365 Days of the Great Names of God, Day 240: God of Abigail

God of Abigail

"David said to Abigail, “Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel, who has sent you today to meet me.' " (1 Samuel 25:32 NIV)

The following is a summary of what I knew about the biblical Abigail up until about a week ago:

She was a woman in the Bible.

The following is an extremely condensed summary of what I now know:

She was one sharp lady.

The longer summary is that Abigail's story is funny and fascinating and full of applicable truth, so I'm really not sure why is doesn't make it into children's Bibles and other Biblical-story top-10 lists. But after I spent some time with her, I decided Abigail would make a lovely tour guide on this Names of God side trip.

*Abigail's Story: The Synopsis ~*

Abigail lived at Carmel in the Desert of Paran, to which King David had moved after the death of Samuel. Abigail was a real winner—intelligent, beautiful, and wise—but her husband, Nabal, was, by all accounts, a real lout. Various Bible translations describe him as "harsh and badly behaved" (ESV), "surly and mean" (NIV), "churlish and evil" (ASV), and "brutish" (MSG). (One can only speculate this was an arranged marriage gone awry.)

One day, while David was in the wilderness, he heard that Nabal was shearing sheep, of which the man had plenty. David sent some of his people to greet Nabal and point out that David's guys hadn't harmed any of Nabal's shepherds nor disturbed their sheep while David and company were in the neighborhood and to ask Nabal if he could round up a little sustenance for them, please and thank you.

Nabal's response (and here I imagine a rather unpleasant tone) was basically, "Who's this David? What son of Jesse?" (Had he been living under a rock?) "I'm not giving any of my goods to men from 'who knows where' " (actual NIV wording...1 Samuel 25:11).

When this response got back to David, he told his men (understandably enough), "Each of you strap on your sword!"

Word got back to Abigail about her husband's treatment of the king and his men: “David sent messengers from the wilderness to give our master his greetings, but he hurled insults at them. Yet these men were very good to us. They did not mistreat us, and the whole time we were out in the fields near them nothing was missing. Night and day they were a wall around us the whole time we were herding our sheep near them. Now think it over and see what you can do, because disaster is hanging over our master and his whole household. He is such a wicked man that no one can talk to him” (1 Samuel 25:14-17).

The short version of what happened from there is that Abigail loaded up provisions, hopped on her donkey, met David, fell to the ground at his feet, asked him to excuse her "fool" of a husband, begged David's pardon, explained her side of the situation, offered provisions, and foretold God's blessing over David if he restrained himself from needless bloodshed. David thanked her, accepted her gifts, and sent her on her way in peace. (All of which made for a rather nice "how I met your mother" story later when Abigail, having been relieved of her boorish husband by the hand of the Lord, received and accepted a marriage proposal from David.)

*Abigail's Story: The Take-Away ~ *

Abigail took quick action, but she did it with intelligence and intention. I could stand to learn from her example, so here's what I'll be filing away for future reference the next time I'm dealing with a situation that looks like it's spiraling toward disaster.

* She heeded the counsel of those "beneath" her.

* She was decisive but not foolhardy.

*She was practical.

*She was discerning.

*She was humble.

*She was realistic.

*She showed good judgement.

*She was motivated by the best interests of others.

*She pursued peace.

*She had a servant's heart.

* * * * * *
God, thank you for this hidden gem of an example of true beauty and wisdom. Help me learn from Abigail's story, that I, too, might wield wisdom and pursue peace.