ABIGAIL KEEPS DAVID FROM WRONGDOING

1 Samuel 25:14-31 / Keywords 25:31

my master will not have on his conscience the staggering burden of needless bloodshed or of having avenged himself. And when the LORD has brought my master success, remember your servant.”

 

25:14 One of the servants told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, “David sent messengers from the wilderness to give our master his greetings, but he hurled insults at them. 15 Yet these men were very good to us. They did not mistreat us, and the whole time we were out in the fields near them nothing was missing. 16 Night and day they were a wall around us the whole time we were herding our sheep near them. 17 Now think it over and see what you can do, because disaster is hanging over our master and his whole household. He is such a wicked man that no one can talk to him.”

18 Abigail acted quickly. She took two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five dressed sheep, five seahs[b] of roasted grain, a hundred cakes of raisins and two hundred cakes of pressed figs, and loaded them on donkeys. 19 Then she told her servants, “Go on ahead; I’ll follow you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal.

20 As she came riding her donkey into a mountain ravine, there were David and his men descending toward her, and she met them. 21 David had just said, “It’s been useless—all my watching over this fellow’s property in the wilderness so that nothing of his was missing. He has paid me back evil for good. 22 May God deal with David,[c] be it ever so severely, if by morning I leave alive one male of all who belong to him!”

23 When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off her donkey and bowed down before David with her face to the ground. 24 She fell at his feet and said: “Pardon your servant, my lord, and let me speak to you; hear what your servant has to say. 25 Please pay no attention, my lord, to that wicked man Nabal. He is just like his name—his name means Fool, and folly goes with him. And as for me, your servant, I did not see the men my lord sent. 26 And now, my lord, as surely as the Lord your God lives and as you live, since the Lord has kept you from bloodshed and from avenging yourself with your own hands, may your enemies and all who are intent on harming my lord be like Nabal. 27 And let this gift, which your servant has brought to my lord, be given to the men who follow you.

28 “Please forgive your servant’s presumption. The Lord your God will certainly make a lasting dynasty for my lord, because you fight the Lord’s battles, and no wrongdoing will be found in you as long as you live. 29 Even though someone is pursuing you to take your life, the life of my lord will be bound securely in the bundle of the living by the Lord your God, but the lives of your enemies he will hurl away as from the pocket of a sling. 30 When the Lord has fulfilled for my lord every good thing he promised concerning him and has appointed him ruler over Israel, 31 my lord will not have on his conscience the staggering burden of needless bloodshed or of having avenged himself. And when the Lord your God has brought my lord success, remember your servant.”

Footnotes

b. 1 Samuel 25:18 That is, probably about 60 pounds or about 27 kilograms

c. 1 Samuel 25:22 Some Septuagint manuscripts; Hebrew with David’s enemies

1. Abigail, Nabal’s wife, was an intelligent and beautiful woman (3). When her servant reported David’s rage over Nabal’s contemptuous response, she quickly thought on her feet. She knew she could not expect much from her husband (17), so she took matters into her own hands. She gathered food supplies for David and his men. The scale and speed of her gifts give us a glimpse into her wealth and position in the family.

 

2. When she came to David, she got off her donkey and bowed down, her face to the ground. With such a humble attitude, she persuaded David to avert the massacre he was about to bring (34). David was her enemy who was about to bring disaster upon the peaceful and comfortable life she had enjoyed. Yet, she had the wisdom and spiritual insight to recognize him as the one chosen by God and saw God’s guidance in his life (29). Her attitude was humble, but her words were effective as she brought his attention to his need to be right before God, preparing himself for the time when God made him a king (30,31). Her gentle reminder of God’s purpose in his life saved David from making a mistake he would regret. (Prov 31:26)

 

Prayer Father, thank you for reminding me that you have called me for your great purpose. Help me to grow in wisdom so that even in frustrating times, I may be calm and make decisions to glorify you.

One Word Abigail’s wisdom