July 17– 1 Samuel 25:23-31

July 17– 1 Samuel 25:23-31

23 When Abigail saw David, she hurried and got down from the donkey and fell before David on her face and bowed to the ground. 24 She fell at his feet and said, “On me alone, my lord, be the guilt. Please let your servant speak in your ears, and hear the words of your servant. 25 Let not my lord regard this worthless fellow, Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. Naba is his name, and folly is with him. But I your servant did not see the young men of my lord, whom you sent. 26 Now then, my lord, as the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, because the Lord has restrained you from bloodguilt and from saving with your own hand, now then let your enemies and those who seek to do evil to my lord be as Nabal. 27 And now let this present that your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who follow my lord. 28 Please forgive the trespass of your servant. For the Lord will certainly make my lord a sure house, because my lord is fighting the battles of the Lord, and evil shall not be found in you so long as you live. 29 If men rise up to pursue you and to seek your life, the life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living in the care of the Lord your God. And the lives of your enemies he shall sling out as from the hollow of a sling. 30 And when the Lord has done to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you and has appointed you prince over Israel, 31 my lord shall have no cause of grief or pangs of conscience for having shed blood without cause or for my lord working salvation himself. And when the Lord has dealt well with my lord, then remember your servant.”

Oh, Abigail! What wisdom this woman possessed. She knew both men were wrong. Nabal, her husband, was being “harsh and badly behaved”. She also recognized that David’s desire to slay Nabal was an act seated in raw emotion. David was on the run and needed help. The last thing David needed was to commit an act of violence that would haunt him forever and for which God would hold him accountable.

How often have I acted out of anger and later lived to regret my actions? I pray God will help me to remember the wisdom of Abigail and that I will be able, with help from God, to keep my emotions in check and avoid sinning against God. I ask God for the wisdom to discern my motives and to remove myself from the situation before I do damage to my witness.

May you, too, grow in wisdom in Christ.

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