1 Samuel 25:21 David had just said, “It’s been useless—all my watching over this fellow’s property in the wilderness so that nothing of his was missing. He has paid me back evil for good.”
In the last chapter, Saul is delivered into David’s hands, and David humbles himself in the Lord, allowing God to work matters according to His plans, not David’s. But in this chapter, David is mad. Nabal has slighted him, and David vows his revenge by killing all the males by daylight. In the span of a chapter, David has forgotten that it’s not about him, it’s about God.
1 Samuel 25:22 “May God deal with David, be it ever so severely, if by morning I leave alive one male of all who belong to him!”
Commentary suggests David may have reacted this way because Nabal is an equal. If my life is any indication, I think he just reached a level of frustration that overflowed. I know I knock myself out in my roles—Christian, wife, mother, sister, teacher—and when my efforts are overlooked or ignored, especially when it happens in multiple areas in my life at once, I am apt to explode at the perceived injustice, to think, “How is it that I’m knocking myself out and nobody notices, nobody acknowledges?” Even thinking about it makes me frustrated and angry.
1 Samuel 25:26 “And now, my lord, as surely as the LORD lives and as you live, since the LORD has kept you from bloodshed and from avenging yourself with your own hands….”
Lord, Thank You for this day and this scripture. Thank You for loving me enough to keep reminding me that this life, my work, the roles that I fulfill—none of it is about me. It’s about You. Help me to work for You, to rest in You, to be rewarded by You. Always. Help me to humble myself in Your strength. It’s not about me, Lord. It’s about You. Always. Help me never to lose sight of that truth. Amen.
1 Samuel 25:29 “Even though someone is pursuing you to take your life, the life of my lord will be bound securely in the bundle of the living by the LORD your God….”
Have a blessed day.
My faith, my life, my teaching–it's all a work in progress.