April 17th
Today’s Scripture brings us back to 1st Samuel, chapters 25 through 27. In these chapters we are introduced to woman, Abigail, who gives a powerful lesson. Abigail was married to a man named Nabal, a Calebite. Nabal’s name fittingly means “foolish,” or “senseless.” While David was on the run from king Saul, he and his men protected Nabal’s herds, ensuring their safety.
When the shearing season arrived—a time of profits and celebration—David sent ten of his men to Nabal, requesting food in return for their goodwill. True to his name, Nabal refused, insulting David and refusing any payment. David, angered by the insult, set out with his men to wipe out every male in Nabal’s household.
One of Nabal’s servants ran to Abigail and told her what had happened. Unlike her husband, she responded with wisdom and humility. She quickly gathered provisions, loaded them onto donkeys, and rode out to meet David. Her words brought salvation to the house of Nabal and may have shaped David’s future encounter with Saul. She said in 1st Samuel 25:30–31,
“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 my lord working salvation himself. And when the Lord has dealt well with my lord, then remember your servant.”
In other words, it may be best to pause and give thought beyond the moment. Taking a life can leave lasting effects, especially when that life could have been spared. Abigail reminded David that God was for him—that David didn’t need to take matters into his own hands.
David listened and he turned back. As the story unfolds, Nabal sobered up the next day, realized what had nearly happened, suffered some type of stroke, and died ten days later. God had His vengeance. David was spared from unnecessary bloodshed—and he gained a wife described as “discerning and beautiful” (v. 3).
But the impact of Abigail’s lesson didn’t end there. It seems her words left a lasting impression on David, shaping how he responded in his next encounter with Saul. In chapter 26, David once again was encouraged by his men to kill Saul, this time in his sleep. But he refused. David said in verses 9–10,
“‘Do not destroy him, for who can put out his hand against the Lord’s anointed and be guiltless?’ And David said, ‘As the Lord lives, the Lord will strike him, or his day will come to die, or he will go down into battle and perish.’”
I see Abigail’s fingerprints all over this renewed trust in God’s timing and justice. While I read the words of the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 7:14, 16 came to my mind,
“For the unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband… For how do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?”
While Abigail didn’t save Nabal, she did save his entire household from destruction. And she saved her future husband—David—from the guilt of unnecessary bloodshed, giving him opportunity to see God’s justice firsthand and reaffirm his identity as God’s chosen servant.
Takeaway: Sometimes we have the power to make things happen for ourselves. But a wise response calls us to pause and ask: Is this the righteous path? In those moments, we must learn to practice the pause—choosing to wait on the Lord and His guidance rather than rushing in too quickly with our strength. When we wait for the Lord to act, His glory is made more evident in our circumstances.