ABIGAIL THE GODLY WIFE OF DAVID

“A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband.” Prov.12:4

     Among the most virtuous women who have ever lived is found in the story of Abigail. And when it came to the spiritually intimate compatibility with David, she was truly his equal.

     When the Holy Spirit imbued David with courage and power to defeat Goliath, king Saul drew David close to himself. “And Michal Saul's daughter loved David: and they told Saul, and the thing pleased him.” “And Saul gave him Michal his daughter to wife.” I Sam.18:20,27. But David’s marriage to Michal was based on blind passion and not spiritual compatibility. And so, this incompatibility turned to bitterness when the Ark of the Covenant was being returned after its capture by the Philistines. “And as the ark of the LORD came into the city of David, Michal Saul's daughter looked through a window, and saw king David leaping and dancing before the LORD; and she despised him in her heart.” II Sam.6:16.

     Enter: Abigail. Her introduction to David stands as a testimony of godliness unsurpassed in its beauty. David was caring for the flocks of Abigail’s husband, Nabal. David and his men did not allow any harm to come to a single animal of Nabal’s. Being raised as a shepherd, David knew how to care for the flocks, taking all necessary precautions in their protection. So, when David sent his men to Nabal requesting that food be provided for David’s men, Nabal treated them harshly and denied them anything from his house. In hearing this the spirit of fury came over David: not for himself but for the welfare of his men. David was a true hero by every definition of the word. The great heroism of David was always seen in battle. Whenever he saw any of his men in danger in the violent exchange; wherever his men were most vulnerable to die at the hands of their enemies, David rushed to their aid, always taking on the enemy’s strongest. “The LORD was with David.” “And David went on, and grew great, and the LORD God of hosts was with him.” I Sam.18:28; II Sam.5:10.

     So, hearing from his men of Nabal’s disrespectful treatment, David commanded a march toward Nabal’s house.

“And David said unto his men, Gird ye on every man his sword. And they girded on every man his sword; and David also girded on his sword: and there went up after David about four hundred men; and two hundred abode by the stuff. But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, saying, Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to salute our master; and he railed on them. But the men were very good unto us, and we were not hurt, neither missed we any thing, as long as we were conversant with them, when we were in the fields: They were a wall unto us both by night and day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep. Now therefore know and consider what thou wilt do; for evil is determined against our master, and against all his household: for he is such a son of Belial, that a man cannot speak to him. Then Abigail made haste, and took two hundred loaves, and two bottles of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched corn, and an hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on asses. And she said unto her servants, Go on before me; behold, I come after you. But she told not her husband Nabal. And it was so, as she rode on the ass, that she came down by the covert of the hill, and, behold, David and his men came down against her; and she met them. Now David had said, Surely in vain have I kept all that this fellow hath in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained unto him: and he hath requited me evil for good. So and more also do God unto the enemies of David, if I leave of all that pertain to him by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall. And when Abigail saw David, she hasted, and lighted off the ass, and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, And fell at his feet, and said, Upon me, my lord, upon me let this iniquity be: and let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thine audience, and hear the words of thine handmaid. Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this man of Belial, even Nabal: for as his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name [meaning ‘fool’], and folly is with him: but I thine handmaid saw not the young men of my lord, whom thou didst send. Now therefore, my lord, as the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, seeing the LORD hath withholden thee from coming to shed blood, and from avenging thyself with thine own hand, now let thine enemies, and they that seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal. And now this blessing which thine handmaid hath brought unto my lord, let it even be given unto the young men that follow my lord. I pray thee, forgive the trespass of thine handmaid: for the LORD will certainly make my lord a sure house; because my lord fighteth the battles of the LORD, and evil hath not been found in thee all thy days. Yet a man is risen to pursue thee, and to seek thy soul: but the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the LORD thy God; and the souls of thine enemies, them shall he sling out, as out of the middle of a sling. And it shall come to pass, when the LORD shall have done to my lord according to all the good that he hath spoken concerning thee, and shall have appointed thee ruler over Israel; 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 well with my lord, then remember thine handmaid. And David said to Abigail, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, which sent thee this day to meet me: And blessed be thy advice, and blessed be thou, which hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood, and from avenging myself with mine own hand. For in very deed, as the LORD God of Israel liveth, which hath kept me back from hurting thee, except thou hadst hasted and come to meet me, surely there had not been left unto Nabal by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall. So David received of her hand that which she had brought him, and said unto her, Go up in peace to thine house; see, I have hearkened to thy voice, and have accepted thy person. And Abigail came to Nabal; and, behold, he held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king; and Nabal's heart was merry within him, for he was very drunken: wherefore she told him nothing, less or more, until the morning light. But it came to pass in the morning, when the wine was gone out of Nabal, and his wife had told him these things, that his heart died within him, and he became as a stone. And it came to pass about ten days after, that the LORD smote Nabal, that he died. And when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed be the LORD, that hath pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and hath kept his servant from evil: for the LORD hath returned the wickedness of Nabal upon his own head. And David sent and communed with Abigail, to take her to him to wife. And when the servants of David were come to Abigail to Carmel, they spake unto her, saying, David sent us unto thee, to take thee to him to wife. And she arose, and bowed herself on her face to the earth, and said, Behold, let thine handmaid be a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord. And Abigail hasted, and arose, and rode upon an ass, with five damsels of hers that went after her; and she went after the messengers of David, and became his wife. II Sam.25:13-44.

