1 Samuel 25:1-42
You could say that this twenty-fifth chapter of the book of 1 Samuel is a picture painted on top of James 3:13, 17-18:
Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom… But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. 18 Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness. (James 3:13, 17-18)
If you are truly wise, you will be humble, meek, pure, submissive — you will be a peacemaker. For most of his life David was exactly this kind of man, but in the case of Nabal he let an unjust wrong done against him make him angry, drive him beyond his self-control, and had the sensible wife of Nabal, Abigail, not stopped him, he would have done something he would then have bitterly regretted for the rest of his life. I think this is the lesson we can take for ourselves from this portion of God’s Word — not to let the injustices others do against us drive us out of our senses, but instead to answer with the meekness of wisdom.
DAVID’S CONDITION
A test like this for our faith usually comes precisely when we are under strain. Such was David at this difficult moment for him. Because of Saul’s persecution, he had been declared a traitor and an “outlaw.” On top of that, David was going through an emotional crisis. For one reason or another he was cut off from those closest to him, and so he felt alone.
The chapter opens with the news of Samuel’s death (v.1).
Now Samuel died, and all Israel assembled and mourned for him; and they buried him at his home in Ramah. Then David moved down into the Desert of Paran. (1 Samuel 25:1)
David was just returning from Samuel’s funeral. And Samuel meant a great deal to him. He was the one who had anointed him king (1 Samuel 16). He was his counselor. He was the man to whom David could turn for protection from Saul. In 1 Samuel 19:18-24 we read this remarkable story:
When David had fled and made his escape, he went to Samuel at Ramah and told him all that Saul had done to him. Then he and Samuel went to Naioth and stayed there. (1 Samuel 19:18)
Notice that when he fled from King Saul, David went first to Samuel. And when Samuel learned that Saul had sent men to look for David, he was not afraid, but commanded everyone around him to begin praying and seeking God.
Word came to Saul: “David is in Naioth at Ramah”; (1 Samuel 19:19)
so he sent men to capture him. But when they saw a group of prophets prophesying, with Samuel standing there as their leader, the Spirit of God came on Saul’s men, and they also prophesied. (1 Samuel 19:20)
God’s presence and anointing were so strong around Samuel and the other prophets that when Saul’s soldiers drew near, the Holy Spirit fell upon them too, and instead of arresting David, they began to prophesy right alongside him.
When Saul learned what had happened, instead of humbling himself, he grew harder still and began to send more and more soldiers. Yet it was all in vain, and the result kept coming out the same.
Saul was told about it, and he sent more men, and they prophesied too. Saul sent men a third time, and they also prophesied. (1 Samuel 19:21)
In the end Saul decided to carry out his own order and set off for Naioth, but the Holy Spirit intercepted him too, and he ended up just like the soldiers he had sent — prophesying among the other prophets.
Finally, he himself left for Ramah and went to the great cistern at Seku. And he asked, “Where are Samuel and David?” “Over in Naioth at Ramah,” they said. 23 So Saul went to Naioth at Ramah. But the Spirit of God came even on him, and he walked along prophesying until he came to Naioth. 24 He stripped off his garments, and he too prophesied in Samuel’s presence. He lay naked all that day and all that night. This is why people say, “Is Saul also among the prophets?” (1 Samuel 19:22-24)
Samuel was a moral support and a spiritual father to David. He was the one who anointed Saul king, and he was the one who anointed David as well. Besides being a prophet, Samuel was the last judge of Israel and was held in boundless respect and honor by the people, which is why Saul could do nothing to him. What is more, from childhood Samuel had been dedicated to God, and the Spirit of God had been upon him all his life. Now, however, Samuel had passed on to God, and David had lost his defender and his mentor.
