Scripture Notes: David and Abigail (1 Samuel 25)

Abigail had the misfortune to be married to an old grump. Her husband Nabal was harsh and nasty and far more interested in drinking than in extending hospitality. So when David sent some of his servants to invite Nabal to a feast, the old crank refused to come in the most insulting way.  

David, furious, quickly (and quite unthinkingly) resolved to crush Nabal and every male in his household. David, of course, forgot in his anger that the males in Nabal’s household were innocent and were likely unable to influence their master’s behavior one way or another.

Thankfully, Abigail heard about the problem from one of the young men, who was probably both appalled and terrified. She jumped to action, getting ready a whole assortment of food as something of a peace offering to David. But she didn’t leave it at that; instead, Abigail got on a donkey and went out to meet David in person. 

She didn’t have to do any of this. She could have let David come in and kill her husband and everyone else, but no matter what she thought of her husband (and it probably wasn’t much), she clearly felt a responsibility for the rest of her household. She was not going to let them suffer for her husband’s extreme rudeness.

Abigail’s humility and courage touched David’s heart. She even claimed responsibility for Nabal’s acts although David didn’t buy that for an instant. She asked him to blame her and accept her apologies and offering, not so that Nabal wouldn’t be punished but so that David would not sin. She didn’t want to see David, whom she knew as a God-fearing man, incur the guilt of taking revenge and killing the innocent along with the guilty.

It worked. David repented of his intentions and blessed God for Abigail’s discretion. He received her graciously, thanked her, and told her to go in peace. Abigail’s tasks weren’t finished, however. She still had to deal with Nabal. He was far too drunk and rowdy that night, so she waited until morning. Then she dropped the bomb and let him know how close he had come to death at David’s hands. Nabal couldn’t take the shock; he died ten days later, God taking the revenge David had intended but on Nabal alone.

The story doesn’t quite end there. David knew a good woman when he saw one, and he recognized Abigail’s intelligence and devotion. So he married her. 

The Litany Project: Litany of the Holy Name of Jesus, Part 25

Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, spare us, O Jesus.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, O Jesus.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us, O Jesus.

As the litany approaches its close, we pronounce a plea for mercy. We recognize Jesus as our Lamb of God, the One Who gave Himself up as a sacrifice, taking upon Himself the covenant curses we earned by our sins and carrying them to the cross. Jesus is the only One Who can take away the sins of the world, Who has already taken away the sins of the world by His sacrificial death, so we ask Him to spare us, to graciously hear us, and to have mercy on us. And we are certain that He does.

Jesus, hear us.
Jesus, graciously hear us.

One again, we ask Jesus to hear us. We know that He does. He always hears our prayers. So why do we ask? Because we must remind ourselves. We must boost our confidence, our trust in our Lord’s presence and care. We must recall that our prayers are important to Jesus; He never ignores us, never tunes us out, never sets us aside. He may say “No” or “Wait” when our prayers do not correspond to His will. But He always, always, always hears us.

Let us pray.
O Lord Jesus Christ, Who hast said: Ask and ye shall receive; seek and ye shall find; knock and it shall be opened unto you; grant, we beseech Thee, to us who ask the gift of Thy divine love, that we may ever love Thee with all our hearts, and in all our words and actions, and never cease praising Thee.
Give us, O Lord, a perpetual love of Thy holy Name; for Thou never failest to govern those whom Thou dost solidly establish in Thy love. Who livest and reignest world without end. Amen.

We end this litany with a prayer, again reminding ourselves that Jesus has told us to ask and we shall receive, seek and we shall find, knock and it shall be opened to us. So we pray for Jesus’ divine love, that it may course through our hearts and flow back to God and out to others. We pray that we may be able to praise God always, in all our words and actions, and that we may always love His Holy Name. 

To love God’s Holy Name is to love God, to love Who He is in His deepest character, as much as we can know it.  And to love God for Who He is is to imitate Him, to accept His governance, and to be solidly established in His love. In other words, we give ourselves to God fully, allowing Him to enter our hearts and draw us into His love in deeper and deeper ways.

The Litany Project: Litany of the Holy Name of Jesus, Part 24

Through Thine institution of the most Holy Eucharist, Jesus, deliver us.

On the night before He suffered and died on the cross, Jesus instituted the sacrament of the Eucharist. He began His total sacrifice at that moment when He said, “This is My Body” and “This is the chalice of My Blood.” He completed the sacrifice on the cross. And now that sacrifice stands outside time, allowing it to be re-presented, made present for us, at every Mass, that we may enter into it.

