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1SAMUEL
CHAPTER 25

1 And Samuel died; and all the Israelites were gathered together, and lamented him, and buried him in his house at Ramah. And David arose, and went down to the wilderness of Paran.

This verse, I believe, tells so much in so few words! This man Samuel had been born in Ramah (1Samuel 1:1, 19). He had been carred by his mother to serve God and Israel at Shiloh. He became the leader of Isreal, but was rejected by the elders because they desired a king.
Yet Samuel was a friend to all, and daily prayed for Israel and its morality. In his last days, Samuel was resigned to loneliness because he and his wisdom were rejected of Israel.
Samuel loved Saul and lamented for him. Samuel interceded for Israel every day. Samuel befriended David and helped him.
Truly, this man was a great spiritual leader! For he was anointed of God tohave perhaps the greatest influence upon the nation of Israel since Moses and Joshua. And according to God's Word, "..by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh." ((Hebrews 11:4))
I think it is very significant that in the same verse of Scripture where God wrote Samuel's epitaph, David goes "down" to the wilderness at Paran. David, it seems, went down to this beautiful oasis to mourn for Samuel's death.
Good men always mourn for good men who have "fought the good fight."

2 And there was a man in Maon, whose possessions were in Carmel; and the man was very great, and he had three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats: and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel. 3 Now the name of the man was Nabal; and the name of his wife Abigail: and she was a woman of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance: but the man was churlish and evil in his doings; and he was of the house of Caleb. 4 And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal did shear his sheep. 5 And David sent out ten young men, and David said unto the young men, Get you up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and greet him in my name: 6 And thus shall ye say to him that liveth in prosperity, Peace be both to thee, and peace be to thine house, and peace be unto all that thou hast. 7 And now I have heard that thou hast shearers: now thy shepherds which were with us, we hurt them not, neither was there ought missing unto them, all the while they were in Carmel. 8 Ask thy young men, and they will shew thee. Wherefore let the young men find favour in thine eyes: for we come in a good day: give, I pray thee, whatsoever cometh to thine hand unto thy servants, and to thy son David. 9 And when David's young men came, they spake to Nabal according to all those words in the name of David, and ceased.

David's men have carefully seen to it that the shepherds of Nabal were protected, and that NOTHING was missing from his goods. Now David seeks help with food for his soldiers from Nabal.
You'd think that when good men protect others, they would readily receive help when needed.
But Nabal's name speaks of his attitude. Nabal means "fool."

10 And Nabal answered David's servants, and said, Who is David? and who is the son of Jesse? there be many servants now a days that break away every man from his master. 11 Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my flesh that I have killed for my shearers, and give it unto men, whom I know not whence they be? 12 So David's young men turned their way, and went again, and came and told him all those sayings. 13 And David said unto his men, Gird ye on every man his sword. And they girded on every man his sword; and David also girded on his sword: and there went up after David about four hundred men; and two hundred abode by the stuff.

Nabal's refusal to help was obviously stated in a ranting, raving fashion (see verse 17). And this infuriated David. His one thought was vengeance. You will note in verse 13 that David did not seek counsel from God. He just plunged himself and his men into a war of vengeance.
Anger is only one letter away from danger!
Many an angry Christian has acted as foolishly as fools.

14 But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, saying, Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to salute our master; and he railed on them. 15 But the men were very good unto us, and we were not hurt, neither missed we any thing, as long as we were conversant with them, when we were in the fields: 16 They were a wall unto us both by night and day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep. 17 Now therefore know and consider what thou wilt do; for evil is determined against our master, and against all his household: for he is such a son of Belial, that a man cannot speak to him. 18 Then Abigail made haste, and took two hundred loaves, and two bottles of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched corn, and an hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on asses. 19 And she said unto her servants, Go on before me; behold, I come after you. But she told not her husband Nabal. 20 And it was so, as she rode on the ass, that she came down by the covert of the hill, and, behold, David and his men came down against her; and she met them. 21 Now David had said, Surely in vain have I kept all that this fellow hath in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained unto him: and he hath requited me evil for good. 22 So and more also do God unto the enemies of David, if I leave of all that pertain to him by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall. 23 And when Abigail saw David, she hasted, and lighted off the ass, and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, 24 And fell at his feet, and said, Upon me, my lord, upon me let this iniquity be: and let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thine audience, and hear the words of thine handmaid. 25 Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this man of Belial, even Nabal: for as his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him: but I thine handmaid saw not the young men of my lord, whom thou didst send. 26 Now therefore, my lord, as the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, seeing the LORD hath withholden thee from coming to shed blood, and from avenging thyself with thine own hand, now let thine enemies, and they that seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal. 27 And now this blessing which thine handmaid hath brought unto my lord, let it even be given unto the young men that follow my lord. 28 I pray thee, forgive the trespass of thine handmaid: for the LORD will certainly make my lord a sure house; because my lord fighteth the battles of the LORD, and evil hath not been found in thee all thy days. 29 Yet a man is risen to pursue thee, and to seek thy soul: but the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the LORD thy God; and the souls of thine enemies, them shall he sling out, as out of the middle of a sling. 30 And it shall come to pass, when the LORD shall have done to my lord according to all the good that he hath spoken concerning thee, and shall have appointed thee ruler over Israel; 31 That this shall be no grief unto thee, nor offence of heart unto my lord, either that thou hast shed blood causeless, or that my lord hath avenged himself: but when the LORD shall have dealt well with my lord, then remember thine handmaid.

