“Blessed Be
Your Good Sense”
David said to
Abigail, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who sent you to meet me
today! Blessed be your good sense, and blessed be you, who have kept me today
from bloodguilt and from avenging myself by 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 would not have been
left to Nabal so much as one male.” Then David
received from her hand what she had brought him; he said to her, “Go up to your
house in peace; see, I have heeded your voice, and I have granted your
petition.”
Abigail came to Nabal; he was holding a feast in his house, like the feast
of a king. 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; he became like a
stone. About ten days later the LORD struck Nabal,
and he died.
When David heard
that Nabal was dead, he said, “Blessed be the LORD
who has judged the case of Nabal’s insult to me, and
has kept back his servant from evil; the LORD has returned the evil-doing of Nabal upon his own head.” Then David sent and wooed
Abigail, to make her his wife.
1 Samuel 25:32-39
David was soon to
be king of Israel. While he was hiding from Saul, he and his men watched over
the property of a rich landowner named Nabal. But
later, when David asked a favor of Nabal, he was met
with scorn.
Before David could
carry out revenge, Nabal’s wife intervened and kept
David from acting rashly. Soon, God struck Nabal
dead. Then David praised God for keeping him from evil and for returning the
wickedness Nabal had shown.
David’s story
reminds us that even when it seems as if we’re being repaid with evil for doing
good, we don’t have to take matters into our own hands; we can trust God with
the outcome.
One day God will right every wrong.
Our Daily Bread – May 2, 2008