The Discernment of Abigail

Again it’s my turn to lead in Bible Study in my cell group and I have cooked up this message for delivery this Friday, 19th March 2010.
Lesson for tonight: The Discernment of Abigail (1 Samuel Chapter 25).

First a quick recap of what we did last week.

At last Friday’s home fellowship meeting, we learnt a little about what “character” is.

I think we can agree on this: Regardless who we are or where we come from, “a man or a woman of character” would truly stand out in our midst and command much respect.

There are many great men and women in the Bible as well as outside of it whose character really stood out.

To name a few: William Wilberforce, Nelson Mandela, Abraham Lincoln, Gandhi, Mother Teresa and perhaps not forgetting Abraham, Moses, Ruth, Esther, Daniel and his 3 friends also. They stood tall in our history because they all had outstanding character.

How about one modern day contemporary nearer home?

Ralph Waldo Emerson had said, “Character is higher than intellect.” Indeed, I think it is.

And as we have heard, “Talent or intellect will get you to the top but its character which will help you stay there.” (Heard the Tiger Woods story?)

Often in public life we all wear a mask, but our real character is revealed in our private life, when none of our friends or business associates is there watching. Question therefore that we should ask often is this: Do we like what we see, the real you or the real me?

The good thing is that we can go from our failings to rebuild or re-shape our character if we truly want to. The choice is really ours to make, yours or mine.

Who says that we cannot change? We can but only if we truly want to. Remember, God allows U-turns.

I have a magnetic tag on my fridge that says, “The Will of God will never lead you...where the Grace of God cannot keep you.” That’s a comforting thought and I believe one that’s true.

As Christians we are repeatedly told to display “biblical character” in everything we say or do.

The challenge is don’t just be a nominal Christian, try to be a good, authentic Christian.

The Bible is certainly not short of role models which we could follow or emulate. Jesus is the perfect example.

Tonight we have the story of Abigail. It’s found in the Bible, the Book of 1 Samuel Chapter 25.

Let me start by telling you this story.

In the time when David (the man who would be king over all Israel) was a renegade and as you know he was on the run from King Saul who had wanted his head; living with his ragtag band of followers of about 600 fighting men in the wilderness of Paran, there lived not far off a woman called Abigail.

She was a beautiful woman and wise too but was married to a bad guy named Nabal, a wealthy farmer no doubt (he had a vast herd of sheep and many servants) but a man who had a character which was very much the opposite of his wife’s.

He was selfish, greedy, angry, stingy, not a kind man at all and not very smart too. Even his servants considered him to be evil and worthless.

So you can just imagine what kind of a life, his wife Abigail had with such a guy. Tough, isn’t it? Pretty much like Cinderella waiting for a prince to ride in and rescue her from a life of drudgery and unhappiness.

The story goes on like so...

Living on the run for their lives, David and his men began policing the area they settled in, protecting the farmers and their flock in the hopes of being able to scratch out a living.

At shearing time the farmers would gather the sheep to shave off their profits. The farmers would also share food and profits with the sort of volunteer police that David and his men were, to pay them for their services.

When the time came, Nabal being the selfish and greedy man he was, refused to pay.

Nabal’s stubborn refusal hit David’s short fuse of frustration (remember here he was dirty, hungry, tired and definitely not living the kingly life he imagined he would when Samuel appointed him king over Israel).

David felt like being snubbed terribly and Nabal’s throwing of insults at his men was too much for him to take.

Revenge was on David’s mind so he rode out with his men with a burning desire to kill Nabal and all his males. In those days when you took revenge by yourself that was the norm to take.

Have you ever felt like that in your life, when you did well (or do good) to somebody but were paid back with evil?

Now Abigail, the good wife had heard from a loyal servant about Nabal’s foolish action and the impending disaster.

Without hesitation (it was said in verse 18, Abigail lost no time) she made plans to defuse the situation. It was a decision that altered the course of history.

She had to confront David and to intercede on behalf of her husband before the situation got out of hand. With courage and faith she rode out to meet David. You can read about all this in Verses 20-31.

