ABIGAIL AS TYPE OF THE ASSEMBLY
[p. 313] ABIGAIL AS TYPE OF THE ASSEMBLY
1 Samuel 25: 1 - 9; 1 Samuel 25:14-19; 1 Samuel 25:32,33
JT This section is one of many that are found throughout scripture, we may say from the beginning to the end, which speak of Christ and the assembly. It is not a little remarkable that it arises with God’s operation’s almost immediately in Genesis, to which Paul refers, “I speak as to Christ and as to the assembly” and this runs on to the end of the Bible, increasing as it goes, and then culminating at the end of Revelation 21 and 22, and this one comes in in relation to other subjects, subordinate ones but nevertheless of vast import, that involve crises. Here Samuel dies, which is a matter of great importance, as is obvious, affecting the whole nation. There was a leaning toward division, so it was needful that the people of God should be returned to composure and restfulness and not be upset by what happened but proceed on the main line. And so we have here that Samuel dies. Things are happening at the moment that affect the people of God and so it is that many such things happen that try and affect the saints, but they should gain by it, too, for the Spirit of God in a crisis is to instruct us and form us and fit us. So that we begin with Samuel’s dying. “And all Israel were gathered together, and lamented him; and they buried him in his house at Ramah”. It implies a revival if, when great men have to be sought, somebody else comes in, and that somebody else is Christ and the assembly. All these sorrows affect us and God is saying that He is ready to return to the main line.
RWS Therefore has something been operating all that time in Samuel’s ministry?
JT Quite so; he was one of the greatest in meeting a crisis in his own ministry, and the next [p. 314] point is that David arose and went down to the wilderness of Paran. “David arose”.
ABP Abigail was not the first wife of David. Would it mean a fresh aspect of the assembly?
JT Quite so; she was not the first type of the assembly, either. She comes in later down.
JTJr David was able to rise above the position occasioned by the death of Samuel.
JT That would be the idea, I think, because the sequel shows that he is great in his personality. These deaths are opportunities for personalities to come into evidence. “We have the mind of Christ” and therefore we are capable of handling these things and settling them.
RWS When you speak of crises, do you mean church crises or crises in the world today?
JT Crises affecting the testimony, I would say.
ANW Did Samuel stand for a ministry that brings in Christ in some kingship phase first? Is it not the king? We are not content without him.
JT Well that raises a constructive word. If we go back to the second chapter, we shall see that Hannah is in the position. “Jehovah will judge the ends of the earth; and he will give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed” verse 10. So that Hannah in her mind is thinking of the “anointed”. It is a poetical expression from a great sister that she would like to set before us. “Jehovah will judge the ends of the earth; and he will give strength unto his king”. “His king” of course is in mind in David. “And exalt the horn of his anointed”. Does that confirm your thought?
ANW Yes; it amplifies it a great deal.
AR Why do you get royalty so much in Matthew’s gospel? Does it work out the same idea [p. 315] here?
JT Just so; the king must be in evidence; so it is David, the king.
AR Why is the idea so much dwelt on by Matthew?
JT I think it belongs to Matthew’s gospel, because it is the assembly gospel. Psalm 45 mentions what we are speaking of. “Upon thy right hand doth stand the queen in gold of Ophir”, verse 9. So the two thoughts are in mind, and Matthew has them in mind in the King, the Messiah, the Christ; and here, the sequel is the queen. She is in mind, so that Matthew tells us that a certain king would make a marriage for His son. The bride is not mentioned but you can see how the Spirit of God would have that in mind all through Matthew. The queen must appear, because she is part of the marriage; she is part of the scene.
ANW It is interesting that Matthew should be the assembly gospel.
JT Well, it is; the matter of kingship, too, the matter of royalty, and the place the queen has in the Psalms, and John the baptist says, “He that has the bride is the bridegroom” John 3: 29. The bridegroom is marked off by the fact that He has the bride, showing that the two thoughts hang together and run on into eternity.
VCL Is the prime thought the recovery seen in relation to Abigail and Samuel’s death as taken up at this point. Does that point to a distinct lesson in observing Abigail and David.
