25, and we are continuing through the book of 1 Samuel in chapter 24, and that's where David spared Saul's life. And in this chapter, we're not really hearing about Saul. Actually, the first thing that we see here is that Samuel dies. So if you remember, I mean, when Saul was becoming king, Samuel was very old, and obviously, that's where they were wanting a king, because he was getting really old, and they didn't like his sons. His sons weren't doing judgment like Samuel was, and so he ends up dying here in this first verse, and so look at verse one here. It says, and Samuel died, and all the Israelites were gathered together and lamented him and buried him in his house at Ramah, and David arose and went down to the wilderness of Paran. So it just starts off basically talking about Samuel the prophet dying. So the thing that's interesting to me is the fact that we have two books of Samuel. We have 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel. Samuel dies toward the end of the first book. Now, I know that a lot of your Bibles, you'll see where it'll say the first book of Samuel, otherwise called the first book of the kings, and then it'll go on and so on and so forth. So basically, instead of 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, it'd be 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, Kings, right? But the thing that I think about as far as why it's called 1st and 2 Samuel is because 2 Samuel goes all the way up to the death of David, and Samuel anointed David, and really, it's showing you that Samuel's work from the very beginning, if you think about, I mean, when Samuel was born, you're dealing with chapter one with his mom and just that whole story there as far as her conceiving to bear him, but then also just the fact that he anoints Saul, but he also anoints David, and really, that's his work. That's his, I guess, kind of his house, if you will, when it comes to, let me give you an example. Elijah, for example. Go to 1 Kings chapter 19, 1 Kings chapter 19, and it just makes me think of the fact that even after we die, the things that we had set in place are still going forth, right? You've set it in place, it's still moving forward, and it still is on your account, if that makes sense. I mean, think about your children. I mean, your children, if you raise them right and they do what they should be doing, I mean, that's still a product of you even after you're gone, and so it's something to think about as far as how David is a product of Samuel, and Samuel, obviously, one, being a mentor to him, but also even being a protector to him, even when Saul's trying to kill him. But in 1 Kings chapter 19, it just makes me think of this as far as why is it 2 Samuel? Samuel has a, he's dead, by the time 2 Samuel comes along, but in 1 Kings chapter 19, verse 15, dealing with Elijah, so Elijah the prophet, this is what the Lord is saying to him. It says in verse 15, And the Lord said unto him, Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus, and when alcomest, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria, and Jehu the son of Nimshai, shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel, and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel and Mahola, shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room. Now, what's interesting about that is that Elijah doesn't physically anoint Jehu himself. Elisha does. But he anoints Elisha, right? He basically, Elisha's basically taken up his mantle, and if you remember, Elisha's asking for a double portion of Elijah's spirit, so Elisha is literally in the spirit and power of Elijah, and it's really showing you that, hey, that is fulfilled. I mean, he tells him to do that, and he does that through Elisha, and Elisha does it through a young man, right? So Elisha's not even physically there when he anoints Jehu, if you remember the story there. And so it's just interesting to me, and you say, what's the importance of this? Well, I just think that it kinda shows you that even after we die, we can still have influence in this world. And you think about maybe even preachers of time past, how they're dead and gone, but they still have influence from what they did while they were here, and what a testament that would be in the fact of having that type of testimony in this life to where you're still affecting the work of the Lord even when you're gone, right? And so you think about Elijah did that with Elisha. You think about how Samuel does that with David, and just how men of God would affect the next generation or those that take up the mantle as far as the work of the Lord is concerned. And so I just think that's interesting. It's something to think about, obviously, and the fact that, you know, obviously we wanna do as much as we can while we're alive, but no, this is that we can influence those that will go on beyond us and that we can affect their lives to where that work continues because of what we did in this life, okay? So anyway, that's just something to think about there. I think it should be 2 Samuel, okay? So, you know, my first and second Samuel, I'm not here, you know, again, I don't personally believe that the titles of the books are necessarily written in stone as far as, you know, having to be that title, but at the same time, I'm fine with it being 2 Samuel. It makes sense in the fact that he anointed David. David's whole story goes through 2 Samuel all the way up to his death. And so that kind of caps off Samuel's ministry, if that makes sense, as far as who he anointed and who he was, who was under him, I guess, if that makes sense. So anyway, going on from that, this whole chapter is really dealing with Nabal and Abigail. So Nabal and Abigail. And so Nabal is a churlish man, a churlish son of Belial, okay? So this is a very interesting story. And I think this is a story that we need to think about, especially in our day and age, when there's definitely sons of Belial, children of the devil, okay, is what we're dealing with here. But this is a great story to show us that we should not avenge ourselves. This is a great testimony to that in showing us that, hey, let the Lord deal with it and not avenge ourselves. And I'm gonna be getting into the story, but I want you to note here that it's Nabal that's really the enemy here, and everybody else is pretty much an innocent bystander, okay, and actually to the point where they're actually, they really like David and they wanna help David out. It's just this one guy, the leader of the pack, you know, the Lord, if you will, of all of them is Nabal. And David