The Story of Abigail in the Bible

we're gonna be looking at first Samuel 25 and in our Bibles there's a lot of amazing stories of women and mothers who did great things for God and sometimes we don't think that their stories are in there but they are and so I want to look at first Samuel 25 verses 2 to 35 will be reading half the story first and we're gonna be focusing on the person of Abigail how many of you remember the name of Abigail in the Bible some of you might recognize yes so if you have your Bibles we're gonna read first samuel 25 verses 2 to 17 and then we're gonna get right into God's Word so let's read this to hear then David moved into oh sorry a certain man in May on who had property there at Carmel was very wealthy he had a thousand goats three thousand sheep which he was shearing in Carmel his name was Annabelle and his wife's name was Abigail she was intelligent and beautiful woman but her husband a Calla bite was surly and mean in his dealings while David was in the desert he heard that neighbor was shearing sheep so he sent ten young men and said to them go up to nibble and at Carmel and greet him in my name made to him long life to you good health to you in your household and good health to all that is yours now I hear that it is sheep shearing time and when you're shepherds were with us we did not mistreat them and the whole time that we were at Carmel nothing of theirs was missing ask all your own servants and they will tell you therefore be favorable toward my young men since we come at a festive time please give your servants and your son David whatever you can afford for them when David's men arrived they gave Nabal the message and David's name and then they waited first ten Nabal answer David serving who is this David who is the son of Jesse many servants are breaking away from their masters these days why should I take my bread and water and the meat I have slaughtered for my shears and give it to men who are coming from who knows where David turn David's men turned went back when they arrived they reported every word that's like you know good gossiper reported every word David said to his men put on your swords so they put on their swords and David put his on about 400 men went up with David while 200 stay with their families are sorry with their supplies one of the servants told nabel's wife a book Abigail David sent messengers from the desert to give our master his greetings but he hurled insults instead at them yet these men were very good to us they did not mistreat us and the whole time we were out in the fields nothing was missing night and day there there was a wall around us all this time we were hurting our sheep near them now think it over see what you can do because disaster is hanging over our master and his whole household he is such a wicked man that no one can talk to him let's pray together Heavenly Father we pray that this story will help us to understand the role of women and how women can be very instrumental in what we can do and so Lord we thank you that you have created women women are made in your image of God and you have we have a place we have value and you have something for us O Lord and we thank you that the women in our church here have shown value have shown love and support and we pray for again for the mothers who are not with us anymore but we carry their legacy in our hearts we carry the memories of what they have done and because of what they have done god we are better people so Lord we pray for your anointing and your our time of listening to this word in Jesus name Amen so in this story it's a very interesting story David and his men are passing through this area and the Bible tells us that there's a man there and he owns a lot of stuff you see that it says he owned a lot of sheeps and goats if you had a lot of animals back then that was that was a big deal and so he was rich he was wealthy but the Bible also says that his name also means foolish and just keep that in mind as we read the Word of God here the Bible also says there's a his wife's name is Abigail at those two things about Abigail it says that she is beautiful and she's intelligent and her name Abigail actually means a father is joyous and her beauty is more than skin deep that's what her name means and so if you look at God's Word it says in verse 3 there that excuse me she was intelligent and beautiful and I want to pick up on this because I believe that you know the writers of art of the Bible the writers of the different things give us different details for certain reasons and I want to pick up on this today because I want to remind all the women and all the mothers this morning that you are beautiful and intelligence okay and I say that because maybe when you were growing up no one ever told you those things they never said or complimented you maybe your father or mother never said those positive things to you or maybe you have a husband who doesn't compliment you or you were told the opposite somebody might have told you sometime in your lifetime that you are not pretty or that you were ugly and you know what the Bible says that we are fearfully and wonderfully made and in Jeremiah the Bible says God says I know you before you were even born and the Word of God says in Psalm 139 that he knows when I rise and when I sit he knows what I'm even thinking this is God and God wants you not to know that he believes and knows we are beautiful we are beautiful