Abigail: Beautiful, Intelligent, Wise, Prudent … and
Honored by God … Lesson 4
By
Patsy Norwood © 2025 All Rights Reserved! Any and all commercial use of this study is
prohibited!
I Samuel 25: 1 –
42; 27:3; 30:1-18; II Samuel 2: 2-3; 3:3; I Chronicles 3:1
In our last
lesson, Abigail, after being informed of the behavior of her husband, had
sprung into action herself. Let’s pick
up there …
(note: this is a
longer lesson, so settle in!)
Verse 20: So it was, as she rode on the donkey, that
she went down under cover of the hill; and there were David and his men, coming
down toward her, and she met them.
It seems David and Abigail’s
meeting could have and even likely happened on what we would call the
backroads, less traveled or hidden part of the mountain. Remember David is on the run from Saul and
Abigail is intent on intercepting him before he reaches her village. They both likely knew all the short cuts and
out-of-the-way routes. David was on his
way to wipe out Nabal and Abigail to prevent it, each on and with their own
mission.
Verses 21 - 22: Now
David had said, “Surely in vain I have protected all that this fellow has in
the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belongs to him. And he
has repaid me evil for good. (Verse 22) May
God do so, and more also, to the enemies of David, if I leave one male of all
who belong to him by morning light.”
David is inwardly fuming as is
easy to tell by his thoughts. We get a
clear picture of what he is thinking and his intentions in these verses. To put it mildly, David was out for
revenge! He was going to punish Nabal,
but not just Nabal, notice who else David was going to extract his revenge upon
… all the males who belonged to Nabal!
This included sons (was Abigail the mother of one of those sons),
slaves, and every male member of Nabal’s establishment.
David, blinded by his anger, was
about to make a big mistake that couldn’t be undone …
Verse 23: Now
when Abigail saw David, she dismounted quickly from the donkey, fell on her
face before David, and bowed down to the ground.
Was David still on the animal he
was riding when Abigal saw him or had he dismounted for some reason? The Bible doesn’t tell us.
At any rate, the first thing
Abigail did as soon as she saw David was quickly get down off the donkey she
was riding. She had to act as fast as
she could. She had a plan and not a
minute to waste … every second was valuable.
She had to have known that these few seconds could make or break her purpose.
The next thing she did was fall on
her face before David bowing to the ground.
It’s easy to assume that part of her plan was to show deep humility,
respect and reverence and bowing to the ground falling on her face did that.
Verse 24: So she
fell at his feet and said: “On me, my lord, on me let this iniquity be! And
please let your maidservant speak in your ears, and hear the words of your
maidservant.
Notice Abigail got right to the
point, notice also that she didn’t pretend she didn’t know what David’s
intended purpose was. This was no time
for pretense and small talk.
Abigail immediately took the blame
for what had happened to David’s men and pleaded for a chance to speak further
to him about the incident. Did you
notice that she referred to herself as his maidservant?
The image that comes to mind is of
a woman desperate to save her family, friends, village, etc. pulling out all
the stops, doing everything she could.
Verse 25: Please, let not my lord regard this scoundrel
Nabal. For as his name is, so is he: Nabal is his name, and folly is with him!
But I, your maidservant, did not see the young men of my lord whom you sent.
It seems that Abigail doesn’t slow
down but charged on speaking not giving David an opening to respond. She immediately launched in with her thoughts
on her husband, which were in confirmation of David’s thoughts. She refers to her husband as a scoundrel and
asks David not to pay attention to this worthless man implying that he (Nabal)
wasn’t worth David’s time. (This is the
same argument David used about himself to Saul when Saul was pursing him, “Does
not the king of Israel have anything more important to do …?” You can read more about this incident with
Saul and David in I Samuel 24.)
In verse 24 we noted that Abigail
took blame for the incident upon herself and here in verse 25 we see her
reasoning, “I did not see the young men whom you sent.” She is telling David without saying it, that
this wouldn’t have happened if she had seen the men first or possibly before
they left the village. In other words,
she would have run interference on Nabal’s behalf again.
Here we get a glimpse of Abigail’s
possible inner struggle in her relationship with her husband as well as a
glimpse of her over all self-sacrificing love.
Yes, a wife can have love for her husband but not be blind to his
faults. In spite of her fear and anger driven ‘in that moment’ feelings for her
husband, Abigail continues to place the blame for the incident upon herself …
she is trying to save his life in spite of his conduct; she was willing to
stand in his place and take his guilt. Jesus did that for us!
Did you notice that Abigail
referred to David as lord 2 times in this verse? Between verses 25-31, we’re going to see
Abigail either call or refer to David as lord numerous times. Does she know that he is to be the next king
or is she paying homage to the one who holds the lives of those near and dear
to her in his hands … or could it be both?
We’ll find out in just a few verses.
Verse 26: Now therefore, my lord, as the Lord lives and
as your soul lives, since the Lord has held you back from coming to bloodshed
and from avenging yourself with your own hand, now then, let your enemies and
those who seek harm for my lord be as Nabal.
‘the Lord has held you back from
coming to bloodshed and from avenging yourself’ … could Abigail be getting through to David, is he
beginning to soften a little or was she anticipating his possible restraint as
she worked to put ideas into his head and heart.
Abigail continues …
‘let your enemies and those who
seek harm for my lord be as Nabal …’. This seems to indicate
that Abigail knows in her head and heart that Nabal is going to be a dead man.
It is my humble opinion that this
verse holds the key as to why God used Abigail to approach David. She was wise, diplomatic and confident … and
willing to risk all to save her family. God put Abigail in a position to use her
talents and determination to keep David from doing something He didn’t want him
to do. God used Abigail to restrain
David from the guilt of having slaughtered innocent people. Often as women, we bemoan our personality
traits wishing we were different, but have you ever entertained the idea that
God made you with the personality traits you have for a reason. Maybe, just maybe He has a job for you that
will utilize those traits perfectly.
