Abigail's words intrigued me. 1 Samuel 25:29 ..."Your life shall be bound in the bundle of life with the Lord your God and the lives of your enemies HE shall sling out." How merciful was God's timing to send Abigail at just the right juncture to remind David of the big picture.
In spite of Saul's jealousy, ingratitude and persecution, David trusted God to work things out. When he had Saul like a sitting duck, he would not kill him but experienced great victory over his feelings and temptation. But after victory in his attitude towards Saul, though Saul's injustice was lengthy and repeated, David impulsively decided to take vengeance on Nabal, (whose name means fool), because of a one-time offence. David showed great restraint in dealing with Saul but almost threw away his mission and in a fit of anger came very close to betraying God's trust. Tempted to throw it all away because of a fool!
We all encounter Nabals along our way; those who respond to our help with rash insults, those who go out of their way to hinder or hurt us, and etc. In the heat of those moments, we do well to pause
and listen to the gentle wisdom of Abigail, who called David to reflect on God's grander purpose. Like David, our lives are a gift from God. Like David, we can be assured that the Lord is well able to deal with our enemies. Like David, we know that the only one who can defeat God's victory in us and His purpose through us, is ourselves. Let us take more time to dwell on the wonder of being indwelt by the Resurrection Life of Jesus Christ and energized by the very Life of God. Let us determine not to be discouraged or distracted by the Nabals. We can safely leave the Nabals to God and get on with the glorious business of living love.