The Lord’s Restraint

When David encounters Abigail, he is in a fury, ready to take bloody vengeance for Nabal’s insult. But Abigail boldly expresses the belief that God has sent her to David to spare him from committing the sin of avenging himself on Nabal, and by the time she finishes speaking to him, David agrees with her. Calmer now, he declares that if Abigail had not come, he would have killed all the males in Nabal’s household by morning, just as surely as God lives. But God, through Abigail, “kept me … from coming to bloodshed and from avenging myself with my own hand.” And so he exults: “Blessed is the Lord God of Israel…. And blessed is your advice and blessed are you.” He then receives the provisions she has brought, assuring her that he has heard her plea and accepted her advice, and urging her to go in peace, with no more fears for her household.

When Abigail returns home, she finds Nabal holding a feast fit for a king, senseless of his guilt. He is very drunk, so she holds her peace until morning. But when he is sober at last, she tells him everything that has happened, and then “his heart died within him, and he became like a stone.” It is not clear just what happens to Nabal here. Perhaps he becomes paralyzed with terror over his narrow escape (or perhaps it is shock over the restitution Abigail paid). But this is not the worst—10 days later God strikes him a heavy blow, and he dies.

When David gets word that Nabal is dead, he praises God. “Blessed be the Lord,” he exclaims again, for God heard Nabal’s unjust reproach of David and “returned the wickedness of Nabal on his own head.” God kept David from taking vengeance, then took it Himself. He restrained David but unleashed His own anger.

In his commentary, Matthew Henry reminds us that David took a vow to destroy Nabal’s household (v. 22). Did David therefore sin when he failed to follow through on his oath? Absolutely not. As Henry notes: “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.” David swore in the heat of his anger, but when God restrained him from his vengeance, he saw that he was headed toward sin and properly changed course.