God describes David as a man “after God’s heart.” Even though he was not a perfect man, we can easily understand God’s description of David. He was a man who listened to God and sought to praise Him. His heart was filled with praises to God. He listened to God – in his anger, in his sin and even when God said “no” to him, he not only listened but praised God.
A prime example is the story of David, Nabal and Abigal recorded in 1Samuel 25.
David had given protection to Nabal’s sheep and shepherds. In return, David asked if Nabal would be willing to share some of the food from a great feast Nabal was giving. Nabal’s denial was total, blunt and insulting. As a result, David prepared to destroy the man and his family.
Abigal, Nabal’s wife, came to the rescue and saved her husband and her family from David’s anger.
As you read the story, pay careful attention to the way Abigal talked to David. It has been stated that Abigal spoke to David using David’s language. An example often cited is her reference to the enemies of David being “hurled away by God as if from the pocket of a sling.”
But more to the point, she speaks to David from the stand point of the will of God. Knowing David to be a man of God, she wanted to spare him from the guilt that would come to him by taking personal vengeance. She appealed to him from the stand point of being controlled by the will of God rather than his own personal feelings of anger. David listened to her and praised God for her.
Abigal could have never talked to her husband that way. Her husband did not consider anything, not even God, more important than himself and his own thoughts.
That is the essence of evil. Do we listen when God speaks to us?