Something I wrote, several years ago, which summarizes my thinking on these difficult verses as well as if I wrote something new. . . . This whole deal with Nabal has always been puzzling to me. David goes down to the area of Carmel, and while he is there, he sends messengers to Nabal and requests, “Please give whatever you have at hand to your servants and to your son David” (25:8). Nabal responds that he will not do so; after all, there are many who request handouts, and he doesn’t even know who David is. So David reacts: “And David said to his men, ‘Every man strap on his sword!’” David’s interpretation seems that Nabal intended harm to him and his men.
There is the note in 25:21 that David had guarded Nabal’s herds and property in the wilderness, and for this, Nabal had returned to him evil. Had Nabal hired David and then dealt treacherously with him? The story reads as if David just sort of took on these responsibilities on his own. Were Nabal’s threats more severe than merely a refusal to provide food? There must be, it seems to me, some details that have been left out. And, surely, Nabal could have acted more graciously and with more gratefulness and hospitality. Nabal was a coarse man and no good, no doubt. And “the Lord struck Nabal, and he died” (25:38). David’s take on the matter: “Blessed be the Lord who has avenged the insult I received at the hand of Nabal, and has kept back his servant from wrongdoing” (25:39).
A couple things about David’s words. He seems grateful that Nabal has been judged, but to die for an insult? That seems a bit harsh. There has to be, just has to be, more here than meets the eye. On the other hand, David is grateful that the Lord has kept him from wrongdoing. What wrongdoing is that? Overreacting to an insult and killing the guy?
Well, I do not mean any of this to be an ultimate questioning of the Lord’s dealing with Nabal. It’s simply to say that there’s quite a mystery here, at least for me. Here’s what seems to have happened. Abigail had told her husband about David’s anger (25:37), and apparently so shocked and fearful did he become that he fell into a coma. Ten days later, “the Lord struck Nabal, and he died” (25:38). I think one might see here a gracious act on the part of the Lord, i.e., he put Nabal out of his misery, or something like that. Also, I think it’s important to remember, for the OT people, all events can ultimately be assigned to God’s providential control. Remember Job? “The Lord gives and the Lord takes away.” Maybe this is simply a way of noting that God has ruled over all these events, and in the way he so often does, gathers it all up into the fabric of his plan and brings good out of it.
And, certainly, in all this, David proves himself to be more worthy than Saul as king. Saul was constantly reacting against perceived slights by trying to kill David. David, on the other hand, shows constraint and holds back from killing Nabal. Not to mention that, time and again, David holds back from harming Saul (see the next chapter). Interesting story!
The mighty God, Omniscient One!
His ways we cannot trace.
He reckons ev’ry good begun
And crowns it with His grace.
Lo! I can see Him in His word:
I will not doubt or fear;
My steps are ordered of the Lord,
His guiding hand is near.
He’s here and there, and ev’rywhere
In all the ways I’ve trod.
I’ve never passed beyond the sphere
Of the providence of God. --W. E. Brightwell (1965)