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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [First Samuel, Chapter XXV].</TITLE>
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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1708)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>F I R S T S A M U E L</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XXV.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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We have here some intermission of David's troubles by Saul. Providence
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favoured him with a breathing time, and yet this chapter gives us
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instances of the troubles of David. If one vexation seems to be over,
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we must not be secure; a storm may arise from some other point, as here
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to David.
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I. Tidings of the death of Samuel could not but trouble him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+25:1">ver. 1</A>.
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But,
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II. The abuse he received from Nabal is more largely recorded in this
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chapter.
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1. The character of Nabal,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+25:2,3">ver. 2, 3</A>.
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2. The humble request sent to him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+25:4-9">ver. 4-9</A>.
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3. His churlish answer,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+25:10-12">ver. 10-12</A>.
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4. David's angry resentment of it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+25:13,21,22">ver. 13, 21, 22</A>.
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5. Abigail's prudent care to prevent the mischief it was likely to
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bring upon her family,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+25:14-20">ver. 14-20</A>.
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6. Her address to David to pacify him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+25:23-31">ver. 23-31</A>.
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7. David's favourable reception of her,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+25:32-35">ver. 32-35</A>.
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8. The death of Nabal,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+25:36-38">ver. 36-38</A>.
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9. Abigail's marriage to David,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+25:39-44">ver. 39-44</A>.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="1Sa25_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Death of Samuel.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1057.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 And Samuel died; and all the Israelites were gathered
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together, and lamented him, and buried him in his house at Ramah.
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And David arose, and went down to the wilderness of Paran.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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We have here a short account of Samuel's death and burial.
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1. Though he was a great man, and one that was admirably well qualified
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for public service, yet he spent the latter end of his days in
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retirement and obscurity, not because he was superannuated (for he knew
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how to preside in a college of the prophets,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+19:20"><I>ch.</I> xix. 20</A>),
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but because Israel had rejected him, for which God thus justly
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chastised them, and because his desire was to be quiet and to enjoy
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himself and his God in the exercises of devotion now in his advanced
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years, and in this desire God graciously indulged him. Let old people
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be willing to rest themselves, though it look like burying themselves
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alive.
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2. Though he was a firm friend to David, for which Saul hated him, as
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also for dealing plainly with him, yet he died in peace even in the
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worst of the days of the tyranny of Saul, who, he sometimes feared,
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would kill him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+16:2"><I>ch.</I> xvi. 2</A>.
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Though Saul loved him not, yet he feared him, as Herod did John, and
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feared the people, for all knew him to be a prophet. Thus is Saul
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restrained from hurting him.
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3. All Israel lamented him; and they had reason, for they had all a
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loss in him. His personal merits commanded this honour to be done him
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at his death. His former services to the public, when he judged Israel,
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made this respect to his name and memory a just debt; it would have
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been very ungrateful to have withheld it. The sons of the prophets had
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lost the founder and president of their college, and whatever weakened
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them was a public loss. But that was not all: Samuel was a constant
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intercessor for Israel, prayed daily for them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+12:23"><I>ch.</I> xii. 23</A>.
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If he go, they part with the best friend they have. The loss is the
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more grievous at this juncture when Saul has grown so outrageous and
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David is driven from his country; never more need of Samuel than now,
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yet now he is removed. We will hope that the Israelites lamented
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Samuel's death the more bitterly because they remembered against
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themselves their own sin and folly in rejecting him and desiring a
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king. Note,
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(1.) Those have hard hearts who can bury their faithful ministers with
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dry eyes, who are not sensible of the loss of those who have prayed for
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them and taught them the way of the Lord.
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(2.) When God's providence removes our relations and friends from us we
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ought to be humbled for our misconduct towards them while they were
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with us.
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4. They buried him, not in the school of the prophets at Naioth, but
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in his own house (or perhaps in the garden pertaining to it) at Ramah,
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where he was born.
