Abigail’s quick response to a harsh reply

Our attitude towards people can make or unmake us. How we react to situations generally arises from our character and demeanor. In the previous post on Abigail, we saw how Nabal, Abigail’s husband, reacted to the request from David. Nabal’s harsh response was like brewing a wine in a small pot. Nabal didn’t consider the magnitude of his wicked reply. He continued his sheep shearing without the slightest remorse. Afterall, He owned the sheep, not David. How could Nabal not have anticipated that David and his men would come after him? Was Nabal really unaware of the exploits of David? Even the servants of Nabal were scared because of what Nabal did. They knew the gravity of his wickedness and the potential effect it would have on them. One of the servants told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, “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).

Abigail acted quickly. She took two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five dressed sheep, five seahs of roasted grain, a hundred cakes of raisins and two hundred cakes of pressed figs, and loaded them on donkeys. (1 Samuel 25:18)

Abigail’s quick response to this response is what made all the difference. Instead of rushing to Nabal and confronting him of his wickedness and the potential result of his action, Abigail rather took the matter in her own hands. She considered how quickly David and his men might come after them and how quickly she would be able to mitigate the impact of her husband’s harshness. “Abigail acted quickly. She took two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five dressed sheep, five seahs of roasted grain, a hundred cakes of raisins and two hundred cakes of pressed figs, and loaded them on donkeys. Then she told her servants, “Go on ahead; I’ll follow you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal.” (1 Samuel 25:18‭-‬19). Abigail’s response is worth emulating. First, she understood that the gravity of Nabal’s error wouldn’t be fixed with an immediate confrontation. Second,she knew that to appease David and his men, she should provide something relevant to the first request from David. Abigail packaged enough food. Thirdly, Abigail knew that the earlier she reached David the better and so sent her servants ahead. Lastly, Abigail did not inform Nabal that she was on her way to meet David to fix Nabal’s wickedness. We know that Nabal would have probably refused that.

No wonder Abigail is a depiction of beauty with brains. She might have married a fool but she was wise. She was not just beautiful in physical appearance, but she had a beautiful heart. Abigail was a quick thinker, she was tact and fast. She knew that reacting to a foolish reply with a harsh reply would just escalate the situation but not resolve it. “As she came riding her donkey into a mountain ravine, there were David and his men descending toward her, and she met them. David had just said, “It’s been useless—all my watching over this fellow’s property in the wilderness so that nothing of his was missing. He has paid me back evil for good. May God deal with David, be it ever so severely, if by morning I leave alive one male of all who belong to him!” (1 Samuel 25:20‭-‬22). David was on his way to destroy Nabal and his entire household. 

Abigail’s extemporaneous speech to David (1 Samuel 25:23‭-‬31c) calmed the raging waters: “When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off her donkey and bowed down before David with her face to the ground. She fell at his feet and said: “Pardon your servant, my Lord, and let me speak to you; hear what your servant has to say. Please pay no attention, my Lord, to that wicked man Nabal. He is just like his name—his name means Fool, and folly goes with him. And as for me, your servant, I did not see the men my Lord sent. And now, my Lord, as surely as the Lord your God lives and as you live, since the Lord has kept you from bloodshed and from avenging yourself with your own hands, may your enemies and all who are intent on harming my Lord be like Nabal. And let this gift, which your servant has brought to my Lord, be given to the men who follow you. “Please forgive your servant’s presumption. The Lord your God will certainly make a lasting dynasty for my Lord, because you fight the Lord’s battles, and no wrongdoing will be found in you as long as you live. Even though someone is pursuing you to take your life, the life of my Lord will be bound securely in the bundle of the living by the Lord your God, but the lives of your enemies he will hurl away as from the pocket of a sling. When the Lord has fulfilled for my Lord every good thing he promised concerning him and has appointed him ruler over Israel, my Lord will not have on his conscience the staggering burden of needless bloodshed or of having avenged himself. And when the Lord your God has brought my Lord success, remember your servant.”

Abigail did not just apologize to David, she also reminded David of the Lord’s promises towards him to make David the king of Israel. Abigail reminded David that the Lord will hurl away all the enemies of David and therefore there was no need for David to avenge himself. Further, Abigail asks David to remember her when he becomes successful. Abigail would have been a perfect deal maker. She knew the right buttons to touch to mellow the giant slayer mellow. She did not just fix the situation, she also requested for a possible future remembrance. No wonder, David knew exactly what to do when the right time came. 

May we have the attitude of Abigail. May our beauty be complemented with good character and knowledge. The attitude of Abigail does not just soothe an angry giant slayer, it takes the wife of a fool into the palace of a king. Be mindful, be tactful, be loving, be a peacemaker, be willing to be low and be ready to meet the high and mighty. Be the soothing balm of a giant slayer and you shall be celebrated in high places.