and intelligent and that we are the apple of God's eye how do I know that I'm valuable to God because he is willing to die for me and that is enough for me to know who I am in God that Jesus was willing to die for you and me that is enough for any woman to know she is valuable she is valuable and you know what we have to really be careful ladies is we cannot look for our approval or identity in people or earn things this is very important this morning if you're married and you have you our wife your identity is not in your husband it's in Christ if you're a mother your identity not being a mother it's in Christ your husband could die then what you have no status your children can pass away then you have no status you are in Christ amen think about that for a moment and so the Word of God tells us that we are valuable for the Lord and so even if my husband or my parent never says I'm beautiful guess what I am I am beautiful many women don't think that they are beautiful and they're so busy trying to be beautiful that they're actually wasting time and wasting money and they're letting their mental health become unstable in decline because they keep listening to what people say is beautiful now I do some research here research show showed that by a beauty retailers said that in the United States women will spend about 300,000 in their lifetime just on their face think about that 300 thousand US dollars that's a lot of money okay Americans spent 8 billion on plastic surgery in 2016 8 billion dollars all right I'm gonna give you some breakdown here 1.1 billion on nose reshaping okay facelift 924 million dollars tummy tuck 740 million eyelid surgery 631 million okay and then there's some other things that I don't want to mention here you know what I'm talking about ladies that's a lot of money eight billion dollars and I'm not saying women you don't wear products and stuff whatever actually this week Cena did something on me and I told her you're trying to kill me I don't need you to do this I don't need to be this pretty right and she's like no it's gonna help you it's gonna help you you can talk to me afterwards I'll tell you what it was but I'm like this is ridiculous right and how long does this thing take take it off me it's terrible but I must admit I look better okay I'm not saying you don't buy products and whatnot what I am saying is do you know who you are in Christ and if you know who you are in Christ you need to start walking in that and stop looking for approval from people and think especially from men especially from men so here are some things you need to remember women you're beautiful don't let any other people have what they have said to you break your confidence value yourself because God does he values you don't compare yourself with others you are unique just be you don't wish you had this nose and this thing and this you know it's awful like a lot of women are doing these surgeries and stuff because they want to look like their Idol or you know model or whatever and you know that's sad because what about you now the world never gets to see you because you're looking like somebody else you are you guys god made you who you are for a purpose and a reason there's a reason why certain people are born with different features and different different things you have to think about that some people are born short and some people are born tall for a reason just two weeks ago when I was in Brooklyn we were a bunch of pastors almost went to see some of the Times Square and it's busy and because I'm short I can go through the crowd very fast okay and they were like Tina Wow like I said you know I'm just waiting for you guys but really I could just be ahead of you because because but then there some of them are taller they could see what was happening ahead I can't do that right but God has a reason for different things and different features that we have and if we're trying to change it you're changing what God has for you and so Abigail the Bible says that the word says also that her beauty was more her name means her beauty is more than skin deep okay what that really means is that women have to understand you have more to offer than your physical features amen I don't know if you women are you're agreeing with me this morning you have more to offer than your physical features and when a woman understands that she actually comes alive she realizes that her other characteristics are about herself can do some great things for God and that's why the word also said she was beautiful and intelligent you know what that means a woman can think a men a woman can process information she can learn she can understand Jesus understood this why do you think Jesus talked to the women you know he was in a culture where you know don't do that Jesus talked to women he educated them he discipled them he complimented them he valued them he loved them he understood his mother was a woman he understood women have value and the rest of the world needs to catch up to that Jesus understands women and he understand and he's respected ladies the rest of the world needs to catch up with that and we live in a fallen world where women are being mistreated sometimes women are being mistreated because she's a woman here's some examples because we are women we may not get the same pay as another person we may not get offered a job because we're a lady we may not have the ability to speak in a place because