Tag: God Intercedes On Our Behalf - 1 Samuel 21-25

1 Samuel 25:32-35

And David said to Abigail, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me! Blessed be your discretion, and blessed be you, who have kept me this day from bloodguilt and from working salvation with my own hand! For as surely as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, who has restrained me from hurting you, unless you had hurried and come to meet me, truly by morning there had not been left to Nabal so much as one male.” Then David received from her hand what she had brought him. And he said to her, “Go up in peace to your house. See, I have obeyed your voice, and I have granted your petition.”

Tag:  God Intercedes On Our Behalf

The story of Nabal, Abigail and David falls in the middle of David’s running from Saul.  David is in a bad place. When we are in a bad place we can make very bad decisions.   David has already made several miss turns on this journey.  He is about to make another one.  He has sent his men to require of Nabal a payment for caring for Nabal’s property.  Nabal, a man of “harsh and bad behavior” (1 Samuel 25:3).   Nabal never asked David to care for his property so refuses to make a payment to David.   Abigail, Nabal’s wife, realizes that Nabal has put them in harms way and attempts to appease David.   David accepts her intercession on behalf of Nabal.    In the midst of David’s suffering journey, he is stopped, by God, doing further harm to his reputation and taking innocent blood.  Yes, Nabal was a harsh man and had bad behavior, but David taking his life (as David meant to do) was not only against God’s law, it was politically foolish.  God sends Abigail to intercede and stops David’s foolishness.   God will defend David and, soon, take Nabal’s life.  Abigail eventually becomes David’s wife.   But, David had to be sensitive to God’s intercession.   God will, if we are watching for the Spirit’s movement, direct us and guide us.   We should be careful as we move forward in life (especially when we are in a bad spot) to make sure we are sensitive to God’s intercession through people like “Abigail.”