Besides Samuel, David had also lost his beloved wife, Michal. The chapter closes with these words (v.44):
But Saul had given his daughter Michal, David’s wife, to Paltiel son of Laish, who was from Gallim. (1 Samuel 25:44)
Michal was David’s first wife. She loved him (1 Samuel 18:20, 28) and he loved her. At one point, when her father had resolved to kill David, she warned him and helped him escape, lowering him through the window of their house (1 Samuel 19:11-12). On top of that she delayed his pursuers by lying to them that David was ill. In this way Michal showed that she was more devoted to her husband than to her father. But after some time had passed since David’s flight, perhaps in order to wound his son-in-law, her father forced her to marry another man. In doing so he acted as though David were already dead. How heavily must David have felt all of this?
David could no longer take refuge with Samuel, could not see his wife, could not even go to his own parents. Because of the danger of revenge, he had entrusted them to the care of the king of Moab (1 Samuel 22:3-5). They had to remain there until his conflict with Saul reached some kind of resolution.
His beloved friend Jonathan could not be at his side either. Before, he had come to David in his hiding places and comforted him (1 Samuel 23:14-18), but now that had become impossible.
So the moment in which David was about to erupt and act unwisely was a moment when he was alone and on edge. His spiritual mentor had died, his wife had been given to another man, his parents were in exile, and it was impossible for his friend to come and visit him. True, he had six hundred men with him, but they certainly did not share his views on non-violence and non-retaliation toward King Saul. Once, when David and his men returned from the battlefield, they found that in the meantime the Amalekites had raided their camp and carried off everyone left in it. They became so enraged that they spoke of stoning David to death (1 Samuel 30:6).
DAVID’S ANGER
And so, in a moment like this, when David is alone and on edge, he is insulted by Nabal — a rich man toward whom David had always behaved well. This happens during a feast held for the shearing of the sheep.
A certain man in Maon, who had property there at Carmel, was very wealthy. He had a thousand goats and three thousand sheep, which he was shearing in Carmel. 3 His name was Nabal and his wife’s name was Abigail. She was an intelligent and beautiful woman, but her husband was surly and mean in his dealings—he was a Calebite. (1 Samuel 25:2-3)
Nabal was quite wealthy — he had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. To shear so many sheep takes a good number of people. For the feast he had prepared a lavish roast. Later in the chapter we see that everything had already been made ready, and all that was left for Abigail to do was to order a portion set aside for David — “two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five dressed sheep, five seahs of roasted grain, a hundred cakes of raisins and two hundred cakes of pressed figs” (v.18). David had six hundred men, and he was responsible for feeding them. Feasts in Israel are a time of sharing, and David and his band had also contributed to Nabal’s well-being and wealth. So David’s request for some food provisions is not at all groundless or presumptuous. On the contrary, it is logical and understandable. David had the power to seize Nabal’s entire flock, but he had treated his servants with goodwill the whole time they were in the wilderness. The servants themselves valued very highly the way David and his men treated them. In vv.15-16 one of them says to Abigail:
Yet these men were very good to us. They did not mistreat us, and the whole time we were out in the fields near them nothing was missing. 16 Night and day they were a wall around us the whole time we were herding our sheep near them. (1 Samuel 25:15-16)
And so, since David had kept company with Nabal’s shepherds — and let us not forget that he too had been a shepherd, so he understood the work and the customs well — he sends messengers to Nabal to ask him most courteously for a little food:
While David was in the wilderness, he heard that Nabal was shearing sheep. 5 So he sent ten young men and said to them, “Go up to Nabal at Carmel and greet him in my name. 6 Say to him: ‘Long life to you! Good health to you and your household! And good health to all that is yours! (1 Samuel 25:4-6)
David’s request begins with a greeting and a blessing. The occasion for his request is the feast of the sheep-shearing, the ground for his request is his good treatment of and help to Nabal’s shepherds, and the substance of his request is that Nabal give to David and his servants whatever is on his heart to give.