JT Just so; Samuel had his place with the people, so his ministry had its place, which is a great matter. The ministry of a brother has its place, too, but it was only an item in the whole scene, the whole history. The main line is resumed in this expression of Christ and the assembly.
APT Is Stephen’s ministry up to a point like Samuel’s? It makes [p. 316] way for Paul.
JT Quite so.
APT We have just lost a great servant (Mr. Coates).
JT Quite so; this very chapter is the one that came to mind when our dear brother was taken, because it would only make room for the main line to proceed.
CAM I was thinking that very thing, that Samuel is referred to in Psalm 99.
JT You have to place him among the priesthood as well as a prophet.
AR The queen is in suitable attire, is she not? She was in royal apparel, too.
J .T. That is remarkable, how the idea appears in the whole scripture, because our whole subject in the scripture began with Adam and Eve. Although primarily it deals with Christ and the assembly, the types began with Adam and Eve. They had dominion. The royal line was there, as it were. It was given to them that they should have dominion.
FHL Royalty here is still in mystery, is it not in David, the royal side? It is not a public position, his anointing and kingship.
JT Quite so; It was done quietly, you mean? Yes, indeed, but there is a movement of the Spirit in this matter. “This is he” — the movement of the Spirit is defined. It is no political movement; it is the movement of the Spirit, and that is what we get: we are getting that here. Something happens to call attention to Christ. “Arise, anoint him; for this is he” chapter 16: 12.
ABP Another death seems to be necessary to liberate Abigail.
JT That is a good point. What a man he was! What a terrible man, standing in the way of divine purpose in regard of these two persons — David and Abigail. “Nabal is his name, and folly is with him”.
[p. 317] What a terrible man! Several other scriptures point to it, and that sort of man is current, you know. This is not the time to dwell on that side of things, but it is important to notice the character of the opposition to Christ and the assembly.
JAP Does the book of Jude speak of God’s dealings with a man like Nabal, coming in to disturb the assembly?
JT Yes, Jude and 2 Peter deal with this type of man who would stand athwart of what God has in mind in relation to Christ and the assembly.
FHL Would the fact that he is a Calebite tend to mislead? We may lose time in looking at Nabal when we should be looking at David.
JT That does not save him from being a terrible opposer of Christ. What our children may come to! It is a solemn thing what lengths people may go to — this terrible opposition to Christ.
DAP Is there a line of persons who are in the secret of David’s anointing?
JT Quite so; give us a little opening up of it.
DAP Well, David was anointed in the midst of his brethren, and there were those who allied themselves to him, and as he proceeded he gathers more. And over against David, there was Saul and his line in public. David carries on in his service in secret. All that time that Saul was reigning, David had a secret system.
JT That is very beautiful, too. The Lord was anointed in the midst of His brethren. Very suitable. Saul had no part in that. That is one of the most beautiful touches — anointed in the midst of his brethren.
AEH Is there any thought in your mind in regard to David’s going into the wilderness as this matter of Nabal goes forward?
JT I do not know. The suggestion to me is what [p. 318] happens to any servant. This is leading up to something, so that a servant is always open for something to happen that will lead up to what will bring out what is in the mind of God. He arose and went down to the wilderness. “And there was a man at Maon, whose business was at Carmel; and the man was very great”; that is to say, it is an incident in the history of David but affecting the whole position. It shows that we are always ready to fall in with a great matter.
AEH David was not in all that transpired there, but it would seem to suggest a sensitive person, and all this is a heaven-sent suggestion, this wilderness movement. Do you think so?
JT Yes, and the sequel of it. It was not a mere incident. “And David arose and went down to the wilderness of Paran. And there was a man at Maon, whose business was at Carmel; and the man was very great, and he had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats; and he was shearing his sheep at Carmel. And the name of the man was Nabal”. We are told what that means. “And the name of his wife Abigail; and the woman was of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance; but the man was churlish and evil in his doings; and he was a Calebite. And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep”. Notice it was in the wilderness that he was doing this. “Then David sent out ten young men; and David said to the young men, Go up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and greet him in my name. And thus shall ye say: Long life to thee! and peace be to thee, and peace be to thy house, and peace be to all that thou hast! And now I have heard that thou hast shearers; now thy shepherds who were with us, we hurt them not, neither was there aught missed by them, all the while they were in Carmel. Ask thy young men and they will tell thee. Therefore [p. 319] let the young men find favour in thine eyes; for we come in a good day; give, I pray thee, what thy hand may find to thy servants, and to thy son David. And David’s young men came and spoke to Nabal according to all those words in the name of David, and ceased” verse 1 - 9. Now these are the facts. Really we find an important matter, this man and his wife brought into the picture, and he is described, and she is described, and David is having to say to him — not to her yet, but to him.
