Only Abishag Can Satisfy Some Urgent Needs

1 Kings 1:1
When King David was very old, he could not keep warm even when they put covers over him.
1 Kings 1:2
So his attendants said to him, “Let us look for a young virgin to serve the king and take care of him. She can lie beside him so that our lord the king may keep warm.”
1 Kings 1:3
Then they searched throughout Israel for a beautiful young woman and found Abishag, a Shunammite, and brought her to the king.
1 Kings 1:4
The woman was very beautiful; she took care of the king and waited on him, but the king had no sexual relations with her.

King David was so old and it was obvious his time was up. As the old king is attended to, an unusual discovery is made. The king can’t keep warm. He had the money to buy beddings from anywhere on earth but they could not keep warm. His money and experts couldn’t keep him warm. If the king is not warm, he stays awake overnight and he needs attention. There was an urgent need that the king needed to be satisfied. The warmth of the king in bed was an urgent need.

The Palace staff after consultations concluded that nothing man-made could solve the king’s urgent problem. All the money could buy beddings that were thought to be the warmest on earth, but the king stilled didn’t feel warm. Therefore the palace officials decided that the king needed a woman for him to feel warm. Not a man, but a woman. Not any woman but a woman with certain features, characteristics, and values. Therefore they searched all over the kingdom and found Abishag. Only Abishag could satisfy the king’s urgent need for warmth in bed. Only Abishaag!

Abishag was very beautiful. Abishag attended to the king so well and the king’s urgent need was taken care of in a professional way. The king was warm until his dying day. Abishag served her role in an excellent manner. Only Abishag could meet that particular important need of King David. Only Abishag!

Abishag’s role was to attend to the king’s needs. Lie beside the king. keep the king busy as his time on earth ran out. What a way to exit earth! The Bible clarifies that the assignment was not to attend to the sexual needs of the king. She was not a prostitute selling her services. She was a virgin. The Bible clearly states that no sexual activities took place. Without engagement in sexual activities, Abishag still met the needs of the king and satisfied him. Only Abishag could meet such needs. Only Abishag!

After David died, Solomon the new king as per the custom inherited all women that belonged to the king, including Abishag. When Adonijah the son of David requested to marry Abishag, Solomon killed him instantly and violently. This is because to take a king’s wife or concubine was as good as taking his entire throne, that is taking kingship. To request to marry Abishag was a declaration of war. Abishag was so important because he met the needs of the king in a satisfactory way and was listed among the king’s women. Only Abishag could meet the urgent needs of king David!

We learn from Abishag that men need women, and women need men. No man could keep David warm. A woman was needed to keep the king warm. Only a woman can meet the certain needs of a man. These non-sexual needs that women meet in men can be symbolized by the role of Abishag. Only Abishag!

You can have wealth and power like David, but you still need Abishag. Nothing could keep the king warm until Abishag came. If you resort to a single life, remember there are needs that only a fellow human being of the opposite gender can meet. At some point in old age, you may need a man in your life or a woman if you are a man. Get all the education, positions, power, money, wealth, etc., but you will need a person in your life at your most fragile period in life. You will need Abishag who only can meet those needs. Only Abishag!

We also learn that the opposite gender is not just about sex. Marriage is not just about sex. Sex is not the only critical thing in marriage. The king needed a woman not for sex but for companionship that only an opposite gender can bring. It is never just about sex. A time comes when you need the other person and not for sex but just their companionship. Only Abishag could meet this need. Each of us needs to be an Abishag to our marriage partners. Only Abishag can meet certain needs that we have. Only Abishag!

Abishag is not any member of the opposite gender. Abishag was found after a long search. Take time to search for your marriage partner. That partner must not just be a sexual partner but an Abishag who will serve you well even without sexual involvement. These days there is so much sexual promiscuity to the extent that some people just relate for sex and nothing more. Without sex, the relationship has no talk and no activity. That means you are not Abishag to each other. You need an Abishag!

Abishag was beautiful, good-looking. We must strive to be good-looking. It helps satisfy the other gender. A handsome man with prominent masculinity. A beautiful lady with feminine features you can’t miss. These are what met the needs of David as he exited life. We need marriage partners who are also Abishags. Only Abishag can meet certain needs that money and material things can’t meet. Only Abishag!

Abishag points out the failure of the marriage. As David grew old, for some reason his many wives couldn’t help him with his urgent need for warmth. His closest wife was Bathsheba. Bathsheba was married to David, not out of love but out of sexual lust. This was a poor marriage. In old age, Bathsheba is not close to David nor useful to him. Bad marriage will keep hurting you to your dying day. Therefore rectify what can be rectified now. Abishag came in because marriage had begun wrong and failed. Marriage partners failed to be Abishag to David and so Abishag came in. Only Abishag!

If Abishag hadn’t come in, the king would have died sooner of cold. Many people are dying early because they do not have Abishag. Many are dying early because the rules do not create room for Abishag. Many are dying early because their partners and children abandon them. Partners and children who let one parent die for lack of Abishag are listed in heaven as murderers. Will your parent or partner die early because you are not Abishag?

Abishag also magnifies the point that in marriage men should be older and women younger. The heat of love can blind us to the reality that in old age the age difference will show significantly. If you are yet to marry, do not be blinded by love and fake self-comforting wisdom, follow the rules, let the man be older and the woman younger. Abishag was useful because she was younger.

While we should not be polygamous, we should strive to be an Abishag to our partners. We should seek out people who are Abishag to us. Dear God, may I be an Abishag and may I find Abishag, in Jesus’ name, Amen!

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