ABIGAIL KEEPS DAVID FROM SINNING

PROCLAMATION

“That this shall be no grief unto thee, nor offence of heart unto my lord, either that thou hast shed blood causeless, or that my lord hath avenged himself; but when The Lord shall have dealt with my lord, then remember thine handmaid.”  1 Samuel 25:31 (KJV)

 

EXPLANATION

These words were written under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God after the death of the prophet Samuel by Nathan the prophet and Gad the seer.  About this time the prophet Samuel dies.  All of Israel gathered to mourn for him, and they buried him in Ramah.  Afterwards, David then left and went down to the wilderness of Paran. (1 Samuel 25:1)  There was a certain rich man named Nabal who lived there with his wife Abigail.  David sent a few of his men to Nabal to greet him and to ask for food for his men.  When they arrived Nabal disrespected them and refused to give them anything.  David was upset when he learned of this because his men had previously protected Nabal’s flock and his shepherds.  David told his men to strap on their swords and he took four hundred men and set out to kill Nabal. (1 Samuel 25:2-13)  One of the servants told Abigail how Nabal had insulted the men.  Abigail acted quickly and had donkeys loaded with bread, and wine, and dressed sheep, and roasted grain, and pressed fig cakes, and headed with her servants to David without telling her husband. (1 Samuel 25:14-19)  When she met David, she got off of her donkey, bowed down, then asked him to pay no attention to her foolish husband Nabal.  She asked him to accept the food which she brought as a gift.  She also asked David not to avenge himself with his own hands and reminded him that he was fighting for The Lord.  (1 Samuel 25:20-31)  David thanked Abigail for keeping him from bloodshed and avenging himself.  He accepted her gifts and sent her away in peace.  The next day she told Nabal that she had stopped David from coming to kill him.  He was shocked, he had a heart attack, and ten days later he died. (1 Samuel 25:32-38)  After he heard that Nabal was dead, David sent word to Abigail to become his wife and she accepted. (1 Samuel 25:39-42)

 

APPLICATION

“… Avenge not yourselves … for as it is written, ‘Vengeance is Mine; I will repay,’ saith The Lord.” (Romans 12:19)  We are not to avenge ourselves whenever someone does wrong to us.  We may be angry, hurt, mad, or upset, but we are to “let go and let God.”  Sometimes the best thing to do is to do nothing at all.  The Bible says for us to “Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.  For evildoers shall be cut off …” (Psalm 37:8-9)