When we receive the Eucharist, we receive Jesus, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. The very substance of the bread and wine become Jesus Himself, His risen Body, His very Blood. Jesus enters into us, filling us with His presence, changing us from the inside out, immersing us in His love.

Through Thy joys, Jesus, deliver us.

We don’t often reflect on Jesus’ joys, but His life on earth must have been filled with them. Jesus was perfectly united with His Father, and that in itself is the highest joy. But He also experienced the joy of the love of His family and friends, the pleasures of the natural world, the little things in life. Jesus was, in fact, probably the most joyful Person Who ever walked the earth. We are called to share in that joy.

Through Thy glory, Jesus, deliver us.

Jesus is fully human but also fully divine, so the glory of God radiates within Him and through Him. On Mount Tabor, Peter, James, and John saw the divine glory of Jesus as His clothes became dazzlingly white from a light that came from within. 

This glimpse of glory was intended to give the apostles strength the bear the trials they would soon encounter as Jesus suffered His Passion. Knowing Jesus’ divinity, having seen His glory, was supposed to provide Peter, James, and John the ability to withstand, with great faith, what was to come. For Jesus’ glory may have been hidden, but it never once diminished, any more than He ever ceased to be God.

The Litany Project: Litany of the Holy Name of Jesus, Part 23

Through Thy death and burial, Jesus, deliver us.

Jesus died on the cross for us. We say it so often that we might not realize the drama of it. Jesus sacrificed Himself. He poured out every drop of His blood. He took our sins upon Himself and lay down His life for us. 

Then, when Jesus had died, His disciples placed His body in a new tomb near the site of His crucifixion. They rolled a stone in front of the opening. The Jews asked for and received a guard. But none of that would matter in the end, for Jesus lay down His life knowing fully that He would take it back up again.

Through Thy Resurrection, Jesus, deliver us.

Death could not hold Jesus. Because He was fully human, He could and did die. But because He was also fully God, He conquered death. He rose again on the third day, just as He had told His disciples all along.

After Jesus rose from the dead, He reached out to His disciples in ways filled with love and deep meaning. He opened their minds to the Scriptures. He showed them His wounds. He gave them mercy and peace. He fed them and cared for them and challenged them toward great love, preparing them for their mission to the world.

Through Thine Ascension, Jesus, deliver us.

Jesus ascended into Heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. But that does not mean He has left us alone. In fact, He is with us more intimately than ever. His Holy Spirit, the Paraclete that He promised, fills us with His divine indwelling at our Baptism and as long as we remain in a state of grace.  What is more, we receive Jesus, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity, in the Eucharist, and He enters into us in a very special way, changes our hearts from the inside out, and is closer to us than we are to ourselves.

The Litany Project: Litany of the Holy Name of Jesus, Part 22

Through Thine agony and Passion, Jesus, deliver us. 

The word “agony” comes from a Greek root that refers to the struggle of battle. In His agony and Passion, Jesus went into battle for us. He suffered beyond what we can imagine, immersed in the deepest physical, mental, and spiritual pain. But He did it because He wanted to, because He loves us. He chose His suffering. He chose the battle. And ultimately, He won.

Through Thy cross and dereliction, Jesus, deliver us.

When Jesus told His disciples that they must take up their cross and follow Him, they must have been shocked. We are so accustomed to the expression that it has often lost its power for us. But the disciples likely struggled greatly with the idea of taking up, even embracing, the most horrible instrument of torture the Romans could come up with. But Jesus embraced His cross. He did it for us, and He made it the instrument of our salvation. 

As for dereliction, we do not use this word much these days, but it refers to abandonment. First, Jesus was betrayed by Judas. Then ten more apostles abandoned him. His own people reviled Him, yelling for His crucifixion. Only Mary, Mary Magdalene, John, and a few more women stood beside the cross. Everyone else, even Peter, who had vowed to die with Jesus, was gone. There was even a moment when Jesus cried out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” He knew that the Father was still with Him, but He descended to the very depths of suffering, of dereliction, and He did it for us.

Through Thy sufferings, Jesus, deliver us.

Spend a few minutes this week meditating on a crucifix, and reread the Passion narratives in the four Gospels, reflecting on the depth of Jesus’ sufferings. Jesus entered all the way into the suffering of our human condition even though He never sinned. And He imbued our suffering with deep meaning when we join it to His. In fact, He gave our sufferings redemptive power because we can offer them to Him to obtain great graces for ourselves and others.