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; 17:25; I Chronicles 2:16-17; 3:1
In our last
lesson, we saw Abigail do her best to talk David down from his anger and
intended revenge on her family, friends and village. This week we’re going to see how David
responded.
Let's rejoin David and Abigail in verse 32 ...
Verse 32 David said to Abigail, “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, who has sent you today to meet me.”
All Abigail’s efforts paid off, she was able to get
through David’s anger, hate, vengeful thoughts and intentions; she was able to
get him to see reason. What relief surely
must have washed over her entire being as she realized she had been successful! Notice the first recorded words we have that
David said after hearing Abigail out …
“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, who has sent
you today to meet me.”
David recognized and praised God for sending Abigail to
him. It seems he realized the full
impact of what he intended to do and that the woman standing before him was the
instrument by which God had stopped him.
Verse 33 May you be blessed for your good judgment and
for keeping me from bloodshed this day and from avenging myself with my own
hands.
With the full impact of what would have been had he not
listened to Abigail likely heavy on his heart, David pronounces a blessing on
Abigail.
Why the blessing?
Because Abigail, in her discernment and consequent actions, had saved
many lives and likely generational consequences as well and David recognized
this.
This couldn’t have been easy for Abigail, but using
what she had where she was, she met the challenge head on. Isn’t that what God wants us to do … use what
He equips us with, to do what we can, where we’re at, when called upon to do so?
Abigail’s counsel had been wise, and David had been
wise in setting aside his feelings and listening. Are we willing to listen to counsel of those
who are wiser than we?
Verse 34 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.”
“Otherwise, as surely as the Lord, the God of Israel,
lives, who has kept me from harming you”
David acknowledges that God had kept him from carrying
out his vengeance on Abigail. That would
have been so easy for him to do, wouldn’t it?
Here was the wife of the man he intended to destroy, David could have started
his plan of revenge on Nabal with her, but God intervened!
David goes on to confess to Abigail that, “if you
had not come quickly to meet me, not one male belonging to Nabal would have
been left alive by daybreak.” It’s
clear that David is impressed by Abigail and her willingness to try to right
the wrongs her husband had committed. It
seems he’s also impressed with her discernment, diplomacy and courage. One more thing to notice, David gives her the
credit due her and acknowledges her efforts.
Hmmmm … those who know this account or have read ahead know where all
this led. David is impressed with
Abigail … enough said … for right now!
Verse 35 Then David accepted from her hand what she had
brought him and said, “Go home in peace. I have heard your words and granted
your request.”
What was Abigail’s request? Really, it was twofold: (1) not to carry out
his revenge on Nabal and (2) to show kindness to herself regardless of the
decision he made regarding her husband.
David accepted the food offerings and sent Abigail back
to Nabal with the assurance that her requests had been granted.
Before we leave this lesson, let’s step inside of Abigail’s
head and heart and take a look at what she is likely feeling …
Immeasurable relief (The kind where your knees might
buckle under you if you don’t sit down.)
Anger towards her husband (You know she’s got to be
feeling this!)
Overwhelming thankfulness to God (Overflowing gratitude
that can’t be put into words.)
Is it possible to have such a wide range of feelings
and emotions going on in our hearts at the same time. I think we all know the answer to that; yes, it
is possible and as we’ve just seen, Abigail did!
In our next lesson, Nabal’s day of reckoning
arrives! Does Abigail play a role in it,
if so, what does it look like? We’ll
talk about these things when we meet again in lesson 6.
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
No comments:
Post a Comment