Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Samuel 25:32
And David said to Abigail, Blessed [be] the LORD God of Israel, which sent thee this day to meet me:
32 35. David’s favourable answer
32. Blessed be the Lord ] David rightly recognises that the intervention of Providence has saved him from a foolish and wicked revenge. Compare his prayer in Psa 19:13. There is no lack of faults in David’s life, and this outburst of passion was one of them; but with all his faults he had that spirit of genuine repentance which makes it possible for men
“To rise on stepping-stones
Of their dead selves to higher things.”
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
1Sa 25:32
Blessed be thou, which hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood.
Prevention of sin an invaluable mercy
These words are Davids retraction, or laying down of a revengeful resolution; which for a while his heart had swelled with, and carried him on with the highest transport of rage to prosecute. By a happy and seasonable pacification, being taken off from acting that bloody tragedy, which he was just now entering upon, and so turning his eyes from the baseness of him who bad stirred up his revenge, to the goodness of that God who had prevented it; he breaks forth into these triumphant praises and doxologies, expressed in the text. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who has kept me this day from shedding blood, and from avenging myself with my own hand. Which words, together with those going before in the same verse, naturally afford us this doctrinal proposition. That prevention of sin is one of the greatest mercies that God can vouchsafe a man in this world. The prosecution of which shall lie in these two things: first, to prove the proposition; secondly, to apply it.
I. That transcendent greatness of this sin-preventing mercy is demonstrable from these four following considerations.
1. Of these in their order: and first, we are to take an estimate of the greatness of this mercy, from the condition it finds the sinner in, when God is pleased to vouchsafe it to him. It finds him in the direct way to death and destruction; and, which is worse, wholly unable to help himself. For he is actually under the power of a temptation and the sway of an impetuous lust; both hurrying him on to satisfy the cravings of it by some wicked action. It is a maxim in the philosophy of some, that whatsoever is once in actual motion, will move forever, if it be not hindered. So a man, being under the drift of any passion, will still follow the impulse of it till something interpose, and by a stronger impulse turn him another way: but in this case we can find no principle within him strong enough to counteract that principle, and to relieve him. For if it be any, it must be either, first, the judgment of his reason; or secondly, the free choice of his will. But from the first of these there can be no help for him in his present condition. For while a man is engaged in any sinful purpose, through the prevalence of any passion, during the continuance of that passion he fully approves of whatsoever he is carried on to do in the strength of it; and judges it, under his present circumstances, the best and most rational course that he can take. (Jon 4:9; Act 26:9). But to go no further than the text! do we not think, that while Davids heart was full of his revengeful design, it had blinded and perverted his reason so far, that it struck in wholly with his passion, and told him, that the purpose he was going to execute was just, magnanimous, and most becoming such a person, and so dealt with, as he was?
2. Thing proposed; which was to show, What is the fountain or impulsive cause of this prevention of sin? It is perfectly free grace.
3. Demonstration or proof of the greatness of this preventing mercy, taken from the hazard a man runs, if the commission of sin be not prevented, whether ever it will come to be pardoned. In order to the clearing of which, I shall lay down these two considerations.
(1) That if sin be not thus prevented, it will certainly be committed; and the reason is, because on the sinners part there will be always a strong inclination to sin; so that if other things concur, and providence cuts not off the opportunity, the act of sin must needs follow. For an active principle, seconded with the opportunities of action, will infallibly exert itself.
(2) The other consideration is, that in every sin deliberately committed, there are, generally speaking, many more degrees of probability, that that sin will never come to be pardoned, than that it will.
And this shall be made to appear upon these three following accounts.
(1) Because every commission of sin introduces into the soul a certain degree of hardness, and an aptness to continue in that sin.
(2) A second reason is, because every commission of sin imprints upon the soul a further disposition and proneness to sin: as the second, third, and fourth degrees of heat are more easily introduced than the first. Everyone is both a preparative and a step to the next. Drinking both quenches the present thirst, and provokes it for the future.
(3) The third and grand reason is, because the only thing that can entitle the sinner to pardon, which is repentance, is not in the sinners power.
4. The greatness of this preventing mercy is eminently proved from those advantages accruing to the soul from the prevention of sin, above what can be had from the bare pardon of it. And that in these two great respects Of the clearness of a mans condition.
Of the satisfaction of his mind. And
(1) For the clearness of his condition. If innocence be preferable to repentance, and to be clean be more desirable than to be cleansed; then surely prevention of sin ought to have the preference of its pardon.
(2) The satisfaction of a mans mind. There is that true joy, that solid and substantial comfort conveyed to the heart by preventing grace, which pardoning grace, at the best, very seldom, and, for the most part, never gives. For since all joy passes into the heart through the understanding, the object of it must be known by one, before it can affect the other. Now when grace keeps a man so within his bounds, that sin is prevented, he certainly knows it to be so; and so rejoices upon the firm, infallible ground of sense and assurance. But on the other side, though grace may have reversed the condemning sentence, and sealed the sinners pardon before God, yet it may have left no transcript of that pardon in the sinners breast. The pardoned person must not think to stand upon the same vantage ground with the innocent. It is enough that they are both equally safe; but it cannot be thought, that without a rare privilege, both can be equally cheerful.
