I was reading about Abigail who was a beautiful woman but married to a wealthy man, named Nabal, who was a fool. He had huge flocks of sheep and for a time David and his men provided protection for the herdsmen from rustlers. When it was Harvest time for sheering of the sheep, there was great celebration with much food and drink. David sent 10 men to Nabal, to ask for some share in the food for his men. But Nabal responded rudely and not only refused but insulted them. I don’t read in scripture of David being angry often, but he was livid and got armed and ready with his men to go kill Nabal. Eugene Peterson writes about how God used Abigail’s beauty, inward and outward, to save David from exacting vengeance, which is the Lord’s business, not ours.
Abigail gets together a feast for David’s men and when she sees them approaching, she gets down on her knees and bows with respect and tells David not to murder Nabal for it isn’t worthy of the prince of Israel to do such a thing and it is God’s battle. David listens and her beauty is matched by her words, saving David from taking things into his own hands. He gets in touch again with the beauty of God’s holiness and no longer takes vengeance. Like Peterson wrote, ”Abigail’s beauty—her double-edged beauty of character and countenance, recovered the beauty of the Lord for him.” As you know if you have read the story in II Sam. 25, Nabal died 10 days after, and later Abigail became David’s wife. God used beauty of a woman on her knees to help David to remember the Lord’s holiness.
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