What in the world could Abigail have told Nabal that made his heart die within him “so that he became as a stone” (verse 37)? Well, it probably wasn’t just that she had put an end to the fight he had picked with David. No, just learning about that part of the story would have made Nabal feel relieved, not stunned. And he probably wasn’t upset to learn that Abigail had told David that she thought him to be a fool – for how could he not have already known his wife’s opinion of him?

No, it’s more likely that it was David’s true identity that gave Nabal such a shock. For Abigail told him that the man he had insulted was the one the Lord had anointed to be the next King of Israel (verse 30), After all, in those days, to make an enemy of the king was to sign one’s own death warrant.

But of course, David’s coming authority turned out to be the least of Nabal’s worries. For ten days after his conversation with Abigail, the Lord Himself struck Nabal down so that he died. And when David heard the news, he observed that this was the way that God paid Nabal back for his insolence and his selfishness (verse 39). Yes, Abigail had been right all along: David hadn’t needed to avenge himself on Nabal. No, all he had to do was to wait for the Lord to vindicate him.

So, no matter what provocations we may face us today, we can have the same sort of confidence in God’s perfect justice. Oh, we may have to wait longer than ten days to see the proud and the selfish get what is coming to them. But because the Father raised the Son of David from the dead, we know that, on the day Christ comes again, He will be vindicated in the eyes of those who have despised and rejected Him. And on that day, all those who persecute and oppress His people will get exactly what is coming to them, just as Nabal did. And just as David made faithful, loyal Abigail his wife, the bride of Christ will rejoice when her Bridegroom appears, for those who trust in Him will never be apart from Him again.

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!

I Samuel 25:36-44 (NASB)

36 Then Abigail came to Nabal, and behold, he was holding a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. And Nabal’s heart was merry within him, for he was very drunk; so she did not tell him anything at all until the morning light.
37 But it came about in the morning, when the wine had gone out of Nabal, that his wife told him these things, and his heart died within him so that he became as a stone.
38 And about ten days later, it happened that the LORD struck Nabal, and he died.
39 When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Blessed be the LORD, who has pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and has kept back His servant from evil. The LORD has also returned the evildoing of Nabal on his own head.” Then David sent a proposal to Abigail, to take her as his wife.
40 When the servants of David came to Abigail at Carmel, they spoke to her, saying, “David has sent us to you, to take you as his wife.”
41 And she arose and bowed with her face to the ground and said, “Behold, your maidservant is a maid to wash the feet of my lord’s servants.”
42 Then Abigail quickly arose, and rode on a donkey, with her five maidens who attended her; and she followed the messengers of David, and became his wife.
43 David had also taken Ahinoam of Jezreel, and they both became his wives.
44 Now Saul had given Michal his daughter, David’s wife, to Palti the son of Laish, who was from Gallim.