Saved from Ourselves

1 Samuel 25:23-35

²³When Abigail saw David, she hurried and got down from the donkey and fell before David on her face and bowed to the ground. ²⁴She fell at his feet and said, “On me alone, my lord, be the guilt. Please let your servant speak in your ears, and hear the words of your servant. ²⁵Let not my lord regard this worthless fellow, Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. Nabal is his name, and folly is with him. But I your servant did not see the young men of my lord, whom you sent. ²⁶Now then, my lord, as the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, because the Lord has restrained you from bloodguilt and from saving with your own hand, now then let your enemies and those who seek to do evil to my lord be as Nabal. ²⁷And now let this present that your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who follow my lord. ²⁸Please forgive the trespass of your servant. For the Lord will certainly make my lord a sure house, because my lord is fighting the battles of the Lord, and evil shall not be found in you so long as you live. ²⁹If men rise up to pursue you and to seek your life, the life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living in the care of the Lord your God. And the lives of your enemies he shall sling out as from the hollow of a sling. ³⁰And when the Lord has done to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you and has appointed you prince over Israel, ³¹my lord shall have no cause of grief or pangs of conscience for having shed blood without cause or for my lord working salvation himself. And when the Lord has dealt well with my lord, then remember your servant.” ³²And David said to Abigail, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me! ³³Blessed be your discretion, and blessed be you, who have kept me this day from bloodguilt and from working salvation with my own hand! ³⁴For as surely as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, who has restrained me from hurting you, unless you had hurried and come to meet me, truly by morning there had not been left to Nabal so much as one male.” ³⁵Then David received from her hand what she had brought him. And he said to her, “Go up in peace to your house. See, I have obeyed your voice, and I have granted your petition."

David Meets Abigail Peter Paul Rubens. c.1630

Our imaginations have been captured. The meeting of David and Abigail is dramatic and satisfying. The momentarily hotheaded leader of a rogue band of malcontents and the beautiful but beleaguered wife of a brute come together with pathos and energy. What will David do with this humble woman who bows at his feet? It could go either way.

The crux of this story lies in verse 31 where Abigail summarizes David’s situation.

“my lord shall have no cause of grief or pangs of conscience for having shed blood without cause or for my lord working salvation himself.”

While seeking to spare the lives of her own family, Abigail is also saving David from himself. He is working salvation for himself and that is not the way God’s people operate. She even gives the glory to God for sending her to David. Her entire speech to David is stunning in its wisdom, faith, and impact. (This is the longest speech given by any woman in all of the Bible.) Abigail hits right at the sweet spot of David’s impetuous decision to exact justice on Nabal. He is working his own salvation and the result will be guilt and sorrow, not only for Abigail, but for David as well. Her wisdom is unmatched. And it doesn’t hurt that she brings a banquet along with her as well.

On an application level, we are called upon to examine our own actions when it comes seeking our own salvation. David is about to end lives and destroy property to work out his wrath. But that is not God’s will for David or Nabal’s family. So, God sends a woman who clearly understand His way of salvation, and that is letting it rest in God’s own hands. David needs a dramatic reminder of that truth and Abigail provides that for him. I would suggest that we can be guilty of the same activity. Our first response is often to gather together our own resources and head down the road of revenge. Again, that is not God’s way. Over and over again, throughout the Scriptures (especially in the book of Psalms) God tells us to leave vengeance in His hands. We are told to move on in trust that He will take care of every wrong every committed against us. Abigail stands as a reminder of that truth. And David wisely hears the message and withdraws his wrath.

I think that Abigail made it easy for David to do the godly thing. Sometimes our options are not quite that clear. But we always do well to take that path rather than one of our own making. It may not be easy, but following God will always be the right thing.