AEH That is very interesting. There seems to be a striking contrast between the way Abigail is brought forward in this section, and the wife of Uriah, where the attention of David was first attracted to her. There seem to be traits that underlie the whole dispensation, the goodness and beneficence and grace of David and his young men. All that would help in bringing forward the assembly.
JT That is important. Nabal is brought into the picture in a most remarkable way — and these young men of David who are also brought into the picture; it is important to see that these ten young men are in the service — they took a message from David to Nabal, and they told it, and “they ceased” — a fine point in the ministry. They did not go too far; they just told what they have got.
JWD Do you think the resuming of the main line seems to come to light in a rather complete condition? If Samuel had not died and David had not gone in this direction, this condition of things would not have been there.
JT You mean, why did this come in here, and what is the point? It is very important. The incidents mentioned are each one in its place, and in the list, all these young men and how they speak at the proper time.
JTJr Do you think that this system of Nabal’s developed because of Saul’s reign — suggesting the church on the responsible side during that time, as over against the assembly represented in Abigail as in relation to what is of God, while the responsible side is related to Nabal. I was wondering if Saul still being king would allude to something in the ways of God that Nabal had developed on that line, and then the movement here is to get the assembly as seen in Abigail.
ANW The Psalmist says, “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God”. Has not that element arisen lately — there is no God?
JT And then this development under Nabal raises much in the matter that we have had before us as to how the assembly was set as a type, how it was set and held in certain connections that would hinder it coming into maturity in development, and all, of course, bears on the whole position now where the man Nabal shines, or that kind of man. There are men that are unreasonable, as the word is “fool”. It opens up in the book of Proverbs — ‘’ungodly”and”impiety”and the assembly is freed from all these conditions, and so we are extricated. That is the next thing. She is instructed of what happened by the young men. It is said”,And one of Nabal’s young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, saying, “Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to bless our master; and he has insulted them”, verse 14. Now we have come to the side of the extrication of Abigail, and her relation is the great thing. She is his wife. She knows exactly his state, the kind of man he is. And so with every true Christian. The Lord’s people need to be instructed as to the kind of men that are ruling religiously, and it is important that they should know, because ultimately their deliverance depends upon God.
CFN Legality marked the Galatians, and is [p. 321] there not something on current lines or some form of legality that binds the saints?
JT It seems as if in the name Nabal (verses 3 and 25) the Spirit of God gives light for the saints as to what is holding them; some of them even going back into it, causing sorrow.
AR What is there in this idea of shearing the sheep?
JT It is to get the best they have — the wool.
CAM When there is a refusal, of course, we are to gird on our sword.
JT Well the chapter is so full of things. I think this matter of girding on the sword is important, too, because that is going to help, and the idea is found in the scriptures. The Lord says to Simon, Put it back into its sheath. It was not the time for it. The point is to get the idea of extricating Abigail now. We have Nabal carrying on his business, and we can see how he affected the saints. Now how is Abigail to be extricated from all this class of things that this man represents? His own servant tells us in verse 14. “And one of Nabal’s young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, saying”, etc. Now this young man is one of those who are of value in the moment in which we are. The young men move, the servants move. Is it effective? Here we see the effectiveness of this young man.
AEH To refer again to Galatians, we have a development of the thought, do we, in the period fixed by the father; and these young men say, We have come in a good day. Would you link it on with, that? If David had continued in the full light of that, he would have been saved this idea of girding on the sword, would he not?
JT Yes; he changes the whole position. What can he do for Abigail, to get her out of this position?
AR It says after the young man comes to speak to Abigail that she made [p. 322] haste.
JT She represents the assembly and she rises to a type of an assembly person. She had a final judgment about Nabal.
