Saturday, May 8, 2010

May 9

1 Sam. 25:32-43
32 David said to Abigail, ‘Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who sent you to meet me today! 33Blessed be your good sense, and blessed be you, who have kept me today from blood-guilt and from avenging myself by my own hand! 34For 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 as much as one male.’ 35Then 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.’

36 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. 37In 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. 38About ten days later the Lord struck Nabal, and he died.

39 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 evildoing of Nabal upon his own head.’ Then David sent and wooed Abigail, to make her his wife. 40When David’s servants came to Abigail at Carmel, they said to her, ‘David has sent us to you to take you to him as his wife.’ 41She rose and bowed down, with her face to the ground, and said, ‘Your servant is a slave to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.’ 42Abigail got up hurriedly and rode away on a donkey; her five maids attended her. She went after the messengers of David and became his wife.

43 David also married Ahinoam of Jezreel; both of them became his wives.

44Saul had given his daughter Michal, David’s wife, to Palti son of Laish, who was from Gallim.

Blog Discussion Question: Was David right? Did God do his vengeance for him?

1 comment:

Pastor Jerry said...

It can be a dangerous thing to assume that when things go in our favor, it is because God has worked on our side. Actually, it may just as likely be that we have tapped into our sinful desires and wants and unbeknownst to us, we have simply fallen deeper into the quicksand.

Certainly David made a good decision, in our minds, not to crush Nabal for Nabal's stubbornness,but rather than rejoice in the death of Nabal, it seems that humility would have been a better response. After all, doing good for the mere fact of it being good needs no "reward", that is what grace is all about.... that is what Jesus is all about.

We'll find out in the readings to come that humility and thanks just might come in handy for David.