we're a lady we may not get to vote we may not got to drive a car we may not get to be in a position of authority like a judge or a police officer or whatnot but God's Word says Abigail was intelligent and truth be told women can do what men do amen women can do the things that men do the world just has to catch up to that and it's so it's a slow pace but we're getting better to what God believes about ladies and women now do you believe that you are beautiful that do you believe that you are an intelligent person because the Bible says we are and we need to reflect what God believes is in us so the Bible says in in the Bible it says in the in the passage there that her husband was a surly and mean man and it says that David was looking for food they were just passing through the land they were just looking for food and he went and he actually respectfully asked for that but and and back in those days because of hospitality I didn't have hotels and restaurants and all those different things right when you're passing through a land the people of that land are supposed to be hospitable but this man Abigail's husband's like no I'm not going to be and because of that a conflict arose and so the servant goes back to Abigail because navel is a wicked man and it says no one can talk to him and so here's what God's Word says now think it over see what you can do because disaster is hanging over our master and his whole household this is the server talking to Abigail he is such a wicked man no one can talk to him and here's what you need to realize today as you think about your life ladies sometimes women have to deal with unfair situations or unfair treatment from other people okay so I want you to just think about that because of the husband's choice to be mean to be disrespectful now Abigail and the whole household all the servants in the whole land have to deal with the foolishness of Nabal okay and is me and then the story his name means fool so there's a little bit of a what you call in literacy this I don't know what it is but anyways there's some play on the words here and so I truth be told ladies some of you have had to deal with mistreatment and unfair situations because of the actions of other people the unkindness of other people and you have had to deal with the consequence am I making any sense amen you've been put in an unfair situation because of the actions of others and you're being mistreated now if you are married unfortunately sometimes women you have been mistreated or have had to deal with the foolishness of your husband I'm gonna say that and I'm not looking at anybody because he didn't listen he didn't want to learn he didn't care he was very me and he was not very nice and the Bible says that husbands do not talk to your wife harshly right on a serious note some women have had to deal with verbal abuse physical abuse emotional abuse sexual abuse some have had to be separated or divorced because of the actions of their husband I'm gonna say this very clearly it's not right it's not right it's wrong some women have had to have been have been mistreated by their parent their sibling or their children and because of the actions of their parent or unkindness of their parent or sibling or children they find themselves in situations they shouldn't have to be in some of us have been mistreated at work where somebody put us down or somebody made an inappropriate comment or harassed us that's not right that's why the meat tooth movement is going so fast because women are tired women are tired of being mistreated and being abused in the wrong way now I'm not saying women are perfect cuz some women are making bad choices they are but we have to understand that abuse is not right and sometimes women have been mistreated in industries like service industries or police officer has mistreated us or we go to the car company or car repair and they mistreat us because we're a woman or we're in a car sales situation and they're gonna mistreat us because maybe we don't know everything about a car that's not right it's wrong you know in this time of age I should be able to go to a car place without a guy and be able to be treated fairly but the truth of matter is that's not happening and it's not right and it's not it's not okay and because of that women have lost time they have lost money they've lost relationships they've lost their sense of self they've lost innocence they've lost their family contact all because of the actions of other people husband parent friend whoever and so sometimes women have to deal with unfair situations and treatment of others and it's not right it is not right but here's what happens in the story if you go to verse 18 of God's Word says here abigail acted quickly Oh she took 200 loaves of bread two skins of wine five dress sheep and five Cs of roasted grain a hundred cakes of raisins I don't know where she got all this stuff from buddy huh and two hundred cakes and pressed figs and loaded him on a donkey on donkeys then she told her servants go ahead I'll follow you but she did not tell her husband what she was going to do good for her amen okay and so here's what you need to realize in God's word here thank you women for being quick amen thank you women for being quick a woman of action amen able a book sorry Abigail is the kind of woman who understands we are in a serious situation amen we're gonna die if we don't do something and she understands that she