This section opens with the sad news of Samuel's death. We are told that all of Israel assemble and mourn for him, yet despite the fact that this is supposed to be his book, he is given only half a verse and no eulogy. I think it's quite sad really as he deserved better from his chronicler, but there's no time to dwell on that as the story rushes on.
David goes down to the Desert of Maon, where there lives a wealthy man called Nabal. David sends messengers to Nabal, asking that he be favourable towards him and his men as they protected his shepherds. When Nabal receives the message he is indignant, asking who David is and why he should provide for men from who knows where. This seems a poor excuse as David was public enemy number one for quite some time and so Nabal must surely know who he is and where his men are from. Perhaps he does not know that Saul has made his peace with him and so is afraid to welcome him, or perhaps he's just a greedy and ungrateful man, or perhaps it has something to do with the fact that "many servants are breaking away from their masters these days". It seems that this is a time of great unrest and I suspect that may have someting to do with David, and so perhaps Nabal wants to prevent him from stirring up trouble and encouraging his own servants to revolt.
Whatever his motivation, he treats David with less respect than he deserves, and David is not happy about it. He tells his men to put on their swords and vows to leave no man who belongs to Nabal alive, which strikes me as something of an overreaction. I think somebody needs to tell David that two wrongs don't make a right. Fortunately, one of Nabal's servants goes to his master's wife Abigail and tells her that her husband has insulted the man who protected them, and asks her to speak to him because disaster hangs over them but he won't listen to anybody else. Abigail is a sensible woman who recognises that this needs dealing with quickly, but she clearly doesn't trust that Nabal will listen to her either, and so she packs up an impressive amount of food and heads over to David's camp.
She arrives just in time, as David and his men are already making their way towards her home. When she meets David, she climbs off her donkey and bows down in front of him, asking that he pay no attention to her husband but listen to her instead. She flatters him by calling him her master and speaking of his success, she begs for forgiveness and proffers her gift, and she suggests that the Lord has kept him from avenging himself so that he will not have needless blood on his hands. It's a brilliant speech which tells David everything he wants and needs to hear and so brings him round to her side. I almost accused Abigail of being manipulative, but then I realised that I probably wouldn't say that if she was a man. Gender seems to colour the way we read people's actions, often without us realising it, but the double standard is a nonsense. Abigail may well be aware of the fact that she is pressing David's buttons, but that is only because she has the wisdom and the insight to read the situation and know what to do and say for the best, and if that would be called intelligence in a man then it should be called intelligence in her. Her motives are pure and her words are true, and she defuses a difficult situation in a calm and elegant manner, and it is that by which she should be judged.
David certainly recognises Abigail's wisdom and praises her for her good judgement. He accepts the gifts she has brought and sends her home in peace. Nabal is drunk so she says nothing to him until the morning, but when he hears what his wife has done, his heart fails and he dies ten days later. Things may not turn out quite as planned, but every cloud has a silver lining, and David takes Abigail as his wife. Here we learn that he has already married a woman called Ahinoam and that his first wife Michal has been given to someone else. I'm not sure that women were allowed multiple husbands and I thought only the husband could initiate a divorce, but Michal is the king's daughter and if Henry VIII taught us anything it's that kings can do pretty much anything they like.
I thought that Saul had made his peace with David after he realised that he was not out to kill him, but it seems that either he has changed his mind or it was all a ruse. The Ziphites tell Saul where David is now hiding, and so he goes to search for him. David and a man called Abishai sneak into Saul's camp, where they find him sleeping with a spear stuck in the ground beside him. Abishai offers to pin Saul to the ground with the spear, but David will not have him killed as he is still the Lord's anointed one, and it is up to God to strike him down. Instead, he takes the spear and a water jug, and leaves the camp. Anybody who knows anything about military encampments may be wandering why no one has seen them, but we are told that this is because the Lord had put everyone into a deep sleep.
David moves to a hill some distance away then calls out to the army, asking why they did not protect their king. The soldiers have no answer, but Saul hears David's voice and calls out to him. David asks Saul why he is pursuing him, saying that if the Lord has incited him then may he accept an offering, but if it is men then may they be cursed. David knows he has done nothing to offend Saul and he must feel that God is with him because he has had great success, but he is still humble enough to recognise that this may be God's work. Saul says he has sinned and calls David back, but then rather curiously promises that because David has not hurt him, he will try not to hurt David. That little word "try" leaves a rather large loophole, and so rather than going over to Saul, David tells him to send one of his men to fetch back his spear.
Daivd and Saul go their separate ways once more, but David says to himself that one day Saul will kill him, and so he decides to escape to the the land of the Philistines. It comes to something when you think you'll be safer among your enemies than in your own home. David returns to Gath and asks the king who had previously believed him mad to grant him a place in one of the country towns. The king must truly believe that David has come over to his side because he grants him his request, and when Saul hears that David is no longer in Israel he stops looking for him. David and his men begin to raid towns in Philistine territory, leaving no witnesses to inform on him and telling the king that he is raiding towns in Israelite territory, and in this way he remains safe among the Philistines for a year and four months. I know David's meant to be our hero, but he's not always an easy man to like.
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