But God is GOOD! ALL the time!! He provided a way of escape for David. A messenger told Nabal's wife about his foolish statement to David's men. Nabal had actually accused David of being a servant who had escaped from his master (verse 10).
Abigail immediately set things in motion to provide David's request and to appease his anger. She, at least, had sense to know that David had the power to destroy all of Nabal's household.
When she brought these things to David, Abigail pleaded for the life of her husband and willingly offered her own life for his (verse 24).
What a striking example of integrity and faithfulness this woman must have been!
Her conversation reveals that she KNEW who David was, and that one day he would be king of Israel (verse 30). She wanted to be sure that David would not hold a grudge and later come back and destroy Nabal's household.

32 And David said to Abigail, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, which sent thee this day to meet me: 33 And blessed be thy advice, and blessed be thou, which hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood, and from avenging myself with mine own hand. 34 For in very deed, as the LORD God of Israel liveth, which hath kept me back from hurting thee, except thou hadst hasted and come to meet me, surely there had not been left unto Nabal by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall. 35 So David received of her hand that which she had brought him, and said unto her, Go up in peace to thine house; see, I have hearkened to thy voice, and have accepted thy person.

David repented fomr his anger. God had set before him a tremendous example of faithfulness under pressure. God had shown David an example of integrity in turmoil.
How could he continue in such a vein as he had originally chosen?
God's GRACE provides for us in ways we don't sometimes comprehend. David accepted Abigail's gifts, and promised that no harm would come to any of them by him.

36 And Abigail came to Nabal; and, behold, he held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king; and Nabal's heart was merry within him, for he was very drunken: wherefore she told him nothing, less or more, until the morning light. 37 But it came to pass in the morning, when the wine was gone out of Nabal, and his wife had told him these things, that his heart died within him, and he became as a stone. 38 And it came to pass about ten days after, that the LORD smote Nabal, that he died.

Abigail went home to tell her husband but he was so drunk she waited until the next day. And when she told him, he was physically stricken! The Bible says, "..his heart died within him, and he became as a stone." Was he angry considering the extravagance of his wife in securing his safety?
Was he in despair because of her wisdom and his foolishness?
Was he stricken of the Spirit of God for his sin?
Whatever was his state of being, as the young people of this generation would say, "He stroked out!"
And ten days later, he physically died!

39 And when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed be the LORD, that hath pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and hath kept his servant from evil: for the LORD hath returned the wickedness of Nabal upon his own head. And David sent and communed with Abigail, to take her to him to wife. 40 And when the servants of David were come to Abigail to Carmel, they spake unto her, saying, David sent us unto thee, to take thee to him to wife. 41 And she arose, and bowed herself on her face to the earth, and said, Behold, let thine handmaid be a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord. 42 And Abigail hasted, and arose, and rode upon an ass, with five damsels of hers that went after her; and she went after the messengers of David, and became his wife. 43 David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel; and they were also both of them his wives. 44 But Saul had given Michal his daughter, David's wife, to Phalti the son of Laish, which was of Gallim.

David, who had been touched by the integrity and faithfulness of Abigail, offered her marriage. She accepted. Later, David and Abigail had a son - Chileab.
David also married another woman - Ahinoam. She was the mother of David's son Amnon.
Saul had given David his first wife, Michal. But Saul gaver her away to Phalti when David ran. Later David would retrieve her. They never had any children.

Good saved men can make some really BAD decisions! When we allow our mind and flesh to take control instead of following God by our spirits, we tend to make BAD decisions.
What will be the COST of this polygamy for David? Jealousy, jockeying for position, bitterness and many other problems will plague David for the rest of his life.

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