1 Samuel 25:28-31
Verse 31 “…my lord will not have on his conscience the staggering burden of needless bloodshed or of having avenged himself. And when the Lord your God has brought my lord success, remember your servant.”
We ended our time yesterday with Abigail talking to David before giving him the many gifts that she had brought for him. This was more than just trying to butter up this man who was intent on killing her husband, this wise woman understood what it would mean to David and his future if he did this horrible deed.
She wisely doesn’t come at him in a way that he will stop listening, in fact she humbly says that she didn’t mean to presume things about him. It is possible that this isn’t the first time that she has gotten her husband, Nabal, out of a snag. She may have had to talk people out of doing things to Nabal before. This time may have been different than the other times though. She seems to know quite a bit about David.
David wasn’t just an unknown shepherd boy anymore, his name was quite famous. From the time of his defeat of Goliath, David rose in popularity. Some people held him in high esteem and others, who were loyal to Saul, saw him as the enemy of their king. We mentioned the other day that from what Nabal said to David’s men, the rich man was not a fan of David. But what about his wife? Who had she been seeing as the man God was working for?
She tries to help David get out of his current way of thinking. She knows that if she can help him see things from a different way, he won’t kill her husband and he won’t ruin his own reputation. She reminds the future king that he doesn’t want this kind of thing hanging over his head and conscience when he is leading God’s people.
Abigail’s knowledge of David shows that she had heard why he had gone up against Goliath. She knew that he cared about God and His ways and that meant he needed to be reminded that he was God’s warrior, not David’s. Fighting for God and His honor is one thing but when we start to fight for our own honor we tend to step out of God’s will for us.
Making It Personal
Have you ever had a time when you were doing everything you could do to make sure your good name stayed clean? How important to you is defending God’s good name? How do you guard His good name?
Making It Personal Kids
Do you get mad at others when they make you look bad? Does it bother you when someone makes Jesus look bad? What can you do to stand up for Jesus?
Closing Prayer
Father, thank You for this reminder that when we look to avenge our own name, we are often going against Your will. Help us remember our first goal should be making sure that Your name is being honored in all we say and do. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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