She got what she wanted, didn’t she? Indeed, here’s a brave woman and a successful mission accomplished; and because of what she did, a near massacre was averted; innocent lives were spared.

David’s anger was appeased and there was no bloodshed on that day. Praise the Lord.

David said to Abigail in verse 33, “May you be blessed for your good judgment and for keeping me from bloodshed this day and from avenging myself with my own hands.”

The rest of the story well I guess you know how it ended, much like a fairy tale!

Abigail’s story is a story about “discernment”. Not just about discernment but I think to some extent of courage, faith and of the grace of God as well. One could say she was a peace-maker, and a successful one at that.

Because of the faith, courage and the timely discernment of this woman, David (who was in his early kingship) was saved from making a huge and terrible mistake.

By the grace of God, the bad guy Nabal (Abigail’s husband at the time) was dealt with severely. It was said that when he heard what his wife had done, his heart failed him. Why do you think his heart failed him?

Probably the cost of what his wife gave to David and his men in the form of 200 loaves of bread, 2 skins of wine, 5 dressed sheep, 5 seahs of roasted grain, 100 cakes of raisins and 200 cakes of pressed figs were too much for him to take!

As we were told, the confrontation between David and Nabal never took place. Aren’t David and Abigail glad that vengeance was the Lord’s and not theirs to take? So it should be.

When you are angry or mad with someone I think it’s good to remember, “Vengeance is mine, said the Lord” and not yours to take.

The story is quite romantic too; Abigail was widowed soon after her action in preventing a clash between David and her wicked husband.

In a twist of fate, call it God’s grace if you will; the story ends with Abigail becoming David’s wife!

And did you know that Abigail bore David a son (Kileab, 2 Sam 3:2) and she lived happily ever after presumably with David in Hebron.

There’s no word recorded about mother and son after this unfortunately.

Now what’s so special of Abigail?

Other than being born pretty, Abigail had a discerning heart; one could say a good heart or a heart of gold. She showed qualities of diplomacy, tact, courage and her faith in God was extremely strong.

That’s why I am not surprised that she literally occupied a whole chapter in the Bible (more than 42 verses, 1 Sam 25 where she is remembered). It was enough, relatively speaking.

Now in contrast, how many great women of the Bible can you think of? Not many; names like Rahab, Ruth and Esther come to mind and some don’t even have names to go by.

Interestingly, only 4 women were included and mentioned by Matthew in the genealogy of Jesus (Matt 1:2-17), can you name them?

It has been said that Abigail may be one of Scripture’s lesser light but without her actions one of Scripture’s greater light, David may be dimmed forever.

Now what lessons can be gleaned from the story of Abigail?

Abigail is best remembered by the character trait called “discernment”.

It will make better sense if we understand what its real meaning is.

So if you will, can anyone define “discernment”?

To me, “discernment” is a combination of many things in a person such as (1) intuition, (2) gut feeling and (3) a sense of urgency to put things right.

“Nip the problem in the bud” is a common expression and often I think a wise decision to take. What is your opinion?

In simplest terms, discernment is the ability to read people and situations and then to act according to what’s best.

In short it is an ability to show good judgment. A close synonym would be “wisdom”.

Although people (men & women) who achieved greatness seem to a lot of people to be lucky, the achievers tell us it was not luck.

It is creating your own "luck" as a result of discernment. Mostly they tell us it’s 10 % inspiration, 90 % perspiration! How lucky can one get without working hard for it, whatever that maybe?

The lessons that could be gleaned from Abigail’s story are these:

1. Discernment can avert a disaster.

2. The advice is to “Nip the problem in the bud”. Don’t allow it to build up steam.

3. Revenge is not always as sweet as the world thinks.

4. Leave vengeance to the Lord.

5. In confrontations or difficult relationships, resist the use of force.

6. A soft (diplomatic) approach is always better.
Often a soft approach (a tactful one) can move mountains.

7. A soft approach will definitely soothe pent-up anger.
Remember, nothing good can spin off from human anger.

8. Faith and trust in God will bring relief /blessings from above.

Let’s pray. May God bless you all.