Women of Note in the Old Testament
37
Without consulting her husband or telling him of her intention,
Abigail made up an ample supply of provisions, which, laded upon
asses, she sent forward in the charge of servants, and herself started
out to meet the band of David. She met them in a covert of a hill. “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.” Abigail
addressed David with as much reverence as though speaking to a
crowned monarch. Nabal had scornfully exclaimed, “Who is David?”
but Abigail called him, “my lord.” With kind words she sought to
soothe his irritated feelings, and she pleaded with him in behalf of her
husband. With nothing of ostentation or pride, but full of the wisdom
[43]
and love of God, Abigail revealed the strength of her devotion to her
household; and she made it plain to David that the unkind course of
her husband was in no wise premeditated against him as a personal
affront, but was simply the outburst of an unhappy and selfish nature.
“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.” Abigail did not take to
herself the credit of this reasoning to turn David from his hasty purpose,
but gave to God the honor and the praise. She then offered her rich
provision as a peace offering to the men of David, and still pleaded as
if she herself were the one who had so excited the resentment of the
chief.—
Patriarchs and Prophets, 665, 666 (1890)
.
Although Nabal had refused the needy company of David and his
men, yet that very night he made an extravagant feast for himself and
his riotous friends, and indulged in eating and drinking till he sunk in
drunken stupor. The next day after the effects of his drunken debauch
had somewhat passed away, his wife told him of how near he had been
to death, and of how the calamity had been averted. As he listened, he
realized what a course of evil would have resulted but for Abigail’s
discretion, and terror filled his heart. Palsied with horror, he sat down
and never recovered from the shock.
From this history, we can see that there are circumstances under
which it is proper for a woman to act promptly and independently,
moving with decision in the way she knows to be the way of the Lord.