There is a fascinating and often-overlooked story in 1 Samuel Chapter 25 from which many of us could take wise counsel, whether you are a believer or not.

The story takes place years after a young David slew the giant Goliath when David was running for his life from the paranoid and jealous King Saul. Bereft of his best friend, Prince Jonathan, and separated from his wife, Princess Michal, David was patrolling the wilderness with a band of 600 malcontents who had rallied around him. David had insisted repeatedly that his men keep the highest code of honor, and despite opportunities to take vengeance himself upon the cruel Saul and to expedite God's promise that he would one day be king of Israel, David comported himself as the kind, humble, and honorable man the Bible describes as "a man after God's own heart."

One day David and his men came across the servants of a wealthy man named Nabal (which literally means fool in Hebrew) as they were tending his vast flocks of sheep and goats. As there apparently were not enough servants to look after the animals and themselves, David's men protected them from roaming bandits and from wild animals for many weeks without recompense. Then came the end-of-season sheep-shearing celebration, an elaborate festive time of feasting when it was customary to reward those who had assisted in watching over the flocks, David sent a respectful and appropriate message to Nabal, who happened to be a distant relation of David, explaining the service his men had performed and asking if Nabal would give them "whatever provision you might have on hand" during the festival. Nabal reacted violently, insulting David viciously for no reason. When the messengers told David of the insults, David reacted with uncharacteristic vengence, strapping on his sword, galvanizing 400 of his men, and setting off in a wild fury for Nabal's house, swearing that he would kill not only Nabal but every male of Nabal's household.

Meanwhile at Nabal's house, a servant, recognizing the danger in which Nabal's conduct had placed the entire family, wanted to speak to him, but the Bible says that Nabal was so "ill tempered than no one dared speak to him." The servant, therefore, told Nabal's wife, the "beautiful and intelligent Abigail," who loaded food and wine onto a caravan of donkeys and set out with the women of the house (for any men would have been killed) to meet David. When Abigail met David, she acknowledged her husband's dispicable conduct but reminded David of his calling, of who he was, and urged him not to pursue his reckless path of revenge. Although his anger was justified, such over-the-top revenge would forever brand him as a murderer, and since it would be killing within his own clan, would likely preclude his future abiity to unify his own tribe, much less all 12 tribes, under his kingship.

In respose to such counsel, David blessed her and God who had sent her to him. He acknowledged the mistake he might have made and payed homage to Abigail's wisdom, eventually making her his wife after the natural death of her husband.

The lesson of this story is simple. There are times when even the best of us will go off the deep end, when we will "snap" and behave in a manner unworthy of who we are. That we will do it is certain -- as it is a part of being human. What is not certain is whether we are the type of person who is open and is perceived by others as being open to advice. Nabal was so closed-minded, so nasty, so arrogant, so conceived and puffed up with his own abilities and worth, that no one thought they could talk to him, even when he desperately needed to hear good counsel -- even when it was a matter of life and death. David, on the other hand, even in the midst of his bad behavior, nonetheless was the type of person who was approachable and who would give well-meaning advice an honest listen. In this case, his willingness to consider counsel literally saved his future kingdom.

So, are you a Nabal or a David? Do people view you as open so they feel free to give you counsel? Do you make it easy or difficult for them to brave those awkward conversations, or do you resent and rebel whenever you sense the slightest bit of criticism? Be careful -- you may need good counsel as desperately as Nabal and David did -- and being someone to whom people feel they can offer counsel just might make all the difference!