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5. David, thereupon, went down to the wilderness of Paran, retiring
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perhaps to mourn the more solemnly for the death of Samuel. Or, rather,
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because now that he had lost so good a friend, who was (and he hoped
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would be) a great support to him, he apprehended his danger to be
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greater than ever, and therefore withdrew to a wilderness, out of the
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limits of the land of Israel; and now it was that he <I>dwelt in the
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tents of Kedar,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+120:5">Ps. cxx. 5</A>.
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In some parts of this wilderness of Paran Israel wandered when they
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came out of Egypt. The place would bring to mind God's care concerning
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them, and David might improve that for his own encouragement, now in
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his wilderness-state.</P>
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<A NAME="1Sa25_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Sa25_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Sa25_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Sa25_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Sa25_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Sa25_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Sa25_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Sa25_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Sa25_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Sa25_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>David Sends to Nabal.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1057.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>2 And <I>there was</I> a man in Maon, whose possessions <I>were</I> in
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Carmel; and the man <I>was</I> very great, and he had three thousand
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sheep, and a thousand goats: and he was shearing his sheep in
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Carmel.
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3 Now the name of the man <I>was</I> Nabal; and the name of his wife
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Abigail: and <I>she was</I> a woman of good understanding, and of a
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beautiful countenance: but the man <I>was</I> churlish and evil in his
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doings; and he <I>was</I> of the house of Caleb.
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4 And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal did shear his
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sheep.
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5 And David sent out ten young men, and David said unto the
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young men, Get you up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and greet him
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in my name:
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6 And thus shall ye say to him that liveth <I>in prosperity,</I>
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Peace <I>be</I> both to thee, and peace <I>be</I> to thine house, and peace
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<I>be</I> unto all that thou hast.
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7 And now I have heard that thou hast shearers: now thy
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shepherds which were with us, we hurt them not, neither was there
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ought missing unto them, all the while they were in Carmel.
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8 Ask thy young men, and they will shew thee. Wherefore let the
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young men find favour in thine eyes: for we come in a good day:
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give, I pray thee, whatsoever cometh to thine hand unto thy
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servants, and to thy son David.
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9 And when David's young men came, they spake to Nabal
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according to all those words in the name of David, and ceased.
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10 And Nabal answered David's servants, and said, Who <I>is</I>
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David? and who <I>is</I> the son of Jesse? there be many servants now
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a days that break away every man from his master.
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11 Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my flesh that
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I have killed for my shearers, and give <I>it</I> unto men, whom I
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know not whence they <I>be?</I>
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here begins the story of Nabal.</P>
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<P>
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I. A short account of him, who and what he was
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+25:2,3"><I>v.</I> 2, 3</A>),
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a man we should never have heard of if there had not happened some
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communication between him and David. Observe,
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1. His name: <I>Nabal--a fool;</I> so it signifies. It was a wonder
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that his parents would give him that name and an ill omen of what
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proved to be this character. Yet indeed we all of us deserve to be so
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called when we come into the world, for <I>man is born like the wild
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ass's colt</I> and <I>foolishness is bound up in our hearts.</I>
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2. His family: He was of the house of Caleb, but was indeed of another
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spirit. He inherited Caleb's estate; for Maon and Carmel lay near
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Hebron, which was given to Caleb
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+14:14,15:54,55">Josh. xv. 54, 55; xiv. 14</A>),
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but he was far from inheriting his virtues. He was a disgrace to his
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family, and then it was no honour to him. <I>Degeneranti genus
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opprobrium--A Good extraction is a reproach to him who degenerates from
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it.</I> The LXX., and some other ancient versions, read it
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appellatively, not, He was a Calebite, but He was a dogged man, of a
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currish disposition, surly and snappish, and always snarling. He was
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<B><I>anthropos kynikos</I></B>--<I>a man that was a cynic.</I>
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3. His wealth: He was very great, that is, very rich (for riches make
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men look great in the eye of the world), otherwise, to one that takes
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his measures aright, he really looked very mean. Riches are common
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blessings, which God often gives to Nabals, to whom he gives neither
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wisdom nor grace.
