A Study of Abigail

One of King David’s wives was named Abigail, but how much do you know about her? She was originally married to Nabal (a name which means “fool”) and he was an old drunk who did many foolish things. One foolish thing he did was deny David’s request for sustenance and provisions for David and his men. He basically said, “Who is this David?” although he knew, as the rest of the people did, that David was anointed as the next king of Israel by Samuel, the high priest.

Abigail heard of Nabal’s refusal to help David and without telling Nabal, gathered up provisions and went out to meet David. Scripture says that Abigail was intelligent and beautiful (1 Samuel 25:32). Her intelligence came out in her actions. She knew that her husband had acted foolishly by not providing for David and she sought to remedy the situation. By doing so, she also protected David from acting foolishly (possibly inadvertently). David’s intention was to go and kill all of the men in Nabal’s household, but Abigail’s actions prevented that from happening.

When asked to list my strengths, I often include “my intelligence” as one of them. But is my intelligence the same as Abigail’s? Do I use my intelligence to listen to God and do the next right thing? Sometimes I do and sometimes I fail to take into account what God would have me do in a specific situation. Sometimes, I don’t use my intelligence to protect the fools in my life. Sometimes I don’t have the right attitude in dealing with the fools in my life. True intelligence shows itself when it is used by God to accomplish His purposes.

“Abigail flew into action” (1 Samuel 25:18 in The Message). She got the report from the young shepherds that her husband had refused to help David and she “lost no time” (NIV). Scripture doesn’t say she decided to go and pray about what to do, or that she went and asked someone else what she should do. Scripture says “she said nothing to her husband” (1 Samuel 25:19). Scripture says she flew into action and prepared a feast for David and went out to meet him. Her intelligence allowed her to take decisive action and she did the right thing. I’m not saying she didn’t pray first. It’s just that Scripture doesn’t tell us that she did. Whatever praying she did was done quickly and allowed for her to take swift action. She knew what was the right thing to do and she didn’t waste time in doing the right thing.

I don’t always do the right thing. I often think I know what the right thing is, but I hold back and don’t say or do what I know to be right. If I want to be like Abigail, and use my intelligence as God intended, I need to take swift action when I know what the right thing is to do. I use prayer as an excuse to postpone doing the right thing(s). I go to God asking Him to show me what to do, when I already know what the right thing is. God has given me my intelligence and sometimes I just need to trust God and do the right thing.

I was challenged by Abigail and convicted. If I’m going to say intelligence is one of my strengths, I need to act on that intelligence and not hold back. There are situations in my life when I need to fly into action and not just sit back and be afraid to do the right thing. I don’t always need to check with someone else before I act. I can trust in the intelligence and knowledge I have been given by God.