II. Its application.
1. This may inform and convince us, how vastly greater a pleasure is consequent upon the forbearance of sin, than can possibly accompany the commission of it; and how much higher a satisfaction is to be found from a conquered, than from a conquering passion. Do we think, that David could have found half that pleasure in the execution of his revenge, that be expresses here upon the disappointment, of it?
2. We have here a sure unfailing criterion, by which every man may discover and find out the gracious or ungracious disposition of his own heart. The temper of every man is to be judged of from the thing he most esteems; and the object of his esteem may be measured by the prime object of his thanks.
3. We learn from hence the great reasonableness of, not only a contented, but also a thankful acquiescence in any condition, and under the crossest and severest passages of Providence which can possibly befall us: since there is none of all these but may be the instrument of preventing grace in the hands of a merciful God, to keep us from those courses which would otherwise assuredly end in our confusion. But to make the assertion more particular, and thereby more convincing, let us take an account of it with reference to the three greatest and deservedly most valued enjoyments of this life:–Health, reputation and wealth. He who ties a madmans hands, or takes away his sword, loves his person, while he disarms his frenzy. And whether by health or sickness, honour or disgrace, wealth or poverty, life or death, mercy is still contriving, acting, and carrying on the spiritual good of all those who love God and are loved by him. (R. South.)
Preventing grace
Nabal was under an obligation which ought in justice to have moved him to a hearty compliance. But as uneducated or low-minded rich man is almost proverbially insolent. Associate wealth with ignorance, and the likelihood is, that you make a rude and an overbearing character. Money in the possession of a rustic or clown will too often give him nothing but opportunity to exhibit at his ease the ruggedness of his disposition. Now, we desire to fix your attention chiefly on the fact, that David held it as a matter for devout thanksgiving, that he had been withheld from avenging himself on the insolent Nabal. And the great truth to be evolved from this is, that the being prevented from sinning is one of the greatest mercies which can be vouchsafed by God to man whilst on earth.
I. We should like you to examine this with reference to those who remain unconverted, now, we believe it to be witnessed by the experience of all ages, that the mischief of a sinful act lies as much in the increased facility which it gives to future like acts as in the exact penalties which it entails on the perpetrator. The yielding to a temptation will occasion comparatively only slight injury, if after yielding once the man were as well equipped as ever for resistance; but the fearful thing is, that the first yielding just makes way for a second, and a second for a third, and a third for a fourth, it being impossible to commit sin without deadening in a degree the remonstrances of conscience, or at least without rendering oneself less sensitive to the appeal. You must be wonderfully unobservant of the testimony of your own experience, as well as ignorant of that given by the history of men, if you do not know that familiarity with sin will rapidly destroy all repugnance to its commission, and that as ye go on complying with an imperious desire there will be ever an augmenting facility of compliance. There is a very accurate correspondence between our physical constitution and our moral: the great pain in a surgical operation is at first, when the knife is near the surface; the sensitiveness decreases as the instrument descends: thus also with moral sensitiveness; we shrink from the first contact with any form of evil, but if once we overcome our repugnance the almost certainty is that we shall soon cordially embrace it; and if every act of wickedness smooth the way for its repetition, you must see at once of what worth is that preventing grace of God by which a man is withheld from yielding to some potent temptation. If, then, when plied, like David, with a mighty temptation, soliciting to an act, which, if performed, must sear and deaden his moral sensibilities, if preventing grace be mercifully vouchsafed, strengthening him to resist, there will be no Divine interference in his behalf which shall more powerfully constrain him to burst into the exclamation–Blessed be the Lord God of Israel? Indeed, I know what you may say. The unconverted man may live to be converted; if he do, then preventing grace deprives him of a present pleasure, the guiltiness of which would be ultimately forgiven, and thus the injuriousness destroyed. Is this a benefit? we will not go at length into the hundred answers which might be fairly given to this question. You cannot commit a sin, without introducing into the soul a certain degree of hardness, and an aptness to continue in that sin. This truth is finely expressed by an old writer, when he says, Every act of sin strangely transforms and works over the soul to its own likeness, sin in this being to the soul like fire to combustible matter; it assimilates, before it destroys it. One visit is enough to begin an acquaintance, and this point is gained by it, that when the visitor comes again, he is no more a stranger. You go upon the supposition, that one year will be just as suitable for repentance as another–a supposition which, even if it involve not a long line of falsehoods, marks forgetfulness of the fact, that repentance is Gods gift, and not mans achievement; and though it be a glorious truth, that God hath promised forgiveness to everyone who repents, it is equally a truth, and that too of the most solemn import, that God hath not promised to give everyone at every time grace to repent. Observe the diminished probability of any attempt after salvation, whilst every moral feeling grows more and more torpid. Remember that forasmuch as sin provokes and grieves the Holy Spirit, the very acts which make a sinner more need repentance make him more in danger of never obtaining it. And can you deny that of all the gifts which God pours down on an unconverted man there is none which can exceed preventing grace in its worth?
