SSS* Week #7
I am known to jokingly ask a friend to please record, save, and be prepared to repeat back to me the advice that is about to spew out of my mouth. Chances are, I will one day need to take and apply the advice I am sharing with them to my own situation.
Looks like David can relate.
He had an opportunity to destroy Saul as he stood alone and vulnerable in a cave. Instead, David decided to only cut off a piece of his robe because he was determined to not use force to get the kingship from Saul. He was going to leave that to the Lord who gave it. David calmly and considerately said to Saul, “May the Lord judge between you and me. And may the Lord avenge the wrongs you have done to me, but my hand will not touch you” (1 Samuel 24:12).
Following that event, David had an encounter involving a man named Nabal. David made a humble request of Nabal but received a very mean answer. In response, David got extremely angry and said to his men, “each of you strap on your sword!” (2 Samuel 25:13).
Oh my, David is about to kill this man!! Nabal was rude and mean, but . . .
Is this the same David who in the previous chapter was calm and considerate enough to spare the life of a man out to kill him? Yet now he is not willing to spare anything that belongs to a man who only lashed out a few harsh words?
The good news is when Nabal’s wife, Abigail, heard that David was coming to kill her husband and “all who belong to him,” “Abigail acted quickly!” (1 Samuel 25:18). Abigail’s words to David were to encourage him to basically take his own advice! It’s as if she recorded, saved, and repeated back the message of David’s words to Saul.
She pleaded with David to “not have on his conscience the staggering burden of needless bloodshed or of having avenged himself” (1 Samuel 25:31).
David recognized her great judgment and said, “Praise the Lord” (1 Samuel 25:32). Had she not reminded David of what he had previously committed to “not touch . . .” as he allowed the “Lord [to] avenge . . .,” David would have a “burden” on his hands.
Perhaps David and I aren’t the only one’s out there who have had someone come along to “quickly” remind us of advice we’ve once shared and lived by. Maybe we so graciously aided a friend as they walked through a dark season and now we are in their shoes and would benefit from our own words of wisdom. Or maybe you feel you have never given any “good advice” and are always on the receiving end of these experiences. Keep in mind David’s and Abigail’s advice were not original! Each of them was speaking truths that are based on God’s word and on what he’d revealed to them to be in line with His character. That being said, if you are “short of advice,” the Bible still has plenty! The same Lord who sent Abigail to David, sent us His Word.
Record it, save it, and repeat it back as we aim to live out the message of His Words to us.
Take His advice as your own!
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*SSS: Spending the Summer In Samuel
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- Reading Assignment for Week #8 (July 14th – July 19th): 1 Samuel 28-31
- Week 8 Journal Questions for 1 Samuel 28-31
- 1 & 2 Samuel Outline
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