The tenor of our times is to seek quick relief for problems. In many cases, however, a quick response results in precipitous and wrong conduct. This is particularly true with domestic difficulties. In this regard, an excellent Biblical exhortation was drawn to our attention by a question raised at a recent Bible school. We were asked why Abigail is always referred to as Nabal’s wife even after Nabal had died. The fact is correct: the references are 1 Samuel 27:3; 30:5; 2 Samuel 2:2; 3:3.
The exhortation of Abigail
When we go back to the record in 1 Samuel 25, we see the reason. Abigail presents an outstanding exhortation to wait upon the Lord. She had done everything right and still ended up in a terrible marriage. She had married an Israelite, not a heathen, who was of Judah, one of the great tribes, and he was of the best lineage, for “he was of the house of Caleb” (1 Sam. 25:3).
Along with Joshua, Caleb brought back an encouraging report about conquering Canaan. While ten of the spies reported overwhelming problems, “Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it…the LORD is with us: fear them not” (Num. 13:30; 14:9).
Caleb’s attitude greatly pleased the Lord and special blessing was pronounced upon him and his descendants, “…to him will I give the land that he hath trodden upon, and to his children, because he hath wholly followed the LORD” (Deut. 1:36).
Abigail could not have married into a better family and what did she get? A man who was “churlish and evil in his doings…such a son of Belial, that a man cannot speak to him” (1 Sam. 25:3,17). She knew it, too; appealing to David she said, “Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this man of Belial, even Nabal: for as his name is, so is he; Nabal [fool] is his name, and folly is with him.”
Opportunity to escape
She did not deserve this! Abigail was “a woman of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance” who had done everything right, and yet she received trouble. She deserved somebody like David, not a Nabal.
What did she do about securing her freedom? Nothing! We may think that in her day there was nothing she could do. But there was. When a servant gave her advance warning of David’s intent, she could have been certain to be away from home with her children as David attacked. Nabal would be dead; she would be free of a grievous situation that she did not deserve.
That was not Abigail’s way. Her pattern was to cover up for her husband and his churlish ways. She was the one the servant went to for help and she “made haste” to head off David. The servant’s reaction and her quick response suggest this was not the first time a similar solution had been enacted.
Nabal did not deserve this kind of wife working on his behalf. But Abigail was a wife who would do her part whether or not her spouse did his. She was not blind to his faults or the end he deserved: “Now let thine enemies, and they that seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal” (v.26). Yet she was prepared to wait upon the Lord.
Waiting on the Lord
How long she waited is not revealed. The indications are that Nabal was not a young man. He headed a large operation with many servants and David approaches him with deference as “thy son David” (v.8). Abigail could have been in her late thirties or early forties, having put up with this abysmal man for years.
Eventually she got what she deserved — a loving, sensitive husband who was a true man of God: “And Abigail hasted and arose…and became his wife” (v.42).
The Lord’s timetable
The Lord had a timetable for relieving Abigail. It might not have been Abigail’s timetable; but because she waited for God to act, she comes down through the ages as a faithful woman who shines forth as the sun.
From a human perspective, Abigail was taking a considerable chance linking herself with the fugitive David. She might better have remained with her extensive holdings. Faith, however, was an integral part of Abigail’s character. She had total confidence that David would survive to become God’s ruler over all the nation: “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…” (vs.30-31).
When David met Abigail in the wilderness of Judah, two people came together who were waiting upon the Lord. David had been anointed king at the specific direction of God. Since that time, he had done everything right. He had confronted Goliath because the God of Israel had been defied. He worked for Saul, conducting himself with wisdom, humility and grace. When cheated by Saul, he did not respond with rancor or take advantage of his great public popularity. Jonathan could therefore testify before Saul that David “hath not sinned against thee…his works have been to thee-ward very good” (1 Sam. 19:4). There was no justification at all for Saul’s attacks upon David or his hounding him to flee for his life.
Like Abigail, David had the opportunity to seize relief from his trial. His companions would have assassinated Saul for him (1 Sam. 24:7). But David would not compromise the principles of his God. He would wait upon the Lord’s timetable.
A common pattern
Being forced to wait upon the Lord is not unusual in the life of the faithful. Abraham demonstrated great obedience in leaving friends in Ur and family in Haran, traveling to an unknown land. Arriving at the place, he did not seek to acquire it as his own but dwelt as a stranger and sojourner there. We might feel that such sacrifice deserved speedy divine blessing.
Instead, Abraham and Sarah grew past the age of child-bearing without having produced any heir. They were sorely distressed. They did not deserve this. But God had a timetable for providing Issac, a timetable that would teach great spiritual lessons to all the faithful who would follow (Rom. 9:8).
Moses had to wait 40 years until circumstances were right for the deliverance of Israel. Paul had to develop in Arabia and Cilicia before he was to fulfill his great commission.
In looking at the Biblical examples, we can often see reasons for the delay -greater lessons were to be learned, other circumstances had to be right, personal character needed to be developed, examples were being set for others.
In our own case, we usually can’t see why God’s timetable is not ours. All of the same factors can apply to us, however, as our example may be useful to others, some additional circumstances need to be right, our own characters need refinement. In Abigail’s case, she had a great service to perform in saving the Lord’s anointed from transgression. She did not know that; but because she remained faithful to the principles of her God, she was available to serve when the great need arose. Let us be of the same disposition that we might shine as the brightness of the sun in eternal glory.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One