“Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this man of Belial, even Nabal: for as his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him: but I thine handmaid saw not the young men of my lord, whom thou didst send. 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. And now this blessing which thine handmaid hath brought unto my lord, let it even be given unto the young men that follow my lord. I pray thee, forgive the trespass of thine handmaid: for the LORD will certainly make my lord a sure house; because my lord fighteth the battles of the LORD, and evil hath not been found in thee all thy days (1 Samuel 25:25-28).
Though we may question why, Abigail faced David to intervene in behalf of her evil and foolish husband. Abigail didn’t learn until after the fact about Nabal’s stupidity. Nabal wasn’t worthy of Abigail’s loyalty. She, more or less, took the blame. She asked forgiveness, noting that she hadn’t seen David’s men the day they were asking for help. Nabal would have been too proud to say he was sorry about what had happened. In contrast, Abigail humbly took responsibility for something that wasn’t her fault.
The fact David listened to what she had to say made it easier for Abigail to finish her confrontation with him. Tomorrow we will see how Abigail presented the rest of her plea to David.
Sue Winchester
Missouri
PRAY TOGETHER: Pray for Young Woman Active for Christ groups meeting this month.
