Today’s
Scripture Reading (March 18, 2019): 1 Samuel 25
Kim Jong-Un likes to call Donald Trump “Your
Excellency, Mr. President.” The phrase is
scattered throughout the letters
that the North Korean Dictator writes to the American President. Donald Trump’s
opposition likes to think that the phrase “Your Excellency” strokes Trump’s ego;
after all, isn’t Donald Trump, “the man
who would be King.” And it probably does stroke his ego. Others have suggested
that the phrase “Your Excellency” in North Korea is merely a polite greeting given from a younger man to an older one.
And maybe that is true, but that doesn’t mean that the phrase doesn’t stroke the ego of older Korean men everywhere.
What seems to be lost
in the discussion is that there is nothing wrong with being polite. We seem to
struggle with the thought. Maybe the problem is something that is fundamental
with our culture, which seems to prize youth over wisdom and outward beauty
over inward substance. Somewhere, we have forgotten that we can treat each
other with respect, even if the respect
of another culture seems over the top to us.
Abigail recognizes that a man of great power has
entered the lives of her and her husband. And she also acknowledges that her husband is an
insulting a man. And when a rude
man encounters power, nothing good usually results. So Abigail takes it upon
herself to go out and heal the wound that her husband has inflicted on David.
She brings him food and offers him her apologies. She uses flowery and over the
top speech. Abigail is polite.
There is evidence in her words that she knows at
least some of the story of David. And maybe that should not be too surprising.
David was not an unknown in Israel. It was the General’s popularity with the
people that had turned Saul against him. And now all of Israel likely held
their breath as the King and the Poet
faced off against each other. And so Abigail greets David using phrasing that
she knew David would like to hear. She stroked the ego of the persecuted
General.
There is a temptation to describe Abigail’s words as
a prophecy. After all, we know the rest
of the story. God was about to make the House of David a lasting dynasty. David
would fight the battles for God. (Although to say that there would be no
wrongdoing found in David the rest of his life is not right. David was not
perfect. What made David special was that he was a man who kept short lists. When David failed, and he did
fail, he seldom tried to excuse his failings. Instead, he quickly asked God for
forgiveness and was ready to move on and
do better the next time.) But if this was a prophecy, it was an accidental one.
All Abigail was trying to do was be polite to David, to make up for the
rudeness of her husband, and hopefully rescue her home from the danger to which
her husband had left it exposed. Nothing more was on her mind. Abigail was just calling David “Your Excellency.” And in
her mind, and Kim Jung-Un’s mind, it really
didn’t matter if it was true. It was a polite way to speak to power.
Tomorrow’s
Scripture Reading: 1 Samuel 26
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