II. But let us now examine the cause for thankfulness which preventing grace furnishes to the converted. We have already allowed, that in the ease of David there was a certainty that the sin, if committed, would have been pardoned; and we must equally confess, that those who are justified through faith in Christ Jesus are sure of finding their every offence forgiven at the last. It becomes, then, a question, though no great labour will be required for its answer, in what degree and in what respects a prevented sin has the advantage over a pardoned sin–why, that is, David, secure of forgiveness, had he gratified his passion, was bound to utter praises for having been withheld from the gratification. Now, whatever the likelihood, on a mere human calculation, that a man who feels himself safe for eternity will be careless of his practice, there is nothing more certain than that Scriptural belief in our own election will cause us to spurn the thought of continuing in sin that grace may abound. We do not deny that there may be equal safety, so far as the eternal state is concerned, whether the sin be committed and then pardoned, or whether it be prevented, so that forgiveness is not needed. But it is not possible that, there should be equal assurance of safety; it is not possible that the Christian yielding to a temptation should have that, clear proof of his calling which he had when enabled by grace to overcome that, temptation. The proof, the only real proof, lies in the growing holiness; and undoubtedly, whenever evil gains the upper hand, there is so palpable an interruption to the sanctification of our nature, that there must be a suspension of the proofs of election; for there must, you should observe, be necessarily this great difference between preventing grace and pardoning grace–we may be quite sure of the application of the one in our own case, but not of the other. If I have been restrained from the commission of a sin to which I was tempted, I possess a proof not to be withstood, that I have been the subject of Gods preventing grace; but if I yield to the temptation and commit the sin, I cannot, pretend to an equally strong proof that I have been the subject of Gods pardoning grace. We thus argue, and the argument we think, will be responded to by the feeling of every true Christian, that pardon is not to be compared with prevention, on the simple principle, that a sin if committed, will, though pardoned, impair our evidence of justification, whereas, if prevented, it will rather enlarge and strengthen that evidence. Oh! we think quite wrongly, if we think that sin ever goes unpunished to the people of God. And then, again, there is such a thing as the temporal punishment of a sin, as well as the eternal, and though the eternal be remitted, the temporal may be exacted. It is certain that faith in Christ does not put away from us the temporal consequences of sin, although it undoubtedly does the eternal. Conversion, for instance, will not repair the broken constitution of the debauchee; he must endure through the years of his godliness diseases of which he sowed the seeds in the years of his dissoluteness, it is the same in other particulars. If serenity of mind and repose of condition be in any degree precious–if the clear ministerings of Gods favour be preferable to the tokens and actings of his anger–if, for such may often be the fact, the paying through long years the penalties of sin, in the tossings of a disturbed mind, the unkindnesses of friends, the bankruptcy of circumstances, the ingratitude of children, the wastings of sickness–if these be less to be chosen than the spending those years in comparative calmness, surrounded by the bounties of mercy, in the full expectation and in the rich foretaste of joys laid up at Gods right hand, then, though pardon be a great, an unspeakably great privilege, prevention vastly outdoes it in magnitude. Such are the applications which we would make of the truths which appear involved in the narrative of Davids being intercepted by Abigail. We have only, in conclusion, to exhort earnestly all classes among you, that they never think lightly of sin, as though under any circumstances whatsoever it might be committed with impunity. (H. Melvill, D. D.)
The prevention of sin a great blessing
I. The first important practical instruction suggested is, that the prevention of sin is a great blessing. Let us attend to the state of the sinners mind, at the time when he is arrested in his guilty career, when sin is prevented. The state of the sinners mind at that time is one which, but for experience and observation, we would have declared to be utterly impossible in a reasonable being. It is a state which, we would have said, could be the result of nothing short of madness. What is the state of the mind, at the period when the sinner is prevented from executing his purpose? Why, the man is resolved to violate the Divine law; the rebel has his weapon in his hand, and is just about to hurl it at the Most High. The mind, at the period when the sinner is prevented from executing the guilty act that he is resolved on, is in actual determined rebellion against God. This was the case with the Jews in Egypt, when, in opposition to Jeremiahs expostulation, they distinctly avowed their determination in these remarkable words, As for the words which thou hast spoken to us in the name of the Lord, we will not hearken unto them, but we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth from out of our own mouth. I believe this state of mind is not often avowed; but it does not follow; on that account, that it is not often felt. But the truth that the prevention of sin is a great blessing will become still more apparent, if, turning from the state of the sinners mind at the time sin is prevented, we allow ourselves to rest on the consequence, either direct, or necessary, or ultimate and probable, which would have resulted from the sin, if it had not been prevented. In medicine it is an axiom, that prevention is better than cure, and surely in morals it is also one, that innocence is better than reformation. There is, indeed, no such thing an absolute innocence in this world of guilt and misery; but so much as there is of preventive sin, so much is there of comparative innocence. God often does bring good out of evil; but God, with all his omnipotence (I speak it with reverence) cannot strip sin of its ruinous circumstances. Were that possible it would go to counteract all the purposes of His moral government. The prevention of a sin may produce consequences that may materially affect the individual during the whole of his life. This may suffice for the illustration of the first principle, that the prevention of sin is a great blessing.
