In one instance, the period he is taken back to is when David – not yet king of Israel – was a fugitive, with King Saul still intent to kill him.[2] David and his soldiers are hiding in the wilderness of Paran, and food is running out. While in the wilderness, they have been near the places where flocks of sheep belonging to Nabal, a very wealthy man, are taken care of.
In those circumstances, it would have been very easy for David’s men – each of them battle-hardened soldiers famous for their victories – to overcome Nabal’s shepherds and steal the sheep for their provisions; but they don’t. David is too noble for that, and instead they actually protect Nabal’s shepherds and sheep. However, their food is becoming scarce; they need to do something. So, David sends messengers to Nabal asking for his support. The messengers explain to Nabal how David and his soldiers have treated his flocks and shepherds; but in response Nabal merely denies knowing anything about David and refuses to help.[3]
Justifiably, David is offended that someone whom he voluntarily defended from his enemies would treat him so rudely and ignore his plea for help. Outraged, in a way that perhaps only those destined for lasting memory as military rulers can be, David leads his soldiers to Nabal’s home, intent to attack and destroy his entire household. Apparently he was not too noble for that.
Before he reaches them, Nabal’s wife, Abigail, hears about what is happening. Having greater understanding and honour than her husband, she gathers together enough loaves of bread, sheep, corn, raisins, cakes and wine, to feed the entire army, and goes out to head-off David's approach.[4] Offering all the food that she has, Abigail bows down on the ground before David and says, according to 1 Samuel 25:24-28,
Upon me, my lord, upon me let this iniquity be… |
A short aside on doing that.
In John 5:39, we have recorded Jesus’ statement, “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.”
One of the ways in which the scriptures testify of Jesus is to provide “types” or images of him in the lives or behaviours of others.
The prophet Jacob says, in 2 Nephi 11:4, that, in fact, “all things which have been given of God from the beginning of the world…are the typifying of him.”
Therefore, we should, in all the stories of the scriptures, and in every wise saying and psalm, seek to understand how they represent and teach about the Lord Jesus Christ and his atonement.
Abigail’s words and actions in relation to David and Nabal are one such type or image of Jesus Christ.
With this in mind, then, Ferrell sought to answer these questions: What does Abigail mean, “forgive the trespass of thy handmaid”, when the offence committed against David and his men was not hers, but her husband’s? And what does she mean when she says, “upon me let this iniquity be”? Or, in short, what does Abigail do that represents the Lord Jesus Christ?
My explanation will be more brief, and less literary, than Brother Ferrell's.
Abigail comes to David.
In like manner, Christ comes to each of us, to meet us on the way.
She bears an abundance of good gifts to refresh and sustain the lives of David and his soldiers.
Jesus also comes to us bearing gifts. He offers us many blessings, including things that we need to replenish and sustain us. Beyond that, Jesus is the life-giver, the light through whom the sun, the moon and the stars are lightened, and through which we ourselves have life and movement. [5]
But over and above these things is the symbol of Christ that is revealed in the words Abigail says:
In 1 Samuel 25:24: upon me let this iniquity be.
And in 1 Samuel 25:28: forgive the trespass of thy handmaid.
Contemplating these significant words, Brother Ferrell writes, [6]
Why is [what Abigail says] so astonishing? |
I had understood, of course, that Jesus suffered and died for my sins. I understood that through his atoning gift, I could be saved from my sins; that I could be forgiven. So, on a simplistic analysis, I might have seen in Abigail’s actions this set of symbols:
- that Nabal was me, full of sin and iniquity;
- that David was Heavenly Father, justifiably outraged at my sins against him; and
- that Abigail was Christ, mediating between me and the justice of Heavenly Father, and taking upon herself my sins.
The story works on that level, but, if I stop there, I miss a different and potentially more profound and moving point.
Reconsideration begins with the recognition that the analogy of David to Heavenly Father is not very accurate.
David, at the time, was a man who would be king, but was not a true king. He was a vagabond roaming in the wilderness, and he was in the midst of real anger and vengefulness, and in response to Abigail’s intervention he thanks her and praises God that he has been kept from doing evil. If these images represent how I am to view God, my theology becomes extremely troubling.
No, rather than representing Heavenly Father in this story, it seems far more likely that both David and Nabal represent me, but me at two different points in time. That is, Nabal represents the me that does wrong to others, and David represents the me that is wronged by others; and this is the insight that opens up a broader, and. I think, better, understanding of the atonement of Jesus Christ.
Ultimately, the atonement is not just about atoning between me and God, but also between me and you, and between each of you and one another.
David, in this story, seemed fully justified in his anger. Nabal’s actions were offensive, and they were intended to offend. So too are we, at times, justifiably hurt and made angry by the wicked words and deeds of others.
