Ethan: Welcome to Immerse: the daily bible reading experience.
Day 100 and 94
one day near Hoish David received the news that Saul was on the way to
Ziff to search for him and kill him.
Jonathan went to find David and encouraged him to stay strong in his faith in God.
Don't be afraid, Jonathan reassured him.
My father will never find you.
You are going to be the King of Israel and I will be next to you as my father.
Saul is well aware.
So the two of them renewed their solemn pact before the Lord.
Then Jonathan returned home, while David stayed at Horesh.
But now the men of Ziph went to Saul in Gibeah and betrayed David to him.
We know where David is hiding, they said.
He is in the strongholds of Horesh.
On the hill of Hakkila, which is in the southern part of Jishaimun.
Come down whenever you're ready, O king, and we will catch
him and hand him over to you.
The Lord bless you, Saul said.
At last, someone is concerned about me.
Go and check again to be sure of where he is staying and who has seen him
there, for I know that he is very crafty.
Discover his hiding places and come back when you are sure.
Then I'll go with you, and if he is in the area at all, I'll track
him down, even if I have to search every hiding place in Judah.
So the men of Ziph returned home ahead of Saul.
Meanwhile, David and his men had moved into the wilderness of Mahan, in the
Arabah Valley, south of Jeshimon.
When David heard that Saul and his men were searching for him, he went
even farther into the wilderness.
To the Great Rock, and he remained there in the wilderness of Mayon, but
Saul kept after him in the wilderness.
Saul and David were now on opposite sides of a mountain.
Just as Saul and his men began to close in on David and his men, an
urgent message reached Saul that the Philistines were raiding Israel again.
So Saul quit chasing David and returned to fight the Philistines.
Ever since that time, the place where David was camped has
been called the Rock of Escape.
David then went to live in the strongholds of En Gedi.
After Saul returned from fighting the Philistines, he was told that David had
gone into the wilderness of En Gedi.
So Saul chose 3, 000 elite troops from all Israel and went to search for David and
his men near the rocks of the wild goats.
At the place where the road passes some sheepfolds, Saul went
into a cave to relieve himself.
But as it happens, David and his men were hiding farther back in that very cave.
Now's your opportunity, David's men whispered to him.
Today the Lord is telling you, I will certainly put your enemy into
your power to do with as you wish.
So David crept forward and cut off a piece of the hem of Saul's robe.
But then David's conscience began bothering him, because
he had cut Saul's robe.
He said to his men, The Lord forbid that I should do this to my lord the king.
I shouldn't attack the Lord's anointed one, for the Lord himself has chosen him.
So David restrained his men and did not let them kill Saul.
After Saul had left the cave and gone on his way, David came out and
shouted after him, My lord the king!
And when Saul looked around, David bowed low before him.
Then he shouted to Saul, Why do you listen to the people who
say I am trying to harm you?
This very day you can see with your own eyes it isn't true.
For the Lord placed you at my mercy back there in the cave.
Some of my men told me to kill you, but I spared you.
For I said, I will never harm the king.
He is the Lord's anointed one.
Look, my father, at what I have in my hand.
It is a piece of the hem of your robe.
I cut it off, but I didn't kill you.
This proves that I am not trying to harm you, and that I have not
sinned against you, even though you have been hunting for me to kill me.
May the Lord judge between us.
Perhaps the Lord will punish you for what you are trying to do to
me, but I will never harm you.
As that old proverb says, From evil people come evil deeds.
So you can be sure I will never harm you.
Who is the king of Israel trying to catch anyway?
Should he spend his time chasing one who is as worthless as
a dead dog or a single flea?
May the Lord therefore judge which of us is right and punish the guilty one.
He is my advocate, and he will rescue me from your power.
When David had finished speaking, Saul called back, Is
that really you, my son David?
Then he began to cry.
And he said to David, You are a better man than I am, for you
have repaid me good for evil.
Yes, you have been amazingly kind to me today, for when the Lord
put me in a place where you could have killed me, you didn't do it.
Who else would let his enemy get away when he had him in his power?
May the Lord reward you well for the kindness you have shown me today, and
now I realize that you are surely going to be king and that the kingdom of
Israel will flourish under your rule.
Now swear to me by the Lord that when that happens, you will not kill my family
and destroy my line of descendants.
So David promised this to Saul with an oath.
Then Saul went home, but David and his men went back to their stronghold.
Now Samuel died, and all Israel gathered for his funeral.
They buried him at his house in Ramah.
Then David moved down to the wilderness of Maon.
There was a wealthy man from Maon who owned property near the town of Carmel.
He had three thousand sheep and one thousand goats, and
it was sheep shearing time.
This man's name was Nabal, and his wife, Abigail, was a
sensible and beautiful woman.
But Nabal, a descendant of Caleb, was crude and mean in all his dealings.