was about to go kill every single man that was of Nabal's house, you know, because of what Nabal says and does, right? And it really just shows you that when you avenge yourself, there's a lot of collateral damage. There's a lot of times you end up hurting people that didn't deserve it. And this is why, this is a big reason why we should just put it in the Lord's hands, because he knows how to avenge and to reserve judgment unto those that deserve it. And he can do it in a just manner to where those that deserve it and should get the punishment get it, and they get exactly what they deserve. Whereas when we try to avenge ourselves, we end up hurting other people that shouldn't be hurt, we end up messing it up, and you know, this is a great testament to this, that we shouldn't just go off and just basically render evil for evil and just avenge ourselves at the drop of a hat. And David almost does that. Abigail actually is the one that stops him from doing that. And this is a great, David is, I mean, up to this point, I mean, he just spared Saul's life, right? So would anybody say that David doesn't love his enemies or have compassion towards those that are his enemies? And in this case, he's basically about ready to avenge himself instead of letting the Lord avenge him. I mean, chapter 24, he's even saying the Lord is going to, it's gonna be by the hand of the Lord that Saul's gonna die. So he just got done stating that. And then in this story, we see this. And what I think is interesting about this is that we're actually dealing with a child of the devil. So I'm not saying that he should love Nabal, okay? But in the end, even those that are haters of God, it's not our place to play vigilante, it's not our place to avenge ourselves in this life. Obviously, self-defense, this isn't saying if Nabal tried to go kill David, David can't defend himself, okay? But the idea is going out of your way to avenge yourselves on the children of the devil? No, I don't believe the Bible teaches that. Let the Lord deal with them, okay? So that's kind of the, the synopsis of the story is really just, if you were just to take a big, you know, the outlook of the story, don't avenge yourself of your own hand. Let the Lord do it. And he does. Nabal ends up getting smitten by the Lord. So in the end, the Lord does avenge David. And guess who, the only person that dies is the guy that should die. So it's really a good story for us to understand why can't we avenge ourselves? Why shouldn't we avenge, you know? Sometimes you read that, and obviously, listen, if the Bible says avenge not yourselves, don't avenge yourselves, right? I mean, the idea there is that just do it because the Lord says it. But this is kind of a look into why. You know, you can see the why we shouldn't avenge ourselves because this story would show us that a lot of innocent people would have died. And Abigail steps in and says, hey, you know, when everything is settled, and the dust settles, and you're made king, then you don't want this to be on your conscience. It's kind of like this idea of like, you don't want this to be on your conscience. It's like, oh yeah, that time, though, that I avenged myself and ended up killing innocent people that didn't deserve it, right? So anyway, let's get into the story in verse two here. It is a long chapter, so I'm obviously not gonna get into every little detail of every verse. But just kind of breaking it down here into sections is that we see the navel is described as a churlish son of Belial, okay? So it says in verse two here, it says, there was a man and man whose possessions were in Carmel. And the man was very great and had 3,000 sheep and 1,000 goats, and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel. Now, the name of the man was Navel and the name of his wife, Abigail. She was a woman of good understanding and of a beautiful countenance. But the man was churlish and evil in his doings, and he was of the house of Caleb. Now, we haven't seen where he's called a son of Belial yet, but churlish means basically someone that's rude, kind of mean-spirited, right, rough. That's the type of guy this guy was. But Abigail was of good understanding and very beautiful. So you have this like very beautiful woman that's of good understanding. I believe she's saved. I believe she's a believer. And she's married to a reprobate. She's married to this child of the devil, okay? So this story ends up having a happy ending in the end. If you think about it, Abigail's freed from this churlish, wicked person and ends up marrying David. Now, David, I believe, obviously, shouldn't have married someone since he was already married, okay? And actually, at the end of the chapter, we see that he has multiple wives. Obviously, I preached the sermon on that as far as God winked at this. He's not condoning it, but God allowed it. He wasn't as harsh on that back then. But it's still wrong, okay? And I believe this is a reason why David commits adultery is because he doesn't have this monogamous relationship with one woman, that is his wife, and this just kinda jump-starts that issue, okay, that he's going to have. So, but going on from there, we see that he's at the house of Caleb, and Caleb's of Judah, which makes sense because they're in Judah, right? I mean, that's where David's kinda sojourning and all that. But David, basically how this starts off is that there's this man, Nabal. He has a lot of sheep, and they're shearing the sheep and everything. And David is basically asking Nabal for some provisions, and it's not unfounded because David and his men were actually in the wilderness basically protecting the shepherds, right? Protecting the flock and helping them out out in the wilderness, okay? So in verse four here, it says, And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal did shear his sheep, which if you think about it, what that means is that he's getting paid, right? I mean, what's the point of sheep? I mean, mostly, I mean, a lot of the cases is to get the wool, sell the wool, and you make money, right? So it's kinda like he's cashing in on his crop, so he's not coming to Nabal when he's just basically pinching pennies, right? He's coming to him when he's got this cash crop coming in, and he's probably got more than enough than he needs with all this coming in, okay? So I just kinda wanna put that in mind. It's not like you could be like, well, maybe he was falling on hard times or something like that, you know what I mean? But the whole point here is that I think that, hey, he has the wherewithal to help them, okay? And David