This is part of the worship series,
"A Table in the Wilderness”
Introduction
Letter of Invitation | Lent 1 | Lent 2 | Lent 3 | Lent 4
Lent 5 | Palm Sunday | Good Friday | Easter Sunday | Communion Liturgy
Prayer Path: A Journey in the Wilderness
Fifth Sunday of Lent
Biblical figure: David
God’s wilderness provision: raisins and figs
Scripture: 1 Samuel 25
Call to Worship
Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,
so that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
Make us glad as many days as you have afflicted us
and as many years as we have seen evil.
Let your work be manifest to your servants
and your glorious power to their children.
Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us
and prosper for us the work of our hands—
O prosper the work of our hands!
—Psalm 90:14–17 NRSVUE
Children’s Scripture Summary
While David was in the wilderness, he asked a wealthy man named Nabal, whose shepherds David had protected, to give food to him and his men. Instead Nabal hurled insults at David. But Nabal’s wife, Abigail, acted quickly. She took bread, wine, meat, roasted grain, cakes of raisins, and pressed figs, loaded them on donkeys, and went out to meet David and his men. David said, “Praise be to the Lord, who has sent you to meet me and kept me from avenging myself.” He accepted from her hand what she had brought him and sent her home in peace.
—adapted from 1 Samuel 25
Sermon
“A Table in the Wilderness for David”
Sermon Notes
In this story, David and his men are literally in the wilderness, where they had retreated for their safety. In the two stories that frame the story of David, Nabal, and Abigail, David is thrust into an unexpected position of power over Saul, who is still the anointed king and hunting for David, his rival. Will David take matters into his own hands? Or will he put his trust in the Lord? God’s provision in this story is not just the loads of food that Abigail brings; God’s provision of grace is a person who is willing to risk herself, bare her soul, and speak truthfully to another. God’s provision is Abigail in all her wisdom, authenticity, vulnerability, and resourcefulness.
Music Suggestions
“Shalom Chaverim” anon.
“I Need Thee Every Hour” Hawks, Lowry, arr. Shepperd, SATB
“Christ Has No Body Now But Yours” Ogden, Porter’s Gate
