Today’s Podcast
Today’s Scriptures
Today’s Bible reading plans include:
Ready – 1 Samuel 25:23-44
Set – 1 Samuel 24; Matthew 8
Go! – 1 Samuel 25-26; Psalms 63; Matthew 9
1 Samuel 25:23-44
23 When Abigail saw David, she dropped quickly from her donkey and fell to the ground in front of him, bowing.Abigail (at David’s feet): 24 My lord, any guilt here falls on me. Please let me, your servant, speak, and may you hear the words I speak. 25 My lord, you must not take seriously the words of this worthless man, Nabal. His actions have proven that his name and his nature are the same: Nabal is a fool. Unfortunately I, your servant, did not see the young men you sent.
26 Now, my lord, as the Eternal One lives and as you live, since the Eternal has kept you from senseless killing and from seizing vengeance yourself, may your enemies and all who seek to harm you, my lord, be like Nabal.
27 Now, please, accept my gift and distribute it among the young men who are with you. 28 Please forgive your servant’s shortcomings. The Eternal will certainly make my lord’s house into a lasting dynasty because you fight on behalf of Him, and no evil will be found in you as long as you live. 29 If anyone dares to rise up against you and seek your life, then you will be protected by the Eternal One, your True God, who will launch the lives of your enemies like stones from a sling.
30 When the Eternal has done for my lord all the good things He has promised and has installed you as ruler over all Israel, 31 you will never have to be grieved or conscience-stricken for having shed blood needlessly or for taking vengeance into your own hands. When He has dealt generously with my lord, I pray you will remember me, your servant.
David (to Abigail): 32 Blessed is the Eternal God of Israel, who sent you here today to intercept me. 33 And blessed is your wisdom—blessed are you—for keeping me from shedding blood needlessly and from taking vengeance into my own hands. 34 For as surely as the Eternal God of Israel lives and sent you to me, if you had not hurried out to meet me, tomorrow there would not have been a single male left alive in Nabal’s household.
35 Then David accepted her gifts.
David: Arise, and return home in peace. I have listened to your words, and I have granted your request.
36 Abigail returned to Nabal, who was holding a kingly feast in his house. Nabal’s heart was light because he was very drunk, so Abigail chose not to tell him anything until the next morning. 37 The next morning, when he was sober, Abigail told him about her meeting with David and he went cold inside. 38 About 10 days later, the Eternal One struck down Nabal, and he died.
39 When David heard this news, he blessed God.
David: Blessed is the Eternal One, who protected my honor from Nabal’s insults and who kept me, His servant, from executing evil. Instead, the Eternal One turned Nabal’s evil back on him.
40 Then David sent servants to Carmel asking Abigail to be his wife.
Servants: David has sent us to bring you to him so that you can be his wife.
41 She stood, and then bowed to the ground before David’s servants.
Abigail: I am your servant, willing to wash the feet of my lord’s servants.
42 Then Abigail quickly got up, mounted her donkey, and went with the messengers of David attended by her five handmaidens. Not long after, she married him.
43 David also married Ahinoam of Jezreel; she and Abigail were both wives of David. 44 By this time, Saul had given his daughter Michal, David’s former wife, to Palti (the son of Laish) from Gallim.
Today’s Devotional
From today’s background scripture God might say:
Nabal was a fool. He lived up to his name. Parents should be careful what they name their children because that happens too many times. You know his story. David’s men camped on his property and so protected his land from thieves and bandits. No one who might do him harm dared come close to his property as long as David’s men were around. They knew David’s reputation and would never risk taking on the warriors under David’s control for the price of a few sheep. So Nabal, for all those months, had free security from David’s mighty men.
David in return asked for a few loaves of bread and a little meat to feed his troops one day. But Nabal, the fool, refused. In fact, Nabal humiliated the men David sent with the request. Not a smart move. Nadal once more proved himself the fool. David set out to kill every man in Nabal’s household and destroy everything he owned.
Fortunately for those in Nabal’s household, he had a much smarter wife than he. She raced to David when she heard about his plans and begged for forgiveness for her husband. She used his name’s meaning as the excuse for his stupidity and saved David from his vengeance and saved the lives of all under Nabal’s roof.
My warning to all from this story is simple. Treat your neighbors well. Understand that they might be doing things for you that you really aren’t aware. Turning them away in their time of need is not conducive to your continued good health. Second, forgiveness and kindness always works better than rude and crass behavior. Third, remember I work behind the scenes with My servants. Take care of them. You don’t know how I might intervene in your life to use you to help them. Be ready to do so, though. It’s always to your advantage also.
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