sent out 10 young men, and David said unto the young men, get you up to Carmel and go to Nabal and greet him in my name. And thus shall you say to him that liveth in prosperity, peace be both to thee and peace be to thine house and peace be unto all that thou hast. And now I have heard that thou hast shearers. Now the shepherds which were with us, we hurt them not, neither was there aught missing unto them, all the while they were in Carmel. Ask thy young men and they will show thee. Wherefore let the young men find favor in thine eyes, for we come in a good day. Give I pray thee whatsoever come into thine hand, unto thy servants and to thy son David. So notice this request is very humble. He's not like, he's not demanding it. He's just saying, hey, you know, we were helping you out, and we know that you're in prosperity, and he's coming to them, basically thy son David. He's not like, I'm your Lord and I'm your king, right? I've been anointed king, and he's not like trying to throw his weight around. He's just making, he's basically just stating, we've helped you guys out, whatever comes to your hand. He's not even asking for a certain amount of provision. He's just like, whatever comes to your hand, whatever you wanna give us, you know, it's just kinda like this, what, you know, whatever it is, just, you know, can you help us out, right? And this is something that's very, when you think about the fact that the laborer is worthy of his hire, right? The Bible says this in many places, but in 1 Timothy 5, verse 18, it says, for the scripture said, thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn, and the laborer is worthy of his hire. So, and the laborer is worthy of his, I'm sorry, worthy of his reward, and in other places it says worthy of his hire, right? So the idea there is that the laborer is worthy, it really, Nabal owed them, but David's kinda coming to him, just kinda beseeching him, just like, whatever you got, we're not trying to like, to like demand it, he's not really demanding anything, he's just basically saying, hey, whatever comes to your hand, we know you're in prosperity, we've been helping you out, you know, just give them whatever you wanna give them, right? And he's being very humble when he comes to them, okay? So notice what Nabal's response is, okay? Again, he's a churlish son of Belial, which we'll see later, he'll be called a son of Belial, not just by Abigail, but by the young men as well, not around them. So in verse nine there it says, and when David's young men came, they spake to Nabal, according to all these words, in the name of David, and ceased. And Nabal answered David's servants and said, who is David, and who is the son of Jesse? There be many servants nowadays that break away every man from his master, right? So he's basically, now he's just like, who's this guy? He knows who he is, right? It's not like, I mean, for him to know that he's breaking away from his master, right, he knows the whole situation, and he's basically, but you know what he's stating there is like, he's nothing, right, David's nothing, who is this? You know, there's many people, he's no one special, he's not even special with those that break away from their masters, right? And he's just belittling David. So it says in verse 11 there, shall I then take my bread and my water and my flesh that I have killed for my shearers, and give it unto men whom I know not whence they be? So later on, it talks about how they basically rail, he rails on them and all this stuff, right? What you think about railing accusations, basically like unfounded accusations that are being made. And so, word gets back to David. So in verse 12 there, it says, so David's young men turned their way and went again, and came and told him all those things. And David said unto his men, gird ye on every man his sword, and they girded on every man his sword. And David also girded on his sword, and there went up after David about 400 men, and 200 abode by the stuff. So if you remember, there was 400 men, then there was 600 men, right? And there's still 600 men, but 400 men are gonna go with him, and they're gonna go clean house, right? They're gonna go show him what's up. And so, Naples doesn't know who he's messing with, right? When it comes to, I mean, David and his mighty men, that would completely annihilate him, okay? And so, this is really where David is basically avenging himself. This would be him avenging himself. Now obviously, Abigail's gonna stop him, but this is kind of the response that you would get, and it's not that you can't understand David being angry about this, right? Where you can understand that, hey, you're right to be angry, you're getting stiffed, right? You're helping these people out, you're doing all this, and then you're even just basically asking, can you give us anything? Basically, give us whatever you want. We've helped you out. And then, just to get that kind of rough, who's David, and basically just accusing him of separating from his master and all this stuff, it's like, no, Saul's trying to kill him. It's not like David abandoned Saul and just trying to establish this coup against the government or something like that. No, Saul's trying to kill him, and he's trying to kill him for no good reason, besides the fact that he's good and that he's actually a valiant man and he's a righteous man. And so, all these kind of railing accusations that you're getting thrown at David, at his young men, and so you can understand David being angry, but I don't think that's reason to go just destroy everybody, right? And like I said, when it comes to avenging yourself, what ends up happening is you end up hurting people that shouldn't be hurt, right? And I think that's the first thing that we need to think about if you want to avenge yourself, is that you may end up going too far, you may end up hurting people that shouldn't be hurt, and that's why you should leave it to the Lord. So go to verse 14 there, because Abigail obviously wasn't there when the young men came, but she heard about it. Okay, so the young men told Abigail about this, okay? So in verse 14, it says, "'But one of the young men told Abigail, "'Nable's wife, saying, "'Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness "'to salute our master, and he railed on them.'" So you can see that you're getting that information from the young men that, basically, David was helping out all these young men, the sheep, the herds, all this stuff. All of those men were helping them out, and it says in verse 15, "'But the men were very good unto us, "'and