49 Virtuous Abigail – Part 3

In the final section of First Samuel chapter 25, the author not only continued to highlight the character of Abigail, but also showed the great impact she had upon David.

Once Abigail received the word that David was incensed over the words of her husband Nabal, she enacted a plan by which she would answer the request of David (to provide a few lambs for his men to offer at the upcoming feast), but she went over and above by literally providing enough food for the men to feast on.

Once Abigail and David met face to face, she gently admonished him, stressing that he’d been chosen by the Lord to fight God’s battles on behalf of the nation, and not for his own self-interests.

Abigail’s words made such an impression upon David, that he responded, by first turning his attention to the Lord:

1 David Gives Thanks to the Lord

1 Samuel 25:32-35

David set a great example for how believers should respond whenever we are justifiably confronted by someone with our sin.

Rather than dismissing the individual, or deflecting their words, we should realize that the Lord is using the individual as His instrument to correct us.

Prior to his encounter with Abigail, David had not been calling upon the Lord, which was exemplified in how he became so angry at Nabal, simply over mere words which were said about him.

Thankfully, David had been open to receiving godly correction from the woman Abigail, who reminded him, that the Lord had chosen him to be next king over the nation, in addition to fighting against the nation’s enemies.

Abigail confronted David with the sin which was in his heart, and which he had technically not yet carried out. But still it points to the sinfulness of our hearts, and why none of us should ever follow our sinful hearts:

Jeremiah 17:9

After thanking the Lord for keeping him from sinning by killing Nabal and many innocent people, David then thanked Abigail for her pointed and godly words.

He then received her gift of the food and animals to be sacrificed.

2 Death of Nabal

Abigail had not advised her husband about plan to provide David and his men with that which he so easily had dismissed and denied them.

She knew that he was an unreasonable man, and once he had determined not to do something, it would have been fruitless to expect him to change.

Culturally, it would have been quite unusual for a wife to make decisions independent of her husband.

However, it seems that Nabal was only interested in making money, and therefore spent most of his time in the neighboring town of Carmel, where he would sell his sheep and/or their wool.

It seems he must have been agreeable to allowing Abigail to manage the large home and servants who attended them. Which is probably why she felt comfortable in making decisions such as that concerning David and his men.

However, after her meeting with David, it was her intent to advise Nabal “after-the-fact”:

1 Samuel 25:36-38

When she returned home, Abigail found Nabal hosting a drunken party, which the author shows to be one expected to be given by a king.

It recalls how the book of Daniel described king Belshazzar hosting a similar party, when he arrogantly and profanely had the sacred goblets from the Jewish temple brought out, to be used for his profane party. The Babylonians had confiscated the vessels when they took those of Judah captive, and they pillaged and burned the temple in Jerusalem:

Daniel 5:1-2

But then in subsequent verses, the king witnessed the very hand of God writing his judgment on the palace wall. The king was told that he had been weighed in the balances and found wanting:

Daniel 5:26-31

That very night, God judged both Babylon and Belshazzar, who was killed.

In the text in First Samuel 25, similarly, Nabal had spoken and acted foolishly.

Abigail smartly refrained from speaking with her husband while he was in a drunken state. However, she did so the next morning, telling him all that she had done in response to David’s plans.

Upon hearing his wife’s words, the Scripture says his “heart died within him” picturing a massive cardiac event of some sort. He lingered in an apparent coma for nearly ten days, when he died.

3 David Marries Abigail

1 Samuel 25:39-44

Upon hearing of Nabal’s death, David sent messengers to her, proposing marriage. Again, showing that she had indeed made a great impact upon him.

As shown by verse 44, David was technically free to marry, since Saul had given his daughter Michal (David’s wife) – to another man as wife.

As for Abigail, she agreed to become David’s wife, and she and five of her handmaids traveled with her to David’s wilderness encampment, where the marriage took place.

However, as we see in verse 43, Abigail wasn’t the only wife David would take during this period:

1 Samuel 25:43

As a matter of fact, David would have many wives, all of which would be the cause of a very dysfunctional and unsettled homelife.

The many wives, also shows how he struggled throughout his life with fleshly passions, a trait which he would pass on to his son Solomon.