166

she spoke very gently to David, and
asked him not to be angry, but to
forgive her wicked husband. Abi-
gail loved God ; and she told David
how wrong it is to be passionate
and angry; but she spoke very re-
spectfully when she said this, and
reminded David that God could
preserve him, and punish his ene-
mies; and that, therefore, he must
be patient, and leave all to God.
When David heard Abigail talk so
gently, he became gentle too. He
felt he had done wrong, and he
thanked God for sending Abigail
to keep him from shedding blood.
So Abigail gave the present to Da-
vid, and he thanked her, and she
went home. And David and his
men had food to eat now, without
fighting and shedding blood. It
was not right for David to punish
Nabal, but God punished him. God
must punish our enemies, not we.
When Abigail came home, she

 

| friend.

oN,
Nee ae

DAVID’S KINDNESS TO SAUL.

found Nabal making a great feast
with his friends. ‘They were eating
and drinking, and very merry. It
was wicked merriment. They loved
their own pleasure and ease; but
they did not think of their poor
hungry neighbors; they did not
care for God, nor holy things: all
their thoughts were about this
world; eating and drinking, and
pleasing themselves. Abigail did
not stay with this wicked company ;
she did not speak to Nabal then,
but next morning, she told him
about David; and all that she had
done. Nabal felt frightened and
unhappy at what his wife said. He
knew he had done wrong; but Abi-
gail’s reproof did not make him
repent, and turn to God. He had
no comfort now. His riches and
his worldly company could do him
no good; and God was not his
He lived only ten days
after.

 

CX VII.

Pavips JINDNESsS TO PAUL,

a |AMUEL was now dead.
ROK He died and was buried
‘sy \| at Ramah; and all Israel
S| wept and mourned for

him. But Samuel’s hap-
py soul went to Heaven, where
is no crying nor sorrow. Samuel
began very young to love and serve
God, and he loved and served Him
all his life long. He was not like
Saul, who began well, but soon grew
tired of doing right. Saul was only
pretending to love God; he did not
truly love Him; his heart had
never been made new by the Holy

  

 

Spirit. But Samuel was a true ser-
vant of God. When he was a little
boy, he prayed God to teach him to
love and serve Him, and God heard
his prayer. And when Samuel grew
older, he still prayed that God would
keep him in the right way. And
God never forsook his faithful ser-
vant. He took care of Samuel all
his life, He comforted him in sor-
row, He loved him when he grew
old; and when he died, He took
his happy soul to be with Him in
glory for ever. Was Samuel sorry
that he began so soon to serve God ?