we were not hurt, "'neither missed we anything, "'as long as we were conversant with them,' "'when we were in the fields. "'They were a wall unto us, both by night and day, "'all the while we were with them, keeping the sheep.'" So basically, they were like a defense, night and day, to these shepherds, and they were really good to them. Verse 17, it says, "'Now therefore, know and consider what thou wilt do, "'for evil's determined against our master "'and against all his household, "'for he is such a son of Belial "'that a man cannot speak to him.'" So this is the young men that worked for him, are saying, and he's saying, they're saying this to Abigail. Now, Abigail's gonna say the same thing. So this is just common knowledge, that Nabal is a son of Belial. Now, Belial is just another name for the devil, okay? And one, easily in the New Testament, it says, "'What concord hath Christ with Belial?'" So you can see very quickly that Christ, the devil, the opposite there, when you're dealing with that. So God, the devil, right? The two, the evil one and the good one. And so basically, the thing that I see here, though, he is such a son of Belial that a man cannot speak to him. Now, there's certain attributes about children of the devil. One attribute is that they're false accusers, okay? Which, I mean, he's railing on these people. What do you got? Railing accusations, false accusations that are being made. And if you remember that Jezebel says, "'Find certain sons of Belial, "'that they may bring false accusations "'against Naboth, the Jezreelite.'" Remember Ahab wanted his vineyard, and he's just crying about it. He's like, I wanted my vineyard. You know, that's how I imagine it, you know? And Jezebel's, don't worry, drink some more milk, take a nap, I'll take care of this. And do you know what she does? She goes, she says, go find me some sons of Belial because they'll bring up a false accusation against them, meaning that they're really good at it, okay? They're really good at making that sound believable. And so there's certain attributes about sons of Belial, and one attribute is that a man cannot speak to him. You know what this sounds like? Someone that's unreasonable, okay? They're just unreasonable, you can't reason with them. Go to 2 Thessalonians chapter three, 2 Thessalonians chapter three. 2 Thessalonians chapter three, verse one. And verse one there says, finally, brethren, pray for us that the word of the Lord may have free course and be glorified even as it is with you. And that he may, and I'm sorry, and that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men, for all men have not faith. And he's like, he talks about how he's wicked, he does evil doings. But also just the fact that no man, it says that a man cannot speak to him. He is such a son of Belial that a man cannot speak to him. And this is just someone that's unreasonable. You can't reason with someone like that. They're just, I mean, you think about the terms like implacable, unmerciful, and just that type of, they're ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. It's kind of like it's impossible, right, for them to come to the knowledge of the truth. You can't reason with people like that, right? It doesn't matter how hard, it, how about a man that is inherited out of the first and second admonition of Jack, knowing that he did as such is subverted and sinned, being condemned of himself, right? The idea there is that there's certain people that you just can't reason with. And there's just a point where you're just like, I'm done, I can't talk to you. We've seen that out so many when you give them verse and they're just like, they're not reasonable. You show, they'll state something, you'll give them a verse that completely says the opposite of what they just said. And they're just like, well, no, there's these other verses, there's this other stuff. It's like, well, you have, that's what you call a contradiction then. If you can't answer this, then you're not being reasonable. And so, the young man realized that. Obviously, Abigail, I'm sure, knows that. But Abigail basically hears this, and she's basically, I better go now. I better get going, right? And notice what it says in verse 18. It says, and Abigail made haste and took 200 loaves and two bottles of wine and five sheep, ready dressed in five measures of parched corn and 100 clusters of raisins and 200 cakes of figs and laid them on asses. And she said unto her servants, go on before me. Behold, I come after you. But she told not her husband, Nabal. Now, you could be like, well, she should have told her husband. It's like, listen, if someone's unreasonable like that, and when it comes to this, ladies, when you're married, obviously, you need to obey your husband, but if you're serving the Lord and keeping the commandments, supersede that, right? God is the ultimate authority when it comes to your life, and now, listen, if it comes to like what restaurant you're going to and the way things are gonna be done in the house that's not like black and white in the Bible, then obviously, your husband has the rule over how things are done. But if it comes to moral law, I don't care if your husband tells you to do something, if the law says the opposite of that, then you follow God's laws, and you don't obey your husband in that case, right? Same thing with like laws of the land, right? We're to obey the laws of the land, but if they contradict the Bible and they go contrary to the Bible, then you know what that's called? Civil disobedience, because we're to obey the higher power, okay? So I don't think Abigail's wrong for not telling Nabal, because I think she's doing what's right. She is doing what Nabal should've done to begin with, and basically, she sends all this stuff in front of her, like go to David with this, like get there, and she's basically coming behind, right? And it says, and it was so, as she rode along the ass, that she came down by the covert of the hill, and behold, David and his men came down against her, and she met them. Now David had said, surely in vain have I kept all that this fellow hath in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained unto him, and he hath requited me evil for good. So and more also do God unto the enemies of David if I leave of all that pertain to him by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall. Now there's that term, pisseth against the wall, and it's a term, obviously, what is that talking about? All the men, okay? All the men, okay? And so this is obviously a crass way of saying it, but it's the Bible, and