II. That God is the Author of this blessing and that His sovereign kindness should be gratefully acknowledged by all on whom it has been conferred. The first thought that occurred to Davids mind was, what blessing he had received in the prevention of this sin; and the second was, that he had received it from God; and the third is, to Him be all glory. God is the author of the prevention of sin, in two ways; it is by the arrangement of His providence, that those events take place by which sin is prevented; and it is by the influence of His Spirit, that these events are rendered effectual for the purposes they are intended to serve. To be delivered from sin, is far more than to be delivered from excruciating pain, from fatal disease, or even from death itself. It is, indeed, a manifestation of sovereign kindness, to arrest the individual in his mad career. These remarks throw a new light on human life. They make some of apparently the most unimportant events of our life become the most important, and render some of the most disastrous events the greatest blessings that ever could have befallen us. When a man is prevented from committing sin–and who has not often been prevented from committing sin?–the hand of God is always about him, and in mercy about him. You were in danger, it may be, of yielding to those youthful lusts which war against the soul, and God prevented your sin by chastening you, and making you say, Surely the hand of God was there in mercy. Such sovereign kindness demands grateful acknowledgment, and not only shows us, that many of the dispensations of Providence have a benignant character, which wear a very different aspect to our minds, but that much that we think unimportant, has indeed an awful solemnity in it.
III. That in conferring the blessing of the prevention of sin, God usually employs the instrumentality of human agents, who are also entitled to the gratitude of those who, through their means, are prevented from committing sin. David, primarily, and principally, gave thanks to God, but not to God alone. He pours a benediction on the head of Abigail, the instrument of Divine agency, who, by her wise persuasives, had prevented him from carrying into execution his awful purposes, and plunging himself in guilt, it might be in ruin. God is always the author of the prevention of sin. But God ordinarily makes use of sundry means, and operates in a great variety of ways. Sometimes he employs no human agency, and, so far as we can perceive, no created agency. There are cases when the sinner, resolutely bent on violating the law of God, is just about to put, forth his hand to commit the sinful deed, when it is withdrawn by an influence he cannot understand. In other cases, God makes use of human agency, but acting quite unconsciously so far as the prevention of sin is concerned. But more frequently God makes use of the conscious agency of man for the purpose of preventing sin. He did so in the present case. This is Gods most ordinary method. It is very often by the wise advice of Christian parents, or ministers, or friends, that men are prevented from committing sin on which they had resolved; and in every ease where means are used to prevent sin, and where these are effectually used, a heavy debt of gratitude is contracted to the human instrument as well as to the Divine agent. Look what a striking demonstration we have of the madness that is in the heart of man, in that, while we can scarcely meet with one who is not grateful to the physician for what he does to ward off disease from his frame, means cannot be used, in very many cases at least, to prevent, men from sinning, without being resented as injuries and insults! This must, not prevent us from following our course. Even though in but a few instances we meet with that grateful acknowledgment David made to Abigail, this is more than recompense for the number that disappoint, us; and we know, that if we act from a principle of genuine love to God and man, we will in nowise lose our reward. (John Brown, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Which by his gracious and singular providence so disposed matters that thou shouldst, come to rule. He rightly begins at the fountain of this deliverance, which was God; and then proceeds to the instruments.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
32-35. David said to Abigail,Blessed be the LordTransported by passion and blinded byrevenge, he was on the eve of perpetrating a great injury. Doubtless,the timely appearance and prudent address of Abigail were greatlyinstrumental in changing his purpose. At all events, it was the meansof opening his eyes to the moral character of the course on which hehad been impetuously rushing; and in accepting her present, he speakswith lively satisfaction as well as gratitude to Abigail, for havingrelieved him from bloodshed.
1Sa25:36-44. NABAL’SDEATH.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And David said to Abigail,…. Having heard her out, and being overcome with her rhetoric and powerful arguments:
blessed [be] the Lord God of Israel, which sent thee this day to meet me; who put it into her heart to come out and meet him, and endeavour to avert him from his bad design, which his heart was set upon; he saw plainly the hand of God in it, and in the first place acknowledges the goodness of divine Providence, in directing her to take the step she did.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
| David Blesses Abigail. | B. C. 1057. |
32 And David said to Abigail, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, which sent thee this day to meet me: 33 And blessed be thy advice, and blessed be thou, which hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood, and from avenging myself with mine own hand. 34 For in very deed, as the LORD God of Israel liveth, which hath kept me back from hurting thee, except thou hadst hasted and come to meet me, surely there had not been left unto Nabal by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall. 35 So David received of her hand that which she had brought him, and said unto her, Go up in peace to thine house; see, I have hearkened to thy voice, and have accepted thy person.
