Day 85. 1 Samuel 25-27

At the beginning of the reading for today we receive a brief note telling us of the death of Samuel. Again the cast of characters is changing; Samuel, the last representative of the era of the judges, steps quietly from the stage.
But also we meet remarkable woman, Abigail. At the time that we first encounter her, she is married to a rich, ill-natured man named Nabal. Not only is Nabal "surly and mean' (25:3), he is blustering nincompoop. His name means "fool" (25:25), and he proves himself richly worthy of it, rashly refusing to share his food with David and his outlaw army at the time of a feast (25:10). David, hot with anger, resolves to avenge this insult with a massacre. But just in time Abigail, whose name means "my father is joy," does what her husband should have done. She hurries to David with a great bounty of food and humbly begs his pardon.
Abigail is indeed as clever as she is beautiful (25:3), and she proves herself a prophet as well, predicting that his house will be established by the LORD as a "sure house" (25:28) forever, and calling upon David to show the virtues of a king—wisdom, mercy, and self-restraint (25:31). Her plea is eloquent and dignified. And certainly David is impressed with Abigail, asking a blessing from the LORD upon her "good sense" (25:33) for restraining him from useless bloodshed and avenging himself with his own hand.
Nabal conveniently dies of a stroke when he hears what Abigail has done. Hearing of it, David affirms the faith that waits for the LORD and lets God take care of things in his own way and in his own good time (25:39). David also wastes no time in proposing marriage to the new widow, and she wastes no time in accepting. We are told that "Abigail got up hurriedly and rode away on her donkey; her maids attended her. She went after the messengers of David and became his wife" (25: 42).
In chapter 26 we are given another account of how David again spares the life of king Saul as he and Abner, his commander, as they lay in "a deep sleep from the LORD" that "had fallen on them" (26:12). David's companion urges his him to slay the king, whom God has put into this power (26:8). But again David refuses to raise his hand against the LORD's anointed (26:9). David again shows kingly restraint, leaving room for the LORD to avenge him (26:10), and instead taking the king's life he takes his spear and water jug to prove that he might have taken matters into his own hands, but did not (26:11).
Saul, confronted by the evidence of David's innocence, again repents of his murderous intentions (26:21) and pleads with David to come back. But David now knows the king's heart, and instead goes off to serve as a mercenary for King Achish of Gath. This Philistine, a sworn enemy of Israel, gives the outlaw protection and a village of his own to live in (27:6). Again, the LORD is at work behind the scenes taking care of his Chosen One. Under the protection of the Philistines, David makes raids upon the other enemies of Israel (27:8), at the same time cleverly telling the king of Gath that he is raiding Israelite towns (27:10). So the Philistine king is assured of David's loyalty, believing that he is making "himself utterly abhorrent to his people Israel" (27:12). But his trust in the wily David is misplaced, as we shall see.