Page 49 - Sarah's Children

with him; but I your maidservant did not see the young men of my lord
whom you sent. Now therefore, my lord, as Yahweh lives, and as your
soul lives, since Yahweh has restrained you from shedding blood, and
from avenging yourself by your own hand, now then let your enemies
and those who seek evil against my lord, be as Nabal. Now let this gift
which your maidservant has brought to my lord be given to the young
men who accompany my lord. Please forgive the transgression of your
maidservant; for Yahweh will certainly make for my lord an enduring
house, because my lord is fighting the battles of Yahweh, and evil will
not be found in you all your days. Should anyone rise up to pursue you
and to seek your life, then the life of my lord shall be bound in the
bundle of the living with Yahweh your God; but the lives of your
enemies He will sling out as from the hollow of a sling. And when
Yahweh does for my lord according to all the good that He has spoken
concerning you, and appoints you ruler over Israel, this will not cause
grief or a troubled heart to my lord, both by having shed blood without
cause and by my lord having avenged himself. When Yahweh deals well
with my lord, then remember your maidservant." Then David said to
Abigail, "Blessed be Yahweh God of Israel, who sent you this day to
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."

Undoubtedly, the people of the area knew the things that had been spoken of David.
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 even go 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
simply being a rebellious servant to Saul must have struck deep to his doubts and
insecurities.