As an ear-ring of gold, and an ornament of fine gold, so is a wise reprover upon an obedient ear, Prov. xxv. 12. Abigail was a wise reprover of David’s passion, and he gave an obedient ear to the reproof, according to his own principle (Ps. cxli. 5): Let the righteous smite me, it shall be a kindness. Never was such an admonition either better given or better taken.
I. David gives God thanks for sending him this happy check to a sinful way (v. 32): Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who sent thee this day to meet me. Note, 1. God is to be acknowledged in all the kindnesses that our friends do us either for soul or body. Whoever meet us with counsel, direction, comfort, caution, or seasonable reproof, we must see God sending them. 2. We ought to be very thankful for those happy providences which are means of preventing sin.
II. He gives Abigail thanks for interposing so opportunely between him and the mischief he was about to do: Blessed be thy advice, and blessed be thou, v. 33. Most people think it enough if they take a reproof patiently, but we meet with few that will take it thankfully and will commend those that give it to them and accept it as a favour. Abigail did not rejoice more that she had been instrumental to save her husband and family from death than David did that Abigail had been instrumental to save him and his men from sin.
III. He seems very apprehensive of the great danger he was in, which magnified the mercy of his deliverance. 1. He speaks of the sin as very great. He was coming to shed blood, a sin of which when in his right mind he had a great horror, witness his prayer, Deliver me from blood-guiltiness. He was coming to avenge himself with his own hand, and that would be stepping into the throne of God, who has said, Vengeance is mine; I will repay. The more heinous any sin is the greater mercy it is to be kept from it. He seems to aggravate the evil of his design with this, that it would have been an injury to so wise and good a woman as Abigail: God has kept me back from hurting thee, v. 34. Or perhaps, at the first sight of Abigail, he was conscious of a thought to do her a mischief for offering to oppose him, and therefore reckons it a great mercy that God gave him patience to hear her speak. 2. He speaks of the danger of his falling into it as very imminent: “Except thou hadst hasted, the bloody execution had been done.” The nearer we were to the commission of sin the greater was the mercy of a seasonable restraint–Almost gone (Ps. lxxiii. 2) and yet upheld.
IV. He dismissed her with an answer of peace, v. 35. He does, in effect, own himself overcome by her eloquence: “I have hearkened to thy voice, and will not prosecute the intended revenge, for I have accepted thy person, am well pleased with thee and what thou hast said.” Note, 1. Wise and good men will hear reason, and let that rule them, though it come from those that are every way their inferiors, and though their passions are up and their spirits provoked. 2. Oaths cannot, bind us to that which is sinful. David had solemnly vowed the death of Nabal. He did evil to make such a vow, but he would have done worse if he had performed it. 3. A wise and faithful reproof is often better taken, and speeds better, than we expected, such is the hold God has of men’s consciences. See Prov. xxviii. 23.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
David Responds, vs. 32-35
David was fully convinced of the wisdom of Abigail’s words, and he blessed the Lord God of Israel for sending her to meet him. He also uttered blessing on her advice and on her, for it was this which had kept David from a serious mistake. He would surely have shed the blood of Nabal’s house and got vengeance for himself without seeking the will of the Lord had she not come to him first. David swore to Abigail that he would surely have exterminated the house of Nabal without her intervention.
David received the fine gift of provisions which Abigail had brought and bade her return to her house in peace, for he had accepted her advice and her person.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
David’s Response.
In his response David acknowledged that she was in the right, and that she had kept him from unnecessary blood-guiltiness. It was one thing to have to slay men in warfare and in order to preserve peace for all. It was a different matter when it came down to personal vendettas, and he was basically admitting that his temper had got the better of him. So he thanked YHWH, and Abigail’s discretion, and Abigail herself for keeping him from folly.
1Sa 25:32
‘ And David said to Abigail, “Blessed be YHWH, the God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me,”
David first praised YHWH, Who was the God of Israel, for sending Abigail to meet him and prevent him from committing folly in Israel. Both acknowledged that it was first and foremost YHWH’s doing (compare 1Sa 25:26).
1Sa 25:33
“ And blessed be your discretion, and blessed be you, who has kept me this day from bloodguiltiness, and from avenging myself with my own hand.”
Then he thanked her for her discretion. He was admitting that, had she not approached him in the way that she had done, he was in such a temper that he might well not have listened. And finally he praised her for being the human instrument whom God had used, and for having such concern both for her own people and for him. For it was these things which had kept him from what he now admitted would have made him blood-guilty and a usurper of YHWH’s prerogative of vengeance. He would have committed the very same sin as he had avoided in the case of Saul.
1Sa 25:34
“ For in very deed, as YHWH, the God of Israel, lives, who has withheld me from hurting you, except you had hurried and come to meet me, surely there had not been left to Nabal by the morning light so much as one man-child.”
