David had contacted Nabal, requesting food for his men,
rather than just taking it as most groups would have done. Nabal had a selfish, surly and rude attitude,
constantly losing his temper and telling people off, described in I Samuel 25:3
as “…churlish and evil in his doings…” David was emotionally stressed, and when
Nabal lashed out at his men, he lost his self-control, setting out to kill
him. Nabal’s workers had experienced of
his hateful attitude, and knowing how they felt, were afraid David would
respond exactly as he did.
Knowing Nabal wouldn’t listen to anyone, they sent one of
the servants to Abigail in hopes she could do something to prevent David
killing them all, in I Samuel 25:14-17. “But one of the young men told Abigail,
Nabal's wife, saying, Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to
salute our master; and he railed on them. But the men were very good unto us, and we
were not hurt, neither missed we any thing, as long as we were conversant with
them, when we were in the fields: They were a wall unto us both by night and
day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep. Now therefore know and consider what thou wilt
do; for evil is determined against our master, and against all his household:
for he is such a son of Belial, that a man cannot speak to him.” To
be talked to the way Nabal talked to David’s men after they had gone out of
their way to help would make almost anyone angry, but Nabal would never
apologize or admit he was wrong, because he had such an evil attitude.
Knowing it would only take too long to even try to get Nabal
to change his mind, Abigail acted immediately, not taking the time to tell
Nabal what she was doing, in I Samuel 25:18-20.
“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.” It
was well Abigail didn’t waste time trying to talk to Nabal, and had hurried as
much as she had.
David was extremely angry at having been accused of theft
after doing everything he could to help Nabal’s servants, as I Sanuel 25:21-22
tells us. “Now David had said, Surely in vain have I kept all that this fellow
hath in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained unto
him: and he hath requited me evil for good. So and more also do God unto the enemies of
David, if I leave of all that pertain to him by the morning light any that
pisseth against the wall.” He
intended to wipe out the whole bunch, and had Abigail not caught him before
they got close enough for Nabal to try to defend himself, she would have been
unable to prevent the fight. While a wife ought to talk things over with
her husband, there are situations where she can’t afford to take the time.
When Abigail met David, she apologized for not being there
to prevent his men being insulted, acknowledging Nabal’s behavior was and
inexcusable, in I Samuel 25:23-25. “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.” She told David he was such a selfish fool
even his parents named him Nabal, meaning ‘dolt’ or ‘blockhead’. She had no illusions as to what he was really
like.
Instead of trying to excuse Nabal, she pointed out that God
would not be pleased by David murdering Nabal’s family, and asked that he
accept what she had brought and not follow through with his plans. He had done nothing to wrong, but if he
killed Nabal he would carry the guilt for the rest of his life, as she
explained in I Samuel 25:26-31. “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.”
David realized she had stopped him from doing a terrible
thing, accepting the food and agreeing not to carry out his plan, in I Samuel
25:32-35. “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.”
Like many self-centered people, Nabal was proud of his power
to cut other people down and hurting their feelings. He threw a big party and got drunk to
celebrate his success in putting down David.
As a result, Abigail couldn’t talk to him until the next morning when he
was no longer feeling so proud and powerful, according to I Samuel 25:36-38. “And
Abigail came to Nabal; and, behold, he held a feast in his house, like the
feast of a king; and Nabal's heart was merry within him, for he was very
drunken: wherefore she told him nothing, less or more, until the morning light.
But it came to pass in the morning, when
the wine was gone out of Nabal, and his wife had told him these things, that
his heart died within him, and he became as a stone. And it came to pass about ten days after, that
the LORD smote Nabal, that he died.”
When Nabal sobered up and learned what David had intended to
do he had a heart attack or stroke, and about ten days later he died. Learning of his death, David was relieved that
God had punished him and he hadn’t killed him himself. Appreciating what Abigail had done, David
asked her to marry him and she agreed, in I Samuel 25:39-42. “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.
And when the servants of David were come
to Abigail to Carmel, they spake unto her, saying, David sent us unto thee, to
take thee to him to wife.
And she arose, and bowed
herself on her face to the earth, and said, Behold, let thine handmaid be a
servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord. And Abigail hasted, and arose, and rode upon
an ass, with five damsels of hers that went after her; and she went after the
messengers of David, and became his wife.”
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