What to Feed an Angry Man, Part 3

An amazing story of God's ability to solve an impossible problem. Amazing. When you do what is right without tiring of God takes care of the impossible things man's ways please the Lord. He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. There is no impossible situation, God cannot handle 1 Handle Necessarily Your Way has the tendency perhaps to fly off the handle today on Insight for living. Chuck Swindoll continues our biographical series on David and will be looking at a passage in the Old Testament we find David in one of his lower spiritual giant wasn't immune to moments of rate whether you tend to be the aggressor or the peacemaker. There's a lot to learn from this volatile scene we're looking at first Samuel chapter 25 Chuck titled his message what the agreement, the passage with you. Let's get some background working machine shops in the equipment, places most people that were working out in the field were working with sheep. They were involved as shepherds and it was a common custom at the time that the sheep were sheared.

The owner of the sheep would pull out a portion of the money the prophet that he made and he would give it to the one who had protected his shepherds and in those days the owner would provide a remuneration to the one who protected his shepherds in this case, the man didn't do it. The conflict verse nine when David young men came. They spoke of a ball, according to all these words in David's name that they waited and waited for the money. I didn't get any baseball answer David's servants and said who is David verse 12 David young men retraced their way and went back in the came and told him, according to all these words verse 13 very interesting response.

David said to his men.

Each of you girded on his sword that you know put on a sword to have a discussion. I want to point that out right away. Each man girded on his sword. David also girded on his sword and about 400 men went up behind David while 200 stayed with the baggage, so we got 400 guys coming down the hill. Verse 13 verse 14. One of the young man told Abigail labels wife, saying, behold, David sent messengers from the wilderness to greet our master and he scorned them. Now therefore no one consider what you should do we get 18 Abigail hurried took 200 loaves of bread two jugs of wine, five sheep already prepared five measures of roasted grain, 100 clusters of raisin 200 cakes of figs and love them on the donkey. Just picture this David coming downhill only thing louder than the horses hooves and stomach rolling down the hills stomach growling hungry on emphasize that again. Verse 20 came about as she was riding on her doggy coming down to the hidden part of the mountain. Behold David and his men were coming down toward her, so she met three things stand out in this thing in this account of her number one. Her tact number two her faith. Number three. Her loyalty, I note each one is we can't unroll it here. She felt her face to the ground. Look at her tact. She says, calls yourself, your maidservant six times and calls David my Lord eight times where she had faith. She says David I'm looking at the next king don't mark your record with the murder your bigger than that.

David, you have been wrong, but the Answer Way Way, David take what I provided and turn around and go back when the Lord shall deal well with my Lord. And remember your maidservant how what a statement. What a plea.

It's a good point to pause and bring out something that maybe is just a sidelight issue, but it stood out in my mind when you're faced with critical decision sometime you got to do something very creative nabobs life hung in the balance. Depending on how short David's fuse was would be how long they ball would live.

She saw that she decided it will take a lot of food in a pleading comment for me to turn that man's heart and I'm sure along the way she prayed, speaking of creative ways to handle crisis Jesus makes me laugh is a book by David Reding and in it he tells the story of a man named Roy Kelly. Roy was informed two years ago that he had terminal cancer. He and his wife went home to cry, to die. Should they keep it a secret. They prayed, let me interject you going to be hearing something that will cause you to not quite to know how to respond. So don't feel you've got to respond one way or another, just here it.

Talk about a creative way to handle crisis. They prayed the answer was that they should play PL a Y play about. So they decided to put on a big party. They invited all the friends during the festivities. Roy held up his hand to make an announcement you may wonder why call all of us together. This is a cancer party. I've been told I have terminal cancer that my wife and I realize were all terminal we decided to start a new organization.

It's called MTC make today count your all charter members. Since that time, the organization has grown across America.

Roy has been too busy to die, pointing out the way we Christians can handle the jaws of death singing loving not losing one minute from the joy the world cannot give nor take away. If that offends you. I'm sorry, but for most of you I think you get the point, you will be faced with crises in life and the standard garden-variety answers to sort of tuck your tail between your legs run into a corner. Let cobwebs form on you as you sort of die, but there is a better way.

As long as you have breath in your lungs. You have a purpose for living. You have a reason to exist. No matter how bad that track record might've been marked by disobedience and compromise through most of your life. Tonight you're alive tonight your existing in God's is there's a reason and I'm going to do creative things through you to put you back on your feet, you can lick your wounds if that's your choice. But there's a better way.

I love the way he called it to make today count. That's what this woman is done with this crisis, she just says remember your maidservant when the tide turns in your life that's all I ask David Morrow what a guy. David said Abigail Blessed be the Lord God of Israel who sent you this day to meet me, tell me why God chose David is a man after his own heart. That teachable spirit to a woman he never met. He's got a sword ready to be on. She and he looks at this moment and he listens and he changes his entire demeanor.