For he admitted that had YHWH not intervened through her, and had she not come in such haste to meet him, he would have hurt her and all her household by slaying without distinction, before morning, all males capable of standing up and relieving themselves against a wall. The slaying would have been indiscriminate. It would probably have included all who were seen as involved with Nabal because of their presence at the feast.
It would not, of course, have happened without a battle. Those who knew of what had happened when David messengers came would undoubtedly have armed themselves, and probably not a few visiting celebrants would have quietly moved off, not wanting to get involved. If the hired shearers had not yet been paid (they may have been expecting payment at the end of the feast) and knew about what had happened (the word would soon get around) they would have been in a real predicament as to whether to flee or stay and fight. But all would have acknowledged that Nabal had probably brought disaster on them all, a disaster earned by his churlish behaviour which had flouted the accepted rules of hospitality and had courted such disaster. It had been basically a declaration of war because of his contempt for ‘runaways’.
“Left to Nabal.” Which means left to Nabal’s household. He hardly intended to leave Nabal alive.
1Sa 25:35
‘ So David received of her hand what she had brought him, and he said to her, “Go up in peace to your house, see, I have listened to your voice, and have accepted your person.”
It must have been a huge relief to Abigail when David accepted her gift, for the acceptance of the gift was the guarantee of friendship. Custom was such that it would have been inconceivable that he accept a gift from Nabal and then do him harm. Thus the acceptance of the gift was the guarantee that there would be no further action against Nabal.
This was then confirmed by David’s words as he affirmed that she could go in peace as he had listened to her plea and had accepted her for what she was, an acceptable messenger of peace and goodwill. Her mission had been successful.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
1Sa 25:32-34. David said to Abigail, Blessed be the Lord God The finest spirits are soonest kindled into a flame; and to see them quickly cooled and calmed again upon the first shew of submission, by the first gleam of conviction, and raging wrath changed in one instant into flowing humanity and benignity, is the surest test of generosity and true magnanimity. David, convinced by Abigail’s prudence of the rashness of his resolution, blesses the Lord God of Israel for sending her, blesses her advice, and blesses her, who kept him from shedding blood, and avenging himself. Can there be a finer picture of a generous mind? See Waterland’s Script. Vindicated, p. 100.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
DISCOURSE: 306
DAVID KEPT FROM AVENGING HIMSELF ON NABAL
1Sa 25:32-33. And David said to Abigail, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, which sent thee this day to meet me: and blessed be thy advice, and blessed be thou, which hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood, and from avenging myself with mine own hand.
THE fidelity of the sacred historians is observable in every part of the divine records. A partial friend, or a person who was unduly concerned about the honour of religion, would have cast a veil over the facts which are contained in this chapter. They are, it must be confessed, extremely humiliating, and constrain us to exclaim, Lord, what is man! In the general we behold the man after Gods heart acting with a holy consistency, and meriting the character of a most exalted saint: but here we see him rushing to commit the most horrid iniquities, and restrained only by the special intervention of Gods providence.
In contemplating the history before us, we shall see,
I.
What evils men would commit if left to themselves
We wonder not at the churlishness of Nabal: such characters are common; men, who, in point of temper, are such sons of Belial, that a man cannot even speak to them [Note: ver. 17.]; and whose every act constrains you to associate with their names the idea of folly [Note: ver. 25.]. They are worthless in themselves, yet contemptuous towards others: they are profuse and intemperate in convivial entertainments, but hard-hearted and niggardly in reference to the indigent and distressed But,
We are amazed at the cruel resentment of David
[The provocation which he had received was certainly great. He had been the greatest benefactor to his country. He was persecuted only for righteousness sake. Though driven to great straits, he had never suffered his soldiers to relieve his wants by plunder. He had afforded a protection to Nabals property and servants, without any remuneration whatever. He was peculiarly in want of necessary provisions at this time: and from the preparations which Nabal had made for his feast he might have been supplied without any material inconvenience. His message to Nabal was most courteous and kind: yet was Nabals answer insolent in the extreme.
This however did not justify such fierce resentment as David manifested. He might justly have complained of of Nabal; perhaps in his circumstances he might have been justified in demanding as a right what had been refused him as a gift: but to think of murdering Nabal, of murdering also every male belonging to him, was as atrocious a design as ever entered into the heart of man. Who would have conceived that such a thought should ever enter into the mind of him, who had so recently spared his most malignant enemy, and had been condemned in his own conscience for even cutting off the skirt of his masters garment?]
It shews however what corruption there is in the human heart
[Truly the heart of man is desperately wicked. Even though renewed by divine grace, we are no longer able to stand, than whilst we are upheld by God himself. However long we may have persevered in holy obedience, we are yet liable to fall; and however great the temptations which we have withstood in times past, we have no security but that we may be overcome by the smallest. Yea, there is nothing so vile, but we may be led to commit it, if we be not every moment strengthened from on high. Who can contemplate the fall of Noah after his deliverance from the Deluge, and of Lot after his exemplary piety in Sodom, and not tremble for himself, lest he be overcome in an unguarded hour? Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall.]