this is something that is obviously in a case of extremes, right? We're talking about killing people, right? In the case of killing people, he's basically saying, I'm gonna kill all the men. You know, he's making it very clear who he's killing. And he's basically coming out, and he's saying, I've been requited evil for good. And this is something that we've already seen that has been happening with him. And if you think about this too, I want you to think about this because you could look at David and be like, what are you doing? You know, you shouldn't be doing this, right? But if you keep getting evil for good, evil for good, evil for good, there can be a breaking point with people, right? I don't care how good you are. I don't care how righteous you are. There's a point where you're just like, you know what, nuts to you, right? There's a breaking point for everybody. And this is kind of like, this is a breaking point, I think, with David. He's just like, I'm just tired of people just, you know, rewarding me evil when I try to do good for them, right? It's just constantly happening to David. So as much as this would have been wrong for him to do, and I'm glad he doesn't do it, you can understand. You can understand where you're just like, good night. I'm just done trying to be good for people. And you know what, I'm just gonna reward them evil for evil. But the Bible obviously teaches that we should not render evil for evil or railing for railing, but contrary wise, blessing, knowing that we are there unto call that we should inherit a blessing. And this is something that obviously Jesus also reiterated and showed in his life that being reviled, he reviled, not again, you know, went, just going on and on down the line, that we need to have that model of, you know what, we do good, and they give us evil for it. Let's put it in the Lord's hand. Don't avenge yourself. Overcome evil with good. And it's easier said than done though, okay? And it's easy to read this and be like, what are you doing, David? You know, are you just on some hair trigger? It's like, he's not really on a hair trigger. If you think about, he's been dwelling in caves and dens and just like, just constantly, every time he tries to help somebody, he goes to Keilah and he saves the whole city and then he finds out they're gonna deliver him into Saul's hands. It's just like, good night. Like everywhere he goes, he tries to help people out and then they just basically throw him by the wayside. And this is another case of that. So you can understand, I completely understand where he's coming from. Although, obviously, just because you can understand doesn't mean that you should do it, right? So I think this is a great story to really just help us understand not avenging ourselves and understanding that everybody has a breaking point to where you're gonna basically be like, I'm done. All right, that's it. And it's interesting, too, that the people that probably have the most capabilities of actually completely annihilating somebody are the ones that have the most restraint. And you think about David, who killed Goliath. One of the mightiest men in Israel has the most restraint when it comes to not avenging himself. And so, you know, it just kind of, where some people look at him and be like, oh, he's just a pushover, you know, he's just, you know, he's weak because he's so merciful. It's like, he could annihilate you in a second. Think about that on a bigger scale. God and how merciful God is and how slow to anger he is and how people just spit in his face constantly, how they spit in Jesus' face. But yet, the mercy, like, when he could just annihilate everybody, right? I mean, when he's in the Garden of Gethsemane, remember when Peter drew the sword? He's like, don't you know that I can call on 10 legions of angels to deliver me? And even when he's up there with Pilate, and Pilate's saying, you know, I have power to deliver, you know, to put you to death or to set you free, and he's like, you have no power at all unless it's given you from heaven. And the thing is is that, you know, if this was his kingdom, my servants would fight. You know, they wouldn't be, they wouldn't allow the Jews to deliver me up to you. It's like, he has all this power, but it really just shows you, you know, how restrained God is, how temperate God is, and the fact that he can hold that back. And David, a man after God's own heart, we can see how he holds that back as well, okay? And really, David, you kind of see into his heart. You see into God's heart with the stories of David, and you see how man fails and how David fails. But verse 23 here, Abigail meets David. So David's like ready to go. He's like, let's do this. Time to take names, right? So in verse 23, it says, And when Abigail saw David, she hasted and lighted off the ass, and fell before David on her face and bowed herself to the ground, and fell at his feet and said, Upon me, my lord, upon me let this iniquity be, and let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thine audience, and hear the words of thine handmaid. I want you to think about this. Abigail, who wasn't there when all this went down, is basically saying, lay it on me, right? I mean, think about this. Yes, she's married to this churlish son of Belial, but they are one flesh. They are a married couple. She is basically the wife of the Lord of this whole, this house and everything that's going on. But notice how she is taking responsibility for what Nabal did. And that says a lot about her. Instead of just saying, listen, forgive the iniquity of this guy. No, she puts it on herself. I think of Daniel, when Daniel prays in Daniel chapter nine and how he's basically saying, forgive me. He puts himself, forgive us. It's this idea of, Daniel was a young child when the captivity happened. I don't believe Daniel had anything to do with all the reasons why Jerusalem was destroyed and all that stuff that went down with the kings that were disobedient and all that. I don't believe it was Daniel's fault. But notice how he just takes that upon himself. Hey, forgive me. And just putting it on yourself instead of blaming others. And just that humility that's there with her. But it says in verse 25, let not my Lord, I pray thee, regard this man of Belial, even Nabal. So notice that the young men are like this, this man is such a son of Belial. Now, notice that it's like, he's not even just a son of Belial. He's such a son of Belial, right? That no man, that a man cannot speak to him, right? It's kind of like some children, it's almost like some children