God intervenes
Every day we're reading or listening to part of the Bible together and sharing thoughts with you. Today it’s Liz Nixon:
What did I like about today’s passage?
I like seeing David’s kindness to Saul: he is ridiculously patient with and merciful to him. He could have killed him on at least two occasions, but he refuses to harm God’s anointed king. David trusts God, waiting on Him to bring justice in his undoubtedly unjust circumstances, rather than taking it for himself.
However, this is then contrasted with David’s thirst for blood with Nabal, who refuses to give favour to David’s men. It’s crazy that David can be so merciful to King Saul who has tried to kill him in one chapter but does not show mercy to the “fool” Nabal who simply won’t share his food!
I like seeing God use Abigail to halt David’s thirst for vengeance - she has been sent by God to stop unnecessary bloodshed against her husband’s family. She is a wise woman who points out that Saul is pursuing David to kill him, (clearly a greater sin than Nabal’s offence!), and that God will deal with his enemies at the right time. David sees that God has sent her to stop him from sinning and is quick to thank and praise God for His intervention.
What did it show me about Father God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit?
The story of Nabal and Abigail shows me that God is on my side, looking out for me and intervening to stop me from making stupid, foolish mistakes. What a relief it is to know that!
It reminds me that we don’t have a God who is remote, distant, watching from afar as we make mistakes and leaves us to it.
The God we worship is our Heavenly Father, who is close, working things for good and willing to step in and help me when I am about to mess up. We follow a God who so longed to be near us that He sent His most precious Son to be with us, to save us and give us life in all its fullness. God’s plan to deal with my sin and sinful tendencies is not just the one-off event of Jesus’s death on the cross, but also His active use of others, as seen in the life of David with Abigail. But He also kindly gives us the Spirit of His Son, who lives within us, nudging us and correcting our steps and our thoughts. All members of The Trinity are working together for my good. The goodness of God is overwhelming!
What am I going to do differently as a result?
I found it hard to find much within these chapters to write about initially but the more I’ve dived in and read it, chewed over it and thought about it, the more treasure I’ve found! It encourages me to keep going with challenging passages.
Who am I going to share this with?
The friends who I know that share my love of and passion for God’s Word.