LISTENING TO THE HOLY SPIRIT
1 Samuel 25:32-38 NET.
32 Then David said to Abigail, “Praised be the LORD, the God of Israel, who has sent you this day to meet me! 33 Praised be your good judgment! May you yourself be rewarded for having prevented me this day from shedding blood and taking matters into my own hands! 34 Otherwise, as surely as the LORD, the God of Israel, lives — he who has prevented me from harming you — if you had not come so quickly to meet me, by morning’s light not even one male belonging to Nabal would have remained alive!” 35 Then David took from her hand what she had brought to him. He said to her, “Go back to your home in peace. Be assured that I have listened to you and responded favorably.” 36 When Abigail went back to Nabal, he was holding a banquet in his house like that of the king. Nabal was having a good time and was very intoxicated. She told him absolutely nothing until morning’s light. 37 In the morning, when Nabal was sober, his wife told him about these matters. He had a stroke and was paralyzed. 38 After about ten days the LORD struck Nabal down and he died.
We have committed to reading through the Bible, two chapters a day. Our calendars have brought us to today’s text, in which David responds to Abigail’s appeal to him not to attack and destroy her husband and his men, even though he had acted foolishly and provoked David. Abigail listened to the Holy Spirit and saved her husband and David from making a rash decision. I’m going to approach today’s text by first looking at the background that helps explain what is going on. Then, I’m going to explore Abigail’s character by asking what made her such a wise person. Finally, I’m going to walk us all through the process of applying today’s lesson to our own lives by outlining how we should follow Abigail’s example of listening to the Holy Spirit when we face trouble.
The background to the story
In last week’s sermon, we learned that Samuel was an older man who promised to instruct the people in living God’s way. However, they wanted a king, and Samuel was allowed by God to give them one. The king’s name was Saul. Despite starting well, Saul proved to be a disappointment, both to Samuel and to God. So, God promised that he would tear the kingdom away from Saul, just like Saul accidentally tore Samuel’s robe.
In today’s chapter, Saul is still king, but Samuel had already anointed David and was biding his time before God’s promise would be fulfilled. At the beginning of this chapter, we learned that Samuel had died, and all Israel assembled and mourned for him. Having just experienced the death and funeral for Pope Francis, we have some idea what that would have been like. After this period of mourning, David went with his men to the open country. It was there that he started planning for the coming holiday. He had remembered that his men had protected the property of a wealthy man named Nabal while they were in Carmel.
David sent ten of his men to request that Nabal provide what they needed to celebrate the coming feast. This was not an unreasonable request since David’s men had protected his property in the past. Also, Nabal had thousands of animals, so meeting the request would not have harmed him. But Nabal was in a mood. He absolutely refused the request and spoke harshly about David. When David’s men returned and told him what Nabal had said, David was incensed. David decided to visit Nabal himself – fully armed – with four hundred of his men (to-thirds of his army)!
In the meantime, one of Abigail’s slaves had witnessed Nabal’s bad behavior and rushed to tell Abigail. The slave knew that Nabal had done something both foolish and dangerous. The slave did not appeal to Nabal’s sense of propriety. Apparently, Nabal did not have any common sense, and the slave knew it. Instead, the slave went to the one person in the household who could make a difference: her mistress, Abigail.
When Abigail heard about her husband’s insult, she assumed David would respond in anger. She quickly gathered 200 loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five sheep, five seahs of grain, 100 clusters of raisins, and 200 fig cakes and loaded them onto donkeys. She determined to intervene to keep Nabal’s foolishness from destroying him. She took the gift and met David’s army on the road. She bowed to David and apologized, accepting all the responsibility and seeking to make reparation for the insult. What we read in today’s text is the result of that act of wisdom.
That day, Abigail saved two men who were acting on their emotions. Her actions demonstrated wisdom, and David rightly commended her for rescuing both her husband and David himself.
What made Abigail a wise person
Abigail showed that humility is wise. She was beautiful and intelligent, but she approached David with humility and wisdom, acknowledging his authority and the fact that he could rightly bring harm on her husband and his men. She used her intelligence not for pride but to discern the situation and act appropriately. Abigail’s story demonstrates that wisdom and humility are not weaknesses but powerful virtues that can be used to overcome adversity, bring peace, and ultimately glorify God.