The subject further leads us to notice,
II.
How much we owe to God for his providential restraints
David expresses his obligations to God for delivering him from this temptation
[A servant of Nabal, fearing the effects of his masters message, informed his mistress of the whole transaction; bearing testimony at the same time to the kindness and integrity of Davids conduct: and Abigail immediately adopted the most prudent methods of pacifying Davids resentment. Without loss of time she took a liberal portion of the provisions that had been prepared for the feast, and went with them herself to meet David. Happily she met David in the way; and by her consummate address completely disarmed his wrath, and averted the calamity which would have speedily ruined her whole family. Instantly David recognized in her the divine interposition; and, whilst he blessed her for her advice, he blessed God for sending her to obstruct his bloody and vindictive purposes. It is worthy of observation, that David took scarce any notice of her liberality which supplied his present wants, but fixed his whole attention on the deliverance which he had experienced from his own relentless fury: and well might he bless God for that interposition, whereby he was preserved from the blackest crime he could have perpetrated, and possibly too from the penal consequences of it to all eternity.]
And have not we also reason to adore our God for similar restraints?
[Let us reflect on our past experience, even in relation to revenge. Have we never had our minds so irritated and inflamed, as to feel a readiness to avenge ourselves? And are we sure, that if a murderous instrument had been at hand, we should not have used it? Have not others yielded to that temptation, who were to all appearance as little exposed to it as we: and can we be certain that a little further provocation would not have produced the same effect on us?
But let us inquire also in reference to other sins. Have criminal desires never risen so strong in our hearts, that we have owed it rather to some providential restraints, than to our own abhorrence of iniquity, that they were not actually fulfilled? We have witnessed often enough the falls of others: and to whom must we ascribe it if we ourselves have not fallen in like manner? Must we not say with the prophet, Thou, Lord, hast wrought all our works in us [Note: Isa 26:12.]? Truly, if we would call to mind the various temptations which we have at any time experienced, and the various methods which God has used for our deliverance, we should behold such evidences of his paternal care, as would fill our hearts with wonder, and our mouths with praise.]
Such are the reflections arising from a general view of our subject. From a more particular inspection of it we may learn,
1.
What a dreadful evil is revenge
[There is nothing so cruel, but a vindictive spirit will impel us to it. Whilst under the influence of revenge, we overlook all consequences: we think nothing of the misery which we may entail on persons that are innocent. David was not content with murdering Nabal, but would murder also every male belonging to him, though not one of them was a partaker of Nabals fault. Thus the incendiary, or the duellist, contemplates not for a moment the miseries he may inflict on others; the welfare of a whole nation would be of no account in his eyes, when compared with the gratification of his revenge [Note: Preached on May 14, 1812, being three days after Mr. Percevals assassination.]. O let us guard against the first risings of this malignant passion [Note: Pro 19:11.]! let us bear in mind, that vengeance is not our prerogative, but Gods [Note: Rom 12:19.]: and let us seek rather that noblest of all victories, the overcoming of evil with good [Note: Pro 24:29; Pro 25:21-22.].]
2.
What a blessing is a faithful monitor
[David could scarcely express the obligation he felt to Abigail for her heavenly counsel [Note: Thrice he blesses her, and God for her.]. And what reason have we to be thankful for the instructions of our parents, the counsels of our friends, and the admonitions of our ministers! We shall never know from what evils we have been preserved by them, till the whole book of Gods remembrance shall be opened to us. In the same light we may view those various circumstances of our life which may have appeared most calamitous. The loss of our health or property may have been thought afflictive at the time; but who can tell what he might have perpetrated, if these messengers of mercy had not been sent to arrest him in his course? Let us then receive as from the Lord all those persons or events, which may lead us to reflection. Let us in particular be thankful for reproof; and bear in mind, that almost any other person is a more competent judge of the propriety of our conduct, than we ourselves can be under the impulse of any strong passion. If our friend possess the wisdom and address of Abigail, let us value him the more; but, if not, let his advice be nevertheless welcome to our mind; and let him be highly esteemed by us in proportion to his fidelity [Note: Pro 9:8-9; Pro 25:12; Pro 28:23.].]
3.
What need have we all to pray against temptation
[We may, like David, have withstood the greatest trials, and yet fall, like him, by those which are comparatively light. We are far from being at all times alike. We have not a stock of grace at our own command: it is not the light of one hour, or of one minute, that will suffice for the next; nor is it any measure of grace already received, that will enable us to stand fast in the Lord. We must receive fresh communications every moment, and look continually to the Lord for guidance and support. Let us then beg of God to hedge up our way with thorns [Note: Hos 2:6-7.]; and, if preserved by him from falling, let us acknowledge him as the only source of our stability [Note: Psa 26:12; Psa 41:12-13.].]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
(32) And David said to Abigail, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, which sent thee this day to meet me: (33) And blessed be thy advice, and blessed be thou, which hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood, and from avenging myself with mine own hand. (34) For in very deed, as the LORD God of Israel liveth, which hath kept me back from hurting thee, except thou hadst hasted and come to meet me, surely there had not been left unto Nabal by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall.
