Abigail acted
quickly. She took two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine,
five dressed sheep, five seahs of roasted grain, a hundred cakes
of raisins and two hundred cakes of pressed figs, and loaded
them on donkeys. 19 Then she told her servants, “Go on
ahead; I’ll follow you.” But she did not tell her husband
Nabal.
20 As she came riding her donkey into a mountain ravine, there
were David and his men descending toward her, and she met
them. 21 David had just said, “It’s been useless—all
my watching over this fellow’s property in the wilderness so that
nothing of his was missing. He has paid me back evil for
good.22 May God deal with David,[c] be it ever so
severely, if by morning I leave alive one male of all who
belong to him!”
23 When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off her donkey and
bowed down before David with her face to the ground. 24 She
fell at his feet and said: “Pardon your servant, my lord, and
let me speak to you; hear what your servant has to say. 25 Please
pay no attention, my lord, to that wicked man Nabal. He is just like
his name—his name means Fool, and folly goes with him. And as
for me, your servant, I did not see the men my lord sent. 26 And
now, my lord, as surely as the Lord your God lives and as
you live, since the Lord has kept you from bloodshed and
from avenging yourself with your own hands, may your enemies and
all who are intent on harming my lord be like Nabal. 27 And
let this gift, which your servant has brought to my lord, be
given to the men who follow you.
28 “Please forgive your servant’s presumption.
The Lord your God will certainly make a lasting dynasty
for my lord, because you fight the Lord’s battles, and no
wrongdoing will be found in you as long as you live. 29 Even
though someone is pursuing you to take your life, the life of my
lord will be bound securely in the bundle of the living by
the Lord your God, but the lives of your enemies he will
hurl away as from the pocket of a sling.30 When
the Lord has fulfilled for my lord every good thing he
promised concerning him and has appointed him ruler over
Israel, 31 my lord will not have on his conscience the
staggering burden of needless bloodshed or of having avenged himself.
And when the Lord your God has brought my lord success,
remember your servant.”
32 David said to Abigail, “Praise be to the Lord,
the God of Israel, who has sent you today to meet me. 33 May
you be blessed for your good judgment and for keeping me from
bloodshed this day and from avenging myself with my own
hands. 34 Otherwise, as surely as the Lord, the God of
Israel, lives, who has kept me from harming you, if you had not come
quickly to meet me, not one male belonging to Nabal would have
been left alive by daybreak.”
35 Then
David accepted from her hand what she had brought him and said, “Go
home in peace. I have heard your words and granted your
request.”
The Bible, 1 Samuel 25:18-35
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is one of my favorite stories in the whole Bible because I feel like it applies to me more. Abigail, who was pretty and intelligent (adjective clause), humbled herself and therefore saved all her people. When her husband was a fool and was rude to David and his men (adverbial clause), she was wise and quickly apologized. She also made restitution. Abigail knew that God was on David's side. She did not have to be the one to go before him and beg for forgiveness, but she did. She was bold and that inspires me. David found favor with Abigail because she was so respectful. I want to act the way Abigail acted. I don't necessarily want to get stuck with a foolish drunkard as a husband who makes idiotic choices that endanger his and all his people's lives, but I do want to be wise and humble like she was. Abigail is a great role model.
No comments:
Post a Comment