Talk about a man after God's heart. That's one of the reasons willing to change God forever keep us flexible and teachable. Someone has a word in season for a blind spot in our lives and were the dummies. If we ignore them.

She loved him too much to let him do that. Blessed be your discernment. By the way. Discernment, like the Scottish people say is better felt than tilt people will feel it. You don't have to tell them you've got it just sort of loses out.

Blessed be you who have kept me this day from bloodshed and from avenging myself by my own hand. Verse 35 David received from her hand.

What she had brought him.

He said to her, go up to your house in peace. See, I have listened to you and granted your request.

Fantastic. Abigail goes back and her husband puts his arm around her and says thanks. You're a great woman. No, I wish it said that some of you hurt because your experience recently has been just like Abigail's.

You did what was right. You protected a person who was in the wrong and you got shafted.

See verse 36 Abigail came to enable behold, he was holding a feast in his house like the feast of the king and they ball's heart was married within him, for he was very drunk. Thanks a lot.

I come home from pouring out my soul as I stand between you and death.

And this is the thanks I get no it doesn't say that it simply says she did not tell him anything at all until the morning light. What character she just sort of turned in, pulled up the covers went to sleep. I'm sure she poured out her heart to God and got things squared away between herself and the Lord realizing she may never know what it is like to have a husband that encourages her guys. One of our greatest ministries with our with our wives is the ministry of consistent encouragement. That's part of honoring her as a choice vessel pointing out to her the strengths of character and saying on a regular basis. Thank you, thank you for dad. She didn't have it next morning. Verse 37 everybody else's prayer was answered about the morning when the wind gone out enable all that his wife told him these things in his heart, died within him. He became as a stone is a had a stroke. She told me he listened to the story, about 401 guys were on the way to cut off his head and he just couldn't swallow it. We got really still eyes got glazed and 10 days later. Verse 38 it happened, the Lord struck me baldly died amazing when you do what is right without tiring of it.

God takes care of the impossible things when a man's ways please the Lord.

He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.

There is no impossible situation that God cannot handle.

It won't handle it necessarily your way, but he'll handle it and seeing her faithfulness. He let her spend the night depending on him and shortly thereafter she buried her husband. The next verse like a fairytale when David heard name always did you know David, Blessed are only a man would see that in the passage. Blessed be the Lord. The cause of my reproach from hand and they ball Back his servant from evil. The Lord has returned the evildoing of Mabel on his own head what it David learn a lesson like that, but that's God's job in Zappa. He needs that on his record on my record.

David sent a proposal to Abigail to take her as his wife David's okay, guy.

When the service of David came to Abigail and Carmella spoke to her saying David sent us to you to take. It was his life. Look at her response. The romanticism in me, that comes out right now she arose and bowed with her face to the ground and said, behold, your servant is made to wash the feet of my Lord service. That's the kind of wife to get my just joking you guys reported to Abigail.

Abigail quickly arose tell me she wasn't ready for Amanda lover. She arose and rolled on a donkey with five maidens who attended her and she followed the messengers of David became his wife. While all bad, but what a wedding that must've been good night. I'm sure they called in the wilderness of Paris and something like it. A miraculous marriage. Well, two things hang in my head when I close the book with you.

First of all is this whatever you do when conflicts arise. Be wise, be wise if you're not careful you will handle conflicts in the flesh you be sorry what I mean by being wise.

Well first of all I mean see the whole picture fight against falling into a rut and seeing only your side look at both sides if you need a counselor gets counsel on it because the counselor helps you see both sides. There are always two sides on those conflicts.

Streets always look at both sides of the part of being wise is restrain yourself from anything hasty, if at all possible, you could put on the brakes put on the brakes slow down.

I've seldom made wise decisions in a hurry. By the way, I never felt sorry for things I didn't say your tendency will be to say something in a hurry and you shouldn't have said it. You wish you could reach in their heads and pull it out again. The third thing you can do and being wise is to pray get God's perspective. If it takes a while to get his perspective. Be wise. Wisdom sent us only seldom ask in a hurry. We sold the second thing I want to point out in this is whenever you realize it there's nothing you can do weight weight impossible impasses call for breaks don't keep going. God made it impossible to stop use so that you would wait on him. Psalm 40. I waited patiently for the Lord.

He inclined it to me and heard my cry.

He lifted me up out of the mire and he put my feet on the rock and established my going some 40 never to say that David situation change since David changed when you wait your situation may not change, but you will. I suppose there's no greater model of what it means to alter your lifestyle in a crisis situation than Elizabeth Elliott.

One biographer writes she was introduced to the world through an inexplicable tragedy. Her young husband Jim and his missionary colleagues were killed by a tribe of out Indians in Ecuador, a tribe to whom they had hoped to minister in the name of Christ.

