“When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off her donkey and bowed down with her face to the ground… ‘My lord..; hear what your servant has to say. Please pay no attention to that wicked Nabal… His name means Fool, and folly goes with him… Since the Lord has kept you from bloodshed and avenging yourself with your own hands, may your enemies and all who are intent on harming my lord be like Nabal…
“’The Lord your God will certainly make a lasting dynasty for my lord, because you fight the Lord’s battles, and no wrongdoing will be found in you as long as you live. Even though someone is pursuing you to take your life, the life of my lord will be bound securely in the bundle of the living by the Lord your God, but the lives of your enemies he will hurl away… When the Lord has fulfilled for my lord every good thing he promised concerning him and has appointed him ruler over Israel, my lord will not have on his conscience the staggering burden of needless bloodshed or of having avenged himself…”
“David said to Abigail, ‘Praise be to the Lord who has sent you today to meet me. May you be blessed for your good judgment and for keeping me from bloodshed.’” 1 Samuel 25:23-26,28-33
Abigail heard of her husband’s insulting, foolish response to David, whose men had only treated him with respect and benefited his shepherds. As David reacted in immediate anger, planning to retaliate against Nabal’s rebuff to his polite request, Abigail took the long view. She believed God’s promise to bless David’s house. She considered the harmful consequences and lingering guilt and regret of taking vengeance. She acted promptly in the present to make way for what she, in faith, saw as God’s glorious future. Her wisdom penetrated and calmed David’s riled heart, preventing an attack with all its fallout. (1 Samuel 25:9-22)
The heat of a moment can easily ignite unwise decisions. We feel put-upon, pressure, or anger, and the flesh lusts for quick action without taking thought for what it could trigger. We lash out with words we cannot retrieve, we make rash decisions to remove or fix the immediate and actually perpetuate the deeper causal issues. The devil’s way is to agitate emotions and squelch reason so we react unwisely, then claim victory in every consequent fraction, grief, regret, and shame.
Oh, to be like Abigail! To be wise enough to perceive the realistic long view, rooted enough to draw from established knowledge, still enough to measure ongoing results in tandem with God’s better plan! Her discretion was grounded in a deep understanding of God’s promises, her haste then reasoned and confident. David immediately recognized her prudence and praised the Lord for restraining him.
Are we prone to making quick decisions just to get things done? In what situations are we most likely to act on impulse or react foolishly? This can be manifested by ignoring or glossing over blatant sin because we don’t want to deal with it, or by brazen impulsive reaction to it, both of which cause future damage. How can we better ground ourselves in God’s wisdom so decisions reflect His will? Where will we pause to adjust our vision from the immediate to longer-term consequences?
Lord, help me thoughtfully and wisely respond to all You set in my way so I reflect Your virtues and honor.
As the rain and snow 