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4. His wife--Abigail, a woman of great understanding. Her name
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signifies, <I>the joy of her father;</I> yet he could not promise
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himself much joy of her when he married her to such a husband,
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enquiring more after his wealth than after his wisdom. Many a child is
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thrown away upon a great heap of the dirt of worldly wealth, married to
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that, and to nothing else that is desirable. Wisdom is good with an
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inheritance, but an inheritance is good for little without wisdom. Many
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an Abigail is tied to a Nabal; and if it be so, be her understanding,
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like Abigail's, ever so great, it will be little enough for her
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exercises.
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5. His character. He had no sense either of honour or honesty; not of
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honour, for he was churlish, cross, and ill-humoured; not of honesty,
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for he was evil in his doings, hard and oppressive, and a man that
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cared not what fraud and violence he used in getting and saving, so he
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could but get and save. This is the character given of Nabal by him who
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knows what every man is.</P>
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<P>
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II. David's humble request to him, that he would send him some victuals
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for himself and his men.</P>
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<P>
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1. David, it seems, was in such distress that he would be glad to be
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beholden to him, and did in effect come a begging to his door. What
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little reason have we to value the wealth of this world when so great a
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churl as Nabal abounds and so great a saint as David suffers want! Once
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before we had David begging his bread, but then it was of Ahimelech the
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high priest, to whom one would not grudge to stoop. But to send a
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begging to Nabal was what such a spirit as David had could not admit
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without some reluctancy; yet, if Providence bring him to these straits,
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he will not say that to beg he is ashamed. Yet see
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+37:25">Ps. xxxvii. 25</A>.</P>
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<P>
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2. He chose a good time to send to Nabal, when he had many hands
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employed about him in shearing his sheep, for whom he was to make a
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plentiful entertainment, so that good cheer was stirring. Had he sent
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at another time, Nabal would have pretended he had nothing to spare,
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but now he could not have that excuse. It was usual to make feasts at
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their sheep-shearings, as appears by Absalom's feast on that occasion
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+13:24">2 Sam. xiii. 24</A>),
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for wool was one of the staple commodities of Canaan.</P>
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<P>
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3. David ordered his men to deliver their message to him with a great
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deal of courtesy and respect: "<I>Go to Nabal, and greet him in my
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name.</I> Tell him I sent you to present my service to him, and to
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enquire how he does and his family,"
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+25:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>.
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He puts words in their mouths
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+25:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>):
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<I>Thus shall you say to him that liveth;</I> our translators add,
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<I>in prosperity,</I> as if those live indeed that live as Nabal did,
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with abundance of the wealth of this world about them; whereas, in
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truth, those that<I>live in pleasure are dead while they live,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ti+5:6">1 Tim. v. 6</A>.
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This was, methinks too high a compliment to pass upon Nabal, to call
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him <I>the man that liveth.</I> David knew better things, that in God's
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favour is life, not in the world's smiles; and by the rough answer he
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was well enough served, for this too smooth address to such a
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muck-worm. Yet his good wishes were very commendable. "<I>Peace be to
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thee,</I> all good both to soul and body. <I>Peace be to thy house and
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to all that thou hast.</I>" Tell him I am a hearty well-wisher to his
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health and prosperity. He bids them call him his <I>son David</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+25:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>),
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intimating that, for his age and estate, David honoured him as a
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father, and therefore hoped to receive some fatherly kindness from
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him.</P>
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<P>
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4. He pleaded the kindness which Nabal's shepherds had received from
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David and his men; and one good turn requires another. He appeals to
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Nabal's own servants, and shows that when David's soldiers were
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quartered among Nabal's shepherds,
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(1.) They did not hurt them themselves, did them no injury, gave them
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no disturbance, were not a terror to them, nor took any of the lambs
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out of the flock. Yet, considering the character of David's men, men in
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distress, and debt, and discontented, and the scarcity of provisions in
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his camp, it was not without a great deal of care and good management
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that they were kept from plundering.
