April 6 Daily Devotional

1 Samuel 25

There lived a wealthy man at Maon, whose name was Nabal. He had rich possessions and many sheep and goats. David with six hundred men had given protection to Nabal and his flocks. Now it happened at one time that Nabal was shearing sheep, which was a festival occasion. David who was in the vicinity, heard about this. So he sent ten young men to Nabal with well-wishes to remind him of the services that had been rendered unto him, and to request of the wealthy man, “Let the young men find favor in thine eyes: for we come in a good day: give, I pray thee, whatsoever cometh to thine hand unto thy servants, and to thy son David.”

But Nabal, who was a miser, replied, “Who is David? and who is the son of Jesse? there be many servants now a days that break away every man from his master. Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my flesh that I have killed for my shearers, and give it unto men, whom I know not whence they be?” This reply aroused the anger of David, so he said to his six hundred men, “Gird ye on every man his sword … Surely in vain have I kept all that this fellow hath in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained unto him: and he hath requited me evil for good. So and more also do God unto the enemies of David, if I leave of all that pertain to him by the morning light any of his men.”

Now one of Nabal’s servants, who heard this threat of David, turned to Abigail, the attractive wife of Nabal, and said, “Behold, David sent messengers … to salute our master; and he railed on them. But the men were very good to us, and we were not hurt.”

Then Abigail made haste and took two hundred loaves, two bottles of wine, five sheep ready dressed, five measures of parched corn, and two hundred cakes of figs. With all this she came and fell at the feet of David, saying, “Upon me, my Lord, upon me let this iniquity be …and hear the words of thine handmaid. Let not my lord regard this man … Nabal, for as his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him … Now this blessing which thine handmaid hath brought … let it even be given unto the young men … I pray thee, forgive the trespass of thine handmaid: for the Lord will certainly make my lord a sure house; because he fighteth the battles of the Lord … Yet a man is risen to pursue thee, but the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the Lord thy God.” And the Lord shall appoint thee ruler over Israel. And David said to Abigail, “Blessed be thou, which hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood.”

And Nabal held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. And he was drunken. And it came to pass in the morning that he was struck and he became as a stone. Ten days later he died.