Saturday, August 29, 2026
Scripture Readings
- Primary Reading: 1 Samuel 24-26
- Secondary Reading: Psalms 100
Key Verse
1 Samuel 25:24 — “And fell at his feet, and said, Upon me, my lord, upon me let this iniquity be: and let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thine audience, and hear the words of thine handmaid.”
Devotional Thought
What do you do when the person who wrongs you is placed, by sheer circumstance, entirely in your power? That is the question 1 Samuel 24-26 presses upon every reader, and it is not an abstract one. David faces it twice. In the cave at Engedi, Saul comes in alone, and David’s men whisper that providence has delivered him; David cuts only the skirt of Saul’s robe, and even that makes his heart smite him, for Saul is the LORD’s anointed. Later, in the camp at Hachilah, Abishai offers to pin Saul to the ground with one stroke of the spear, and David refuses again: “The LORD shall smite him; or his day shall come to die; or he shall descend into battle, and perish.” David will not seize by violence what God has promised to give in His own time. Between those two scenes stands Nabal of Maon, churlish and drunk, who returns evil for good and brings four hundred armed men marching toward his household—until Abigail, a woman of good understanding, intercepts David with bread and wine and a plea that keeps him from shedding blood causelessly. Ten days later the LORD smote Nabal, and David blessed the God who pleaded his cause.
The lessons sit close to ordinary life. Most of us are not hunted by kings, but we are wronged in smaller ways: a neighbor’s cutting word, a coworker’s stolen credit, a family member’s long ingratitude. The hand is ours; the cave is quiet; no one would know. David teaches us to leave vengeance with the Judge of all the earth, and to receive correction when it comes—even when it comes, as it did for David, from the mouth of a wise woman riding down a hill with provisions on her donkeys. Abigail’s counsel was worth more than the loaves and figs.
And notice where David’s restraint finally rests: not in his own strength but in the character of God. “The LORD judge between me and thee,” he tells Saul. “The soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the LORD thy God.” That is the ground of peace for the wronged—not that enemies fall, but that our lives are hidden with a faithful God. Psalm 100 answers with gladness: “Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.” Sheep do not avenge themselves. They follow a Shepherd who is good, whose mercy is everlasting, and whose truth endures to all generations.
Reflection
- Is there someone who has wronged you and now lies, in some sense, within your power—your reputation, your silence, your influence? Will you cut the skirt, or will you wait on the LORD?
- When a wise Abigail speaks into your anger, do you receive her counsel as David did, or do you gird on your sword and go up anyway?
Prayer
O Lord, Judge of all the earth, You have seen every wrong done to us and every wrong we have done. Keep our hands from vengeance, as You kept David’s, and teach us to wait for Your timing rather than seize our own. Send us faithful counsel in the hour of anger, and give us hearts humble enough to hear it. Bind our souls in the bundle of life with Yourself, our Shepherd and our God. Make us thankful, that we may enter Your gates with praise and bless Your name, for You are good and Your truth endures to all generations. Amen.
Psalm Verse
Psalms 100:1 — “Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.”