of Belial you can kind of talk to a little bit, right? Not this one, right? It's another level. And then she's calling him a son of Belial or this man of Belial, even Nabal. For as his name is, so is he. Nabal is his name and Folly is with him. So she's basically just pointing out, this guy is a fool, just like his name, and he's a man of Belial. But it says, but thine handmaids saw not the young men of my Lord whom thou didst send. So she's making a point. I wasn't there, I didn't see this. Basically, forgive me that I wasn't there. It's kind of like forgive me that I wasn't there to set this right. Verse 26, it says, now therefore, my Lord, as the Lord liveth, as thy soul liveth, seeing the Lord hath withholden thee from coming to shed blood, and from avenging thyself with thine own hand, now let thine enemies and they that seek evil to my Lord be as Nabal. Now, what's interesting about this is it's almost foreshadowing that Nabal's going to die. Because she's basically saying, basically praising the Lord and saying that the Lord has withholden you from doing this. Like you haven't done it yet, right? And she's making a point, you haven't avenged your own self, right? By your own hand. And it says now therefore, I'm sorry, in verse 27, it says, and now this blessing which thine handmaid had brought unto my Lord, let it even be given unto the young men that follow my Lord. I pray thee, forgive the trespass of thine handmaid, for the Lord will certainly make my Lord a sure house, because my Lord fighteth the battles of the Lord, and evil, I'm sorry, evil hath not been found in thee all thy days. Notice how she keeps calling him my Lord, my Lord, my Lord. Notice the submissiveness that's going on here. Whereas Nabal's like, who is this David? There'd be many men that basically separate themselves from the Lord and all this stuff. Whereas she's like, I know who you are. And basically, obviously recognizing him as an authority there, right? It says in verse 29, yet a man is risen to pursue thee and to seek thy soul. But the soul of my Lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the Lord thy God, and the souls of thine enemies. Then shall he sling out as out of the middle of a sling. And it shall come to pass when the Lord shall have done to my Lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning thee, and shall have appointed thee ruler over Israel, that this shall be no grief unto thee, nor offense of heart unto my Lord, either that thou hast shed blood causeless, or that my Lord hath avenged himself. But when the Lord shall have dealt well with my Lord, then remember thine handmaid. I didn't count how many times she called him my Lord, but it's a lot, right? Just my Lord, my Lord, my Lord, my Lord. But notice how she is basically making a case, like, don't do this, right? Is that don't avenge yourself. And basically, I know that you're gonna be ruler of Israel, right? It's like, the Lord is gonna deliver you out of all your enemy's hands. You're going to be set over Israel. And when that happens, don't let this be something that's going to be an offense unto your heart, right? It's like, don't make this mistake because you will regret it. That you shed blood causelessly, right? And that you avenged yourself, right? That you took this into your own hands, you're gonna regret it. And go to Romans chapter 12, Romans chapter 12, dealing with avenging yourself. And when you read this, you're just like, okay, I shouldn't avenge myself. But this story really shows you that all those young men, they liked David. They wanted to help David. And he was gonna go kill them all, right? That's the issue with avenging yourself, okay? Is that there's one guy that's obviously evil. There's one guy that should be dealt with. And what would have happened is, Nabal, I'm sure, would have died, right? I'm sure Nabal would have killed him. But all those other men and all the men that had nothing to do with the situation would have also died. And then when he was made king and set up, I'm sure David would have been like, what was I thinking? Avenging myself and doing that, right? It was gonna, I'm sure, be basically a wound that could not be taken away of an injustice that he did. And so this is, I think, a great story to show is like, hey, leave it into the Lord's hands, he'll avenge. And the great part about this is that, I think when we see that, we think he's not going to avenge, right? It's kinda like, put it in his Lord, the Lord will avenge, right? Vengeance is mine, right? I will repay. And you're just like, okay, that's probably not gonna happen. It happens in this story, right? So literally, in the story, days later, Nabal is going to be killed by the Lord. And so it says in Romans chapter 12, verse 17, it says, recompense to no man evil for evil, provide things honest in the sight of all men. If it be possible as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath. For it is written, vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord. So that's something that David almost didn't do, okay? And Abigail, obviously a woman of good understanding is coming to him with great wisdom, like great advice. And so it really just shows you the type of woman that Abigail is. Favor is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised. Abigail has both, right? I mean, think about, she not only has good understanding, but she's also a beautiful countenance, right? This is like some diamond in the rough, right? And then she's married to this churlish son of Belial, right, it's kinda like, what in the world is going on? And so that being said is that obviously this is gonna turn David around, David's not gonna end up doing this. And notice David's response here in verse 32, it says, and David said to Abigail, blessed be the Lord God of Israel, which sent thee this day to meet me, and blessed be thy advice, and blessed be thou, which has kept me this day from coming to shed blood, from avenging myself with mine own hand. So this whole passage really is just not to avenge yourself with your own hand. Don't avenge yourselves, right? Let the Lord do it. And even in the case of a child of Belial is that, you know, let the Lord deal with it. And I'm not saying not to defend yourself, okay? This is, nowhere, Nabal wasn't coming after David with an army, okay? This was David going after Nabal because he was wronged, because he didn't get any provisions like he should. Basically, you know, he did a job and didn't get paid for it, essentially, is what's going on there, right? And so don't take this too far where some people