CFN Is it also suggestive to see certain corresponding features in Abigail as worked out in David. In chapter 16, where he is anointed, it is said, “And he was ruddy, and besides of a lovely countenance, and beautiful appearance” verse 12. And here in Abigail, we have, “And the woman was of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance”, verse 3. It is helpful to see those underlying conditions in her.
JT Abigail is in mind, but David’s spirit is out of accord with her; the whole matter is laid bare. Nabal is going to be taken care of and God will do that. David has to learn that. The point is, now he is to come into accord with Abigail, because Abigail is on right lines. She is not attacking her husband. This is not the time for that.
AEH Our service is to discern the features of the assembly and hold to it on the line of uniting it to Christ?
JT Quite so; and extricate it if you can, but David in the type drops down below his position. It is a poor thing if any of the Lord’s servants have dropped down below the current level because they have taken on religious garments. They do not shine in them. They do not belong to them.
AR Do you mean going around like a minister?
JT Quite so; and it is now the point for us to see how Abigail comes into light in her own crisis — this young man is informing her what has happened, and she has recourse to goodness. It is said in verse 18: “And Abigail made haste, and took two hundred loaves, and two skin-bottles of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched corn, and a hundred raisin-cakes, and two hundred fig-cakes, and laid them on asses. And she said to her [p. 323] young men, Go on before me; behold, I come after you” verses 18, 19. That is to say, she sends the food before her, because it is a question of food for the brethren, and securing them food, and the official class in the ministry are not ministering the food, but she is; she takes on assembly features.
ABP Does Nabal represent a rival system, because it says in verse 36 that he made a feast in his house like a king? It would seem there was a sort of rivalry there.
JT Just so; we have already heard about David.
CAM This great outlay of food would show what a wealth there is in the assembly in a spiritual way, and that it is really a contrary element against this hostile matter.
JT That is a prime matter now; this food matter.
ANW What an item it is in the release of this person.
JT It is remarkable, the quantity and the quality of it. It says, she made haste. What they needed was food.
FNW In the ways of God, may a decline come in in service; not so much for the brethren to be occupied with the disturbance but to bring into lustre the assembly?
JT That is the whole point here. It is more the assembly than Christ. More is made of Abigail than of David. I mean to say, in quality, so that we are told that “Abigail made haste, and took two hundred loaves, and two skin-bottles of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched corn, and a hundred raisin-cakes, and two hundred fig-cakes, and laid them on asses. And she said to her young men, Go on before me; behold, I come after you”. That is, she was wise. There is a great [p. 324] volume of food.
RWS The quality and the volume and the woman herself — there is some relation between those qualities and the complicated moral conditions? In Adam and Eve there were no complications. Every one was straightforward.
JT I think that is good. You mean in chapter 2 of Genesis, but Nabal, I suppose, would represent what the world is — what it has developed into from Adam and Eve, that is to say, man and woman uncontrolled, what they have developed into, and how the assembly is being extricated. It has to be delivered from it. She rose to the position and knows just what to do in this volume of food and the quality of it and how it succeeded. So the story goes on to show, “And when Abigail saw David, she hasted and lighted off the ass, and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, and fell at his feet, and said, Upon me, my lord, upon me let the iniquity be; but let thy handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thine ears, and hear the words of thy handmaid”. She must use plain language. It is the deliverance of the assembly from those wicked men that were in control. “Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this man of Belial, Nabal; for as his name is, so is he: Nabal is his name, and folly is with him”, showing how she had in her heart the true character of her husband. “And I thy handmaid did not see the young men of my lord, whom thou didst send. And now, my lord, as Jehovah liveth, and as thy soul liveth, seeing Jehovah has restrained thee from coming with bloodshed, and from avenging thyself with thine own hand, now let thine enemies, and they that seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal. And now this blessing which thy bondmaid has brought to my lord, let it be given to the young men that follow my lord. I pray thee, forgive the transgression of thy handmaid; for Jehovah will certainly make my lord a lasting house;
[p. 325] because my lord fights the battles of Jehovah, and evil has not been found in thee all thy days. And if a man is risen up to pursue thee and to seek thy life, the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living with Jehovah thy God; and the souls of thine enemies, them shall he sling out from the hollow of the sling. And it shall come to pass, when Jehovah shall do to my lord according to all the good that, he has spoken concerning thee, and shall appoint thee ruler over Israel, that this shall be no stumbling-block to thee, nor offence of heart for my lord, either that thou hast shed blood without cause, or that my lord has avenged himself. And when Jehovah shall deal well with my lord, then remember thy handmaid”. That is to say, she is become the deliverer of David in the false position, showing that the responsible element may be on a lower level. He refers to one who would be damaged because of want of understanding, damage the saints, and damage the testimony, and she rescues him.
