Join us as we unravel the narrative of 1 Samuel 25, where the death of Samuel marks a transition. We explore David’s request to Nabal, the wealthy but unruly man, and how Abigail’s swift actions and wise counsel defused a looming conflict. As narrator Alan J. Huth shares reflections across the years, we learn the importance of discernment, humility, and divine intervention, showcasing how Abigail helped prevent David from making a drastic decision.
Welcome to Add Bible, an audio daily devotion from the Ezra Project. We join Allen J. Huth as he shares Bible passages and comments from over 30 years of his personal Bible reading journals.
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Today we are in 1 Samuel chapter 25. We will listen to all 43 verses from Faith Comes by Hearing.
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1 Samuel 25 Now Samuel died, and all Israel assembled and mourned for him, and they buried him in his house at Ramah. Then David rose and went down to the wilderness of Paran. And there was a man in Maon, whose business was in Carmel. The man was very rich. He had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. He was shearing his sheep in Carmel. Now the name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail.” The woman was discerning and beautiful, but the man was harsh and badly behaved. He was a Calebite. David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep. So David sent ten young men, and David said to the young men,
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Go up to Carmel, and go to Nabal and greet him in my name, and thus you shall greet him. Peace be to you, and peace be to your house, and peace be to all that you have. I hear that you have shearers. Now your shepherds have been with us, and we did them no harm, and they miss nothing all the time they were in Carmel. Ask your young men, and they will tell you. Therefore, let my young men find favor in your eyes, for we come on a feast day. Please, give whatever you have at hand to your servants and to your son David.”
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When David’s young men came, they said all this to Nabal in the name of David, and then they waited. And Nabal answered David’s servants, “‘Who is David?
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Who is the son of Jesse?’ There are many servants these days who are breaking away from their masters. Shall I take my bread and my water and my meat that I have killed for my shears and give it to men who come from I do not know where?
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So David’s young men turned away and came back and told him all this. And David said to his men, Every man strap on his sword. And every man of them strapped on his sword. David also strapped on his sword. And about four hundred men went up after David, while two hundred remained with the baggage.
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But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to greet our master, and he railed at them. Yet the men were very good to us, and we suffered no harm, and we did not miss anything when we were in the fields, as long as we went with them. They were a wall to us both by night and by day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep. Now therefore know this, and consider what you should do, for harm is determined against our master and against all his house, and he is such a worthless man that one cannot speak to him.”
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Then Abigail made haste, and took two hundred loaves, and two skins of wine, and five sheep already prepared, and five siahs of parched grain, and a hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on donkeys.
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And she said to her young men, Go on before me, behold I come after you.
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But she did not tell her husband Nabal. And as she rode on the donkey and came down under cover of the mountain, behold, David and his men came down toward her, and she met them.
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Now David had said, Surely in vain have I guarded all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belonged to him, and he has returned me evil for good. God do so to the enemies of David and more also, if by morning I leave so much as one male of all who belong to him.
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When Abigail saw David, she hurried and got down from the donkey and fell before David on her face and bowed to the ground.
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She fell at his feet and said, On me alone, my lord, be the guilt. Please let your servant speak in your ears and hear the words of your servant. Let not my Lord regard this worthless fellow Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. Nabal is his name, and folly is with him. But I, your servant, do not see the young men of my Lord whom you sent. Now then, my Lord, as the Lord lives and as your soul lives, because the Lord has restrained you from blood guilt and from saving with your own hand, now then let your enemies and those who seek to do evil to my Lord be as 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 men rise up to pursue you and to seek your life, the life of my Lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living, in the care of the Lord your God, and the lives of your enemies he shall sling out as from the hollow of a sling. And 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 pains of conscience for having shed blood without cause or for my Lord taking vengeance himself. And when the Lord has dealt well with my Lord, then remember your servant.
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And David said to Abigail, Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me. Blessed be your discretion, and blessed be you, who have kept me this day from blood guilt and from avenging myself with 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 had not been left to Nabal so much as one male.”
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Then David received from her hand what she had brought him, and he said to her, Go up in peace to your house.
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See, I have obeyed your voice, and I have granted your petition.
