Verse of the Day: 1 Samuel 25:1, Then David said to his men, “Every man gird on his sword.” So every man girded on his sword, and David also girded on his sword. And about four hundred men went with David, and two hundred stayed with the supplies.
David’s reaction to Nabal’s response to his request would seem justified in any of our minds. However, when we react quickly, especially in anger, we completely disregard the consequences of our actions. James 1:19-20 warns, “So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; 20 for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” Sadly, I have seen too many Christians justify their angry outbursts by calling it “righteous anger”. Yet, the Word of God is very clear that man’s wrath does NOTHING to encourage or produce the righteousness of God. In spite of that, we continue to trample each other in our “righteous attempts” to rebuke those who stumble in our midst. The result is that Christian brothers and sisters are discouraged and pull away from the Lord, rather than draw near to Him. The unsaved are turned off by our attitude, and often our hypocrisy, as they see us do the same things we rebuked them for. David was on a path to doing something that would produce some negative consequences that he did not consider. What took place soon thereafter was nothing more than God’s grace in His intervention by sending Abigail to intercept David as he was on his way to settle this issue in his anger. When Abigail heard what Nabal had done, she made haste to have her servants prepare provision for David and his men and was diligent in going out to meet him, before he carried out his plans in haste. In verses 30-31 Abigail reminded David of the long term consequences of his shortsighted anger. Those verses read, “And it shall come to pass, when the Lord has done for my lord according to all the good that He has spoken concerning you, and has appointed you ruler over Israel, 31 that this will be no grief to you, nor offense of heart to my lord, either that you have shed blood without cause, or that my lord has avenged himself. But when the Lord has dealt well with my lord, then remember your maidservant.” Far too often we do not slow down to listen to the Spirit of God who beckons us to reconsider our choices and actions when we are angry. We fail to slow down, stop, and pray before we act. We only think about the immediate satisfaction of giving someone “a piece of our mind” or satisfying our pride by making certain that whoever offended us “can’t get away with it”. We fail to evaluate what our rash reactions do to dishonor the Name of Jesus or how it will affect our testimony for Him in the future. This is not to say that we are not to be angry. Ephesians 4:26-27 states, “‘Be angry, and do not sin’: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil.” As born again believers, living in a fallen world, among fallen people, we do not have to go far to be angered about one thing or another; whether it affects us personally or someone we love. However, the Word of God warns us that when we give in to our anger and add sin to that anger, we give the devil an advantage. The advantage is that we then allow our anger to be turned into devilish responses, rather than resorting to actions of love that honor God. Jesus Himself told us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us (Matthew 5:44). David was going down the path of taking vengeance for himself. Abigail reminded him that nothing good would come of that. So it is with us when we choose to not forgive and seek revenge against those who mistreat us or cheat us. As God’s children we must constantly remind ourselves, even in our anger, that God sees all and will reward everyone in accordance to their action, whether good or bad (Romans 2:6; 12:14-21; 2 Corinthians 5:10). It was not long after Abigail’s quick thinking and wisdom that God took vengeance on David’s behalf in verse 38 we read, “Then it happened, after about ten days, that the Lord struck Nabal, and he died.” The next time we are angered by something someone does to us, or someone we love, let us slow down, stop if necessary, pray, listen the Spirit’s response, then act. If we truly listen with more than our ears and react in accordance to the Spirit’s leading, the result will be glory to our Lord, even if we do not see it right away. It will always be so in God’s timing, not ours.
Today, God extends an invitation to you to accept His free gift of salvation (Rom 6:23). Will you accept it? Anyone who calls on Jesus, by faith, in repentance, confessing your sins, will receive eternal life. Do not put off calling on Him, and receive Him and His free gift of salvation today (Rom 10:13).
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