FHL Is your point in verse 20, “And as she was riding on the ass, and coming down by the covert of the hill, behold, David and his men came down opposite to her”. They were found on common ground, as it were.
JT That is good, too. She was riding on an ass and coming down from the top of the hill, and David and his men were coming down the opposite side, and she met them. That is the meeting, but she is in the lead, you know. He was in danger; showing that a responsible brother may be damaging the saints through want of understanding, and she rescues him. That is constantly needed.
JTJr The assembly shines in verse 14, and Matthew 18 brings the assembly before us.
JT “But if he will not listen to them, tell it to the assembly”, verse 17. That is to say, he is exposed.
[p. 326] ABP Would you see the application here in that great plan that is referred to in Psalm 78 where it speaks of God’s taking David from following the suckling-ewes and causing him to feed God’s inheritance, and he fed them and he led them? Is Abigail like a feeding mother in that sense?
JT Just so; she certainly delivered and helped him.
JWD Does it suggest that the assembly is greater than any servant? Does Abigail bring in the principles of the assembly, or how does it work?
JT The services of all of us are included in the assembly; I mean to say, that side. He “gave gifts” — the gifts are all in the assembly.
JWD But why the emphasis on the assembly here?
JT Because it is the subject of the chapter.
JWD How would it operate? How does the assembly operate in Abigail?
JT The assembly would include all the gifts, viewed from the standpoint of an entity; she includes all the gifts. “That there might be no division in the body, but that the members might have the same concern one for another. And if one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; and if one member be glorified, all the members rejoice with it. Now ye are Christ’s body, and members in particular. And God has set certain in the assembly: first, apostles; secondly, prophets; thirdly, teachers; then miraculous powers; then gifts of healings; helps; governments; kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all in possession of miraculous powers? have all gifts of healings? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret?” 1 Corinthians 12: 25 - 30. I think there you have the suggestion that they are all in the assembly, and that is what Abigail represents in this section, which is one of the [p. 327] most important sections in the types of the assembly. It brings up an important matter, because all the gifts are included in it. It is therefore greater than the gifts.
CAM When you look at it in that way, you see the immense wealth of supply that there is that has been accorded to the saints, and the richness of it all, the beauty of the saints, too, as we have been taught what the assembly is. You wonder how all that is going to have effect before we leave this scene. It has a mighty power which is working for the extrication of the saints in some marvellous way.
JT Therefore the Spirit of God uses it to extricate any individual members and set us all free. These are the most important matters, so we ought to understand it and know that no gift can be superior to the assembly.
FNW “In which are hid all the treasures of wisdom and of knowledge”. Colossians 2: 3.
JT “All the treasures”. Notice that!
ANW As far as Nabal is concerned, is it our part to let it have its course? We do not attack it. It takes its course under the governmental hand of God.
JT So that what we see here is the great thought working out of Christ and the assembly. David had to be extricated, and any of us who may fall below the level of the assembly have to be extricated and set up in the light of it.
AEH Would this great food supply and variety and abundance suggest occasions like this, when the effect of feeding upon these things is to lift us out of the lower level to which we are so prone to fall?
JT When we come to these readings, especially the larger ones, the assembly comes into evidence, what the Spirit will do, what He may use, if it be not in a sense of administration but a sense of ministry.
“[p. 328] Do ye not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you”. 1 Corinthians 6: 19. The Spirit of God is operating and these meetings bring out what is there, and you are made conscious that the Spirit is there and the great thought of the assembly is there, and each person in his own place falls into his own level. He cannot be greater than the assembly.
VCL If failure comes as it did in 1 Corinthians, would the suggestion be that those who had the light of the assembly in mind would save the position in appealing to Paul?
