Her Name Was Abigail

Bravery: A New Concept for the Titus 2 Keeper of the Home

Ref. 1 Samuel 25

Abigail Bringing Gift to David

"And Samuel died; and all the Israelites were gathered together, and lamented him, and buried him in his house at Ramah. And David arose, and went down to the wilderness of Paran.
 
And there was a man in Maon, whose possessions were in Carmel; and the man was very great, and he had three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats: and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel.

Now the name of the man was Nabal; and the name of his wife Abigail: and she was a woman of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance: but the man was churlish and evil in his doings; and he was of the house of Caleb.

And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal did shear his sheep.

And David sent out ten young men, and David said unto the young men, Get you up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and greet him in my name:

And thus shall ye say to him that liveth in prosperity, Peace be both to thee, and peace be to thine house, and peace be unto all that thou hast.

And now I have heard that thou hast shearers: now thy shepherds which were with us, we hurt them not, neither was there ought missing unto them, all the while they were in Carmel.

Ask thy young men, and they will shew thee. Wherefore let the young men find favour in thine eyes: for we come in a good day: give, I pray thee, whatsoever cometh to thine hand unto thy servants, and to thy son David." 1 Samuel 25:1-8

A man named Nabal is the object of David's request in 1 Samuel 25. The Bible describes him as a churlish and evil man, of the house of Caleb. In stark contrast, his wife was woman of good understanding an of a beautiful appearance. Conceivably, David had provided a service, unrequested, to Nabal by protecting his shepherds (v. 14-16) and was now sending a blessing to Nabal and subsequently requesting payment of anything that he saw fit in return. A rich man, in need of nothing, having received the favor of an army, was blessed and asked to give whatsoever to David.

Yet, he scoffed and turned down this request with crude and selfish entitlement.

"And Nabal answered David's servants, and said, Who is David? and who is the son of Jesse? there be many servants now a days that break away every man from his master.

Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my flesh that I have killed for my shearers, and give it unto men, whom I know not whence they be?" 1 Samuel 25:10-11

Nabal's haughty response angered David, and he started off to meet Nabal with four hundred of his armed men. No doubt, their intention was to kill him. However, one of the shepherds told Abigail what happened, and asked her to consider what she would do, for evil was determined against Nabal and his whole household because of his response to David's request.

Here is where I pause and contemplate a reaction that might be found today in a similar situation.

Nagging: "I'm not going to die because of you! Get out there and make it right!!"
Denial: "This is unfair! He should not treat my husband that way just because he wouldn't give him any of our hard earned belongings!"
Charity-blame: "WE didn't ask for his help, so we shouldn't have to pay for it!"
Victim/Pity-Party: "Oh woe is me, I am married to a monster!" *sob*
Divorce: "It's not MY fault, I'm getting out of here before I have to pay the price for your sins, you ignorant fool!"
Prayer alone: "Lord, please change my husband's heart and make him do the right thing."

While of the above choices, the last one would not have been a bad choice, there are some situations in our lives that call for our action in addition to our prayers, as it was with Abigail's situation. David's army was coming for the blood of her husband, and  her household, and she knew that she had to do something.

"Then Abigail made haste, and took two hundred loaves, and two bottles of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched corn, and an hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on asses.

And she said unto her servants, Go on before me; behold, I come after you. But she told not her husband Nabal.

 And it was so, as she rode on the ass, that she came down by the covert on the hill, and, behold, David and his men came down against her; and she met them...

And when Abigail saw David, she hasted, and lighted off the ass, and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground,

 And fell at his feet, and said, Upon me, my lord, upon me let this iniquity be: and let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thine audience, and hear the words of thine handmaid.

 Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this man of Belial, even Nabal: for as his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him: but I thine handmaid saw not the young men of my lord, whom thou didst send.

 Now therefore, my lord, as the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, seeing the Lord hath withholden thee from coming to shed blood, and from avenging thyself with thine own hand, now let thine enemies, and they that seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal.

 And now this blessing which thine handmaid hath brought unto my lord, let it even be given unto the young men that follow my lord.

