“Now there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel; and the man was very great, and he had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. And it came about while he was shearing his sheep in Carmel (now the man’s name was Nabal, and his wife’s name was Abigail. And the woman was intelligent and beautiful in appearance, but the man was harsh and evil in his dealings, and he was a Calebite), that David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep.” (1 Samuel 25:2-4 NASB)
David was away from home and needed supplies, so he sent some men to Nabal. You can imagine the evil that happened, Nabal insulted David’s men and sent them back empty handed. You can also imagine what went through the mind of this man of war. Grab your swords!
Abigal heard what happened before the swords arrived. She loaded up the goods, without Nabal knowing, and headed toward David’s camp. Meeting about 400 hundred angry men on the way she humbled herself before David with words from God. Words that restrained him from revenge killing and prophesies about David’s enemies.
David blesses Abigal who goes home to a drunk Nabal, so she waits until he sobers-up before telling him what happened, “and his heart died within him so that he became like a stone. About ten days later, the Lord struck Nabal and he died.” (1 Samuel 25:37-38 NASB) And God gave Abigal to David to be his new wife. The first one, King Saul’s daughter, was a treacherous gift.
I have never counted God’s lessons in this bit of history. One impressed me the most. Abigal is a favorite Bible personality. An example of having a depth of understanding yet being humble. Those qualities restrained one of God’s servants from sinning. Learn that lesson church.
His Family Table 