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And Abigail came to Nabal, and behold, he was holding a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. And Nabal’s heart was merry within him, for he was very drunk. So she told him nothing at all until the morning light. In the morning, when the wine had gone out of Nabal, his wife told him these things, and his heart died within him, and he became as a stone. And about ten days later the Lord struck Nabal, and he died.
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When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed be the Lord who has avenged the insult I received at the hand of Nabal and has kept back his servant from wrongdoing. The Lord has returned the evil of Nabal on his own head.
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Then David sent and spoke to Abigail to take her as his wife. When the servants of David came to Abigail at Carmel, they said to her, David has sent us to you to take you to him as his wife.
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And she rose and bowed with her face to the ground and said, Behold, your handmaid is a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my Lord.
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And Abigail hurried and rose and mounted a donkey, and her five young women attended her. She followed the messengers of David and became his wife. David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel, and both of them became his wives. Saul had given Michael his daughter, David’s wife, to Paltai the son of Laish, who was of Galem.
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Back in 1983, when I read 1 Samuel chapter 25, I actually was in Minnesota where I was born. I was there for a family reunion. And even there, I was in the Word of God as I read 1 Samuel 25. I wrote one of those great one-liners, Samuel dies, Nabal and Abigail, God intervenes, Abigail becomes David’s wife. Well, that certainly is the Reader’s Digest summary of chapter 25, isn’t it? But let’s see what else we can glean from this chapter. In my journal in 2002, I wrote, Samuel died. He was born to serve. He did so his whole life. For such a spiritual leader, not much is said in verse 1. I wonder if Saul went to his funeral. Samuel anointed him king. David probably couldn’t go to such a public gathering. The second man Samuel had anointed king. I pray I could live a life for the Lord from beginning to end like Samuel. In 2007, I wrote, Samuel died, the way of man to live and die. All Israel gathered together and mourned for him and buried him. Life is short. Do kingdom building. I wonder how David felt knowing Samuel anointed him king and now he was dead And David is a long way from being king. And now, no one else knows he is to become king. So those are a few other insights from this chapter. Let’s just look at a couple more before we finish. Let’s look at the main characters in this chapter, Nabal and Abigail. What a difference in who they are. Nabal, described as a worthless man that no one could speak to him. He’s very rich. He’s harsh and badly behaved. He railed at David and his name, his very name means folly. Compare that to how Abigail is described, discerning and beautiful. When she met David, she fell on her face and bowed to the ground before him. She was humble. She was honoring. Discerning? Let’s look at some of the descriptions of her discernment. Let’s see what she knew about David when she met him. In verse 28 it says, In the care of the Lord your God. And the lives of your enemies he shall sling out as from the hollow of a sling. And 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 taking vengeance himself. How she knew all that about David, who knows? But certainly, Abigail was discerning. David even recognizes her discretion when he says to her after she speaks to him in verse 32, And David said to Abigail, Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who sent you this day to me. Blessed be your discretion, and blessed be you who have kept me this day from blood guilt and from avenging myself with 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 me, truly by morning there had not been left to Nabal not so much as one male. Then David received from her hand what she had brought him, and he said to her, Go in peace to your house. See, I have obeyed your voice, and I have granted your petition. Praise God for the gift of discernment exhibited by Abigail. And praise God for David. Not like Nabal, that no one could speak to, but David hears from a woman and obeys and saves her household. What is the result of all this? Because David didn’t take matters into his own hands, God once again intervenes for him. In verse 38, the Lord struck Nabal and he died, not David. And David was so impressed with Abigail, he took her as a wife. Father, grant me the gift of discernment. Like Abigail, help me discern, help me understand the things going on around me. Help me be gracious and humble and honoring to those around me. And help me be like David, not take matters into my own hands, but listen to the counsel of those around me and then watch you work. Thank you, Lord, for divine intervention in David’s life. I pray it so in my own, in Jesus’ name, amen.
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The ESV Bible, the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, ESV, text edition 2007, all rights reserved. English Standard Version, ESV, and the ESV logo are registered trademarks of Good News Publishers, used by permission.