While the world was not from this heartbreaking massacre Elizabeth Elliott sees it as an opportunity for the love of God. She and her little child, a daughter walked back into the jungle to live with these Stone Age savages who had murdered her husband and her friends. When the history of this century is written with its unprecedented spectaculars in space and its overwhelming wars. I do not believe they will overshadow this young widows act of faith. Patients encourage it was not simply an act of courtesy. She stayed until the months became years and those savages became her kinsmen. She was not the stereotype of the presumptuous missionary busily bending susceptible minds to her beliefs and culture.

She became one of them. She learned to respect them for the virtues they possess.

But we only profess I get this last line the convert she made. She said may have been herself he will be amazed when you wait, you may discover that the reason for waiting was all for your benefit because you're the one that may be needed to change spell spell together. All this is tough stuff.

I know that as we close our eyes and talk to God about what we've heard a lot of your feeling. You can only know my situation will friend. I don't think I change a thing, regardless of what your situation is because I know it's biblical to be wise and it's always biblical.

When we get to impossible places to wait just wait the weighting itself is wise for some of you it might mean finding Jesus Christ receiving him by faith as your personal savior. Did you get the analogy in the story like Abigail Jesus Christ met the God of wrath at Calvary with the feast of his own blood and body. He became our mediator and God accepted the gift and therefore will accept the sinner who believes God is satisfied with that offering Christ made. If you've never met Jesus Christ. This is your moment to open your heart to him. Receive him like he would receive a gift from a father as a child believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. You will be say now for some it's it's more a matter of applying the Christian virtues that you heard about tonight.

Patients teachability gentleness, self-control. All of that sort of comes to bear this new week. As you might face a situation much like this. We read in your word. Her father that we are the clay and you are the Potter. There are number of times in our life and we would like to change roles with you. We would wish that you were the clay we are the Potter, then we would build a monster and we would give vent to all kinds of carnal and stupid and ugly decisions based on the flesh in our own humanity rather than trusting you. The Potter to pull it off your way simply ask you to have your way. Just Have Your Way, Lord were available and were waiting on you to do that, we ask for Jesus as you listen today. Maybe you identified with Abigail who was trying to defuse a man's rage. Or perhaps you saw yourself and David, whose anger was out of control. Whatever the case, there's relevant application for us all. Chuck Swindoll titled today's message what to feed an angry man and there's another illustration coming up in just a moment.

So please stay with us your listening to Insight for living. To learn more about this ministry, we invite you to visit us online@insightworld.org. Even though the people we meet in the Bible were imperfect and flawed. Just as we are their stories of redemption give us hope. Along those lines, we received an encouraging note from one of your fellow listeners who spent her entire career in the criminal court system. Even though she faithfully attended church is a girl. This woman said I had become complacent in my faith and then after some significant events in her life. She added I discovered Insight for living on the Internet as a guide to help me understand the relevancy of the Bible. Chuck, you make me understand God's word better than I have in my life.

Thank you will. This is the very reason this ministry exists. It's our mission to help people discover the meaning and relevance of the Bible because we can't overcome our daily struggles without God's help and you can take advantage of the vast assortment of Bible study tools just as this woman did by going to Insight.org. Here's Chuck. Thanks, Bill okay for a moment. Picture this. Imagine walking a pair of crutches down an open sidewalk. All of a sudden someone kicks your crutches making you fall to the ground somewhat miffed you look back at the perpetrator and to your surprise is none other than God. All right, all right you realize it's an unpleasant picture. Nevertheless, that's really how God works at times. All of us rely on crutches.

We are leaders by design, but in reality, only one crutch can give us the true support we need.

So what does God remove our crutches. Well, David gives us a clue. Remember one by one, God kicked his crutches away good position going. His wife gone homeland gone, his friend Jonathan gone. Here's the point David needed to feel the pain of leaning on anything other than God, so he could then feel the stability of leaning on nothing other than God. It saddens me that so many of us lean on shaky crutches and for that reason, day after day Insight for living invites our global audience to take God's hand and lean holy on him.

So as we approach the end of another ministry year. Will you join me in helping others depend on the stabilizing support of Jesus Christ alone.

The Lord is been generous to us this year and we believe he will continue to bless our efforts through the generosity of people just like you so let me hear from you today okay together.

This help others lean on Jesus is all sufficient. Jesus Christ is all thanks Chuck. Here's how to respond if you prefer you can give your donation by calling us if you're listening in the United States, call 807 seven 288. That's 800-772-8888 or it may be quicker and more efficient to simply give a gift online@insight.org/Knights on insight reliving the preceding message what to feed an angry man was copyrighted in 1978, 1988, 1997 and 2009 and the sound recording was copyrighted 2009 by Charles Marceline Dalton. All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited