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Abigail, Wife of Nabal (1 Samuel: 25) After the death of the prophet Samuel, David moved down to a town named Moan near Carmel and resided there for a period of time. While he was there, there was a certain land owner by the name of Nabal. Nabal was a very wealthy man who not only owned land but a large herd of goats and sheep totaling 4000 all together. David and his men being the honorable men that they were treated the shepherds well and didn�t touch a single sheep or goat, and made sure no one else did either. David and his men provided a practical and much needed service to this man Nabal. David thought that this man should know of the service that he and his men were providing and decided to send some of his men to meet Nabal and let him know. When Nabal heard what David�s men had to say he became less than appreciative, Nabal outright insulted them and David and was not inclined one bit to show a shred of hospitality for the service David and his men were providing. When the men came back and reported what Nabal had said David decided to take matters into his own hands instead of letting the Lord repay Nabal. David was filled with indignation and went off to put this ungrateful Nabal and all his menservants to the sword. Abigail was not present when David�s men came to speak to her husband, but when one of the servants told her about what her husband said to them she figured out that the result of this meeting would be anything but peaceful. At once she went about to save her husband, her family and her household. Abigail was a intelligent woman the Bible records she doesn�t try to raise an army to defend her husbands foolish actions instead she gathers up food and drink. She knew the way to a man�s heart is through his stomach. She loaded up all of the provisions and caught David on his way to destroy her home. The next thing she did is appeal to David�s sense of personal honor when she saw him she got off her donkey and bowed down to his feet and asked if David would put Nabal�s punishment upon her. Abigail was wise to say this in front of all of David�s men because she knew that David was a righteous man and David�s not going to slay this defenseless woman who is submitting to him at his feet. David is now ready to listen to what she has to say. As she tells David about her husband she also reminds him of how the Lord has kept David from bloodshed and not to make the mistake of needless bloodshed on his conscious. So David relents and thanks Abigail for bringing him to his senses.
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