February 17 - David, Nabal & Abigail

February 17 - David, Nabal & Abigail - 1 Samuel 25:1-44

During the period of time that David was in exile and Saul had handed his daughter off to another man (Paltiel of Gallim - 1 Samuel 25:44), David was keeping busy with battles and staying out of Saul's clutches.

1 Samuel 25 opens with the death of Samuel and David moving to the Desert of Maon. We enter into the story after there has obviously already been some activity. It is the period of hospitality and at some point in the past, David's troops had protected Nabal, his shepherds and his sheep. David sent some men to this man to ask for his hospitality during the festival. (1 Samuel 25:4-8)

Nabal, whose name means 'folly,' decided that he did not need to offer hospitality to David and in fact, insulted him. (1 Samuel 25:9-11) His response to David's servants was, "Who is this David? Who is this son of Jesse? Why should I take my bread and water and the meat I have slaughtered for my shearers and give it to men coming from who knows where?"

Needless to say, this angered David, who decided that he was just going to destroy this stupid man.

Fortunately for all involved, there was a beautiful and intelligent woman named Abigail (1 Samuel 25:3) married to Nabal. One of Nabal's servants rushed to her to tell her of the stupidity of her husband and what David had originally done for them (1 Samuel 25:14-17).

She rushed to gather bread, wine, sheep, grain, raisins, fig cakes and loaded them on donkeys. She sent the servants with the donkeys and road out to meet David, but did not tell her husband what she was doing. She managed to meet up with David just as he and his men were descending the mountain. David was prepared to kill every last man that belonged to Nabal. She saw David, got off her donkey, bowed down, fell at his feet and pleaded with him to pay no attention to 'that wicked man Nabal.' She took the blame for not knowing what was happening and begged for David's anger to be deflected to her and then to forgive her. (1 Samuel 25:25-31)

You can practically hear the relief in David's words, "Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, who has sent you today to meet me. May you be blessed for your good judgment and for keeping me from bloodshed this day and from avenging myself with my own hands. Otherwise, as surely as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, who has kept me from harming you, if you had not come quickly to meet me, not one male belonging to Nabal would have been left alive by daybreak." (1 Samuel 25:32-34)

He accepted her gifts and sent her home with his blessing. However, when she got home, she discovered Nabal holding a banquet like that of a king. He was in high spirits and quite drunk. Like any intelligent spouse, she waited until he was sober to tell him what she had done. In the morning, when she relayed her story, his heart became like a stone and ten days later, the Lord struck him and he died. (1 Samuel 25:36-38)

When David heard about his death, he rejoiced because the Lord had stopped David from doing wrong, yet his enemy had been dealt with. He then sent word to Abigail, asking her to become his wife. She was more than willing and went to him with her five maids. 1 Samuel 25:43 says that David had also married Ahinoam of Jezreel and they were both his wives.

Abigail was beautiful and intelligent. She protected everything that surrounded her, even her stupid husband because she was willing to face down an infuriated commander with petitions and an offering. She loved her people and she became the wife of a future king!