Abigail’s servant girl

Packing, looks up and begins speaking to the ladies

Oh, hi ladies! I’m so busy right now I really don’t have time to chat. Time is of the
essence because we just got word from David that he wants to take my Mistress
as his wife!! Girls, I’ve got a wedding to get ready for!! Who am I? Well, you
won’t find my name in the pages of your Bible but believe me, I was there!! My
name is Reilah and I am the servant girl of the soon-to-be wife of David, the
soon-to-be king of Israel!! I know that I told you how busy I am but you’ve just
got to hear this story! It’s too good not to share and the best part is that it is
absolutely true!!! I’ll try to be brief but oh my . . . it’s probably the best “happily
ever after’ story you’ve ever heard . . .

Imagine this . . . my mistress Abigail is one of the most beautiful women you
have ever seen. Not only is she beautiful on the outside but she’s beautiful on
the inside. She is smart and kind and treats others fairly . . . well, she typically
goes beyond treating others fairly, she goes the extra mile but she’s the wife of
Nabal and he is one of the biggest fools in the world. He’s really wealthy but you
know, wealth isn’t everything. I think Miss Abigail would have rather lived in the
corner of a barn that with that man but I never heard her say that myself. As a
matter of fact, I couldn’t believe the way that she treated him with kindness and
consideration. You know . . . God honored that and that’s why I’m in a frenzy to
pack her things. I better pick up the pace of my story!

We live west of the Dead Sea and it’s pretty much desert here but Nabal (I guess
it should be Mr. Nabal to me!) had managed to acquire about 3000 sheep and
1000 goats. This was pretty impressive considering that most farmers only had
about 100 sheep.

When the shepherds would take the sheep out to graze, there was always the
danger of wild animals and marauding bandits. As God would have it, David and
his 600 men had been hiding from that evil King Saul and they were helping
Nabal’s shepherds protect the flocks. According to the reports that I heard, not
one single sheep was attacked or lost while David and his men were around.
Well, springtime came and that’s when we shear the sheep and have a big party.
It’s kinda neat that the shearing not only brings in money for the owner of the
sheep but it also helps the sheep be ready for the summer with a snazzy new
short do!  Just after the shearing was completed and the celebration was
getting ready to get into full swing, one of David’s men shows up and wants to
talk to Nabal. Well, everyone standing around knew what a fool he is . . . you
may think that I’m being unkind by calling him a fool but in actuality, his name
means “Fool” and the Biblical definition of that is ‘one who lives as if there is no
God.’ I can’t imagine why someone would name their son “fool” but however he
got the name, he has sure managed to live up to it! OK, back to my story . . . it is
customary in our country to pay those who help protect your flocks. I guess it’s
kind of like a tip. It’s not mandatory, but it is definitely a wise thing to do! David’s
messenger requested that Nabal give them a portion of the food and some
compensation for their help. David wasn’t requesting a huge sum of money or
anything, he was just trying to take care of his men. Well . . . you guessed it!
Nabal, the fool, acted in character! He said, “Why should I take my bread and
my water and my meat that I have slaughtered for my shearers and give it to men
I don’t know?” He was all about I, me and my!! In addition to refusing to
compensate David’s men, he mocked David and acted like he didn’t know
anything about him. That’s crazy! Everyone knew about David and I’m quite
sure that Nabal had at least heard a rumor that God had chosen David to be the
next king. He said, “Who is this David? Another runaway slave?” Can you
imagine??? My friend who is one of Nabal’s servant was standing in the
background and heard all of this and as soon as Nabal turned his head, he came
running to Miss Abigail. He told her all that had happened about how Nabal had
insulted David and how David’s men had been like a wall of protection for them.
He said, “Miss Abigail, you’ve got to do something or we’re all doomed! There’s
going to be big trouble because of that foolish Nabal. ” Little did he know, that at
that very moment, David was hearing the report from his messenger and then
vowed to strike down Nabal and every man in his household the next day!
Personally, I think David over-reacted a little but thanks to Miss Abigail, he didn’t
go through with his plans.

Miss Abigail jumped into action like a well-trained soldier. She was giving out
orders like an Army sergeant! Much kinder of course, but just a orderly. In little
or no time, she had put together a picnic fit for a king! She had 200 loaves of
bread, 2 jugs of wine, five sheep already prepared and five measures of roasted
grain, a hundred clusters of raisins and 200 fig cakes . . . all loaded on donkeys.
She was a sight for sore eyes when she headed out of Carmel! Oh, by the way,
she didn’t mention any of this to Nabal!

God allowed her to meet up with David and 400 of his men before he made it
back to take his vengeance out on Nabal. Guess what she did? She got off her
donkey and bowed low before David and asked him to place the blame on her for
Nabal’s actions!!! She even apologized for not seeing his messenger coming.
She affirmed the fact that Nabal is a worthless man but she took all of the blame!
Then, in a way this is even more amazing . . . she reasoned with David and
helped him understand that shedding blood just because he was insulted by a
worthless fellow like Nabal would be a mar on his character and could be a
problem when he became king and then . . . David listened!! What a different
man he is from that Nabal!! David appreciated Abigail and told her to return
home in peace.

Well, remember that I told you she hadn’t told Nabal what she was doing?
When, she got home he was too drunk to tell him but once he sobered up, she
gave him the whole deal. She was very respectful but she let him know all the
details! It either terrorized or infuriated old Nabal to the point that he had a stroke
and was paralyzed for 10 days and then died!!! I’ll have to admit that I didn’t
shed any tears but seeing how God dealt with that ole buzzard reminded me that
God is the one who executes vengeance. Word got out pretty quickly and before
you could snap your fingers . . . here comes another messenger from David . . .
this time he’s requesting Miss Abigail’s hand in marriage! And that’s why I’m in
such a frenzy!!

I hope to chat with you ladies again some time!!!