This is lesson 16 in the Life of David series. David sent men to ask Nabal for food for feast day. David and his men have been protecting the shepherds and David is asking for payment. Nabal is rude and declines. David is angry and Abigail calms him down. This has a good application worksheet to discuss anger and how God wants us to control it.
Saul has been chasing David and he finally caught up with him
last week; but it didn’t happen as he planned. Saul took 3,000 men and went to
the Rocks of the Wild Goats. They stopped at the sheepfolds by the roads and Saul
went into a cave. He didn’t know that David and his men were staying at the
back of that same cave.
David snuck up behind Saul and cut off a corner of Saul’s
robe. Once Saul left, David left the cave and called out to Saul. David told Saul
that “See, here is part of your robe. I could have killed you, but I do not
intend to hurt you! Why are you looking for me to kill me?” Saul realized that
David was righteous (good), and he had been treating David badly. Saul realized
that David would be the next king and he would be a good one. They made promises
and Saul went home. David went back to his stronghold.
Beginning with today’s chapter, we learn that the prophet
Samuel has died. The people gathered together to mourn and bury him. David went
to the Wilderness of Paran.
Nabal lived in Maon, and he had business in Carmel. He was
very rich. He had 3,000 sheep and 1,000 goats. He was in Carmel shearing his
sheep. His wife’s name was Abigail. She was beautiful and smart. But Nabal was
mean and evil.
When David heard that Nabal was shearing his sheep in Carmel,
David sent ten young men to see him. David told them to tell Nabal that “They
were sent by David, and he has heard Nabal is shearing the sheep. Nabal’s
shepherds have been with David and have been kept safe. Their belongings have
been kept safe. Nabal can ask his men and they will verify this. So, we have
come to you on feast day requesting food for David and his men.”
Nabal answered by asking “Who is David? Who is the son of
Jesse? There are so many servants that leave their masters! Why should I give
bread, water and meat that I have to men I don’t even know? The food is for my
shearers.”
David’s men went back to David and told him what Nabal
said. David told his men to get their swords and get ready to fight. About 400
men went with David and 200 stayed with the supplies.
One of the men told Nabal’s wife, Abigail, that David had
sent messengers to talk to Nabal. He told her “Nabal was angry and sent them away.
But David’s men have been very good to us. They kept us safe, and our
belongings were safe while David’s men were with us. They ‘were a wall to us’
day and night while we took care of the sheep. Please think about doing
something because David is going to fight against Nabal and his workers. Nabal
is so evil that we can’t ask him for help.”
Abigail rode a donkey and met David on the way. David told
her that he had been taking care of Nabal’s shepherds for nothing because Nabal
has repaid evil for the good that he has done. David has been protecting Nabal’s
shepherds and sheep. David asked to be paid for his work on feast day, but
Nabal refused to pay David.
David told Abigail that he planned to kill all the men before
morning. Abigail got off her donkey and bowed down to David. She begged him to
listen to her. She said that “She knows that Nabal is cruel and is a fool. She didn’t see or talk to the men that David had sent. Please accept this gift
that she brought. When David is king over Israel, have no grief and remember
me.”
David told Abigail “Blessed is the Lord because He sent you
today! And blessed is your advice because you have kept me from killing today.
Go in peace!”
The next morning, Abigail told Nabal about David and what
almost happened. His heart died and he was like a stone. He died ten days later.
When David heard that Nabal had died, he asked Abigail to marry him. She agreed
and rode her donkey to meet David with five of her servants. David also married
Ahinoam. David’s first wife, Michal (Saul’s daughter) had married someone else
while he was gone.
The printables for David in this series are for an older
age group than I usually post. Although this lesson is appropriate, some lessons about David are not
for early elementary. But David is a great study. So, as you can
see from the above picture, there is a Q&A. This could be used with younger
groups by using the answer sheet and just asking the questions for
discussion. Each post in this series will have a maze and some type of puzzle.
The additional application has thought questions about how the students can apply
the lesson to their daily life. There are answer sheets for all worksheets
except for the last application. Everyone will have a different set of
answers. Click here to download.
Bible Verse: 1 Samuel 25:42
Click here to see the entire list and links for the Life of David series.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Used by permission.
Thank you so much for having this lesson, I have been looking for something on Nabal and Abigial for a few weeks. This is the first website I have seen so far.
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