 I pray thee, forgive the trespass of thine handmaid: for the Lord will certainly make my lord a sure house; because my lord fighteth the battles of the Lord, and evil hath not been found in thee all thy days.

 Yet a man is risen to pursue thee, and to seek thy soul: but the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the Lord thy God; and the souls of thine enemies, them shall he sling out, as out of the middle of a sling.

And it shall come to pass, when the Lord shall have done to my lord according to all the good that he hath spoken concerning thee, and shall have appointed thee ruler over Israel;

That this shall be no grief unto thee, nor offence of heart unto my lord, either that thou hast shed blood causeless, or that my lord hath avenged himself: but when the Lord shall have dealt well with my lord, then remember thine handmaid." 1 Samuel 25:18-20, 24-31

When she could have nagged, blamed, disowned, or run, Abigail proved faithful and courageous. She met David and his warriors, fell before him, and pleaded before him the cause of her house, and appealed to him not to take vengeance for her husband's foolishness. Then she blessed him in the name of the Lord. A single woman traveling with her servants, approaching and falling before an angry and anointed king. I don't know about you, but for me, that would take not only a great deal of courage, but also faith in my Lord, that He would not let me fall by the sword of an angry man.

By the grace of God, her appeal was met with favor.

"And David said to Abigail, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, which sent thee this day to meet me:

And blessed be thy advice, and blessed be thou, which hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood, and from avenging myself with mine own hand.

For in very deed, as the Lord God of Israel liveth, which hath kept me back from hurting thee, except thou hadst hasted and come to meet me, surely there had not been left unto Nabal by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall.

 So David received of her hand that which she had brought him, and said unto her, Go up in peace to thine house; see, I have hearkened to thy voice, and have accepted thy person." v. 32-35

 Abigail returned to her husband's house and held a great feast, all the while telling her husband nothing until the following morning. The Bible says that when she told him, his heart died within him and he became as a stone, then within ten days following, he died.

In Nabal's death, David rejoices in the Lord, that He stayed his hand against Nabal, for his own wickedness was brought down upon his own head.

"And when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed be the Lord, that hath pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and hath kept his servant from evil: for the Lord hath returned the wickedness of Nabal upon his own head. And David sent and communed with Abigail, to take her to him to wife." v. 39

Abigail's faithfulness to her husband, to her house, and to her God was returned to her in a big way. Her husband may have been an evil man, but she heeded her calling as his wife all the same. She submitted unto his headship, and she pleaded his cause, even when he was utterly at fault. She made no excuse for his sins and oversights, but she still plead for mercy on his behalf.

What faith! What honor!

How many of us could say today that we act toward our husbands like Abigail did toward Nabal, and evil and churlish man? I know I would have to hold my tongue, for I am not always so quick to intercede for my husband when he makes a mistake, in prayer or in deed. A kind of 'you get what you ask for' mentality has overtaken our society, and we seem to think, or lapse into thinking at times, that we are not responsible for our husband or his sin. While we are not responsible, that does not remove us from accountability. We were created to complete our husbands, to be his helpmeet, and that does not only pertain to times of peace and order, but to all things.

If we can't fall down before the sword of an angry King for our husband's sake, then what can we do?

If we forsake our husbands because of his own negligence to his own soul, then what are we?

If we did more falling down and pleading for our husband's pardon and less blaming and disassociating, perhaps then our homes would stand a much better chance of thriving under the blessing of God.

While I am sure that the death of her husband was not her aim nor her desire, the will of God plays out in ways unknown to man. Even if he was going to die anyway, Abigail's bravery and sacrifice appealed to the heart of God and stayed David's hand that Nabal might be his own demise, not the sword of David. God was glorified, and we are left with a bitter reminder of the fact that our sin will always find us out. There is grace, abundant grace so freely given, but not unto evil men.

Her name was Abigail, a courageous and faithful wife unmatched.

"The fear of the Lord prolongeth days: but the years of the wicked shall be shortened." Proverbs 10:27