In response, David’s pride was pricked and his anger rose. His intended attack on Nabal and his household was not like divine retribution; it was carnal vengeance, a real response of the “natural man”.
And, then, along came Abigail, who had done nothing wrong whatsoever, and stood in his way, and humbly knelt before him, and said, “upon me let this iniquity be; …forgive the trespass of thy handmaid.”
So, too, does sinless Jesus stand between me and anyone who has offended me or done me wrong; and between you and anyone who has offended you or done you wrong; and says, “upon me let this iniquity be; forgive the trespass.”
The Apostle Peter said, in 1 Peter 2:24, that Jesus “bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness,” and that “by [his] stripes [we] were healed.” He says this after reminding us that we should, in patience, bear the afflictions we suffer in this world, following the example of our Saviour “who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously.” (1 Peter 2:23.)
How human and natural it is for us to lash back at those who insult or offend us, to threaten or try to hurt those who do us harm. But Jesus has said, in Doctrine and Covenants section 64, verse 10,
I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men. |
But here is the mystery of godliness: things have already been made right – we do not have to wait for the end – Jesus has already performed the atonement; he has already won the victory over sin and death; and he has won it not only for you and for me, but for each and every one of us; for every person who has ever lived, or ever will.
As it says in 1 Corinthians, “as in Adam all die; even so in Christ shall all be made alive;” [7] and in Doctrine and Covenants 18, “he suffered the pain of all men, that all men might repent and come unto him.”[8]
Each of us sometimes, if not continually, harbours anger and resentment in our hearts, hurt and bitter feelings and a desire for some sort of vengeance. We may bury these feelings under a desire to act righteously. We may satisfy ourselves with saying we have left it in the hands of the Lord, and genuinely try to “forgive and forget,” or at least to forgive or forget, but in our heart of hearts we have not yet done so. Sadly, it is in our relationships as husbands and wives, children and parents, and close friends that these feelings occur the most commonly.
A tool that has helped me to become more forgiving is to recognize that when Jesus suffered the pain of all men, he took upon him not only my sins, to atone for me, but also the sins of all others, to atone for them, and that there he stands, like Abigail, between them and me, saying, “upon me let this iniquity be.” How can I refuse to forgive Him?
If Jesus sees fit to save him or her by whom I offended, who am I to withhold my forgiveness?
Perhaps this is in part what it means when, in Doctrine and Covenants 64 again, it says, “Wherefore, I say unto you, that ye ought to forgive one another; for he that forgiveth not his brother his trespasses standeth condemned before the Lord; for there remaineth in him the greater sin.”[9]
Perhaps this is not the whole of the meaning of that scripture, but I think I agree with these further words of Brother Ferrell in The Peacegiver, when he writes:
You should consider…how your failure to forgive is in effect a withholding from the Lord – he who has claimed and atoned for the sins and weakness in [others] that you insist on carrying with a grudge. [10] |
- Can we give our hearts over to this principle of forgiveness which arises from the atonement of Jesus Christ?
- Can we, like our Heavenly Father, accept that Jesus’ atonement is sufficient to qualify others, as well as ourselves, for the gift of our genuine forgiveness?
- Can we let go of our very natural and human desires for vengeance, for “getting even”, for justice and retribution, and let the risen Christ also raise us up to be filled with a greater love?
I believe that there is an individual Plan of Salvation prepared by God for every member of the human family, for even the worst of us; and that the love of God is available to all, and that all are entitled to it, and that this is the model we should follow, even the example of our Lord, who, while nailed to the cross, said, “Father, forgive them”.[12]
I believe that as the principles of true forgiveness fill our hearts, they will transform our minds and free us from our sins and from our potential sins, as they did David when Abigail, reflecting the loving grace of Jesus Christ, knelt before him in sinless humility.
[1] Ferrell, James L., The Peacegiver – How Christ Offers to Heal our Hearts and Homes (Deseret Book, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2004).
[2] See 1 Samuel 25.
[3] 1 Samuel 25:10-11.
[4] 1 Samuel 25:14-20.
[5] Cf. Visiting Teaching Lesson, Dec. 2008, "Jesus is the Light, Life and Hope of the World"; John 8:12; Doctrine & Covenants 88:5-13.
[6] Ob. cit., The Peacegiver, p. 63.
[7] 1 Corinthians 15:22.
[8] Doctrine and Covenants 18:11.
[9] Doctrine and Covenants 64:9.
[10] Ob. cit., The Peacegiver, p. 67.
[11] Ibid., p. 66.
[12] Luke 23:34.
Adapted from a talk delivered on July 11, 2010, in the Stratford Branch of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.