1st Samuel 25 (Wednesday)

So it was, in the morning, when the wine had gone from Nabal, and his wife had told him these things, that his heart died within him, and he became like a stone. Then it happened, after about ten days, that the LORD struck Nabal, and he died. So when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, "Blessed be the LORD, who has pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and has kept His servant from evil! For the LORD has returned the wickedness of Nabal on his own head." And David sent and proposed to Abigail, to take her as his wife.

(1Sa 25:37-39)

Nabal… What a name! It literally means senseless fool, and that is exactly what Nabal turns out to be. Can you imagine of your parents named you senseless fool?! Something tells me this is a name he acquired as his life went on; a label of sorts. His blockheaded behavior got him labeled as just that, a blockhead (Another way you can translate Nabal).

God brings Nabal across David’s path to teach him yet another lesson, and confirm the attitude David had taken in his dealings with Saul. David does a great thing for Nabal, and the blockhead responds with, “I don’t know you from Adam, get outta my face”! This gets David boiling, and he is about to boil over, spilling his rage all over the blockhead and his homeboys, putting an end to their existence. David feels justified in this; Nabal has definitely wronged him, and David has every right to be mad. There is only one problem… what does the Lord want David to do?

The Lord sends Abigail, the poor wife of the blockhead, and she intercedes for her husband. She asks David to spare his life, saying “he’s a blockhead; he always does stuff like this”. Her wisest counsel comes towards the end of her speech. To summarize, she basically says this; “One day, you will come into the kingdom God has for you, and you will know that it is HIS work. Do you really want to unnecessarily soil your hands with this man’s blood? Do you want that to weigh on your conscience? Let the Lord avenge you.” This is wonderful counsel, and it affirms the stance David had taken with Saul. The Lord was his defense, and he did not need to take things into his own hands.

The Lord did avenge David; the very next morning the blockhead became a deadhead. (Not the 70’s variety, the actually dead kind.) Once again, God had shown David that HE WAS IN CONTROL. So what about you? What will you do when people wrong you? When they mistreat you? How will you respond when someone repays a good dead with an evil one? Will you take matters into your own hands? I pray that you will trust the Lord… He will take care of it!