1 Samuel 25 · Listen
Abigail
One person with the courage to speak, and a future king angry enough to kill who stopped and listened.
The story
David and his men were living in the wilderness, and they had protected the shepherds of a wealthy man named Nabal. At shearing time David sent a polite request for provisions. Nabal answered with an insult: “Who is David?”
David’s response was immediate. “Every man strap on his sword!” He set out with four hundred men, intending to kill every male in Nabal’s household.
One of Nabal’s servants did not go to Nabal. He went to Nabal’s wife, Abigail, and explained why: “he is such a worthless man that one cannot speak to him” (1 Sam. 25:17).
Abigail moved at once. She loaded donkeys with food, rode out to meet David, and bowed to the ground. She took the blame on herself, gave him the provisions, and then asked him to think about the future: when he was king, he should not carry the memory of blood shed in anger.
“Blessed be your discretion, and blessed be you, who have kept me this day from bloodguilt and from working salvation with my own hand!”1 Samuel 25:33
David turned around.
What the story teaches
People go around a leader who cannot be spoken to. The servant knew who would listen and who would not. Nabal’s household nearly died of his reputation.
Abigail listened to a servant and acted immediately. She did not question his standing or wait for a second report. The warning came from below, and she took the warning seriously.
She spoke to the leader David wanted to be. She did not argue that Nabal was right. She reminded David who he was becoming and what this act would cost him.
David listened in the middle of his anger. He was armed, insulted, and moving. A stranger told him he was wrong, and he stopped. That is rarer than courage.
He changed course in front of his men. Four hundred soldiers watched their leader reverse a decision because someone gave him a better reason.
He thanked her. He did not treat the correction as an offense. He called it a blessing.
Try this week
- Ask yourself who on your team goes around you, and to whom. That is a measure of how approachable you are.
- The next time you are angry, delay the decision one day and ask one person to argue the other side.
- When someone corrects you, say thank you in front of the people who saw you being wrong.
Read the ROAR issue Pause, listen, observe, adjust. Related study: David and Nathan.
Sources
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2001.
Passages studied: 1 Samuel 25:1–42.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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