Peace with Others: Peacemakers Are Wise

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Today’s Bible story is a bit of a hidden treasure in 1 Samuel. In the midst of Saul chasing David around the wilderness, we meet Abigail, a wise woman who brokers peace in an escalating situation that was about to become very violent.

But first, we need some context for the story. Saul is king of Israel but Saul didn’t follow and listen to God, so God has chosen David to be the next king of Israel. Saul isn’t happy about this and has been threatening David’s life and chasing him around the wilderness. Even with Saul’s threats, some people in Israel are beginning to follow David, and so at this point, David has 600 soldiers under his command, and they act as a security guard for the region. In exchange for providing security, it seems that David asked people in the region for food for his soldiers.

So, when David hears sheep shearing time has begun, a time of feasting and celebration, he sends some of his men to one of the wealthiest and most important men in the region, a man named Nabal. David instructs his men to offer Nabal peace, to tell Nabal the good news that they have been helping Nabal’s shepherds in the wilderness, and to ask that Nabal share out of his abundance by giving food to David’s men. The cultural tradition of abundant hospitality, along with Jewish law, and the fact that David’s men were powerful soldiers, all made the odds of Nabal giving food to David’s men quite high. But Nabal was a foolish, evil man, as the story says, so he yells at David’s men, demeans David, accuses them of being runaway slaves, and sends them back with nothing but insults. Nabal probably continues on with his day, thinking nothing of the men again except being annoyed that they should ask anything of him. But one of Nabal’s servants was not foolish and sees that the situation is about to escalate. So the servant goes to Nabal’s wife, who is described as intelligent and attractive. Here is how the servant describes the situation to Abigail…

1 Samuel 25:14–17

14 One of Nabal’s servants told his wife Abigail, “David sent messengers from the wilderness to greet our master, but he just yelled at them. 15 But the men were very good to us and didn’t mistreat us. Nothing of ours went missing the whole time we were out with them in the fields. 16 In fact, the whole time we were with them, watching our sheep, they were a protective wall around us both night and day. 17 Think about that and see what you can do, because trouble is coming for our master and his whole household. But he’s such a despicable person no one can speak to him.”

The servant asks Abigail to think about the good deeds David’s men did and see what she can do, because the servant can see that trouble is coming for Nabal and his whole household and the servant knows there is no point in trying to talk sense into Nabal. So what does Abigail do? She sees the concern and fear in the servant. She must know about David and his soldiers. She understands the conflict that is about to erupt. So she goes into crisis mode, thinking and acting quickly to do anything she can to prevent this situation from becoming violent. Let’s see what she does in verse 18…

1 Samuel 25:18–22

18 Abigail quickly took two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five sheep ready for cooking, five seahs of roasted grain, one hundred raisin cakes, and two hundred fig cakes. She loaded all this on donkeys 19 and told her servants, “Go on ahead of me. I’ll be right behind you.” But she didn’t tell her husband Nabal.

20 As she was riding her donkey, going down a trail on the hillside, David and his soldiers appeared, descending toward her, and she met up with them. 21 David had just been saying, “What a waste of time—guarding all this man’s stuff in the wilderness so that nothing of his went missing! He has repaid me evil instead of good! 22 May God deal harshly with me, David, and worse still if I leave alive even one single one … belonging to him come morning!”

It appears that Abigail came just in time with her extravagant gifts of bread, wine, sheep, and cakes. Because David is fuming. This translation captures the anger well… “What a waste of time! guarding all this man’s stuff!” David goes on to say that Nabal has returned his goodness with evil and David swears to God that he will kill every single one of the men in Nabal’s household the next day. It’s not clear whether or not Abigail heard the promise of violence to her house but I’m sure she could see David’s men getting ready for battle, sharpening their swords and preparing their weapons. She knows what is about to happen and she knows she is the only chance of saving her household. Let’s see what she does, picking up in verse 23…

1 Samuel 25:23–27, 30–31

23 When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off her donkey and fell facedown before him, bowing low to the ground. 24 She fell at his feet and said, “Put the blame on me, my master! But please let me, your servant, speak to you directly. Please listen to what your servant has to say. 25 Please, my master, pay no attention to this despicable man Nabal. He’s exactly what his name says he is! His name means fool, and he is foolish! But I myself, your servant, didn’t see the young men that you, my master, sent. 26 I pledge, my master, as surely as the LORD lives and as you live, that the LORD has held you back from bloodshed and taking vengeance into your own hands! But now let your enemies and those who seek to harm my master be exactly like Nabal! 27 Here is a gift, which your servant has brought to my master. Please let it be given to the young men who follow you, my master. 30 When the LORD has done for my master all the good things he has promised you, and has installed you as Israel’s leader, 31 don’t let this be a blot or burden on my master’s conscience, that you shed blood needlessly or that my master took vengeance into his own hands. When the LORD has done good things for my master, please remember your servant.”

We now know why Abigail was described as intelligent—what a speech! I will admit that Abigail is a little repetitive and kind of talks in circles, but if I was pleading for the life and safety of my household, I don’t know how eloquent or precise I would be. What is important is the qualities she exemplifies in this speech.

• Right away, Abigail shows humility by bowing to David. I imagine she says all of this speech from the ground, begging, pleading with David. She calls herself David’s servant six times and calls David “master” or “lord” eleven times.

• Abigail shows vulnerability in falling at David’s feet, putting herself in a precarious position. In some ways Abigail is walking into battle without a sword but with wise words and a whole lot of food.

• Abigail takes responsibility for David’s men not receiving food, saying, “lay the blame on me; I didn’t see your men.” Then, after taking responsibility, Abigail is prepared to make things right with the food that David’s men originally requested. She doesn’t give them basic nourishment but has brought a feast for them—bread, wine, meat, and cakes.

• Lastly, Abigail boldly calls out truth. The truth that her husband Nabal is a fool. The truth that the Lord is giving David an opportunity to withhold bloodshed, to not seek revenge. Abigail acknowledges that David is anointed to be king, she appeals to his hopes of being a good leader, and says that David doesn’t want this needless bloodshed on his hands or conscience when he becomes king. Let God take care of that, she instructs.

What a powerful speech. Abigail has boldly and vulnerably asked David to stop his quest for revenge. Now, let’s see how David responds…

1 Samuel 25:32–35

32 David said to Abigail, “Bless the LORD God of Israel, who sent you to meet me today! 33 And bless you and your good judgment for preventing me from shedding blood and taking vengeance into my own hands today! 34 Otherwise, as surely as the LORD God of Israel lives—the one who kept me from hurting you—if you hadn’t come quickly and met up with me, there wouldn’t be one single one … left come morning.” 35 Then David accepted everything she had brought for him. “Return home in peace,” he told her. “Be assured that I’ve heard your request and have agreed to it.”

Abigail did it. She brokered peace. David realizes through Abigail’s good judgment and wise words unnecessary bloodshed was stopped. We could marvel at the wisdom and courage Abigail had in this story and be done, but Bible stories aren’t just to be marveled at, they are meant to transform us into better understanding of who we are, who God is, and what God is calling us to be in this world. This summer’s sermon series has proven that God is calling us to seek peace, to be peacemakers, and while it is unlikely that we will ever be in a situation like Abigail where we have to plead to a powerful leader to stop violence and choose peace, there are still things we can learn from Abigail. She can remind us of steps we need to take in our own lives to be peacemakers.

Abigail was able to be a peacemaker because she knew who she was, she knew who God was, and she knew who David was. For us, that translates into knowing ourselves, knowing God, and knowing our context.

In order to be peacemakers, we need to know ourselves. Abigail knew who she was. With a fool for a husband, she knew that she was essentially the leader of this prominent household. This probably wasn’t the first time a servant came to her with a problem that she had to address. This also probably wasn’t the first time Abigail had to talk an angry man down from doing something he would regret. I think Abigail had learned to appeal to and appease her husband Nabal, when he was in the mood to listen. Abigail also knew what she could offer, getting her cooks and servants to prepare this giant feast for David and his men.

In order to be peacemakers, we need to know ourselves—our strengths and weaknesses, how we react in times of conflict and crisis. We need to be able to identify our thoughts and feelings and how they affect ourselves and other people. All of this takes a lot of work, but that work is worth it because it can transform us into peacemakers.

In order to be peacemakers, we need to know God. The wisdom in Abigail’s speech is clearly Spirit-led, and she even prophesies about David becoming king and how the Lord will fight battles on David’s behalf. In order to do that, Abigail must have had a good relationship with God, spending time to know the goodness, truth, love, and faithfulness of the Lord. Ultimate peace comes from God; we can’t have it without spending time with God. In order to be peacemakers, we need to know God’s faithfulness, love, and peace.

In order to be peacemakers, we need to know our context. Somehow, Abigail knew who David was and what David was capable of, so she could take the servant’s warning seriously that trouble was coming. If she had been oblivious to all of that, she would not have been able to broker peace in this situation. In order to be peacemakers, we need to know our context. I have to admit that this is a hard one for me. I would love to never have to read the news again but in order to be a peacemaker, I need to know what’s going on in this world. But because I know myself, I know it isn’t good for me to have access to the news 24/7, so I limit how often I check the news, which helps bring me inner peace that I can then hopefully pass on to others by being a peaceful presence.

Abigail was a remarkable woman and I’m thankful this series allowed me to spend some time with her and to learn from her, to help me be a better peacemaker. The wisdom of working to know ourselves, know God, and know our context isn’t new or revolutionary, but in action, I do believe it can lead us to being peacemakers. Let’s pray.