has to do something for her family this is a life-and-death situation and so the Bible says she acts quickly which means she didn't waste any time and she loads all these gifts on to the donkeys in our day and age and be loading up everything on a car okay and went on her way and how many mothers or ladies can we praise today because they took action amen they didn't sit around and wait for things to happen she's a woman of action she didn't waste any time when your kid got sick you went to the hospital when you had problems in your marriage you went and prayed to God when you had no money you went and got a second job or a third job or a first job when you're in conflict with somebody you've tried to amend the conflict when you need it to travel you're like I'm not taking the bus anymore I'm gonna get my license because I'm gonna drive when you are when you needed a place just when you needed a place to find you negotiated a deal or when you needed a car you went to the car shop and you negotiated a deal some of you you did the job of two or three parents because you wanted the best for your family and when you're in a crisis you don't waste time you took action and we praise all the mothers and ladies today who took actions for their family amen you deserve to be praised and so here's what happens in the story the Bible says when abigail saw David she quickly got off her donkey and bow down before David with her face to the ground and she fell at his feet and so I I want to say to you today thank you women and today women we need to be humble before God and others during hard situations amen amen okay at this point David and his men were gonna kill all the people so she was not in a position of authority she's very smart she's in a position of need okay and so she does something that's very key here she bowed to David with her face to the ground and she fell to his feet what she was actually showing to David is humility humility and when you're in a position when you need to see change happen in your life when you need to see God work in your life ladies and men when we need to see God's hand move in our life Yuni you and I need to have a heart of humility it's too easy for us to take the position of two goddess of entitlement or pride or complaint or being very ungrateful it's too easy for us to say to God when wearing a tough situation Lord why is this happening to me why don't you do something God why is it taking so long it's been a year it's been two years it's been five years it's been ten Lord I don't deserve this God how come everybody else is getting this but I'm not and when we have this attitude it's not right it's not an attitude of humility but what God is warning us is we need to have an attitude of humility Jesus understands humility too in the Garden of Gethsemane he didn't want to die on the cross he didn't want to suffer but he said to God he was on his knees Lord not my will but your will be done and we as ladies have to exercise humility as well in times of need in times that are rough for example if you're running low on funds your house humbling ourselves might mean taking a job that's beneath us if we're running low on food or finances or something humbling ourselves might mean I need to go to a family member a friend and say look I need help if you're a leader in the church and you and your and your and you're a pastor or leader or a layperson you know we'll you and I pick up garbage even though it's not our job that's what humility looks like when you're dealing with the situation will you let go of your own selfish needs and put the needs of other people before you that's what humility is when people compliment you do you think juice do you like the attention or do you say things like you know what I wouldn't be here if it was for the help of God or the help of other people that's what a humble spirit looks like because life is fighting because here's what can happen sometimes we judge people we look at people we make fun of them or may even gossip about them and we need God's you know forgiveness for that and say oh you know so-and-so's parent did this so-and-so's marriage shouldn't work out and you know what we can find ourselves in that same situation because it's saying it's true what goes around can come around and so you and I have to be very careful about what we say about certain things our life because it can happen to us we could lose our house lose our car lose our family lose whatever you see you've either had this kind of situation in your life you're either had it you've always had it good and now you've lost something that's just that's the case of job or you've always had it rough and now you're in a place of abundance that's the kind of the story of Joseph in the Old Testament or you understand that your walk with God is up and down up and down up and down David understood that and so did Paul but can we say that no matter what happens in our life can we be like Paul and say but I've learned to be content with whatever circumstance I'm in I know what it means to be a need and I know what it means to have plenty I've learned the secret of being content in every situation whether well fed or hungry whether living in plenty or in want I can do all things through who strengthens me amen so what kind of added to do we have when it comes to our life situation right now you know I this week I was talking to my friend and I said to her you know this