Hey, Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble, and I'm your host for the Bible Recap. We're back in 1 Samuel today, and the last thing that happened in this storyline was that David spared Saul's life. Then Saul acknowledged that David would be the next king. So the timing is right for Samuel to die, which is how our reading opens today. Then we cut to David and his people who had protected a rich man in his flocks while he was out of town. The rich man's name is Nabal, which means foolish. They've done Nabal a service, so David sends his men to ask Nabal for provisions so they can keep the feast. But he refuses and even insults David. So they decide to attack his estate and take what he refuses to give. David makes a vow to kill all the males in Nabal's household. It's interesting to see how differently David responds here than how he was responding to Saul in the past. One of Nabal's servants takes word of all of this back to Nabal's wife, Abigail, letting her know how honorable and helpful David and his men have been to them. The servant knows his life is at stake, but he can't appeal to Nabal because he's an unreasonable man, so he goes to Abigail instead.

She gets some food and wine together, a lot of it, like she clears the aisles at the Israeli Costco and takes it to David without mentioning it to her husband. And she has a beautiful approach when she drops off all the shopping carts. She humbles herself before him and accepts the blame for everything that has gone wrong, even though it's not her fault. This helps to diffuse David's anger. Then she reasons with him and wishes him well. She also seems to indicate that she knows both David's past and future. Unlike Nabal, who insulted David, she seems to know that he killed Goliath with a sling shot because she references it, and she seems to know that he'll be the next king of Israel. But she seems to really believe in him as well. And it calms David down. He relents. This means he's breaking his vow to God. But we've learned by now that it's better to break a vow than to take a life. David realizes what a blessing she's been to him and that God sent her at just the right time before he killed a bunch of innocent men in an act of revenge.

Abigail tells Nabal about it the next day, and he has some physical response, a heart attack or a stroke or a coma. Then God kills him 10 days later. David goes back to get her and marries her, and she continues to show him respect. She's leaving her wealthy estate behind to marry a man who moves around in the desert. I know he's David, but at the time, this was not a lifestyle upgrade. It was certainly a personality upgrade, though. Quick sidebar. At some point prior to this, David's first marriage to Saul's daughter, Michal, had ended without his consent. Saul gave her to another man after he felt David betrayed him. But we'll find out later that David was not okay with that. David had also married a woman named Ahinoam. Cut to David in Ziph again, and the Ziphites are tattletailing on him to Saul, just like they did in chapter 23. Despite the great conversation David had with Saul outside the cave bathroom, Saul goes back with his army of thousands to hunt David again. David and one of his men, Abishai, sneak into their camp at night while they're sleeping. Just like the men had done in the cave, Abishai encourages David to kill Saul then and there, quick and easy.

But David refuses to do God's job for him. Instead, he takes Saul's spear and water jar and leaves. Once he gets a safe distance away, David calls out to them to make his point, and he drives the point home by saying, Look, if God is the one who sent you here, I receive this. But if you're here because of the words of men or the fear of man, then knock it off. Those men are cursed, and they even said, I should worship other gods besides Yahweh. That's bonkers. Then Saul gets it, again. David gives him his stuff back, Saul blesses him, and they go their separate ways. But all this has made David wonder if there will ever be a day when he doesn't have to run from Saul. The last time they talked, he thought all that was finally over, but then it came unhinged again. Maybe you've been there. Prolonged trials will always lead to despair and sin if we fail to trust God. And that's the path David heads down. He begins to think Saul will be victorious. The only solution he can think of is to leave Israel and go back to Philistia for asylum again.

The last time he was there, things didn't go so well, and he had to act like he was insane. But this time he brings an army with him, and Achish welcomes them. Saul does finally stop hunting for him at this point. So David asks Achish for some land to live in and turns his attention elsewhere, attacking the cities in the area. This goes on for 16 months with him raiding little towns on the edge of Philistia, just like the Israeli should have done a long time ago. David is making strides to fulfill God's command. But instead of slaughtering the spoils like he's supposed to, he brings them back to Achish, but lies to him about where they came from. He's pretending He's planning his raids are on Israel to earn the trust of Achish, but he's doing it through lies. I know this is a Holy war, but I'm having a hard time with this, David. It's not a good look. Today's God shot for me was how God worked through Abigail. He granted her wisdom to know how to de-escalate a situation that was about to get out of control. That takes real trust in God to enter into chaos and create peace.

Scripture marks her as someone with discernment, which is God-given. So far in scripture, the The only other person who has been referred to as discerning is Joseph, and God used him in much the same way, entering into chaos and bringing peace. Proverbs 16:21 says, The wise of heart is called discerning, and sweetness of speech increases persuasiveness. Discernment seems to be adjacent to peace-making. The wise in heart also know that joy isn't found in getting our own way. It's about yielding to his way because he's where the joy is.

Have you picked up our new Bible study on the Gospel of Matthew, or did you do it as a member of TBR's partner ministry, DGROUP International?

The study is called Knowing Jesus as King. And we've been so encouraged because we keep hearing that it helps people grow in their love and knowledge of Jesus. We've even heard stories of salvation. So if any of that applies to you, we'd love for you to review it. Your reviews directly help others to find and start this study. Check for a link in the show notes to leave a review on Amazon. In every section of scripture we've recap together, I've asked you one important question. What was your God shot today? I can't express to you enough how learning who God is and what his character is can change your life. I want to invite you to dig deeper into this topic with me as I talk with Denise from KSBJ. To hear our conversation, just click the link in the show notes.