‘Now I hear that it is sheep-shearing time. When your shepherds were with us, we did not mistreat them, and the whole time they were at Carmel nothing of theirs was missing. 8 Ask your own servants and they will tell you. Therefore be favorable toward my men, since we come at a festive time. Please give your servants and your son David whatever you can find for them.’ 9 When David’s men arrived, they gave Nabal this message in David’s name. Then they waited. (1 Samuel 25:7-9)
Nabal could have answered David in one of four possible ways:
To send David’s young men back with thanks and a generous gift;
To send him some small gift — just enough to be rid of the matter;
To send him nothing, but at least to thank him for the way he had treated him;
Not only to reject his request, but to insult him as well.
Of all these options, Nabal chose the worst possible one.
Nabal answered David’s servants, “Who is this David? Who is this son of Jesse? Many servants are breaking away from their masters these days. 11 Why should I take my bread and water, and the meat I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give it to men coming from who knows where?” (1 Samuel 25:10-11)
Nabal insulted David. He said to him: “Who are you, that I should treat you to a feast? You are a runaway slave from your master, you are a good-for-nothing and a rebel. And what — am I to take what I have prepared for my feast and give it to strangers?” Nabal treated David and his men as though they were the dregs of society.
It was only natural for David to be offended by such a reaction. In this case he had been wronged. For his good treatment of Nabal he had received one thing: “Who do you think you are!”, “Get out of here!” and “Mind your own business!”
From his point of view, David had dealt fairly with Nabal, and now it was only right that Nabal should thank him fittingly. But instead of blessing him, he insulted him and sent him back empty-handed. David concluded that all the good he had done for Nabal had been for nothing, all his labor on his behalf — in vain. This drove him beyond control, and he flew into a rage. If Nabal was repaying him “evil for good,” David reckoned he would be justified in repaying him evil for evil, and he swore to kill him and every male in his household (vv.12-13; 21-22).
David’s men turned around and went back. When they arrived, they reported every word. 13 David said to his men, “Each of you strap on your sword!” So they did, and David strapped his on as well. About four hundred men went up with David, while two hundred stayed with the supplies. (1 Samuel 25:12-13)
David had just said, “It’s been useless—all my watching over this fellow’s property in the wilderness so that nothing of his was missing. He has paid me back evil for good. 22 May God deal with David, be it ever so severely, if by morning I leave alive one male of all who belong to him!” (1 Samuel 25:21-22)
Would it have been just for David, over a single insult, to shed the blood not only of Nabal but of every male in his household? It is excessive, but the truth is that this is exactly how a person acts when he is in the grip of fury. He does and says things he would later regret.
Here we see a contrast with the preceding chapter 24 and the following chapter 26, when David mastered himself and refused to avenge himself on Saul and kill him when God gave him the opportunity. In the cases with Saul we see him leave vengeance to God, whereas here he tries to avenge himself with his own hands. It is as if David was willing to accept injustices from Saul, who was above him, but could not endure injustice from a man over whom he himself held power. Was he right? No. Neither are we, when we decide to take God’s place and begin to strike back. David was in the wrong, because he was not looking for his reward from God, but was looking on Nabal as his source. He expected an immediate “return” on the “investment” he had made in guarding Nabal’s flocks.
The trouble with acting as a servant to others is that at some point they begin to treat you like a servant. We, however, must not take offense, but trust in God. What did Jesus say in Luke 17:7-10:
“Suppose one of you has a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Will he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’? 8 Won’t he rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’? 9 Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? 10 So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’” (Luke 17:7-10)
Put yourself in the place of that servant. You have been out in the field all day plowing or running after the sheep. You come home hungry and worn out with exhaustion. Your time for food and rest, however, will come only after you have served your master and he has finished his supper. Will you be embittered against your master because of this? You should not be. Because he is the master, and you are the servant. And a servant’s job is to serve, not to complain. He should not expect thanks for having simply done his work.
Of course, David was not Nabal’s servant. He had done him good freely, for its own sake. But he certainly should not have slaughtered him and every male in his household merely because Nabal failed to appreciate him and insulted him. Even so, God used Abigail to restrain him from doing something rash.
