Abigail Feeds David’s Followers; Marries the King

“Then David moved down into the Desert of Maon. A certain man in Maon, who had property there at Carmel, was very wealthy. He had a thousand goats and three thousand sheep, which he was shearing in Carmel. His name was Nabal and his wife’s name was Abigail. She was an intelligent and beautiful woman, but her husband, a Calebite, was surly and mean in his dealings…Abigail lost no time. She took two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five dressed sheep, five seahs of roasted grain, a hundred cakes of raisins and two hundred cases of pressed figs, and loaded them on donkeys….[She said to David as she bowed before him] “When the Lord has done for my master every good thing he promised concerning him and has appointed him leader over Israel, my master will not have on his conscience the staggering burden of needless bloodshed or of having avenged himself. And when the Lord has brought my master success, remember your servant.’” (I Samuel 25:1b-3; 18, 30-31, NIV) [Read I Samuel 25]

“Abigail.” The name has a beautiful sound and it means “my father rejoiced.” I know young parents who proudly name their daughter Abigail, this old-fashioned name reflecting on a little-known Old Testament character. Abigail bravely helped God’s intended King of Israel when David, who had been anointed king by Samuel earlier under God’s direction, and his 600 soldiers were hiding out in the desert region of Moan from the incumbent jealous King Saul. Read this in I Samuel 25.

Samuel who had been such a strong spiritual leader of Israel had just died and was buried at his home in Ramah. But the nation was in trouble. King Saul, jealous of David who had been anointed king, was determined to kill David. Saul and his army were hunting for David and his 600 soldiers (followers) who had fled to the desert area of Maon. Living in that area was a wealthy Carmelite named Nabal who had land and flocks, numbering a thousand goats and three thousand sheep. At shearing time, Nabal made a great feast. David sent messengers asking for provisions and also telling him that they had spared and protected his flocks and servants while they were at the grazing land. Nabal, an obstinate, drunken fellow, was unwilling to share. David was about to retaliate by attacking Nabal and his servants. Nabal’s wife, Abigail, took the situation into her own hands. She managed to load donkeys with abundant provisions and with her servants, took the food to David’s army. God oftentimes uses unexpected individuals to reveal His will. In a tense situation, Abigail acted bravely to assist God’s servant (even at the risk of her own life, for she did not tell her husband of her plans in a day when a wife was in complete subservience to the will of her husband). Moreover, she was moved to speak to David and to confront him with the importance of his own honor and his mission as Israel’s leader. Shortly afterward, Nabal who had not honored David’s request, died suddenly. Later, the beautiful Abigail became David’s wife and bore him a son named Chileab (also known as Daniel). From Abigail’s example, we learn that God can use a generous and discerning person to help fulfill His will. As Dr. Henry Blackaby teaches in his course, Experiencing God, we should “look to see where God is working and join Him in His work.” Abigail is an example of following this spiritual principle.

c Ethelene Dyer Jones; Monday, August 16, 2010