A Lesson Learned

Then the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is not David hiding himself on the hill of Hachilah, which is on the east of Jeshimon?” So Saul arose and went down to the wilderness of Ziph with three thousand chosen men of Israel to seek David in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul encamped on the hill of Hachilah, which is beside the road on the east of Jeshimon. But David remained in the wilderness. When he saw that Saul came after him into the wilderness, David sent out spies and learned that Saul had indeed come. Then David rose and came to the place where Saul had encamped. And David saw the place where Saul lay, with Abner the son of Ner, the commander of his army. Saul was lying within the encampment, while the army was encamped around him.
    Then David said to Ahimelech the Hittite, and to Joab's brother Abishai the son of Zeruiah, “Who will go down with me into the camp to Saul?” And Abishai said, “I will go down with you.” So David and Abishai went to the army by night. And there lay Saul sleeping within the encampment, with his spear stuck in the ground at his head, and Abner and the army lay around him. Then Abishai said to David, “God has given your enemy into your hand this day. Now please let me pin him to the earth with one stroke of the spear, and I will not strike him twice.” But David said to Abishai, “Do not destroy him, for who can put out his hand against the LORD's anointed and be guiltless?” And David said, “As the LORD lives, the LORD will strike him, or his day will come to die, or he will go down into battle and perish. The LORD forbid that I should put out my hand against the LORD's anointed. But take now the spear that is at his head and the jar of water, and let us go.” So David took the spear and the jar of water from Saul's head, and they went away. No man saw it or knew it, nor did any awake, for they were all asleep, because a deep sleep from the LORD had fallen upon them.
(1 Samuel 26:1-12 ESV)
David had been running, running, running from Saul.  Though promising othewise, Saul continued to pursue him.  At first glance, we might think that the historian accidentally retold the same event all over again: people tattling on David, Saul getting his best 3000 soldiers, etc. But this is a different event, especially in the response of David.  He does not hide; he comes out. He does not cut Saul's robe; instead, he takes the very things Saul relied upon the most; those things that he clung to in his fear.  David had learned God was protecting Him - not because David was perfect, but because God was perfect and kept his promises.  David had no way to know HOW God would do it, but he knew He would work it out. As the writer records, God's way was to put a supernatural sleep on Saul.  God keeps His promises. He wants us to live like He does, and not worry about how He will do it.  Then we will have a life filled with WOW moments at HOW He has done so.  He is that Good.

A Woman Who is a Blessing

When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Blessed be the LORD who has avenged the insult I received at the hand of Nabal, and has kept back his servant from wrongdoing. The LORD has returned the evil of Nabal on his own head.” Then David sent and spoke to Abigail, to take her as his wife. When the servants of David came to Abigail at Carmel, they said to her, “David has sent us to you to take you to him as his wife.” And she rose and bowed with her face to the ground and said, “Behold, your handmaid is a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.” And Abigail hurried and rose and mounted a donkey, and her five young women attended her. She followed the messengers of David and became his wife.
David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel, and both of them became his wives. Saul had given Michal his daughter, David's wife, to Palti the son of Laish, who was of Gallim.
(1 Samuel 25:39-44 ESV)
Abigail had acted and spoken wisely, sparing David from foolish action. What better woman could he ask for, once she was a widow?  In gratitude he took her as his wife, promising to provide for her.  He would have done well to leave well enough alone. Instead he had other wives who caused him problems.  Life on the run can do that to you.  It reminds me of the words to Desperado:

Don't you draw the queen of diamonds boy
She'll beat you if she's able
You know the queen of hearts is always your best bet

Now it seems to me, some fine things
Have been laid upon your table
But you only want the ones that you can't get

Contentment.  Whenever we lose it, we're headed for trouble.  God had provided a wonderful, wise woman.  David wanted more. Watch out!

Feeling Foolish...

