David went to the wilderness of Paran, and there was a man in Maon who was very wealthy. He owned 3,000 sheep, 1,000 goats and his name was Nabal. He was married to Abigail. Nabal was out shearing sheep in Carmel. The Bible says Abigail was a woman of good understanding and was beautiful. The Bible says Nabal was churlish (rude) and evil in his doings. (verse 3) I wonder how happy their marriage was if he was such a mean man.
David learned that Nabal was shearing sheep so he sent 10 men to greet Nabal in David's name. They were to say "Peace both to thee, and peace be to thine house, and peace be unto all that thou hast." That is a really nice greeting. It sounds like a blessing, almost. They were to greet this wealthy man in David's name wishing him peace. What a pleasant thing to hear!
David instructs his men to further state they had been kind to Nabal's workers. They had no harm or anything missing or stolen while they were with David and his men. So David asks through these messengers of his that Nabal could spare a little food for David and those who were with him.
So the men went up to Nabal, did just as David asked them to do, and then they waited on a response. Instead of a generous donation, Nabal was rude and selfish. He turns his nose up in the air and closed his fists. He had no compassion. He was not grateful for the protection of David and his men to keep his workers safe. He was too selfish to give them a morsel of bread.
1 Samuel 25:10-11
10 And Nabal answered David's servants, and said, Who is David? and who is this son of Jesse? there be many servants now a days that break away every man from his master.
11 Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my flesh that I have killed for my shearers, and give it unto men, whom I know not whence they be?
He insults them all! He claims he does not know David. He says David is probably a slave that ran away from the slave owner and he was not going to give food he had for his own workers to give to someone he did not know. This is completely against the teachings of Jesus. We can tell from this passage alone that Nabal is a stingy, self-centered man who does not care about helping anyone but himself.
The men David sent, left Nabal's presence and reported back to David all that had taken place. David told the men to get their sword ready. David grabbed his sword, also. Two hundred men were left behind to wait with the stuff. He and 400 men following were going to visit Nabal. Can you imagine how Nabal would have reacted to see that many men coming at him? That is a pretty big army coming after just one man!
One of the young men went back to Nabal's wife and told Abigail everything that had happened. He told Abigail how David and his men had been a wall of protection for the sheep shearers as they were in the fields night and day. The messenger begs Abigail to do something. He must have come to her before because he knew she would do the right thing. The messenger reminds her of what a terrible person Nabal is and that no one could even have a rational conversation with him.
Abigail springs into action. She took 200 loaves, 2 bottles of wine, 5 dressed sheep, 5 measures of parched corn, 100 clusters of raisins, 200 cakes of figs and put them on a donkey. She sends her servants before her and she says she will follow but she did not tell Nabal. Her husband had no idea that she was going to take all of that stuff to David and his men.
David and 400 men came down the hill and run right into Abigail and her servants with all these gifts. David had just been saying he had been good to Nabal for nothing if that was the way he would be repaid. He planned to destroy all that pertained to Nabal by the morning light. Now he has ran right into Nabal's wife and does not know it.
She bows herself at his feet and she is humble, kind, repenting of the evil her husband had shown them. She was everything Nabal was not. She begged David to spare her family and not to destroy them because of Nabal's evil disposition. She tells David she knew nothing about it and she did not know the ten men had even talked with Nabal. She offers them the gifts she had packed on the donkey. She blessed David and speaks highly of his character and his life. She builds him up. Nabal tore David down with denying he knew him. Abigail builds him up by honoring him and speaking victory and triumph into David's future as he continues to fight the LORD's battles.
1 Samuel 25:32-34
32 And David said to Abigail, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, which sent thee this day to meet me:
33 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.
34 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...
David was very clear that Abigail's swift response, kind gestures, and humble heart were from God moving on her to do so. He tells her that because she moved quickly, she was able to stop him from destroying Nabal's household. In verse 35 he sends her back home in peace and says he will listen to her and change his plans.
Abigail returns home and Nabal is feasting like a king. He refused to give David and his men anything to eat because he claimed it would be taking it from the mouth of his servants, but yet he is helping himself to all the foods and drinks he wants. Abigail does not even speak to him all night.
The next day, Nabal had sobered up, Abigail told him everything she had done. She told him what all she gave David and his men. She told him how they met on the way as he was coming to destroy everything Nabal owned. She tells him that she honored the man of God. Nabal hears every word and his heart died within him. He became like a stone. He did not move. He did not speak. Ten days later, God struck Nabal and he died.
Nabal's story could have ended so much better. He could have softened his heart, become compassionate and generous with all that God had allowed him to acquire, and to repay David and his men for all the protection and kindness they had shown his shearers. He could have responded with kindness to the messengers. He could have shown respect to David. He could have had a wonderful relationship with David and those men. He could have had more protection in the future. Maybe they would have helped Nabal obtain more wealth and possessions. Sadly, it did not end that way at all.
1 Samuel 25:39
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.
Do you think Abigail was surprised David was asking her to marry him? David saw the kindness in her heart, the smart way she sprung into action to protect her family, and the generous way she gave to David and his men. He saw her respect and humbleness and I am sure David knew he could be a much better husband to her than Nabal was. She accepted and you can read the rest of the verses to find out what she said.
I have always loved hearing how people met their husband/wife. I enjoy hearing how they found a connection with that one other person they would spend the rest of their life with. My favorite love story is of course the one of my husband and me. Tomorrow we will celebrate our 19th wedding anniversary. The way we met was not as dramatic as David and Abigail, but it is a special story I love remembering and telling (and re-telling) to our children.
I hope you have learned something new with this blog post. I enjoy learning about the individual characters in God's story. They have their own personalities and agendas. It is so fun for me to study the Bible and find out things like how David and Abigail found one another! Thank you for reading my blog. I appreciate every single person that stops by and all the comments I get. Sometimes it's in person, other times in an email, or on social media, but it's always encouraging.
May you find strength for your journey and light for your way! God bless you!
~Bridgett Owens
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