Abigail gave the soft answer that the Bible says turns away wrath. All too often, we have been led to believe that the only way to fight fire is with fire. But ask a firefighter. A firefighter will tell you that the proper way to fight a fire is with water. It puts out the fire. Abigail teaches us that in a volatile situation, you don’t need to strap on your swords. Sometimes, what you need is to bring a present.
Abigail showed that peacemaking is wise. The first act of peacemaking was not to run to Nabal and explain to him how foolish he had been. Instead, she snuck out without going to Nabal because he had made a mess that had to be cleaned up. Later, there would be time to approach Nabal, not while he was still in a drunken rage.
Her gift to David and his men effectively diffused a potentially deadly situation by offering a peace offering and acknowledging her husband’s wrongdoings. Her words and actions prevented a bloody confrontation and spared her family and servants.
Later, Abigail showed constraint when she returned and found Nabal drunk. She waited until he was sober to reveal what she had done to save him and his men. Sometimes peacemaking means knowing when to wait for the right time to act.
Abigail showed that Intercession is wise. Some think that Abigail’s story prefigures Jesus’s sacrifice, as she placed herself between David and Nabal, just as Jesus placed himself between God and humanity. Abigail showed wisdom by taking the blame for her husband’s actions and making reparation even though she knew he was wrong.
Even if Abigail’s story were not intended to teach about the coming Messiah, we can see him in her actions. He was a man of peace in a time of violence and anger. He taught his followers to be peacemakers. He came to die in our place to keep us all from receiving the punishment that we deserve.
Abigail showed that following God’s will is wise. She could have told her slave to go away and mind her own business. She could have said that her husband was a fool and he deserved whatever would happen to him. But Abigail was wise enough to realize that what was happening was her prompt to get involved. God’s will would not work itself out without her involvement.
We need to realize that as well. God has a plan to make a difference in our community, our homes, and our church. But his plan requires that we get off our easy chairs and make things happen. The message came to Abigail, not somebody else. If Abigail had decided to pass the buck, the story would have ended badly for everyone.
Abigail’s actions are a powerful reminder of the importance of choosing righteousness and aligning oneself with God’s will, even when it’s difficult. She decided to align herself with David, the future king, and did not let her husband’s actions dictate her behavior.
How we can act as wise people.
We can take our debts seriously. Abigail realized that her family owed David for his protection. When she found out that her husband had offended David by not helping out his men, she took it on herself to pay that debt. Paying our debts is a spiritual matter. The Apostle Paul told the believers to owe nobody anything except the continuing debt of love. Wise people determine to live with integrity. That means never skipping one’s obligations.
We should never hide behind anyone else. Abigail could have left everything to her husband, but that was not the wise approach in this situation. Wise men know they sometimes make mistakes, and are grateful for wives who will not let those mistakes go uncorrected. We should be correctors of problems. Passing the buck and leaving the problems for others to fix is not wise.
We should think and act beyond ourselves. When she did what she did, Abigail undoubtedly acted outside the expectations of others. That does not make her a rebel; it makes her a hero. As a wise person, she looked outside the box when staying inside the box would have ended in disaster. She demonstrated insight when she was moved to action. She could not remain passive. She did not say, “It’s not my place.”
Abigail was the precursor to Queen Esther. Both women recognized that they were placed into their circumstances by God because God had a mission for them. If either of these women had not taken the initiative, innocent people would have died. Neither of them was a person of violence. But if they had not acted, violence would have been the result.
We don’t know whether Abigail was a mother, but she probably was. It would have made sense for her to intercede to try to prevent the deaths of some of her sons. Today happens to be Mother’s Day here in this country. Some of the most outstanding leaders the world has ever known owe their greatness to the wisdom they acquired by following their mothers. Those mothers might have had a reputation for being passive and unassuming. But watch out when their children are in trouble. As a hiker, I learned the most dangerous thing you can encounter on the trail is a mother bear with her cubs.
It will not be every day that you and I are called on to do such extraordinary things. When the time is right, we will know it. Then, it will be up to us to listen to the Holy Spirit and make the wise decision, like Abigail did. It will be a decision that we must make because God wants to use us to accomplish his will. When the people most capable of making peace choose to do nothing, that will be our prompt to do what must be done to make peace.
jeffersonvann 