And David said to Abigail, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me! Blessed be your discretion, and blessed be you, who have kept me this day from bloodguilt and from working salvation with my own hand! For as surely as the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, who has restrained me from hurting you, unless you had hurried and come to meet me, truly by morning there had not been left to Nabal so much as one male.” Then David received from her hand what she had brought him. And he said to her, “Go up in peace to your house. See, I have obeyed your voice, and I have granted your petition.”
And Abigail came to Nabal, and behold, he was holding a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. And Nabal's heart was merry within him, for he was very drunk. So she told him nothing at all until the morning light. In the morning, when the wine had gone out of Nabal, his wife told him these things, and his heart died within him, and he became as a stone. And about ten days later the LORD struck Nabal, and he died.
(1 Samuel 25:32-38 ESV)
Nabal means "fool." He lived, and died, true to his name.  When he heard what his wife had done to save their lives and all they had, "his heart died within him." He lost all will to live.  The thought of repentance never entered his heart or mind. He did not handle rebuke well.
David also felt foolish.  He had reacted to word of Nabal's scorn and was ready to march in and take revenge, until Abigail came and gently rebuked him. He had lost sight of the big picture: God had promised he would be king, no matter what Nabal had to say about it.  Also, for him to carry out this vengeful act would be the opposite of the character he had consistently been demonstrating. He would end up losing the trust of others, the respect of the people, and the worthiness to be the King.  Her wise words hit deeply into his soul, and he received them as well as her gifts.
We do foolish things every day.  The most foolish are when we refuse to admit when we are foolish, harden our hearts, dig in our heels, and become bitter. May God grant us the wisdom to confess our foolishness and respond to righteousness.

A Wise, Worthy Woman...

But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, “Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to greet our master, and he railed at them. Yet the men were very good to us, and we suffered no harm, and we did not miss anything when we were in the fields, as long as we went with them. They were a wall to us both by night and by day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep. Now therefore know this and consider what you should do, for harm is determined against our master and against all his house, and he is such a worthless man that one cannot speak to him.”
Then Abigail made haste and took two hundred loaves and two skins of wine and five sheep already prepared and five seahs of parched grain and a hundred clusters of raisins and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on donkeys. And she said to her young men, “Go on before me; behold, I come after you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal. And as she rode on the donkey and came down under cover of the mountain, behold, David and his men came down toward her, and she met them. Now David had said, “Surely in vain have I guarded all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belonged to him, and he has returned me evil for good. God do so to the enemies of David and more also, if by morning I leave so much as one male of all who belong to him.”
When Abigail saw David, she hurried and got down from the donkey and fell before David on her face and bowed to the ground. 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. Let not my lord regard this worthless fellow, Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. Nabal is his name, and folly is with him. But I your servant did not see the young men of my lord, whom you sent. 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. And now let this present that your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who follow my lord. 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. 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. 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, 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.”
(1 Samuel 25:14-31 ESV)
The entertainment industry is full of sit-coms, movies and even documentaries which portray men as bumbling idiots and women as the ones with their heads on their shoulders.  Here we find the same portrayal of Nabal and Abigail.  Whereas the stereotype does not always hold true, sometimes it can be seen big time, like here.  Nabal had no regard for the anointed king-in-waiting. He ignored David, his request, and his men; he was a rude dude.  Abigail was in sharp contrast: she listened to the facts, developed a plan, and personally carried it out.  Those steps are an example to us, male or female. We must listen, hear people out, open up to the facts of life.  Then we must respond, not react; we must tackle the issue at hand head on - not ignore it or run away.  Finally, we must take personal responsibility.  Abigail did not merely send servants; she went to David himself. It was a sign of both respect and responsibility. She was able to add to her actions words and non-physical communication which made all the difference in the world.  She was as wise woman, worthy of the many verses dedicated to her here, and worthy as well of the time to examine our lives for the same response.

