1 Samuel 25:23-35 (NRSV)
Abigail pleads for life
When Abigail saw David, she hurried and alighted from the donkey, fell before David on her face, bowing to the ground. She fell at his feet and said, "Upon me alone, my lord, be the guilt; please let your servant speak in your ears, and hear the words of your servant. My lord, do not take seriously this ill natured fellow, Nabal; for as his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him; but I, your servant, did not see the young men of my lord, whom you sent.
Now then, my lord, as the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, since the Lord has restrained you from bloodguilt and from taking vengeance with your own hand, now let your enemies and those who seek to do evil to my lord be like Nabal. And now let this present that your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who follow my lord. Please forgive the trespass of your servant; for the Lord will certainly make my lord a sure house, because my lord is fighting the battles of the Lord; and evil shall not be found in you so long as you live. If anyone should rise up to pursue you and to seek your life, the life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living under the care of the Lord your God; but the lives of your enemies he shall sling out as from the hollow of a sling. When the Lord has done to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you, and has appointed you prince over Israel, my lord shall have no cause of grief, or pangs of conscience, for having shed blood without cause or for having saved himself. And when the Lord has dealt well with my lord, then remember your servant."
David said to Abigail, "Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who sent you to meet me today! Blessed be your good sense, and blessed be you, who have kept me today from bloodguilt and from avenging myself by my own hand! For as surely as the Lord the God of Israel lives, who has restrained me from hurting you, unless you had hurried and come to meet me, truly by morning there would not have been left to Nabal so much as one male." Then David received from her hand what she had brought him; he said to her, "Go up to your house in peace; see, I have heeded your voice, and I have granted your petition."
When Abigail saw David, she hurried and alighted from the donkey, fell before David on her face, bowing to the ground. She fell at his feet and said, "Upon me alone, my lord, be the guilt; please let your servant speak in your ears, and hear the words of your servant. My lord, do not take seriously this ill natured fellow, Nabal; for as his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him; but I, your servant, did not see the young men of my lord, whom you sent.
Now then, my lord, as the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, since the Lord has restrained you from bloodguilt and from taking vengeance with your own hand, now let your enemies and those who seek to do evil to my lord be like Nabal. And now let this present that your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who follow my lord. Please forgive the trespass of your servant; for the Lord will certainly make my lord a sure house, because my lord is fighting the battles of the Lord; and evil shall not be found in you so long as you live. If anyone should rise up to pursue you and to seek your life, the life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living under the care of the Lord your God; but the lives of your enemies he shall sling out as from the hollow of a sling. When the Lord has done to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you, and has appointed you prince over Israel, my lord shall have no cause of grief, or pangs of conscience, for having shed blood without cause or for having saved himself. And when the Lord has dealt well with my lord, then remember your servant."
David said to Abigail, "Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who sent you to meet me today! Blessed be your good sense, and blessed be you, who have kept me today from bloodguilt and from avenging myself by my own hand! For as surely as the Lord the God of Israel lives, who has restrained me from hurting you, unless you had hurried and come to meet me, truly by morning there would not have been left to Nabal so much as one male." Then David received from her hand what she had brought him; he said to her, "Go up to your house in peace; see, I have heeded your voice, and I have granted your petition."
Abigail isn't one of the first women of the Bible we tell stories about. Her name isn't the first we think of. Eve, Sarah, Miriam, Ruth, Rahab, Hannah, Deliliah, Jezebel, and among David's wives, Bathsheba…those names get more discussion and publicity.
But Abigail is one of my favorites. In four short paragraphs, counting what we heard about her yesterday, we learn a lot about her. She's resourceful, putting together in a hurry the gifts for David under her husband's nose. She's brave: going to the camp of her enemy. She's funny: playing on Nabal's name. She is peace-loving: trying to stop David from spilling blood not just for her peoples' sake, but also for his own. And she's prophetic. She knows God's hand is with David and that David is a man of God's own heart and the man whom God has promised a lasting legacy through.
I am so thankful for those in the church that are like Abigail. They don't get glory or adulation, but you can see God's work being done through them. They don't give up. They keep on even when things seems darkest. They confront leadership gently and peacefully to urge them onto new courses when needed, or to stay the course when that is the best for the community and mission. They recognize the humanity of those around them, even when those around them have clay feet.
Mostly though they have faith and a prophetic voice that is still needed. They trust that it is God's church and we are, with our clay feet and judgment and forgetfulness and procrastination and squabbles, nevertheless part of a work that is bigger than ourselves. And they are willing to let go of whatever control they think they need in order for God to lead them where they work is taking them.
Loving Lord: Thank you for the Abigail's of our lives. Thank you for their faith and discernment and their prophetic voices. Let their faith inspire us to serve in the places you have called us. Amen
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