DAVID’S RESTRAINING
While David was already galloping toward Nabal’s house, one of the servants warned his wife Abigail about her master’s rudeness and the danger looming over them. Clearly, he knew her and expected her to understand.
One of the servants told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, “David sent messengers from the wilderness to give our master his greetings, but he hurled insults at them. 15 Yet these men were very good to us. They did not mistreat us, and the whole time we were out in the fields near them nothing was missing. 16 Night and day they were a wall around us the whole time we were herding our sheep near them. 17 Now think it over and see what you can do, because disaster is hanging over our master and his whole household. He is such a wicked man that no one can talk to him.” (1 Samuel 25:14-17)
Abigail acted quickly. She took two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five dressed sheep, five seahs of roasted grain, a hundred cakes of raisins and two hundred cakes of pressed figs, and loaded them on donkeys. 19 Then she told her servants, “Go on ahead; I’ll follow you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal. (1 Samuel 25:18-19)
As she came riding her donkey into a mountain ravine, there were David and his men descending toward her, and she met them. (1 Samuel 25:20)
When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off her donkey and bowed down before David with her face to the ground. 24 She fell at his feet and said: “Pardon your servant, my lord, and let me speak to you; hear what your servant has to say. 25 Please pay no attention, my lord, to that wicked man Nabal. He is just like his name—his name means Fool, and folly goes with him. And as for me, your servant, I did not see the men my lord sent. 26 And now, my lord, as surely as the Lord your God lives and as you live, since the Lord has kept you from bloodshed and from avenging yourself with your own hands, may your enemies and all who are intent on harming my lord be like Nabal. 27 And let this gift, which your servant has brought to my lord, be given to the men who follow you. 28 “Please forgive your servant’s presumption. The Lord your God will certainly make a lasting dynasty for my lord, because you fight the Lord’s battles, and no wrongdoing will be found in you as long as you live. 29 Even though someone is pursuing you to take your life, the life of my lord will be bound securely in the bundle of the living by the Lord your God, but the lives of your enemies he will hurl away as from the pocket of a sling. 30 When the Lord has fulfilled for my lord every good thing he promised concerning him and has appointed him ruler over Israel, 31 my lord will not have on his conscience the staggering burden of needless bloodshed or of having avenged himself. And when the Lord your God has brought my lord success, remember your servant.” (1 Samuel 25:23-31)
David said to Abigail, “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, who has sent you today to meet me. 33 May you be blessed for your good judgment and for keeping me from bloodshed this day and from avenging myself with my own hands. 34 Otherwise, as surely as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, who has kept me from harming you, if you had not come quickly to meet me, not one male belonging to Nabal would have been left alive by daybreak.” (1 Samuel 25:32-34)
Then David accepted from her hand what she had brought him and said, “Go home in peace. I have heard your words and granted your request.” (1 Samuel 25:35)
DAVID’S VINDICATION
Because he heeded Abigail’s wisdom and held back from revenge, David was compensated by God. As his compensation he received, first, the death of Nabal, and second, Abigail, who became his wife.
When Abigail went to Nabal, he was in the house holding a banquet like that of a king. He was in high spirits and very drunk. So she told him nothing at all until daybreak. 37 Then in the morning, when Nabal was sober, his wife told him all these things, and his heart failed him and he became like a stone. 38 About ten days later, the Lord struck Nabal and he died. (1 Samuel 25:36-38)
When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Praise be to the Lord, who has upheld my cause against Nabal for treating me with contempt. He has kept his servant from doing wrong and has brought Nabal’s wrongdoing down on his own head.” Then David sent word to Abigail, asking her to become his wife. 40 His servants went to Carmel and said to Abigail, “David has sent us to you to take you to become his wife.” 41 She bowed down with her face to the ground and said, “I am your servant and am ready to serve you and wash the feet of my lord’s servants.” (1 Samuel 25:39-41)
Abigail quickly got on a donkey and, attended by her five female servants, went with David’s messengers and became his wife. (1 Samuel 25:42)