I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here.
There are two parts to today’s Old Testament passage. The first of these is an episode of King Saul’s pursuit of David. The second is the story of David, Nabal and Abigail. In the first, King Saul returns from fighting the Philistines and takes up his pursuit of David once more. King Saul takes his army into the area where David and his men are hiding. King Saul goes aside from his men into a cave to relieve himself. David and his men are hiding deeper in that very cave. When David’s men realize that King Saul is so close to them, they urge David to sneak up and kill him. David sneaks up and then has an attack of conscience and merely cuts a corner off of King Saul’s robe. We can have little doubt that if their roles had been reversed, King Saul would have killed David. A lesson I take from this is that the evil behavior of others does not justify evil behavior on our part. Many people today would see David as perfectly justified in killing King Saul in that situation. After all, King Saul had been actively seeking David’s death for several years at this point. But David’s position was that God had chosen Saul as king over Israel and it would be wrong for David to act against that king. It was up to God to remove Saul from the kingship, not David. This lesson is that which Peter teaches in 1 Peter 3:9 “Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will bless you for it.”
The next passage is the story of Nabal and Abigail. Nabal was a wealthy man. David and his men had cleared the bandits out of the area where Nabal’s servants tended his flocks. At sheep shearing time, a traditional time of celebration and generosity, David sends some of his men to Nabal to request some provisions. Nabal not only refuses but insults both David and his men. When David hears Nabal’s response he is furious. When we read Nabal’s insult it is hard for us to understand why David was as angry as the passage tells us he was. However, the other actors in the story expected David to be furious and to react violently. At least one of Nabal’s servants who saw his treatment of David’s men thought it had crossed the line and would bring trouble. In addition, Abigail, Nabal’s wife, when she heard what he had told David’s men thought that it would bring trouble. Abigail quickly puts together a package of provisions and sent them out to David, following closely behind. When she sees David, she humbles herself and begs him to accept her gift and not take revenge on her husband and his men. The passage tells us that when, after a night of heavy drinking on his part, Abigail tells Nabal what she had done (and what would have happened if she had not) he suffers a serious health issue and dies after ten days. The passage tells us that his death was God’s judgement on his actions. After the death of Nabal, David takes Abigail as his wife. This might appear a little unseemly to us. However, in that society at that time, Abigail was in a very precarious situation. First, as a woman without a husband as a protector she would be viewed as a legitimate target for predatory behavior. In addition, it is probable from the story we have about Nabal that there were men who would be anxious to exact vengeance on him by attacking his estate (including his widow) now that he was no longer around to defend himself. So, by marrying Abigail, David extends his protection to her. Of course this is not a one sided arrangement, by marrying Abigail, David most probably came into possession of Nabal’s wealth. This story does not reflect well on David, but, on the other hand, it is not really all that negative either. It shows that David had a temper and that he was willing to take advantage of opportunities that came his way. The real lesson is in both Nabal’s and Abigail’s behavior. Nabal was selfish and gluttonous and suffered for this. By gluttonous I do not mean that he consumed excessive amounts of food, although the passage in no way contradicts that, but that he used his wealth to satisfy his pleasures in excessive ways. The passage tells us that Nabal was celebrating like a king when Abigail returned from pacifying David. This is a danger for us in America, that we might fail to give of our wealth to help those in need and instead use our wealth to live lavish, unhealthy lifestyles.
In this passage people asked Jesus to tell them if He was the Messiah. Jesus answers by saying that He has already answered and they did not believe Him. He continues by telling them that they should judge Him by what He has done, but that they will not believe Him because they are not His sheep. He goes on to say that He and the Father are one. At hearing this the people take up stones to stone Him. He asks them for which of His good works they are stoning Him. They accuse Him of blasphemy for claiming to be God. He quotes scripture to them and tells them that if they will not believe His words, they should believe the miracles He has performed, do they reflect the work of the Father? There is a lesson here for us. It is not enough for us to preach the gospel, we must also live the gospel and do the works of God. There is a quote attributed to Francis of Assisi that is relevant here, “Preach the Gospel always: When necessary use words.” I found this great article on that quote. The author sums up what I believe this passage is telling us. People can judge our words by looking at our actions, but they need our words to understand what our actions mean. Those who emphasize preaching the Gospel over doing good works are wrong. Those who emphasize doing good works over preaching the Gospel are equally wrong. We should preach the Gospel while doing good works. We do not do good works in order to have the opportunity to preach the Gospel. We do good works because they are part of the Gospel, but we must preach the Gospel because it is the only way that people will understand why we are acting as we are.
I read this psalm and I see what our model should be and how prayer can bring us hope in the face of trouble and joy when all around us seems to be collapsing.
and my prayer for mercy.
Because he bends down to listen,
I will pray as long as I have breath!
God listens to us even when no one else will. The psalmist goes on to say that if we call on the God to save us, our outlook will improve.
Then I called on the name of the Lord:
“Please, Lord, save me!”
The psalmist goes on to ask what he can offer to the Lord to repay for what the Lord has done for him. His answer is that he can do no more than praise the Lord and walk in His ways. That is all God asks of us.
yes, I am your servant, born into your household;
you have freed me from my chains.
I will offer you a sacrifice of thanksgiving
and call on the name of the Lord.
I strive to make this my prayer daily.
How true this passage is. If you look at the people you know, think about those who think poorly of their mother. How many of them would you consider wise? Even if you see the justice in their opinion of their mother, children who think poorly of their mothers are rarely, if ever wise. On the other hand, I have known people whose mothers were not very good mothers who praised their mothers for those things they got right and dismissed their failings as those of all mankind. The second proverb talks of how those with no sense revel in foolishness. I have known such people. People who know that something they are about to do will bring them discomfort and pain, yet do it any way for the joy of the moment. They have been a lesson to me to attempt to think through the consequences of my actions before taking them.