The Wisdom of Servants
1 Samuel 25:14–35 | Wednesday, June 25, 2025
The Wisdom of Servants
1 Samuel 25:14–35 | Wednesday, June 25, 2025
The Gospel According to the Servants - Week 3
Peacemaking
Sometimes it’s the unnamed ones who change the course of history. In a world often obsessed with kings and warriors, 1 Samuel 25 turns our gaze toward a servant, a messenger with wisdom, courage, and humility.
This is a story of intercession, one in which peace breaks into a cycle of violence because someone dared to speak up.
This passage reminds us that servanthood is not passivity, it is peacemaking. And when the wisdom of the humble is paired with the courage of the bold, healing becomes possible.
Context: Setting the Scene
Historical: This story sits between Saul’s reign unraveling and David’s ascent to kingship. David, though not yet king, is gaining influence and military strength.
Literary: The chapter contrasts two men, Nabal and David, both of whom are ready to respond to insult with bloodshed. Between them stands Abigail, Nabal’s wife, and a servant who warns her. The unnamed servant becomes the pivotal voice in the narrative, setting a redemptive path in motion.
Theological: The servant’s role echoes the call of God’s people to be agents of peace. It is not Abigail alone who saves lives, it’s the faithful action of a servant who refuses to remain silent.
1 Samuel 25:14–35 (NLT)
14 Meanwhile, one of Nabal’s servants went to Abigail and told her, “David sent messengers from the wilderness to greet our master, but he screamed insults at them.
15 These men have been very good to us, and we never suffered any harm from them. Nothing was stolen from us the whole time they were with us
16 In fact, day and night they were like a wall of protection to us and the sheep.
17 You need to know this and figure out what to do, for there is going to be trouble for our master and his whole family. He’s so ill-tempered that no one can even talk to him!”
18 Abigail wasted no time. She quickly gathered 200 loaves of bread, two wineskins full of wine, five sheep that had been slaughtered, nearly a bushel of roasted grain, 100 clusters of raisins, and 200 fig cakes. She packed them on donkeys
19 and said to her servants, “Go on ahead. I will follow you shortly.” But she didn’t tell her husband Nabal what she was doing.
20 As she was riding her donkey into a mountain ravine, she saw David and his men coming toward her.
21 David had just been saying, “A lot of good it did to help this fellow. We protected his flocks, but he has repaid me evil for good.
22 May God strike me if I leave one man of his household alive!”
23 When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off her donkey and bowed low before him.
24 She fell at his feet and said, “I accept all blame in this matter, my lord.
25 Please don’t pay any attention to Nabal. He is a fool, just as his name suggests.
26 Now, my lord, the Lord has kept you from murdering and taking vengeance into your own hands.
27 Here is a gift I have brought to you and your men.
28 Please forgive me if I have offended you.
29 Even when you are chased by those who seek to kill you, your life is safe in the care of the Lord your God, secure in his treasure pouch.
30 When the Lord has done all he promised and made you leader of Israel,
31 don’t let this be a blemish on your record.
32 David replied, “Praise the Lord who sent you to meet me!
33 Thank God for your good sense! Bless you for keeping me from carrying out vengeance with my own hands.
34 I swear, if you hadn’t come quickly, not one of Nabal’s men would be alive tomorrow!”
35 Then David accepted her gifts and said, “Go home in peace. I have heard what you said. We will not kill your husband.”
Key Insights
The servant’s warning is an act of prophetic wisdom: He names the danger, tells the truth, and trusts Abigail to act. His faithfulness becomes the hinge of the whole story.
Abigail embodies courageous intercession: Her response is swift and sacrificial. She models how the work of peace begins with presence and generous action.
David’s humility surfaces in response to truth: Though enraged and ready for violence, David listens to the voice of wisdom. This moment foreshadows his capacity for repentance and restraint, qualities vital to his future as king.
God’s justice often arrives through the overlooked: The powerful in this story (David, Nabal) are overshadowed by the bravery of a nameless servant and a wise woman. God’s redemptive work moves through unexpected channels.
Peacemaking is a servant’s calling: The story invites us to see peacemaking not as weakness, but as holy strength.
Guiding Question
Who is the peacemaker in your life who saw what you couldn’t and helped you choose a better path?
Praise God for those people in our (my) life who, though regarded as a servant, less significant, less important than us (me) have been used by God to correct me and uncomfortably push us (me) to repent, to make amends, to reconcile. They have humbled me and shown a light on my dark behavior. Perhaps God has deliberately used the most humble to humble me, to teach me, mold me, keep me on the path following Jesus.