Run It By The Taste Buds

# 354 - Today's Du-votional comes from: 1Sa 25:32-34, “Then David said to Abigail: "Blessed is the LORD God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me! 33 "And blessed is your advice and blessed are you, because you have kept me this day from coming to bloodshed and from avenging myself with my own hand. 34 "For indeed, as the LORD God of Israel lives, who has kept me back from hurting you, unless you had hastened and come to meet me, surely by morning light no males would have been left to Nabal!" )1 Sam 25:32-34) Oh how happy David is that Abigail has turned him back from shedding blood without cause. He starts out by blessing the Lord God, acknowledging that it was by the Lord's prompting that Abigail came to him in the first place. Then he blesses Abigail for her advice to him, the word advice does not do justice here to what David is really saying to Abigail. The Hebrew word used here means to taste, it is the idea of having discernment. If you've ever seen an expert tasting wine, you can fully appreciate what is being said here. These experts swirl the wine around the glass, they sniff it, and move it around their taste buds to discern all the qualities of the wine, (good or bad!) By the way, this same word is used in Ps 34:8, “TASTE and see that the Lord is good! Take Him for a swirl around the taste buds of your soul. You will find that “His work is perfect; and all His ways are justice, He is a God of truth and without injustice; Righteous and upright is He. ( Dt 32:4) Back to Abigail; David blesses her for her gift of discernment. She took the entire situation in and swirled it through the taste buds of God's Word and ascertained that David was about to do something terribly wrong. So she intervened. And please note, she “hastened.” she didn't dilly dally. Once she was certain that David was headed in the wrong direction, she acted! She followed our Lord's advice in Mt 18:15 "Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. Oh Father, give us the discernment of Abigail, and the courage to employ it. And help us to receive the correction of Your Holy Spirit through Your Word.