will be like, well, you should just let him kill you, you know? It's like, let him kill your family. It's like, no, that is not what the Bible teaches. Obviously, self-defense is warranted. And I don't care if it's the son of Belial or not, if they're trying to kill you, you have the right to defend yourself and to kill them if necessary. And same thing, obviously, if they try to hurt your family, the Bible teaches that. Obviously, Jesus said, buy a sword. He didn't say buy a sword just to look cool, right? Buy a sword because obviously we live in perilous times and you may need to defend yourself, okay? Now, what verse did I leave off on there? Verse 34 there, it says, For in very deed, as the Lord God of Israel liveth, which hath kept me back from hurting thee, except thou hast hasted and come to meet me, surely there had not been left unto Nabal by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall. So David received of her hand that which she had brought him, and said unto her, go up in peace to thine house. See, I have hearkened to thy voice and I have accepted thy person. So basically, okay, you know, it's kind of like she came to him to see him, don't do this. He's like, okay, that's good advice, you're blessed. Obviously, she was right and she made it right. It wasn't just that she came and said, hey, don't avenge yourself. She also gave him a whole bunch of stuff, okay? So basically just said it all right. So it's kind of like he got what he was looking for, probably in more, right? I'm sure got more than what Nabal would have given him, even if Nabal wasn't as churlish as he is. But on top of that, she kept him back from shedding blood causeless. And now the next portion here, you can't help but laugh at this story with Nabal, especially when you understand the kind of person that he is, right? Is in verse 36, so Nabal's gonna die, okay? So that's kind of the spoiler, Nabal dies. Of course, we read it before we started the service anyway. But in verse 36, it says, And Abigail came to Nabal, and behold, he held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. Nabal's heart was merry within him, for he was very drunken. Wherefore, she told him nothing less or more until the morning light. So basically, she didn't tell him what she did. He's just having a good old time, right? And verse 37, But it came to pass in the morning, when the wine was gone out of Nabal, and his wife had told him these things, that his heart died within him, and it became as a stone. So he literally just like, his heart just died. Now, I don't believe it stopped beating because he doesn't die till 10 days later, okay? But basically, if you think about it, he just died inside. You ever hear that, you're like, that person just died inside. It's like they're counting, it's just like, basically, he just froze in place. Like, what just happened, right? Just completely, you know, even when it talks about standing there astonished, you know, that's what I kind of picture, is that he's just kind of like, like, what just happened, right? And so, he became a stone, and it says, and it came to pass after 10 days, I'm sorry, it came to pass about 10 days after that the Lord smote Nabal that he died. So the Lord killed him. And so, there's not that many places where you see the Lord like, physically killing someone personally, right? You can think of like, Ur and Onan, you know, like, where the Lord smites them, or there's certain people where the Lord personally kills them, right? But he personally kills this guy, right? So when you think about the Lord avenging, I mean, he literally avenged David of Nabal. And, but the thing that's funny to me is that he let him live for 10 days just being probably really mad, right? And just really upset about the whole ordeal. He's probably just the whole time, like, he was so happy, right? He had this feast as a king, he was so happy, and then boom, he's just like, his world just fell apart, and he's like in this despair, and he just like, he can't even move. He's so like, just completely distraught, right? And then the Lord just allows that to happen for 10 days, and then he kills him, right? That's the end of his life, right? Is just being miserable for 10 days. Now, I do think that there's probably some parallel to this as far as the idea of God avenging the saints. And what's interesting about this is that, if you think about when you have the Great Tribulation, the fifth seal's open, and it says that under the altar were the souls of them that were slain for the cause of Christ, and I'm paraphrasing that, so don't be like, that's not a direct quote. But basically, they say, how long, oh Lord, holy and true, this thou not avenge our blood, right? And basically said, wait a little while, right? Or season until basically the rest of your brother should be killed like you. And the thing that's interesting about that is in Revelation chapter two, it gives this, obviously I think it's talking to that specific church and all that, but I do think that there's some significance to the number there. But it says, you shall have tribulation 10 days. And it says, be thou faithful unto death, and I'll give thee a crown of life. And the idea of how that, I've done a whole sermon on basically how long the great tribulation will be, as far as when the abomination desolation happens and when the rapture happens. And if you look at that as far as in a year's time, you're dealing with like 10 days of that as far as the seven year period is concerned, okay? And as far as kind of thinking about the fact that when was David avenged, but about 10 days after, right? And just thinking about the fact of like, how long is it gonna be until you avenge us? It's like 10 days later. And great tribulation, it's kind of like, how long until you avenge us, right? The abomination desolation happens, how long is it gonna be? 75 days essentially is what the Bible teaches as far as when the rapture will happen after that, okay? And so, and this is about 10 days, right? And that's the thing is we don't know the day or the hour but it's gonna be around that time, right? And so I think that there are some parallels there with kind of end times prophecy. Obviously you're dealing with a son of Belial, a man of Belial, right? And you think about the anti-crisis prevailing over the saints, right? Until Jesus comes in the clouds, right? And so anyway, that's another sermon for another day. But I do think there are some parallels to Nabal and Antichrist and things like that, okay? So anyway, but ending the chapter here in verse 39. So Nabal dies and it says, And when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed be the Lord that hath pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal and hath kept his servant from evil. But the Lord hath returned the wickedness of Nabal upon his own head. And David sent in communion with Abigail to take her to him to wife. So in Abigail's eyes, it's kind of like she's one, right? I mean, her wicked child of the devil husband's dead and now she's gonna marry David, okay? Now obviously I don't believe that obviously he should be marrying anybody because he's already married. But it says in verse 41 there, I'm sorry, in verse 40, And when the servants of David were come to Abigail to Carmel, they spake unto her, saying, David sent us unto thee to take thee to him to wife. And she arose and bowed herself on her face to the earth and said, Behold, let thine handmaid be a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my Lord. So notice just the humility of her, the fact that she's not like, oh, great, I'm gonna be a queen, you know? It's more like, hey, just let me serve. It says in verse 42, Abigail hasted and rose and rode upon an ass and five damsels of hers that went after her and she went after the messengers of David and became his wife. David also took a hint of Noam of Jezreel and they were also both of them his wives. But Saul had given Michal, his daughter, David's wife, to Faltai, the son of Laish, which was of Gallim. So obviously, when David takes over the kingdom, he's gonna end up basically taking his wife back. That whole relationship doesn't work out after that. But that being said is that he technically, at the end of the chapter, has three wives. I mean, just because someone gave your wife to someone else doesn't mean that she's not still your wife, right? You didn't divorce her, nothing like that. So I mean, it's kinda like what's going on here, right? So technically, Michal has like two husbands now and so just a lot of messed up stuff going on there. But this is kind of a precursor to where, in 2 Samuel, where you get into the fact that he has trouble, he doesn't have a good husband-wife relationship. And that is something that you'll see with all these men that have multiple wives. And so again, the Bible doesn't teach that this is right. Just because it states this, it doesn't say, God said, go make Abigail thy wife. You won't see that. And so I do believe this is something that God winked at, meaning that God suffered. Okay, another way of saying God winked at it is he suffered it, okay? And so, and that being said, it's sin, all that. But I do believe it's different than adultery, as far as like a man that's like basically straight up committing adultery on his wife. I think that there's differences there. But all in the same, like the look at a woman, the lust after her is adultery in your heart. It's not as extreme as it, like committing the actual physical act, right? You know, it's like when people are just like, all sin is equal. It's like, really? That's the same? That's the same? No, it's not. So there's obviously the levels of, even within the same realm of the same sin of adultery, there's different levels, right? As far as committing the very act, you know, you're actively married and you're committing that act, that's obviously death penalty realm, right? If there's two or three witnesses. Not in our day and age. Someone that's divorced and remarried, obviously it's adultery, but that's different. That's a different, I mean, obviously it's still sin, but it's a different level. It's not the same level as the capital punishment level. And the same thing with, you know, marrying multiple wives. Obviously, I believe it's sin to have multiple wives or women to have multiple husbands, but, you know, different levels. And in this, obviously it wasn't the death penalty. It's not like, you know, obviously God had things against David, but him having multiple wives doesn't say he was displeased with him because of that. So obviously, him having multiple wives wasn't as bad as him basically committing adultery with Bathsheba. Okay? So take that for what it is. I mean, I'm just stating a fact that this is wrong, but obviously Bathsheba, that story, worse. To the point where God's like, hey, that's a big deal. Right, and he's obviously being punished for it, okay? So anyway, you know, that's my take on it. And you'll see that throughout the Old Testament where there's multiple wives, that doesn't make it right. And in New Testament, I believe it's very clear, husband of one wife, right? It's very clear. You wanna be a pastor, you need to be a husband and wife. You can't have multiple wives, okay? And that should be the standard for everybody in church that people don't have multiple wives. But at the same time, this is kind of a precursor to see some problems that David's gonna have in the future. So that's the end of chapter 25. And so again, this is a great chapter to just really think about not avenging yourself and putting it in the Lord's hand because the Lord can do it. Obviously, he can punish worse than we can, and he can make sure that it's the most just and righteous punishment, okay? And that other people aren't getting harmed that shouldn't be harmed. Just put it in the Lord's hand and have faith that he will. And so, you know, I believe that God will punish those that are enemies and everything else. So let's end with a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for today. Thank you for your word. And thank you for this passage, and I pray that you help us, Lord, to not avenge ourselves, but to give place unto wrath. And Lord, that vengeance belongs unto you. And Lord, that we follow the same picture of not avenging ourselves with our own hands, but to put it in your hands. And Lord, we just pray that you'd be with us in that, help us to have that kind of heart and mind. And Lord, pray that you'd be with those that aren't feeling well. Heal all our families of these sicknesses that are going around, and all of our kids that are dealing with it. And Lord, we just love you, and pray all this in Jesus Christ's name, amen. So Brother Dave will come, sing one more song, and then we'll be dismissed. All right, take your song books and turn to song 131. All right. Song 131 in your song books. And if you would stand, we'll sing song 131. Christ is all I need. Christ is all I need. All I need. Christ is all I need. Christ is all I need. Christ is all I need. All I need. He was crucified for me. He died on Calvary. That's why I know He loves me so. He's all I need.