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(2.) They protected them from being hurt by others. David himself does
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but <I>intimate</I> this, for he would not boast of his good offices:
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<I>Neither was there aught missing to them,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+25:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
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But Nabal's servants, to whom he appealed, went further
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+25:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>):
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<I>They were a wall unto us, both by night and day.</I> David's
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soldiers were a guard to Nabal's shepherds when the bands of the
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<I>Philistines robbed the threshing-floors</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+23:1"><I>ch.</I> xxiii. 1</A>)
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and would have robbed the sheep-folds. From those plunderers Nabal's
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flocks were protected by David's care, and therefore he says, <I>Let us
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find favour in thy eyes.</I> Those that have shown kindness may justly
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expect to receive kindness.</P>
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<P>
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5. He was very modest in his request. Though David was anointed king,
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he insisted not upon royal dainties, but, "Give whatsoever comes to thy
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hand, and we will be thankful for it." Beggars must not be choosers.
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Those that deserved to have been served first will now be glad of what
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|
is left. They plead, <I>We come in a good day,</I> a festival, when not
|
|
only the provision is more plentiful, but the heart and hand are
|
|
usually more open and free than at other times, when much may be spared
|
|
and yet not be missed. David demands not what he wanted as a debt,
|
|
either by way of tribute as he was a king, or by way of contribution as
|
|
he was a general, but asks it as a boon to a friend, that was his
|
|
humble servant. David's servants delivered their message faithfully
|
|
and very handsomely, not doubting but to go back well laden with
|
|
provisions.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. Nabal's churlish answer to this modest petition,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+25:10,11"><I>v.</I> 10, 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
One could not have imagined it possible that any man should be so very
|
|
rude and ill-conditioned as Nabal was. David called himself his
|
|
<I>son,</I> and asked bread and a fish, but, instead thereof, Nabal
|
|
gave him a stone and a scorpion; not only denied him, but abused him.
|
|
If he had not thought fit to send him any supplies for fear of
|
|
Ahimelech's fate, who paid dearly for his kindness to David; yet he
|
|
might have given a civil answer, and made the denial as modest as the
|
|
request was. But, instead of that, he falls into a passion, as covetous
|
|
men are apt to do when they are asked for any thing, thinking thus to
|
|
cover one sin with another, and by abusing the poor to excuse
|
|
themselves from relieving them. But God will not thus be mocked.
|
|
|
|
1. He speaks scornfully of David as an insignificant man, not worth
|
|
taking notice of. The Philistines could say of him, <I>This is</I>
|
|
David <I>the king of the land,</I> that <I>slew his ten thousands</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+21:11"><I>ch.</I> xxi. 11</A>),
|
|
|
|
yet Nabal his near neighbour, and one of the same tribe, affects not to
|
|
know him, or not to know him to be a man of any merit or distinction:
|
|
<I>Who is David? And who is the son of Jesse?</I> He could not be
|
|
ignorant how much the country was obliged to David for his public
|
|
services, but his narrow soul thinks not of paying any part of that
|
|
debt, nor so much as of acknowledging it; he speaks of David as an
|
|
inconsiderable man, obscure, and not to be regarded. Think it not
|
|
strange if great men and great merits be thus disgraced.
|
|
|
|
2. He upbraids him with his present distress, and takes occasion from
|
|
it to represent him as a bad man, that was fitter to be set in the
|
|
stocks for a vagrant than to have any kindness shown him. How naturally
|
|
does he speak the churlish clownish language of those that hate to give
|
|
alms! <I>There are many servants now-a-days</I> (as if there had been
|
|
none such in former days) <I>that break every man from his master,</I>
|
|
suggesting that David was one of them himself ("He might have kept his
|
|
place with his master Saul, and then he needed not have sent to me for
|
|
provisions"), and also that he entertained and harboured those that
|
|
were fugitives like himself. It would make one's blood rise to hear so
|
|
great and good a man as David thus vilified and reproached by such a
|
|
base churl as Nabal. <I>But the vile person will speak villany,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+32:5-7">Isa. xxxii. 5-7</A>.