     “Upon me, my lord, upon me let this iniquity be” (v.24). The wisdom of these words arrested David in his tracks. His heart paused from his determination. And through Abigail his wrath was stayed. David’s son, Solomon addressed this wisdom displayed by Abigail: “Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart.” “A soft answer turneth away wrath.” “Mercy and truth preserve the king: and his throne is upholden by mercy.” Prov.15:1; 20:28. And in the famous beatitudes of Jesus Christ we see this same heavenly wisdom: “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.” Matt.5:9.

     David took this lesson he learned from Abigail to heart. And it was this lesson that blessed David to repeat its virtue when he had sinned against the LORD by bolstering his pride in numbering all the people under his rule. This stands as one of the most profound lessons on faith. The LORD had to teach the children of Israel and all succeeding generations of how pride will always lead to one’s destruction and all who stand associated with it.

“And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel. And David said to Joab and to the rulers of the people, Go, number Israel from Beersheba even to Dan; and bring the number of them to me, that I may know it. And Joab answered, The LORD make his people an hundred times so many more as they be: but, my lord the king, are they not all my lord's servants? why then doth my lord require this thing? why will he be a cause of trespass to Israel? Nevertheless the king's word prevailed against Joab… So Gad came to David, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Choose thee Either three years' famine; or three months to be destroyed before thy foes, while that the sword of thine enemies overtaketh thee; or else three days the sword of the LORD, even the pestilence, in the land, and the angel of the LORD destroying throughout all the coasts of Israel. Now therefore advise thyself what word I shall bring again to him that sent me. And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let me fall now into the hand of the LORD; for very great are his mercies: but let me not fall into the hand of man. So the LORD sent pestilence upon Israel: and there fell of Israel seventy thousand men… And David said unto God, Is it not I that commanded the people to be numbered? even I it is that have sinned and done evil indeed; but as for these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, O LORD my God, be on me, and on my father's house; but not on thy people, that they should be plagued… And David built there an altar unto the LORD, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called upon the LORD; and he answered him from heaven by fire upon the altar of burnt offering. And the LORD commanded the angel; and he put up his sword again into the sheath thereof.” I Chron.21:1-4,11-14,17,26,27.

     In the many lessons of Scripture when we read of GOD’S dealing with His children we see the severity of GOD’S intervening judgment when it comes to the threat of sin. These lessons illustrate how sin is dangerous to one’s salvation: so much so that Jesus and His Apostle Peter unequivocally stated that the vast majority who have lived on Earth (including those who claim to serve GOD—even in the church) will not escape the condemnation that sin has wrought through the devil’s instigation (Matt7:14, 22:14; I Pet.4:18). This calls for our careful examination that humility and the forsaking of all known sin be displayed before a Holy GOD. And let it be known that He is more eager to forgive than we are to repent. This is thematic throughout the Scriptures. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” I Jn.1:9.

     In the case of David and Abigail, their repentance was thorough and complete. Their hearts were led of the Holy Spirit. They honored the Spirit of the law of Moses in the sanctuary service. And their deeds were seen among men as representative of a GOD who saves from sin. In fact, in displaying their willingness to bear the wrath of GOD against sin we see the same wisdom of character in Jesus Christ Who, before His Incarnation said to His Father, ‘Let the punishment for their sin fall upon Me, Father. I will carry their sin to the grave and leave it there, that eternal life be restored to those who forsake their sin.’

     It was Christ, who “made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Phil.2:7-11.

     This is the spiritually intimate love we see in the character of GOD. “Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord GOD, and thou becamest mine.” Eze.16:8.