is what happened and I said to her you know my posture is right now my posture is prayer my posture is not to complain not to get upset but to pray and this is the final thing of Abigail story she says in the conversation if you go to verse I believe 24 it says pardon your servant Abigail says this let me speak to you hear what your servant has to say please pay attention my lord to peace play no attention to my lord to that wicked man Maybelle man she just honestly she didn't like her husband she said wicked man he's just like his name is his name means fool folly goes with him please don't go home and tell your husband that okay that's not why I read the story today as for me your servant I did not see the men my lord sent and now my lord as surely as the Lord your God lives and as you live since the Lord has kept you from bloodshed and from avenging yourself with your own hands may your enemies and all who are intent on harming my lord be like Nabal and let this gift which your servant has brought to my lord be given to the men who you follow and if you continue to read she just continues to say some really important things here and I want you to realize today that Abigail was very very wise she says to David you haven't had any bloodshed God has appointed you you will be king one day and she just goes on to say all these things and I want to just say to you today women we need to be wise when making decisions okay it's really important ladies that we don't make impulsive or irrational or rash decisions so there is a time to be quick this was the situation she was in a crisis but your life cannot be all about being making these these kinds of decisions all the time you have to think things through you have to be wise and we learned last week in our sermon that wisdom is in sight from the Lord so she knows her husband she knows how he behaves she knows that they're in this mess because of him and she takes matters into her own hands and I want to say to all the mothers and ladies today thank you for being wise not letting your heart make a decision not letting your emotions rule you but you follow God's wisdom in your life because if we're really honest today some of us can say we made some really bad decisions because we let let our emotions rule us versus the wisdom of the Lord ladies you could have spent all your money but you were wise you save some you spend some you gave to the Lord amen that's being wise some of you could have worked full-time but you worked part-time so you could be there for your kids amen some of you could have taken a higher position like a director or VP or CEO but you didn't because you wanted to be there for your family some of you could have put your kids and other things like social events or sports or whatnot but you valued being here in church and you brought them weekly to the Lord so that they would have a strong relationship with God some of you could have walked away in your relationship with your husband but you persevered in your marriage despite trouble you were wise you could have compared yourself to other people but you've had a heart of Thanksgiving and a heart of gratitude you could have been jealous and envious of other people but you said you know what I'm gonna live my life and God is gonna bless me too amen and you could have got angry with somebody but you forgave them that's wisdom and you could have put your relationship before you could have put your relationship with your husband first before all things but you didn't want to make him an idol you put God first in your relationship with the Lord amen or some of us could have been lazy regarding our health and our food but you are wise and you made a good decision to keep your health strong so that you can be healthy for your family and so we honor the moms and ladies today who have exercised wisdom in God and in your life and today maybe you're sitting here like I don't know if I had wisdom you know what the Word of God says in James chapter 1 you can go to God who give you wisdom generously amen so here's what happens when you're wise here's what the Word of God says in the story in verse 32 it says David said to Abigail praise be to God the God of Israel who has sent you to meet me today may you be blessed for your good judgment and for keeping me from bloodshed this day and from avenging myself with my own hands otherwise as surely as the Lord the God of Israel lives you kept me from harming you if you did not come quickly to meet me not one male belonging Emma would have been left alive by daybreak then David accepted from her hand what she brought to him and said go home in peace I have heard your words and granted your request amen a book Abigail is amazing she's an amazing lady and and I say to you ladies here today as you have had the same characteristics of Abigail you are amazing as well she's wise this this is a 21st century woman right there and so we say thank you to all the ladies this morning for all the hard work you were you are beautiful you're intelligent you work through hard situations you're a woman of action you are humble and you are wise and we say thank you to God this

Channel: solidrockcommunityca

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Keywords: intelligent, beautiful, humble, wise, woman of action, Tina Pitamber, Solid Rock Community Church of the Nazarene

Id: 4FlUwsfvje0

Length: 30min 5sec (1805 seconds)

Published: Tue May 15 2018