Now David had said, Surely, in vain have I kept all that this [man] had in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that was his; and he has requited me evil for good.
Nabal has insulted David, whose men had guarded his property for nothing. This verse lets us hear what David said as he rode out armed to take revenge. The complaint is true — and that is what makes the question hard: what do you do with a wrong that really happened?
David's facts are not in dispute. What is wrong is where he has put himself while he says them.
This was terrible! And David was rashly taking himself out of the place of dependence — the only happy, the only holy place. Nor was it on behalf of the congregation of the Lord. No, it was to avenge himself on one who had treated him badly. Sad mistake!
The writers do not pretend the insult was small. They also show where a wronged man is meant to take it.
It was deeply trying to meet such base ingratitude from a man to whom he had been a wall of defence. It stung, too, to be reproached on the very ground of the circumstances that faithfulness had put him in. He was accused of running away from his master. And this at the very time when he was being hunted like a partridge through the mountains. All this was hard to bear. In the first outburst of feeling, David speaks words that would not stand up to examination in the sanctuary. "Every man strap on his sword!" That was not the language we would expect from a man who had walked until now in such a meek and gentle spirit. Scripture gives the poor brother his resource: to cry to the Lord, not to draw his sword for revenge.
David had spared Saul, a man who wanted him dead. Nabal only insulted him, and Nabal is the one David sets out to destroy.
He had given himself no time to calm down before acting. Verse 21 tells us what he had said. He said it was useless for him to have shown kindness to Nabal's men and possessions in the wilderness. Nabal had only returned him evil for good. He was forgetting that he himself had returned good for evil to Saul. And now he had another opportunity to do the same to Nabal.
The failure is sharpest because the test was easier this time. It also raises a question about what still lives underneath a changed man.
David has no cause whatever to fear him, nor does he for a moment suppose he has. With such a man, how easy to show the generosity that, in Saul's case, cost so much to show! Yet it is precisely here that David fails entirely... Can this be the same man we have just been admiring for his noble control and self-forgetfulness? It is the same, and not the same. It is David, no longer under the control of the presence of God... Is there, then, a Saul living even beneath a David? Is it ready to show itself as soon as the guard on it is removed, unchanged from what it was before faith came? Yes, it is even so. Our best remedy is to be conscious of it, so that we realize how completely we depend on God at all times.
David's contempt shows in the words "this fellow." The problem is not Nabal at all.
When the soul is out of communion, it gets distracted by secondary causes and lesser agents. That is what happened to David when he looked at Nabal. If he had paused to look at the matter calmly before God, we would never have had these words: "In vain have I guarded all that this fellow has in the wilderness." He would have passed on and left "this fellow" to himself.
David never carried out the plan he had just announced.
This is only a lapse, however, and not the bent of his heart. God mercifully steps in. He keeps His servant from carrying out a vengeance that would have remained the regret of his life. The instrument God chose is striking — Abigail, the wife of Nabal.
David never needed to lift the sword he had strapped on. Within days the matter was closed.
Only ten days later God took away Nabal's life (v.38). What control then did he have over all those things he had called his own (v.11)? We are certainly reminded here of God's words, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord" (Romans 12:19).
- Grievance. David's complaint was true. He guarded Nabal's property and got insult back. A real wrong is where the danger begins, not where it ends.
- Drift. Rehearsing the wrong took him out of the place of dependence. What followed was not for God's people but to avenge himself.
- Blind spot. He returned good for evil to Saul, who wanted him dead. He forgot that lesson before Nabal, who only insulted him.
- Interruption. God sent Abigail to stop a vengeance that would have been a lifelong regret. The rescue came from inside Nabal's own house.
- Repayment. Ten days later God took Nabal's life. David never needed the sword at all.
So and more also do God to the enemies of David, if I leave of all that is his by the morning light any male.
David is on the road with four hundred armed men, and verse 22 is the oath he swears while marching. He uses God's name to swear that no male in Nabal's house will live to see morning — yet he had spared Saul, who wanted him dead.
Nabal's insult was real, and David answered at once. He swore by God's own name. One writer places the fault not in the sting David felt, but in the speed:
He had given himself no time to calm down before acting. In verse 21 he says that his kindness to Nabal's men and property in the wilderness was wasted, for Nabal had only returned him evil for good. He was forgetting that he himself had returned good for evil to Saul. Then he used God's name to call down vengeance on the enemies of David. He declared that he would not leave one male alive in all of Nabal's household. We would expect him to make only Nabal suffer for his insulting words. But his temper would not let him make any distinction.
Nabal was rude; the oath condemns every male in his house. The same writer sets David's two enemies side by side:
David never thought of asking the Lord. He decided at once to strike back at Nabal's insulting treatment, and he took four hundred armed men with him. Nabal had not set out to kill David, as Saul had. Yet David is ready to kill Nabal, though he would not kill Saul when he had the chance. When people treat us with contempt, we give way far too easily to our own outrage, and we are ready to take revenge. Yet when we take these matters into our own hands, we are nearly always in danger of an unrighteous reaction. We do WORSE to the offender than he did to us.
Most readers feel for David here. But sympathy is not the test:
Nabal's answer to David's messengers was surely meant to stir up any hidden resentment David may have had. It was so uncalled for, so brutal, that most of us can only say we would probably have done the same. But the question is not whether his resentment was natural. Was it an expression of the faith, patience and self-denial that had made his life so beautiful until now? There can be only one answer. David failed badly here. He was ready to take his case into his own hands instead of waiting on God alone.
David had sworn the oath and armed his men. What stopped him came from outside himself:
This is only a lapse, as we have said, and not the true bent of his heart. In mercy God steps in to stop His servant from carrying out a vengeance that would have stayed the regret of his life. The one God chose is striking too — Abigail, the wife of Nabal. God has often used the lips of a woman to call His people back to the path of faith and obedience.
Keeping this oath would have cost David more than it won him. One writer names what was at stake:
She took the blessed place of intercession. David, in his anger, was just about to strike the blow. He would have avenged himself with his own hand, instead of leaving the case in God's hand. This would have taken away one of the most blessed features in David's character — his leaving of all things to God.
David never carried out the oath. One writer counts up what that failure saved and what it gained:
By this wise and well-timed action Abigail saved the lives of herself and her household. She also won an honoured standing in Israel. She became the chosen companion of the Lord's anointed, in hard times as well as good ones. David not only avoided the guilt of shedding innocent blood. His heart was comforted and strengthened beyond words by this proof of God's guard, care, and working on his behalf. The danger was past and his needs were met. David's heart was now so full of the goodness of the Lord that he could only worship where he had meant to fight.
- Insult. Nabal returned evil for good. The provocation was real — most of us would have done the same.
- Oath. David gave himself no time to cool. He used God's name for his own revenge, and swore away a whole household for one man's words.
- Excess. He spared Saul, who wanted him dead. He condemned Nabal, who only insulted him. Revenge nearly always does worse to the offender than the offender did.
- Rescue. God stepped in through Abigail. He spared His servant a vengeance that would have been the regret of his life.
- Worship. David kept the finest feature of his character — leaving everything in God's hands — and he worshipped where he had come to fight.