Your Refreshing Daily Devotional

Requital is a practice of giving something in return either as compensation or retaliation. Since the Bible does not give room for vengeance, requital can only be discussed in the sense of compensation. David engaged this law after the death of Jonathan. He enquired if there was anyone left of the house of Saul to whom he could show goodwill for Jonathan’s sake. Paul asked Timothy to evoke this law concerning widows in the Church. “But if any widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show piety at home and to repay their parents; for this is good and acceptable before God.” I Timothy 5:4 NKJV

Can you remember anyone who stood for you in critical moments? If it is in your power, find some way to show gratitude either directly to them or their offspring.

It is this same law of requital that our text talks about. The news of the death of Saul and his three sons came to the people of Jabesh Gilead. They then raised a strong team to go and fetch their bodies and gave them decent burial and mourned them. Apparently, the people remembered how Saul saved them from the hands of the Ammonites nearly 40 years earlier. Time had passed, but they cherished the memory of that deliverance. Can you remember anyone who stood for you in critical moments? If it is in your power, find some way to show gratitude either directly to them or their offspring.

The ninth commandment warns against bearing false witness. Reduced to its basic norm, it is a commandment against lying. Lying is falsification of information, and God frowns at this. One reason why this is a grave offense is that it is manipulative in nature. Information is to society what rudder is to a ship. People generally respond in the direction of information that they receive. Information draws emotional response from us; it also forms the basis of the decisions we make.

The ninth commandment warns against bearing false witness. Reduced to its basic norm, it is a commandment against lying…Be careful that you don’t run your life by what you read online. Be careful also not to like and share what you have not verified.

I recall a video that went viral in Nigeria a couple of years ago. Someone claimed that all wheat products were mixed with plastic by the Chinese. She claimed that it was the attempt of the Chinese to kill people; but Jesus is going to stand in their way. Later that day, a staff of a flour mill made a different video to correct the earlier information. What was earlier described as plastic mixture was actually gluten which is found in all wheat products. Well, but for the right information from an authority, I was ready to part way with all wheat-based menu. Information came to David that all his sons had been killed. That had a devastating effect on the king and all that were with him. They all tore their clothes as they lay on the ground. It happened that only Amnon had been killed in revenge mission. These days we are bombarded with information on social media. Many of them have not been proven. Many are mere exaggeration. Be careful that you don’t run your life by what you read online. Be careful also not to like and share what you have not verified.

In our previous meditation, we referred to an immigrant who felt there was no need to pray any longer since his new found system caters for his needs. We noted that he has the wrong view of prayer. Praying to have needs met constitute only the elementary purpose of prayer. Arguably, prayer is one of the most misunderstood subjects in the Bible. It is also safe to say that it is one of the most abused in Christendom. Many people think that prayer is a way to settle scores with a perceived enemy. This is why you hear many people engage in prayer of imprecation. Those with this mindset want to enlist God in their desire for vengeance. Others think that by praying earnestly, God will agree to change His will. For them it is not about the will of God being done on earth; it is about the will of man being done by Heaven. This misplaced perspective is the reason why the prayers of many people have been less potent.

…God does not answer all prayers…Whenever any request will bring ridicule to God’s name or a snare to us, God reserves the right to turn it down.

David certainly wanted prayer and fasting to alter the will of God. God had earlier proclaimed that the illegitimate child born to him by Bathsheba would die. It was that verdict that David tried to overturn in prayer. The child eventually died on the seventh day into his fast. We learn from here that God does not answer all prayers. The reason why David’s prayer was turned down was obvious. The child was already a cause for people to blaspheme God. Had the child lived, there would have been occasion for continuous blasphemy. Add to that the sneer that would trail the child. So there is a caveat to prayers: Whenever any request will bring ridicule to God’s name or a snare to us, God reserves the right to turn it down.

A Nigerian who migrated to the United States reported that virtually all the things he used to pray for while at home were supplied by the Government. As a result, he wondered why he has to pray like he used to do. That man has a wrong notion of prayer. He sees it basically as a means to having our temporal needs met. When you check the prayer pattern taught by Jesus, you will discover that there is only a passing reference to our physical needs – “Give us this day our daily bread”. The rest covered issues of God’s kingdom, His will, subduing of evil, and being delivered from the power of sin. Prayer does more than meeting our temporal needs; it is what helps us to access the plans and purposes of God for us and the universe at large.

Prayer does more than meeting our temporal needs; it is what helps us to access the plans and purposes of God for us and the universe at large…God’s word is a mighty tool for prayer. Without the word of God our prayer is without warrant. God is not committed to what He has not spoken.

Daniel received visions whose relevance spanned through his days to the end of human history as we currently know it. His insight into apocalyptic event may not be unconnected to his life of consecration and prayer. A study of his writing also reveals to us the secret of his mighty prayer life. One of his prophetic prayers is recorded in Daniel 9; and that was inspired by reading the prophecy of Jeremiah which stipulated the time of the end of Israel’s captivity in Babylon. He understood that the time was due, and he began to pray on the basis of what God had planned. God’s word is a mighty tool for prayer. Without the word of God our prayer is without warrant. God is not committed to what He has not spoken.

In the opening verses of 1 Samuel chapter 23, David learned that the Philistines had come to assault Keilah. He mobilized his men to go and defend the city. His men did not see the rationale behind that expedition because it would bring them within a striking distance of Saul. He sought the Lord over the move and had the permission to go. First lesson is that God does not see as man does. Where the majority of David’s men said no, God said yes. David defended the city and forced the Philistines to retreat.

When you are dealing with issues of life and destiny, you cannot run on assumptions…As a child of God, your life should be run by every word that proceeds from the mouth of your heavenly Father.

Saul would later take his haunt for David to Keilah, the city he had just defended. One would think that that was an opportunity to repay the kindness shown them by David; but they were going to betray him into the hand of Saul. David enquired of the Lord and he learned that they would betray him. Had David assumed that the city would be kind to him, he would have met with disaster. When you are dealing with issues of life and destiny, you cannot run on assumptions. It was not only on this occasion that David sought the Lord for direction. He never took any step based on assumption. As a child of God, your life should be run by every word that proceeds from the mouth of your heavenly Father.

Nabal held a wrong image of David. Our text reveals his perspective of him. As far as he was concerned, David was a rebellious fugitive servant of king Saul. The first thing you need to learn is that no matter how hard you try, there are those who will hold the wrong version of your story. That should not be too much of a shock. An anonymous person wrote: ‘’Even  my own family failed to understand me, then how can I expect from others?” If people don’t understand you, count it as one of the things we encounter in life.

…no matter how hard you try, there are those who will hold the wrong version of your story…If people don’t understand you, count it as one of the things we encounter in life…So when you are misrepresented, take things in your stride and wait on God to vindicate you.

David was hounded all over the land of Israel for no fault of his. He had saved both Saul and the entire land from harassment in the hand of the Philistines. Due to his personal insecurity, Saul began to persecute an innocent soul. David and his men literally became scavengers, living from hand to mouth. When he heard that Nabal was shearing his sheep, he felt that would be an opportunity to get some reward for watching over his flock. Nothing of such came for David. Rather, Nabal thought him to be a rebel bolting out from under Saul the king. Enraged by this misconception, David mobilized his forces with the intention of destroying Nabal and all his men. It took the timely intervention of Abigail to dissuade him from taking vengeance. Nabal eventually died some days after that at the instance of God. So when you are misrepresented, take things in your stride and wait on God to vindicate you.