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Someone Who Will Listen
Most folk have no problem talking. If the truth be known, most of us talk too much. How much better would it be if we learned to be good listeners. There are seminars given on how to be better listeners. After all, a lot is going on around us. How important, then, for us to listen.
Read Isaiah 28:23, Matthew 15:10, and James 1:19. What are they telling us to do, and why?
David and his men were on the run from Saul. While living in the wilderness of Paran, they met up with the herdsmen and animals of the wealthy landowner Nabal. Instead of helping themselves to the animals, David and his men protected the herdsmen and animals. At last, the sheep- shearing time arrived, and a festive spirit was in the air. This was the time for saying thank you and giving gifts. Knowing this, David sent ten of his men to ask for provisions.
Read 1 Samuel 25:1–11. Why is David so insulted by Nabal’s reply? What does David hear?
Nabal is truly making good on his name. He sneeringly calls David’s men runaway slaves and sends them packing empty-handed. Nabal makes it very clear that he thinks David is a nobody. In his mind, David is so insignificant that knowing where he comes from or what he is doing is not really worth the asking. Though David has demonstrated amazing self-restraint with murderous King Saul, he, like us, feels deeply wounded when told that he is a nobody and amounts to nothing. This is compounded by the fact that he had shown kindness and was being rewarded with insults and humiliation.
Nabal is totally unaware of who he is dealing with. He does seem to know some of the facts. He knows who David’s father was and that David is on the run from Saul, but Nabal is so self-centered and conceited that he is unable or unwilling to listen to his servants. Nabal’s servants have lived near David’s men and know that they are a fighting force to be reckoned with. The servants recognize that their master “ ‘is such a wicked man that no one can talk to him’ ” (1 Sam. 25:17, NIV). And so they turn to someone who will listen—Abigail.
When was the last time your lack of attentive listening caused you or others trouble? How can you learn from your mistakes?
| SUNDAY | October 24 |
Most folk have no problem talking. If the truth be known, most of us talk too much. How much better would it be if we learned to be good listeners. There are seminars given on how to be better listeners. After all, a lot is going on around us. How important, then, for us to listen.
Read Isaiah 28:23, Matthew 15:10, and James 1:19. What are they telling us to do, and why?
David and his men were on the run from Saul. While living in the wilderness of Paran, they met up with the herdsmen and animals of the wealthy landowner Nabal. Instead of helping themselves to the animals, David and his men protected the herdsmen and animals. At last, the sheep- shearing time arrived, and a festive spirit was in the air. This was the time for saying thank you and giving gifts. Knowing this, David sent ten of his men to ask for provisions.
Read 1 Samuel 25:1–11. Why is David so insulted by Nabal’s reply? What does David hear?
Nabal is truly making good on his name. He sneeringly calls David’s men runaway slaves and sends them packing empty-handed. Nabal makes it very clear that he thinks David is a nobody. In his mind, David is so insignificant that knowing where he comes from or what he is doing is not really worth the asking. Though David has demonstrated amazing self-restraint with murderous King Saul, he, like us, feels deeply wounded when told that he is a nobody and amounts to nothing. This is compounded by the fact that he had shown kindness and was being rewarded with insults and humiliation.
Nabal is totally unaware of who he is dealing with. He does seem to know some of the facts. He knows who David’s father was and that David is on the run from Saul, but Nabal is so self-centered and conceited that he is unable or unwilling to listen to his servants. Nabal’s servants have lived near David’s men and know that they are a fighting force to be reckoned with. The servants recognize that their master “ ‘is such a wicked man that no one can talk to him’ ” (1 Sam. 25:17, NIV). And so they turn to someone who will listen—Abigail.
When was the last time your lack of attentive listening caused you or others trouble? How can you learn from your mistakes?
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