There’s something for the bold and
outspoken to do …
There’s something for the quiet
introvert to do …
There’s something for all the
personality traits in between to do as well …
God didn’t make a mistake; He made
you the way you are for a purpose.
Wisdom, diplomacy, confidence and
the willingness to risk it all are attributes we all need to work towards to
save our families, maybe not from a man bent on revenge, but from the clutches
of the devil?
Abigail used wisdom … let’s call
wisdom in this instance, God’s Word. Do
we use it as our guide of what to do and not do?
She used diplomacy by assessing
the situation and choosing the best way to handle it. Every member of a family is different, and
each situation is as well. We need to
assess each situation and discern the best way to handle it by keeping in mind
that families are not a ‘one size fits all’ entity.
She was confident in her mission …
do we have cemented in our hearts and heads what the end goal is for our
families? If heaven is the end goal,
shouldn’t every decision and action we take be heading them in that direction?
She was willing to risk all … are
we willing to risk all including grumpiness and or anger from our children when
‘heaven bound’ decisions are made on their behalf that they don’t like? How about when you are the only one standing
for the truth … are you willing to risk everyone’s ire to stand for the truth?
Verse 27: And
now this present which your maidservant has brought to my lord, let it be given
to the young men who follow my lord.
Abigail has got David’s attention now
and next she offers them food! Remember,
these men are all likely hungry and definitely angry. Now that she has got them slowed down long
enough to hear what she has to say, she brings out the food she had brought for
the young men and offers it to them. In
so doing, she is showing David in word and deed that she is trying to right the
wrong her husband committed by doing the right thing.
Verse 28: Please
forgive the trespass of your maidservant. For the Lord will certainly make for
my lord an enduring house, because my lord fights the battles of the Lord, and
evil is not found in you throughout your days.
Reasoning … food … more reasoning
…
“please forgive the trespass of
your maidservant’ … here again, she is
taking the blame upon herself, notice her humility in referring to herself as
David’s maidservant yet again.
“For the Lord will certainly make
for my lord an enduring house, because my lord fights the battles of the Lord,
and evil is not found in you throughout your days.”
Abigail is appealing to David, by mentioning
the Lord. Could David in his rage have
forgotten the Lord? Rage and anger will
do that, won’t it? At the height of intense
anger, revenge is all one thinks about, isn’t it? By gently mentioning the Lord, did Abigail
break the wall of rage David was experiencing?
I like to think so!
She goes on to recognize and
remind David that he fights the Lord’s battles and that as such operates under
God’s protection. She also attempts to
remind David that he is not an evil man.
(Fighting the Lord’s battles is something Saul, Israel’s current king,
should have been doing instead of pursuing David all the time.) It seems Abigail is trying to get David to
see that committing the slaughter he has planned would sully his reputation as
a man of God and that the Lord Himself would not be pleased.
‘an enduring house’ … could this be referring to David’s future role as
King of Israel?
Verse 29: Yet a
man has risen to pursue you and seek your life, but the life of my lord shall
be bound in the bundle of the living with the Lord your God; and the lives of
your enemies He shall sling out, as from the pocket of a sling.
Is Abigail referring to the
constant and continual pursuit of David that Saul is bent on doing? Is she reminding David that the Lord has and
will continue to provide and protect him?
Here’s an example of Abigail’s
diplomacy in referring to: “the lives of your enemies He (God) shall
sling out, as from the pocket of a sling,” Abigail subtility reminds David
that it was a sling that brought him to the attention of all Israel when he
fought and won against Goliath.
It seems that Abigail was a woman
of God and knew something about David.
Verses 30 & 31: And it
shall come to pass, when the Lord has done for my lord according to all the
good that He has spoken concerning you, and has appointed you ruler over
Israel, (Verse 31): that this will be no
grief to you, nor offense of heart to my lord, either that you have shed blood
without cause, or that my lord has avenged himself. But when the Lord has dealt
well with my lord, then remember your maidservant.”
Abigail’s entire purpose was to
prevent David from doing something God did not want him to do. She knew the guilt of having taken so many
innocent lives would have been a heavy burden for him to bear. Revenge on Nabal, a well-known Judahite,
without God’s authority, would have brought trouble from Israel and the Lord
for David.
Abigail also recognizes David as
the future ruler over Israel. In so
doing she worked hard to get him to see the mistake he would be making if he
carried out his plan.
‘But when the Lord has dealt well
with my lord, then remember your maidservant.’ Abigail’s focus has been on keeping David
from making a devastating mistake, but here she is focusing on herself. Not knowing if David would relent and not
commit the devastation he was planning, she asked David for kindness on her
behalf, regardless of how it all turned out.
Whew! Can’t you just feel all the feelings Abigail
must have been experiencing as she did her best to fight for her family,
friends and the village people … heart-pounding fear, anger towards her husband
and a heavy weight of trepidation to name a few?
Up to this point Abigail has done
all the talking, next week we’ll hear from David. Did Abigail’s plan work? Was she able to get through to David?
patsy @ From This Heart of Mine
~ a place for
women to gather and study God's Word ~
Sources used for
this study:
Various
translations of the Holy Bible
Various
commentaries
Several trusted
and biblically sound online sources
Dictionary of New
Testament Background, Editors: Craig A Evans & Stanley E. Porter
Archaeological
Study Bible
All the Women of
the Bible by Edith Deen
Daughters of Eve
by Lottie Beth Hobbs
Halley’s Bible
Handbook by H. H. Halley