I have often admired, and every renewed opportunity of reading these delightful words of David again makes me to admire, still more and more, the pious sentiments which David utters in contemplating the mercies he then was receiving. I desire the Reader to remark with me, how precious a strain of the most devout affections they breathe, while he reverenced the gracious hand of God in this sin-preventing providence. He first, as is most suitable and proper, looks up and acknowledges the hand of God. Blessed (says he) be the Lord God of Israel, which sent thee this day to meet me. Having blessed God as the Author, he next looks with gratitude to the means: Blessed (says he) be thy advice. And lastly he looks to Abigail as the honoured instrument in the Lord’s hand to restrain, blessed be thou. Here’s blessing upon blessing, in that he had been kept from sin, and his corrupt nature had not been suffered to embrue his hands in blood. I know not what the Reader’s feelings are upon this occasion, while beholding the restraining grace and mercy of God towards his servant; but for my own part I desire to look up and ascribe the whole of my preservation and safety from the commission of all evil to the same source, the over-ruling and restraining grace of God in Christ Jesus. See 1Pe 1:5 . Sweet is that prayer of Jesus: Joh 17:11 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
1Sa 25:32 And David said to Abigail, Blessed [be] the LORD God of Israel, which sent thee this day to meet me:
Ver. 32. And David said to Abigail. ] The wisdom from above is persuadable. Jam 3:17 It maketh a man mancipium rationis, a slave to right reason. David considereth not quis who but quid; what and disdaineth not good counsel, though from a woman.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
the End of Selfish Indulgence
1Sa 25:32-44
The lowly obeisance of this beautiful woman at the young soldiers feet, her frank confession of the injustice done him, her thankfulness that he had been withheld from hasty vengeance, her appreciation of his desire to fight only as a soldier of the Lord, brought David back to his best self.
What a revelation is here given of the agencies by which God seeks to turn us from our evil ways! And, above all, those that enter our lives as sweet human ministries are those arresting influences of the Holy Spirit, pleading with us, striving against our passion and selfishness, and calling us to a nobler, better life. Blessed Spirit, come down more often by the covert of the hill, and stay us in our mad career. Let us not press past thee to take our own wild way, and we shall review thy gracious arrest with ceaseless gratitude.
The idyll ended happily. Nabal died in an apoplectic fit, caused by his debauch and anger. Then David made proposals of marriage to the woman to whom he owed so much, and she gracefully but humbly accepted, declaring herself unworthy. 1Sa 25:35 is our Lords answer to every soul that casts itself upon Him, and every such soul becomes married to Him, when the former husband is dead. See Rom 7:4.
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
David overlooks the rich and seasonable present of Abigail, though pressed with hunger and wearied with travel; but her advice, which disarmed his rage, and calmed his revenge, draws forth these high and affectionate gratulations. These were his joyful and glorious trophies; not over his enemies, but over himself. Gen 24:27, Exo 18:10, Ezr 7:27, Psa 41:12, Psa 41:13, Psa 72:18, Luk 1:68, 2Co 8:16
Reciprocal: Jos 22:30 – it pleased them Jos 22:33 – blessed 1Sa 25:22 – So and more 1Sa 25:39 – Blessed 2Sa 2:5 – Blessed 2Sa 20:16 – General Psa 9:5 – destroyed Psa 19:13 – Keep Psa 131:2 – quieted Pro 1:5 – a man Pro 11:16 – gracious Pro 15:23 – how Mat 14:9 – the oath’s 1Co 12:21 – General
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1Sa 25:32-33. Blessed be the Lord, &c. Who, by his gracious providence, so disposed matters that thou shouldst come to me. He rightly begins at the fountain of this deliverance; and then proceeds to the instruments. Who hast kept me from coming, &c. Which I had sworn to do. Hereby it plainly appears, that oaths, whereby men bind themselves to any sin, are null and void; and, as it was a sin to make them, so it is adding sin to sin to perform them.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
David’s response to Abigail’s appeal 25:32-35
David heard the Lord’s voice behind Abigail’s words. Consequently he blessed the Lord, her discernment, and her. God had used David’s conscience to keep him from killing Saul (1Sa 24:5), and now He used Abigail’s appeal to keep him from killing Nabal. Wise David, who listened to the words of a woman who was a stranger to him, contrasts with foolish Nabal, who would not listen to the words of his wise wife or his fearful servants. Thus godly Abigail, another wise person, became a blessing to David. Earlier he, a godly person, had been a blessing to her and her household. She kept him from sinning (1Sa 25:33), and in return he blessed her further by sparing the males of Nabal’s household (1Sa 25:35).