«For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted» (Luke 14:11).
WHEN ABIGAIL DISCOVERED what her proud and rude husband had done (see 1 Samuel 25:3), four hundred armed men were already on their way to him to get revenge (verses 12, 13). What had happened? Her husband Nabal had refused to render assistance to David and his men in spite of the fact that they had watched over his lands and his flocks without asking for anything in return, and had treated his servants very well (verses 14—16). Now, in their moment of need, Nabal, ungrateful, turned his back on those men. However, his wife Abigail «was an intelligent and beautiful woman» (verse 3, NIV); she had that type of intelligence that is humble and wise.
«Abigail acted quickly. She took two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five dressed sheep, five seahs of roasted grain, a hundred cakes of raisins and two hundred cakes of pressed figs, and loaded them on donkeys. she told her servants, ‘Go on ahead; I’ll follow you»‘ (verses 18, 19, NIV). The disproportionate size of the offering shows how determined Abigail was to inter cede in this delicate conflict and how well she did so.
«When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off her donkey and bowed down before David with her face to the ground. She fell at his feet and said: ‘Pardon your servant, my lord, and let me speak to you; hear what your servant has to say’ » (verses 23, 24, NIV). scene and these words impress us, but even more impressive are those she said next: «The Lord has kept you from bloodshed and from avenging yourself with your own hands The Lord your God will certainly make a lasting dynasty for my lord, because you fight the Lord’s battles… 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» (verses 26—31, NIV). Abigail did not appeal to herself, but to God’s plans and David’s highest aspirations. This type of wisdom can only come from the Lord.
You know, that intelligence that is humble and wise is available to you, as well, if you ask God for it. What do you think about doing that right now?