“… my master will not have on his conscience the staggering burden of needless bloodshed or of having avenged himself.” (1 Samuel 25:31)
Abigail was the wife of Nabal who angered David and his men when they called on him for provision. David had dealt kindly with Nabal’s people and property by watching over them. Yet Nabal in his foolishness risked irking these warring men by provoking them. Abigail realised the seriousness of the impending attack by David’s people and quickly sent food and provision and made a strong personal appeal to David to avert a disaster.
In her appeal, she drew on the recognition of David as one who fought on the Lord’s side. She appealed to his calling as God’s anointed leader in Israel and asked for forgiveness for Nabal’s foolish action.
Her appeal to David is a good model of how we should approach God in prayer. We need to recognize who we are approaching. In her case, she acknowledged God’s presence and purpose in David’s life. As taught in the Lord’s Prayer, the first 3 phrases help us to acknowledge God with His status and affirm our submission to His rule over our lives as well as the extension of His kingship over all creation.
Her appeal to David, to extend forgiveness to Nabal and not to sully his own integrity and name, called on him to trust God to right the wrongs done against us (often evidenced in the Psalms as pleaded by the writers).
He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. - Jim Elliot
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