When David heard that Nabal was shearing his sheep, he sent ten of his young men
to Carmel with this message for Nabal.
Peace and prosperity to you, your family, and everything you own.
I am told that it is sheep shearing time.
While your shepherds stayed among us near Carmel, we never harmed them.
And nothing was ever stolen from them.
Ask your own men, and they will tell you this is true.
So, would you be kind to us, since we have come at a time of celebration?
Please share any provisions you might have on hand with us.
And with your friend David, David's young men gave this message to Nabal in
David's name, and they waited for a reply.
Who is this fellow David?
Nabal sneered to the young men.
Who does this son of Jesse think he is?
There are lots of servants these days who run away from their masters.
Should I take my bread and my water and my meat that I've
slaughtered for my shearers?
And give it to a band of outlaws who come from who knows where?
So David's young men returned and told him what Nabal had said.
Get your swords, was David's reply as he strapped on his own.
Then 400 men started off with David and 200 remained behind
to guard their equipment.
Meanwhile, one of Nabal's servants went to Abigail and told her,
David sent messengers from the wilderness to greet our master,
but he screamed insults at them.
These men have been very good to us, and we never suffered any harm from them.
Nothing was stolen from us the whole time they were with us.
In fact, day and night, they were like a wall of protection to us and the sheep.
You need to know this and figure out what to do, for there is going to be trouble
for our master and his whole family.
He's so ill tempered that no one can even talk to him.
Abigail wasted no time.
She quickly gathered 200 loaves of bread, two wineskins full of wine, five
sheep that had been slaughtered, nearly a bushel of roasted grain, 100 clusters
of raisins, And two hundred fig cakes.
She packed them on donkeys and said to her servants, Go on ahead.
I will follow you shortly.
But she didn't tell her husband, Nabel, what she was doing.
As she was riding her donkey into a mountain ravine, she saw David
and his men coming toward her.
David had just been saying, A lot of good it did to help this fellow.
We protected his flocks in the wilderness, and nothing he owned was lost or stolen.
But he has repaid me evil for good.
May God strike me and kill me, if even one man of his household
is still alive tomorrow morning.
When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off her donkey and bowed low before him.
She fell at his feet and said, I accept all blame in this matter, my lord.
Please, listen to what I have to say.
I know Nabal is a wicked and ill tempered man.
Please don't pay any attention to him.
He is a fool, just as his name suggests, but I never even
saw the young men you sent.
Now, my Lord, as surely as the Lord lives, and you yourself live since the
Lord has kept you from murdering and taking vengeance into your own hands,
let all your enemies and those who try to harm you be as cursed as naval is.
And here is a present that I, your servant have brought to you and your young men.
Please forgive me if I have offended you in any way.
The Lord will surely reward you with a lasting dynasty, for you are fighting
the Lord's battles, and you have not done wrong throughout your entire life.
Even when you are chased by those who seek to kill you, your life is
safe in the care of the Lord your God, secure in His treasure pouch,
but the lives of your enemies will disappear like stones shot from a sling.
When the Lord has done all He promised and has made you leader of Israel, don't
let this be a blemish on your record.
Then your conscience won't have to bear the staggering burden of
needless bloodshed and vengeance.
And when the Lord has done these great things for you, please
remember me, your servant.
David replied to Abigail, Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, who
has sent you to meet me today.
Thank God for your good sense.
Bless you for keeping me from murder and from carrying out
vengeance with my own hands.
For I swear by the Lord, the God of Israel, who has kept me from hurting
you, that if you had not hurried out to meet me, Not one of Nabal's men
would still be alive tomorrow morning.
Then David accepted her present and told her, Return home in peace.
I have heard what you said.
We will not kill your husband.
When Abigail arrived home, she found that Nabal was throwing a big party
and was celebrating like a king.
He was very drunk, so she didn't tell him anything about her meeting
with David until dawn the next day.
In the morning when Nabal was sober, his wife told him what had happened.
As a result, he had a stroke, and he lay paralyzed on his bed like a stone.
About ten days later, the Lord struck him, and he died.
When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, Praise the Lord, who has avenged
the insult I received from Nabal, and has kept me from doing it myself.
Nabal has received the punishment for his sin.
Then David sent messengers to Abigail to ask her to become his wife.
When the messengers arrived at Carmel, they told Abigail, David has sent
us to take you back to marry him.
She bowed low to the ground and responded, I, your servant,
would be happy to marry David.
I would even be willing to become a slave, washing the feet of his servants.
Quickly getting ready, she took along five of her servant girls
as attendants, mounted her donkey, and went with David's messengers.
And so she became his wife.
David also married Ahinoam from Jezreel, making both of them his wives.
Saul, meanwhile, had given his daughter Michael, David's wife, to a man from
Galem named Paltai, son of Laish.
This concludes today's Immerse Reading Experience.
Thank you for joining us.