Sun.’s Devo - Humility is the Road to Promotion

Read: 1 Samuel 24:1-25:44; John 10:22-42; Psalm 116:1-19; Proverbs 15:20-21
God set it up where David and Saul were in the same cave together. David and his men were deep in the cave when they heard voices and upon investigation found them to be Saul and his men. David’s men saw this as a divine set-up to kill Saul. Saul and his men had gone to sleep and it was the perfect time to kill them and be free of running. They could return to Israel and David could be the king.
Although this sounded good in theory, David knew in his heart that this looked more like a test, than an opportunity to usurp Saul’s kingdom. He aced the test. Instead of killing Saul, he gave Saul an opportunity to repent. He humbled himself before Saul and put his life in Saul’s hands. All of Saul’s men got to see David’s integrity because one day they would be under David’s command. It was a perfect way for David to prove that his heart was pure.
Saul had no recourse but to repent. He realized that David could have easily killed him but chose not to. Saul returned home and David stayed in the stronghold. In the meantime, Samuel died and all Israel mourned for him.
David’s men lived in the desert and were respectful of the one’s living there. There was a wealthy man, Nabal whose shepherds watched their sheep in the same area David’s men were staying. David’s men were a wall of protection for them and no robbers took their sheep. When it was time for shearing the sheep, the town would celebrate and everyone who worked with the sheep would be invited to the celebration. There would be plenty of food for all. David’s men were hungry and had every right to be invited to the party. David sent word to Nabal to ask if his men could come and Nabal, who was wicked and a bully, said, “no”.
David’s men were about to come and crash the party and kill Nabal and his men but Abigail, Nabal’s wife heard about the whole thing. She took matters into her own hand and brought the party to David. She packed up enough food to feed his whole army and went and met David herself. She apologized for her husband’s rudeness and begged the life of her town.
David accepted her food and her apology. Abigail returned to her drunk husband and waited till he was sober to tell him what she had done. When she told him, he had a stroke and died 10 days later. When David found out, he sent for her and became her husband. Abigail’s name means “father of joy”. David also married Ahinoam which means “brother of pleasantness”. The king was gathering a fruitful family.
It is hard for us to understand the culture of the Bible but the king always has many wives. Jesus as our king has many wives also. It was a sign of his compassion and care that he took Abigail, a woman who had been married to such a foolish boor, to be his wife.
In John, it was the celebration of Hanukkah. Hanukkah celebrated the time when the temple was rebuilt and there was only enough sacred oil to keep the menorah lit for a day. It took a week to make the oil but miraculously, the menorah stayed lit for the seven days until they could make new oil. I believe that Jesus was conceived on Passover and born on Hanukkah becoming the manifested light of the earth.
The Jews were still arguing with Jesus about his identity. They were about to stone him when he asked which of his miracles were they stoning him for. His acts proved who he was but they would never understand because they weren’t his sheep.
Lord, help us to understand that our identity is found in you only. We are all a part of this great family called the Body of Christ. May we learn to live together in unity.