Page 76 - No Apologies

meet me, and blessed be your discernment, and blessed be you, who have kept me
this day from bloodshed and from avenging myself by my own hand. Nevertheless,
as Yahweh God of Israel lives, who has restrained me from harming you, unless you
had come quickly to meet me, surely there would not have been left to Nabal until
the morning light as much as one male." So David received from her hand what she
had brought him and said to her, "Go up to your house in peace. See, I have listened
to you and granted your request."

Notice the order of events here. David had been greatly dishonored by Nabal, and this
has provoked an offense in his heart. Abigail begins by bowing before David. Her first act
is to demonstrate honor to him. Abigail did not dismount her donkey, and walk over and
stand before David as an equal. She demonstrated in a visible manner an attitude of honor
toward him.
Abigail, with great wisdom, then speaks words to take away the pain of rejection and
reproach David has experienced from many other sources. It was no secret that David had
been anointed by Samuel to be king and that Saul was seeking his life due to jealousy. Nabal
preferred to put his own twisted interpretation on this, and it was this that infuriated David
so much. David was suffering tremendous things. He was the most faithful of servants to
Saul, yet he was treated as an enemy. He had to leave family and home, and live as an alien
in a foreign land. Many times he remained just one step ahead of Saul and certain death.
His life was a life of peril.
I am sure that David often wondered if God would truly fulfill what He had promised
to him. Living in caves and foreign lands as an outcast must have caused his heart to doubt
and question what God had promised. Nabal’s words accusing David of being a rebellious
servant to Saul must have struck deep to his doubts and insecurities.
Look at Abigail’s words. She knows the distress in David’s heart. She is a wise woman
and she perceives the issues that are warring within David. She understands what is
necessary to raise him back to a place of faith so that he will not act out of his desperation
and frustration. She assures David of the surety of his calling, declaring with great
confidence that David will see fulfilled all that Yahweh has spoken to him.
Abigail’s words were spoken in the presence of David’s men. She elevated him in the
eyes of others. David needed someone to understand what had been promised to him. He
needed someone to encourage his heart when all the circumstances around him were
discouraging. He needed to hear from the lips of another person that his situation was not
hopeless, but that Yahweh would perform all He had spoken. Abigail’s words were like a
healing balm to David’s aching heart. She encouraged him with words of faith and hope,
and as she did so David’s desperation and pain was washed away to be replaced with calm
and peace and the patience to wait upon Yahweh.
What perception was in the heart of this woman! She did not go out and scold David
for wanting to destroy her family. She did not tell him that the course he was on was wicked.
She affirmed him, encouraged him and lifted him up. She brought back hope in a time when
he desperately needed hope.
David relented of his intent to avenge himself. He accepted Abigail’s gift and he and
his men returned. Yahweh exacted vengeance for Nabal’s wickedness. The Scriptures state
that about ten days later God struck Nabal and he died.
After this we read of David sending a proposal to Abigail to make her his wife. It
should not be surprising that David desired to be intimate with this woman, to keep her