JT Quite so; God uses him to call attention to certain things, but even he is not greater, because he is part of the assembly. God has set them in the assembly.
APT In Acts 23 Paul is extricated himself. Would the element that was used there be the assembly? He spoke against the high priest. I am just wondering whether the help connected with the assembly was there. In verse 2: “But the high priest Ananias ordered those standing by him to smite his mouth. Then Paul said to him, God will smite thee, whited wall. And thou, dost thou sit judging me according to the law, and breaking the law commandest me to be smitten? And those that stood by …”.
I was wondering about those people. Is there some help there, was that in connection with the assembly? There was a divided company there, Pharisees and Sadducees.
JT You mean he made a failure there, but he extricated himself. He asserted what was right himself. He says, I did not know he was the high priest. It shows what a brother can be even if he does turn aside in any way. Dan leaped from Bashan and got out of a false position by spiritual power.
APT In other words, if I am wrong, I am wrong and I should admit it.
ANW [p. 329] He quotes the scripture against himself.
APT I find there is a great tendency with some to stand on their own feet, and they always say, ‘You are not right’, but possibly they are wrong themselves.
JT What you say I am sure is important; that a brother can right himself. That is what Paul did. Dan leaped from Bashan which would suggest a brother getting out of a false position in the power of the Spirit; God enabling him.
GVD Abigail really is extricating herself through her own activity.
JT She is extricating herself and David. She is really extricated by the young man who talked to her of certain things, showing how the assembly comes into action. It functions as it is served aright by its members. The truth is laid before her and she acts upon it.
WCR David says, “Blessed be thy discernment”.
RDG Would it appear in the latter part of verse 26 that Abigail has light that God is about to remove Nabal?
JT Just so; she really represents what we are speaking of; that the thing is there in her. All she needs is to be informed: and she is informed by certain persons and she acts on the information, and then comes into evidence so that Nabal himself dies. She knows it. The whole matter is clear, and therefore David honours her. She is now coming into the position in the grace and dignity of his intended wife. “Blessed be Jehovah, the God of Israel, who sent thee this day to meet me”. He is recognizing her, which is a great matter. She is getting her full place. “Blessed be thy discernment”. She knew what would happen. “Blessed be thou, who hast kept me”, he acknowledges he needed her keeping, “this day from coming [p. 330] with bloodshed, and from avenging myself with mine own hand”. That is his tribute to her. I would say he is a worshipper; he is worshipping. I mean to say, the work of God, because she is an expression of the work of God before his own eyes. He is now rising to his proper place as to the assembly. He is like the Lord Himself.
Then the scripture goes on to comment on her. We are told that Abigail came to Nabal in verse 36, “and behold, he held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king; and Nabal’s heart was merry within him, for he was drunken to excess; so she told him nothing, less or more, until the morning light. And it came to pass in the morning, when the wine was gone out of Nabal, that his wife told him these things; and his heart died within him, and he became as a stone. And it came to pass in about ten days that Jehovah smote Nabal, and he died”, verse 36 - 38. God did it. That is the only way that this present situation can be met. God is going to meet it. So Nabal died. “It came to pass in about ten days that Jehovah smote Nabal, and he died”. That is the end of him.
GVD “Who has delivered us from the authority of darkness, and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love”. Colossians 1: 13.
JT It is God’s intervention, and I would think pointing to what God would do. In Samson we have the idea of what one man will do. He killed more in his death than in his life, and can overthrow the world. But this is a picture of what God does. Nabal dies.
TEH Would you mind saying a word about verse 34, David being restrained in connection with the suggestion of the assembly?
JT “But indeed, as Jehovah the God of Israel liveth, who has restrained me from hurting thee,
[p. 331] except thou hadst hasted and come to meet me”. Then in verse 39, “And when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed be Jehovah, who has pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and has kept back his servant from evil; but Jehovah has returned Nabal’s evil upon his own head. And David sent and communed with Abigail, to take her as his wife”. That is the final issue.
ABP That would be a great support in relation to David’s soul. He had refrained from shedding Saul’s blood in the previous chapter.
JT It is the same thing. It shows how God saves you from doing damage.
JTJr “David sent and communed”. How he would take on the assembly in that way.