1 Samuel 25:12–17

So David’s young men turned away and came back and told him all this. And David said to his men, “Every man strap on his sword!” And every man of them strapped on his sword. David also strapped on his sword. And about four hundred men went up after David, while two hundred remained with the baggage.

But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, “Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to greet our master, and he railed at them. Yet the men were very good to us, and we suffered no harm, and we did not miss anything when we were in the fields, as long as we went with them. They were a wall to us both by night and by day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep. Now therefore know this and consider what you should do, for harm is determined against our master and against all his house, and he is such a worthless man that one cannot speak to him.”

Nabal’s words were designed to offend. This is confirmed by the Hebrew word translated as “railed” (יָּ֥עַט, ya-aht). It literally means scream or shriek. His response to David’s reasonable request wasn’t just a blunt “no”, but a tantrum. So David is offended and makes ready to give Nabal an attitude adjustment.

We also get confirmation here that David’s men were a big help to Nabal’s shepherds. One of the shepherds even says, “They were a wall to us both by night and by day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep.” For a shepherd, that’s a dream come true.

But what this guy says next is telling. “Now therefore know this and consider what you should do, for harm is determined against our master and against all his house, and he is such a worthless man that one cannot speak to him.” This is a dire warning.

The Hebrew words translated as “worthless” (בֶּן־בְּלִיַּ֔עַל, ben b-lee-ya-al) literally mean son of worthlessness. Imagine a servant saying that about his master. He’s clearly under a lot of stress.

Then the servant adds an even harsher conclusion—“one cannot speak to him.”

Nabal has another hallmark of a fool—he won’t listen.

Classes in communication used to teach students to say, “So, what I hear you saying is,” and then repeat back what the other person said. This fell out of favor because once everyone was familiar with the phrase, actually using it made you sound like a robot.

But it was a useful lesson because it forced the student to listen well enough that they could at least repeat back what the other person had said. It’s striking how many people don’t even listen that well.

Of course, few people are as foolish as Nabal—who won’t even listen to a warning. But we all tend to be set in our ways. It takes discipline to hear out things we don’t want to hear.

But the things we don’t already know are the things with the most learning potential.

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These weekday DEEPs are written by Mike Slay. The Saturday ones are written by Matt Richardson. To subscribe to the DEEP click here: https://www.ailbe.org/resources/community

The weekly study guides, which include questions for discussion or meditation, can be downloaded here: https://www.ailbe.org/resources/itemlist/category/91-deep-studies

Scripture taken from the English Standard Version. © Copyright 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved.