Abigail- Her "Father's Joy"

 "David said to Abigail, 'Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, who has sent you today to meet me. May you be blessed for your good judgment and for keeping me from bloodshed this day and from avenging myself with my own hands.'"

                                                          I Samuel 25:32-33

Godly wisdom and godly behavior matter. Together, they impact lives, families, and generations. The story of Abigail tells us that Abigail possessed both the wisdom from above and the behavior that corresponded to this wisdom. She is the only woman in the Hebrew Bible that is described as both beautiful and intelligent. Beyond her beauty and intelligence was a deep relationship with God (inner beauty) that enabled her to avert disaster and prophesy of the Davidic throne that was not yet in existence.

Despite being married to an abusive, wicked husband, Abigail was able to rise above her circumstances to gracefully carry out the will of God for her life. Her husband's name was Nabal, which literally meant "fool". Nabal was extremely wealthy and he apparently let his wealth and power go to his head. He is a picture of a foolish, unrepentant man in Abigail's story, whereas David is seen as a repentant, godly man. She is literally right smack in the middle between two men that were the exact antitheses of each other.

Thinking quickly on her feet, Abigail found out that Nabal had wrongly refused to feed and water David and his men. She gathered up supplies of wine, grain, meat, and cakes of figs and secretly brought them out to David and his men. She humbled herself and called David her "lord". Because of her godly words and actions, David repented that he had planned to kill all the males in Nabal's household because of Nabal's insults. Abigail's godliness reproduced itself in David's repentance.

During Abigail's life, Israel was experiencing turmoil and transition. Saul was the king of Israel and he would not accept God's plans for David to become king. Therefore, David was fleeing from King Saul, who was determined to take David's life to avoid God's plans coming to fruition. It is never a good idea to think that you can out-maneuver God. Saul was unsuccessful, as will every other wanna-be Saul be!

Abigail's wisdom was also accompanied by her courage to do the right thing. She risked making her abusive husband angry because she trusted God to make things right for her. In this, she found extreme favor in David's eyes, who was soon to be coronated king.

She also risked angering David by interceding on behalf of her wicked husband. This is a picture of how Christ intercedes on behalf of all unrepentant men and women. Her desires were to please the Lord and that God's will would be accomplished and these desires are what took precedence in her words and in her actions. 

It was her humility that silenced her enemies. It was her obedience that brought her to her place of destiny. And, it was her love for God and others that catapulted her into the future that God had ordained for her. Abigail is a picture for us of a godly woman that is filled to the brim with the strength and wisdom of the Lord she served.

Thankfully, after many years of abuse, Abigail got a happily-ever-after ending to her life. After God took the life of her cruel husband, she married David and became his third wife (after Ahinoam and Michal). She was present with David in Hebron when he was inaugurated king. Together, they had a son named Chileab, which means "according to the father".

Though her life was enmeshed with conflict and messy relationships, she kept her focus on God. She remained true the plans God had for Israel and was instrumental in bringing them to fruition. Her life had dignity, honor, and value that came from an abiding relationship with God. Satan did all he could to convince her that the opposite was true but she prevailed over her enemies. Through all of these things, we can definitely see why Abigail's name literally means, "Her Father's Joy"!