Since the Lord has
restrained you from bloodguilt and taking vengeance with your own hand . .
. I Samuel 25:26
God was protecting David from guilt, grief and shame, “pangs
of conscience”, should he have chosen to take matters into his own hands.
My paraphrase. .. Abigail is speaking (Vs 29), If anyone come against you, in this protection of God, God will deal with
them and you (David) will be protected and found alive. I think it is
interesting that it does not say he will not have to do battle, or that he will
not be hurt, it says he will be found alive.
God has your back, David in this
midst of this attack and slander, this situation you find yourself in. He will
take care of your enemies. Let God be God. Do not take God’s job on yourself.
Taking care of your enemies is God’s job. Stay in the bubble of protection.
I recently watched a Warehouse 13 episode where the
warehouse was under attack and the regents had put a dome in place to protect
it, a force field, invisible, of course. It kept the world safe from the artifacts
within the warehouse but it also held whoever was in the warehouse captive, not
allowing them to escape. Four of the main characters were trapped inside the
warehouse with a nuclear bomb that had been activated. One character, the
brilliant H.G.Wells, made a way by creating an interior force field but it had
to be activated from outside it. Three could be saved; she had to be
sacrificed, by her choice.
As I read this passage this morning, it reminded me of that
episode. God’s protection in I Samuel 25:23-44 was both from without and
within. He protected David from his enemy Nabal and he protected David from his
own actions. David wanted to take Nabal out and make him pay for his offense
and was fully prepared to do so, but God intervened in an unusual way. Abigail
was Nabal’s wife and understood four things well.
1. Her husband was an idiot
2. God was with David.
3. Vengeance was God’s job.
4. There would be
consequence for David should he take matters in his own hands.
Abigail spoke in humility and strength to the anointed
“future” king but she spoke truth and David listened and stood down. Later we
see that God took care of Nabal in two ways.
1. He took the joy of his evil away and
2. He took his life.
Certainly David could have accomplished the
latter on his own, but the heart work, the emotional victory could only be
accomplished by God.
How does this passage speak to you? Are there places you are
taking on jobs that belong to the Lord? That battle within you, is it God’s
protection, his intervention from personal emotional harm?
Read 1 Samuel
25:23-44:
Listen for the word or phrase that sticks out to you? Write it down.
Read the passage again. This time pay attention to the emotion this
brings up in you. Sometimes, in passages like this one, I will
see which character I relate with and put myself in the account. What do I
feel, where am I standing, what is around me. Again, write it down.
Read the passage a third time and be still; listen for God to speak. What is God saying to you? To what is he
inviting you? What is the invitation for you? Write it down as if God is
addressing you. Vick,. .. .
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