Abigail the Peacemaker

Four hundred angry men are marching down a mountain path, swords at their sides. Coming up the same path, alone except for a few servants and a string of loaded donkeys, is a woman. In a moment, they will meet.

The prophet Samuel had died, and all Israel mourned him. David was still on the run from King Saul, living in the wilderness with his band of men. Nearby lived a very rich man named Nabal, with three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. It was shearing time, a season of feasting and plenty. Nabal was harsh and mean in all his dealings. But his wife, Abigail, was intelligent and beautiful, wise in heart and in word.

David sent ten young men to Nabal with a friendly greeting. “Peace to you, and peace to your household! Your shepherds have been with us out in the fields, and we never harmed them, and nothing of theirs went missing. Ask them, they'll tell you. So please, at this feast time, share whatever you can with us.” Nabal sneered. “Who is David? There are plenty of servants these days running away from their masters. Why should I take my bread and water, and the meat I've prepared for my shearers, and give it to men from who knows where?” The young men went back and reported every word. David's answer was short. “Everyone put on your sword.” Four hundred men went with him. David vowed that by morning, nothing of Nabal's household would be left.

One of Nabal's servants ran to Abigail. “David sent messengers to greet our master, and he screamed insults at them. But those men were good to us. Night and day they were a wall around us while we kept the sheep. Now think what you can do, because disaster is coming. And no one can talk to him.” Abigail didn't waste a moment. She loaded donkeys with two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five sheep ready to cook, grain, a hundred clusters of raisins and two hundred cakes of figs. She sent her servants on ahead. She did not tell her husband. And she rode out after them.

As she came down a hidden path on the mountain, there was David, coming toward her with his men. Abigail slipped off her donkey and bowed to the ground at his feet. “Let the blame fall on me, my lord. Please, listen to me. Don't pay any attention to Nabal. His name means fool, and folly goes with him. I didn't see the men you sent. But the Lord has kept you from shedding blood and taking revenge with your own hand. Take this gift for your men. The Lord will surely give you a lasting house, because you fight the Lord's battles. And when he makes you ruler over Israel, you won't have this on your conscience, that you shed blood for nothing, or took revenge for yourself.”

David stopped. And then he said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who sent you to meet me today. Blessed be your good sense, and blessed be you, for keeping me from bloodshed and from taking revenge with my own hand.” He took her gifts. “Go home in peace. I have heard you.” When Abigail got home, Nabal was holding a feast fit for a king, and he was very drunk. So she waited until morning. When he was sober, she told him everything. His heart failed him, and he lay like a stone. About ten days later, the Lord struck him, and he died. When David heard, he praised God for keeping him from doing wrong. Then he sent for Abigail and asked her to be his wife. She rose, and went with him.

Two details would have stood out to the first listeners. First, the name. In Hebrew, nabal really does mean fool, and Abigail says so herself. Second, the timing. Sheep-shearing in ancient Israel was not just hard work. It was a festival, with feasting and generosity. Elsewhere in the Bible, Judah goes up to his shearers, and David's son Absalom throws a great shearing feast for his brothers. So Nabal's refusal, at the most generous time of the year, was a deliberate insult.

Abigail the Peacemaker. You'll find her story in First Samuel, chapter 25. One foolish man nearly started a slaughter. One wise woman, with courage, humility and the right words, stopped it. So here's the question to carry with you. When anger is rising around you, will you add fuel, or will you be the peacemaker?