Decisiveness: Good and Bad

Now Samuel died. And all Israel assembled and mourned for him, and they buried him in his house at Ramah.
Then David rose and went down to the wilderness of Paran. And there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel. The man was very rich; he had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. He was shearing his sheep in Carmel. Now the name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail. The woman was discerning and beautiful, but the man was harsh and badly behaved; he was a Calebite. David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep. So David sent ten young men. And David said to the young men, “Go up to Carmel, and go to Nabal and greet him in my name. And thus you shall greet him: ‘Peace be to you, and peace be to your house, and peace be to all that you have. I hear that you have shearers. Now your shepherds have been with us, and we did them no harm, and they missed nothing all the time they were in Carmel. Ask your young men, and they will tell you. Therefore let my young men find favor in your eyes, for we come on a feast day. Please give whatever you have at hand to your servants and to your son David.’”
When David's young men came, they said all this to Nabal in the name of David, and then they waited. And Nabal answered David's servants, “Who is David? Who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants these days who are breaking away from their masters. Shall I take my bread and my water and my meat that I have killed for my shearers and give it to men who come from I do not know where?” So David's young men turned away and came back and told him all this. And David said to his men, “Every man strap on his sword!” And every man of them strapped on his sword. David also strapped on his sword. And about four hundred men went up after David, while two hundred remained with the baggage.
(1 Samuel 25:1-13 ESV)
Decisiveness: a good characteristic of leaders. I tend to be bad at it. Don't take me shoe shopping or expect any other kind of quick responses.  Some people are good at it.  Not Nabal. He made a snap decision to ignore David and his request. Culturally speaking, David's request was proper and timely.  Whereas many bands of men would go around snatching a sheep or two for survival, David's men, because he himself was a shepherd, had a heart to protect the sheep and their guardians.  The celebration of sheering was an appropriate time to step back and be thankful for the "harvest" of wool. Why not give David the party leftovers?  But Nabal, like Saul, reacted true to form, being ungrateful, rude and repulsive. David himself gets caught up in this reactionary pride. These men are being decisive alright. But reactions can reject reasoning and righteousness. Is there any hope for "decisive" men like this?  Let's wait and see. (Yes, let's put off that decision and appear indecisive.) And let's do some self-examination about how we have decided to react these past few days...

We interrupt this story...

Now Samuel died. And all Israel assembled and mourned for him, and they buried him in his house at Ramah.
Then David rose and went down to the wilderness of Paran.
(1 Samuel 25:1 ESV)
Less than a verse.  That's what it takes to describe the death of Samuel, a pivotal player in the history of Israel.  But what a statement it makes.  Everyone mourned.  Israel had asked for a king, and God gave them Saul, in place of Samuel.  Samuel had stepped down; they had Saul.  Saul kept messing up. Now Samuel died.  But something significant had happened. Saul finally had admitted that David should and would be king.  He had confessed the truth of God's plan. Now Samuel could go.  He had left behind a significant contribution to history. He had learned to take his part in the Big Story, so that when he was gone, he was truly missed.  That is what we need to learn: when we find our place in God's story, and step back and don't have to have all the glory, we get our verse, we make our contribution that is an integral part of a beautiful story God is telling.

A Great Deal...

I cry to you, O LORD;
I say, “You are my refuge,
my portion in the land of the living.”
Attend to my cry,
for I am brought very low!
Deliver me from my persecutors,
for they are too strong for me!
Bring me out of prison,
that I may give thanks to your name!
The righteous will surround me,
for you will deal bountifully with me.
(Psalm 142:5-7 ESV)

Prison.  Many of us have never been behind bars physically.  But there are many ways we can feel trapped, boxed in, with no way out.  At best, we can feel surrounded by four walls, with nowhere to go. At worst, we can be surrounded by enemies out to get us.  In any of those situations, chronic or critical, we have someone to cry out to,who will deliver us, free us, relocate us, or help us to see that we are not alone, or outnumbered.  He will "deal bountifully" with us.  There is no better deal out there anywhere.