“David said to Abigail: “Blessed is the Lord, the God of Israel, who sent you to meet me today. Blessed is your good judgment and blessed are you yourself. Today you have prevented me from shedding blood and rescuing myself with my own hand.”
1 Samuel 25:32-33 (NAB)
Although David was anointed by the prophet Samuel, to be the next king, Saul, who was the current king, was not about to give up his throne. Instead, he set out to kill David, forcing him to live as a fugitive along with a group of men who were loyal to him.
While David’s men were encamped in the wilderness of Carmel, they met some shepherds who were tending their master’s sheep. David and his men were kind and protective toward the shepherds, who worked for a very wealthy land owner named Nabal.
Nabal had thousands of livestock in the area, but also a reputation for being harsh and bad mannered. He was married to a woman named Abigail, described as intelligent and attractive. The custom of arranging marriages in those days, often resulted in mismatched pairs like Nabal and Abigail. (1 Samuel 25:3)
David sent his men to ask Nabal for some food to eat. Nabal’s response was rude and disrespectful to the messengers, chasing them away saying, “Who is David that I should care about him?”
David’s anger was triggered when he heard about Nabal’s response. He was living with multiple stressors at the time, trying to survive the challenges of the wilderness and protect the men who were loyal to him, while they all were living as fugitives.
Even though he was anointed and called to be the next king of Israel, that dream seemed very far off. Saul’s many attempts to kill David, along with Nabal’s unjustifiable meanness, pushed David to a breaking point that day, and he reached for his sword. He and his men quickly headed out to retaliate against Nabal.
Abigail heard about what Nabal did and immediately had her servants prepare a package filled with loaves of bread, raisin cakes, figs, fruits and wine. She headed out ahead of them, to meet David and ask his forgiveness for Nabal’s offenses, by bringing him a peace offering of food and wine for him and all his men.
The best character building lessons come during the tests and trials in the waiting stages of our journey, and this was a waiting period for David. When Abigail met David, she bowed down before him, asking forgiveness for Nabal, her foolish husband. Abigail had remarkable wisdom and patience, and her peace offering did cause David to pause. She gently reminded him that he was made for more, persuading him to trust God, and not tarnish his soul or taint his calling, by shedding blood unnecessarily in revenge.
She redirected David to the more noble side of his nature. Her gift of calming words brought peace and wisdom, and David was touched by her remarkable insight. He turned from his obsession with wrath, declaring that she helped him to rescue himself from himself that day. Abigail’s wisdom made her a peacemaker through her words.
Soon afterward, Nabal died of a stroke, Saul died in battle, and David was crowned King of Israel. Later, King David went back to Carmel and married Abigail, the new widow.
We are not all called to be kings or queens, but we are all called to be peacemakers in this world. We will probably encounter many Nabals in our lifetime, and some challenge our patience more than others. Like David, our dreams may be delayed or put on hold, by unpleasant people or events, but God will fulfill His plans and promises in His perfect timing.
Abigail inspires us to look at the whole picture, reminding us that we all have a higher, more noble calling. We are all called to be peacemakers, as Jesus said,
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” (Matthew 5:8)
Lord, help us to look at the big picture as children of God, and to focus on our higher calling, and please give wisdom to all your peacemakers in the world. Amen
