This was a devo I wrote for our youth church camp. It has been edited to fit the flow and purpose of this blog.
Abigail Jr High Camp 2021
Today we’re going to get into the Old Testament, 1 Samuel 25 to be exact. I want to introduce you to Abigail, a woman who showed tremendous faith over fear. But first, I want to set the scene for you. This story takes place while David was on the run from King Saul. David was the man God chose to be king, and Saul who was the king at that point was jealous of him so he was out to kill him…that’s the nutshell version, so if you aren’t familiar with the story, I would encourage you to go read it, it’s really good!
But anyways, this is after David confronts Saul in the cave and spares his life. But David is still not king. So that’s where our story takes place. At this point, David is camped out near Carmel where there are a bunch of herds of livestock. He asks one of the wealthy owners named Nabal to spare some food for him and the men that were with him. Now, David’s presence there acted as a sort of protection for the flocks. No one was gonna mess with them while David was around. You’d think anyone would be grateful for that, and readily fulfill his request, right?
Not Nabal. He refuses David’s request and throws insults in their faces. So David is ticked, right? He tells his men to strap on their swords and they’re gonna go after Nabal. But Nabal’s wife, Abigail, catches wind of this and decides she’s gonna step in.
Before we begin, why don’t we read Read 1 Samuel 25:2-34. Go ahead, I’ll wait for you.
…
Did you do it? Go do it!
Good job! So there’s a lot going on in this passage. But we’re going to look at 3 ways that Abigail showed faith over fear.
She Went
So first of all, Abigail didn’t sit idly by and let David kill her husband. It would have been easier, and safer for her really, not to confront David in his anger. It would have been easy to take all of those things for herself and high-tale it outta there, right? She could’ve said, “Well, he did this to himself. He’s only getting what he deserves.” But no. Even though Nabal probably did have it coming to him, even though he sounds like a terrible man to have been married to, Abigail risks her own life to try to save his.
Wow. That’s love. Maybe she didn’t feel the romantic love for him that we associate with marriage, but that’s the love Jesus talks about in Matthew 10:44: “But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” And in John 15:13: “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.”
She Didn’t Make Excuses
Abigail even goes so far as to take blame and ask David for forgiveness. She humbles herself before him. In fact, it says that when she met David, she fell on her face. This was a sign of absolute humility.
Now, think about this. It says that Nabal was a very wealthy man. Look at all the things Abigail was able to prepare as gifts for David. She had all of this at the tips of her fingers. She was probably used to being exalted. But here she is bowing low as though a servant. She asks permission even to speak. She’s honest about her husband’s folly, and even takes blame for his mistake. “I did not see the men my lord sent.” That wasn’t her making excuses, that was her apologizing for not being there to intercept them. It takes a lot of courage to be honest. To not point fingers, even if it’s not your own fault. It takes a lot of courage to own something and not make excuses.
Not only that, but she even humbly and gently calls David himself out! She pleads with him not to act in anger, not to do anything he’ll regret, but to let the Lord avenge him. Whoo! That is some spunk, right? She does it in a very sweet way, she doesn’t stick her finger in his face, but she encourages him to wait on the Lord. Which brings me to point #3
She Trusts in and Waits on the Lord
…and exhorts others to do the same.
Like I said before, it would’ve been easy for Abigail to do nothing. When the messenger came to her and said, “David is coming to slaughter your husband…your husband the fool,” I think it probably would’ve been tempting for her to go, “oh…oh well.” Maybe this was her chance to be free of her lousy husband. Maybe this was her chance to start over.
But Abigail is obedient to the Lord. She instead decides to bless her husband. This lousy worthless bum, and she “esteems him higher than herself” like it says in Philippians 2:3, let alone the fact that wives are told to come under their husbands (that’s a topic for another time). She is obedient to the Lord, even when it isn’t convenient for her. Hm.
Because she herself can put her trust in the Lord, she can encourage others to do the same. “And it shall come to pass, when the LORD has done for my lord according to all the good that He has spoken concerning you, and has appointed you ruler over Israel, that his will be no grief to you, nor offense of heart to my lord, either that you have shed blood without cause, or that my lord has avenged himself.” Those are verses 30-31. Abigail says, “God has protected you this far. God has spoken great promises to you. God has exalted you, and will exalt you again. What makes you think He isn’t going to do it now?”
Takeaway
You know, we can be pretty forgetful in the heat of the moment. Something happens that shakes our world, or infuriates us, or leave us dumbfounded. And with all that adrenaline and emotion, we can forget that God is still faithful.
Now, I’m not telling you gals that you need to take blame or responsibility for others, or that it’s okay to shirk authority. But when we look at Abigail’s example, we can see that when we have faith in the Lord, even when it’s scary, even when we don’t know if we’ll have the right words, even when others around us think it’s crazy, God always follows through. It might not always be in the way we expect, but it will be in the way that’s best for us.
Check this out…you didn’t think that was the end of the story, did you? David accepts Abigail’s peace-offering and then she goes back to live the rest of her days with her awful husband? No, watch this…
When Abigail went to Nabal, he was in the house holding a banquet like that of a king. He was in high spirits and very drunk. So she told him nothing at all until daybreak. Then in the morning, when Nabal was sober, his wife told him all these things, and his heart failed him and he became like a stone. About ten days later, the Lord struck Nabal and he died.
When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Praise be to the Lord, who has upheld my cause against Nabal for treating me with contempt. He has kept his servant from doing wrong and has brought Nabal’s wrongdoing down on his own head.”
Then David sent word to Abigail, asking her to become his wife.
1 Samuel 25:36-39 NIV
Abigail was right. God did avenge David. God took care of him. But what I love even more than that, was that God took care of Abigail. He blessed her with a new marriage. Now, this marriage wouldn’t be without its faults too…David may have been a man of God, but he was FAR from perfect. But even if God had chosen not to strike Nabal, He still would have taken care of Abigail.
Some of you are in situations right now that are scary. Maybe it’s a situation at home. Maybe at school or with friends. Maybe you’ve felt God calling you to have courage and speak out and stand up, but that’s really scary. Maybe God is telling you to be honest, even if that honesty means consequences. Those are hard things. But you know what? God is going to take care of you if you put your faith and trust in him.
Jesus says in Matthew 10:29-31:
“Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.”
Matthew 10:29-31
Before that, in Matthew 6:26:
“Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?”
Matthew 6:26
And then he continues in Matthew 6:31-34:
“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
Matthew 6:31-34
The last verse I want to leave you with comes out of 2 Timothy. Paul is writing to Timothy, who seemed to have a little trouble speaking up and standing up when he needed to. Paul writes:
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”
2 Timothy 1:7
Love you, girls. And I pray that you and I can be more like Abigail, completely sold out to the Lord, completely sold out to faith in Him over fear.
