Scripture:16 Then a wise woman cried out from the city, “Hear, hear! Please say to Joab, ‘Come nearby, that I may speak with you.’ ” 17 When he had come near to her, the woman said, “Are you Joab?”

He answered, “I am.”

Then she said to him, “Hear the words of your maidservant.”

And he answered, “I am listening.”

18 So she spoke, saying, “They used to talk in former times, saying, ‘They shall surely seek guidance at Abel,’ and so they would end disputes. 19 I am among the peaceable and faithful in Israel. You seek to destroy a city and a mother in Israel. Why would you swallow up the inheritance of the Lord?”

2 Samuel 20:16-19

"Wisdom is a Shelter"

Joab, one of David's commanders, is looking for a man named Sheba who has rebelled against the King, and Sheba has fled to Abel Beth-maacah, and Joab is about to destroy the whole city for the sake of this man, and that is where we find ourselves in today's scripture.  

One of the most important things when we read scripture is to ask questions.  Like in this story, why is this woman so significant that she should be told in this story?   What we discover is that it is her wisdom and faithfulness toward the Lord that saved that City.   She reminds Joab that this city is a "mother in Israel" and a place of peace and faithfulness.   

Wise people serve the Lord in faithfulness, and for Abel Beth-maacah, it was that faithfulness, obedience, and loyalty to the Lord that the Lord provided wisdom, and that saved them 

To seek the Lord, to be faithful to Him, and to seek His wisdom, so that in the day of our trouble, the Lord delivers us through it.   What you do today, how you serve the Lord now, what you sow now, that will be the harvest you reap later. The blessings you are seeing today are because of the things you sowed in the former days.  Be faithful, serve God, trust that He will deliver you.

Lord, let us all be wise, let us always be faithful to you, be a shield about us, let our trust and our salvation always be found in you, in Jesus' name, Amen!