PERSONAL JOURNAL:
SIN ( 1 Samuel 25:39 ): Sometimes You put people in our paths to prevent us from doing something You do not want us to do. I know I have been in moments like this, such as with David and Abigail. David would have surely killed Nabal had You not moved in Abigail’s heart to confront David herself. Thankfully, David recognized this and You decided to take out Nabal on Your own to keep David’s hands clean. I can look back and see the many times You have placed people in my path to prevent me from sinning and many of those times I failed to recognize it in the moment and instead continued to pursue my evil desires. Please forgive me for not always recognizing this in the heat of the moment, Father. Help me to be better at listening to You and Your messengers, especially in those heated moments, Father.
PROMISE ( 1 Samuel 25:18 ): You promised David that not only would his needs be taken care of, but also that he would become the eventual king of Israel. In this verse, the needs of him and his people are easily taken care of by You using Abigail as the deliverer. She provided him and his men with so much that I’m sure they were easily filled up with no worries in their hearts nor stomachs at that point.
ATTITUDE ( 1 Samuel 25:39 ): The attitudes of discernment and thankfulness, even after the fact, are ones that I do struggle with quite a bit. In this chapter, David seems to embrace these fully. He recognized Your messenger and deliverer in Abigail. Then when he heard of Nabal’s death, he praised and thanked You not for the death itself, but for restraining him for doing what was evil if he had killed Nabal himself. Help me to have the discernment to recognize these moments, Father, but also the thankfulness in my heart to praise and thank You once I do recognize them.
COMMAND ( 1 Samuel 25:32 ): Today, I see Your command to me is to be better at spiritual discernment. In this verse, David speaks to Nabal’s wife, Abigail. He doesn’t push her away because he’s Nabal’s wife and Nabal had just wronged his men. He doesn’t decide to take his anger out on her instead of Nabal or maybe both. No, he recognized through spiritual discernment that this lady wasn’t sent by Nabal, wasn’t here on her own, but was actually sent by You directly! He says “praise to the Lord God of Israel, who sent you to meet me today!” That is his first response after Abigail speaks to him. Now THAT is amazing, but also something that I have to work on greatly.
EXAMPLE ( 1 Samuel 25:28 ): Even someone who never met David before this moment recognized the greatness You have bestowed on David. He lived a life fully for You up to this point and it was evident in everything he did as well as how he carried himself. Abigail says here that the Lord is certain to make a lasting dynasty for David because David fights the Lord’s battles! She didn’t say because David is a great and powerful man or leader. She said because he fights the Lord’s battles. Even her perception of him in this moment sees him as a God-focused and God-drive man. Wow!
*DAILY NOTE: This was yet another great testimony about David’s life before the many events that led to his fall. He isn’t king, yet, but he is becoming more loved, more powerful, and continuing to stay with a God-focused and God-driven way of life. This is the David I want to be like in my life, Father. Continue to work in my heart and remind me daily of the things I should be doing; the things You want me to do or not to do, Father. You used Abigail to let David know You did NOT want him to kill Nabal with his own hands and that You would take care of it later on Yourself. David was able to listen because He had spiritual discernment and actually paid attention to Your messages to him, regardless of the vessel You used to relay those messages. Help me with my spiritual discernment, Father, so that I may be better at knowing when You are speaking to me. Thank You for today’s message and quiet time.
EXPAND TO READ: GENERAL NOTE FOR MY QUIET TIMES
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