The law of the Lord is perfect,
refreshing the soul.
The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy,
making wise the simple.
The precepts of the Lord are right,
giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the Lord are radiant,
giving light to the eyes.
The fear of the Lord is pure,
enduring forever.
The decrees of the Lord are firm,
and all of them are righteous.
They are more precious than gold,
than much pure gold;
they are sweeter than honey,
than honey from the honeycomb.
By them your servant is warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.
Psalm 19:7-11 NIV
One of the servants told Nabal’s wife Abigail: “David sent messengers from the desert to give our master his greetings, but he hurled insults at them. Yet these men were very good to us. They did not mistreat us, and the whole time we were out in the fields near them nothing was missing. Night and day they were a wall around us all the time we were herding our sheep near them. Now think it over and see what you can do, because disaster is hanging over our master and his whole household. He is such a wicked man that no one can talk to him.”
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 cakes of pressed figs, and loaded them on donkeys. Then she told her servants, “Go on ahead; I’ll follow you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal. I Samuel 25:14-19 NIV
David was described by God as being a man after his own heart (I Samuel 13:14). He spent many years waiting on the Lord to remove Saul and make him king. In I Samuel 24 and 26 David’s own men urge him to kill Saul. But David choses to spare Saul’s life, because he was God’s anointed king. However, he didn’t always listen to God or always wait patiently for wisdom.
In I Samuel 25 David seems to be at a point in his life where perhaps waiting on God to make him king has become tiresome. His temper is quick, he seems to take offense easily. David made a reasonable request of Nabal (whose name means fool), but Nabal insulted him and refused to provide any hospitality. So, David says, “put on your swords!” … “It’s been useless – all my watching over his fellow’s property in the desert so that nothing of his was missing. He has paid me back evil for good. May God deal with David, be it ever so severely, if by morning I leave alive one male of all who belong to him!” I Samuel 25:13 & 21-22.
Abigail is described as, “An intelligent and beautiful woman, but her husband, a Calebite, was surly and mean in his dealings,” I Samuel 25:3b. The Hebrew word for intelligent here means a person who is wise in the ways of the Lord, and is the opposite of being foolish. Abigail listens to the concerns of her husband’s servants, quickly discerns the danger to herself, her husband and her whole household because of Nabal’s foolish treatment of David.
This wise, God-fearing woman, puts into motion, almost instantly, a plan to appease David and save her husband and servants from almost certain destruction. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise,” Psalm 111:10. Abigail fears God, she respects him. She offered David generous gifts, honor and showed great humility. Her actions prevent David from shedding blood needlessly, and put him back on course with God. We need men and women who understand and seek God’s wisdom, like Abigail.
This week, read over Psalm 19 several times. Look for how God reveals his wisdom and his knowledge to us. Use the words of this Psalm to pray for God to give you his wisdom and insight.
By Grace Hunter