|
|
|
|
If men bring themselves into straits by their own folly, yet they are
|
|
to be pitied and helped, and not trampled upon and starved. But D avid
|
|
was reduced to this distress, not by any fault, no, nor any
|
|
indiscretion, of his own, but purely by the good services he had done
|
|
to his country and the honours which his God had put upon him; and yet
|
|
he was represented as a fugitive and runagate. Le t this help us to
|
|
bear such reproaches and misrepresentations of us with patience and
|
|
cheerfulness, and make us easy under them, that it has often been the
|
|
lot of the excellent ones of the earth. Some of the best men that ever
|
|
the world was blest with were counted as the <I>off-scouring of all
|
|
things,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+4:13">1 Cor. iv. 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
3. He insists much upon the property he had in the provisions of his
|
|
table, and will by no means admit any body to share in them. "It is my
|
|
bread and my flesh, yes, and my water too (though < I>usus communis
|
|
aquarum</I>--<I>water is every one's property</I>), and it is prepared
|
|
for my shearers," priding himself in it that it was all his own; and
|
|
who denied it? Who offered to dispute his title? But this, he thinks,
|
|
will justify him in keeping i t all to himself, and giving David none;
|
|
for may he not do what he will with his own? Whereas we mistake if we
|
|
think we are absolute lords of what we have and may do what we please
|
|
with it. No, we are but stewards, and must use it as we are directed,
|
|
remembering it is not our own, but his that entrusted us with it.
|
|
Riches are <B><I>ta allotria</I></B>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+16:12">Luke xvi. 12</A>);
|
|
|
|
they are <I>another's,</I> and we ought not to talk too much of their
|
|
being our own.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="1Sa25_12"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Sa25_13"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Sa25_14"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Sa25_15"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Sa25_16"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Sa25_17"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Abigail Wise Resolution.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1057.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>12 So David's young men turned their way, and went again, and
|
|
came and told him all those sayings.
|
|
13 And David said unto his men, Gird ye on every man his sword.
|
|
And they girded on every man his sword; and David also girded on
|
|
his sword: and there went up after David about four hundred men;
|
|
and two hundred abode by the stuff.
|
|
14 But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, saying,
|
|
Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to salute our
|
|
master; and he railed on them.
|
|
15 But the men <I>were</I> very good unto us, and we were not hurt,
|
|
neither missed we any thing, as long as we were conversant with
|
|
them, when we were in the fields:
|
|
16 They were a wall unto us both by night and day, all the
|
|
while we were with them keeping the sheep.
|
|
17 Now therefore know and consider what thou wilt do; for evil
|
|
is determined against our master, and against all his household:
|
|
for he <I>is such</I> a son of Belial, that <I>a man</I> cannot speak to
|
|
him.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Here is,
|
|
|
|
I. The report made to David of the abuse Nabal had given to his
|
|
messengers
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+25:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>They turned their way.</I> They showed their displeasure, as became
|
|
them to do, by breaking off abruptly from such a churl, but prudently
|
|
governed themselves so well as not to render railing for railing, not
|
|
to call him as he deserved, much less to take by force what ought of
|
|
right to have been given them, but came and told David that he might do
|
|
as he thought fit. Christ's servants, when they are thus abused, must
|
|
leave it to him to plead his own cause and wait till he appear in it.
|
|
The servant showed his lord what affronts he had received, but did not
|
|
return them,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+14:21">Luke xiv. 21</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. David's hasty resolution hereupon. He girded on his sword, and
|
|
ordered his men to do so too, to the number of 400,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+25:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
And what he said we are told,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+25:21,22"><I>v.</I> 21, 22</A>.
|
|
|
|
1. He repented of the kindness he had done to Nabal, and looked upon it
|
|
as thrown away upon him. He said, "<I>surely in vain have I kept all
|
|
that this fellow hath in the wilderness.</I> I thought to oblige him
|
|
and make him my friend, but I see it is to no purpose. He has no sense
|
|
of gratitude, nor is he capable of receiving the impressions of a good
|
|
turn, else he could not have used me thus. He hath <I>requited me evil
|
|
for good.</I>" But, when we are thus requited, we should not repent of
|
|
the good we have done, nor be backward to do good another time. God is
|
|
kind to the evil and unthankful, and why may not we?
|
|
|
|
2. He determined to destroy Nabal and all that belonged to him,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+25:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>.
|
|
|
|
Here David did not act like himself. His resolution was bloody, to cut
|
|
off all the males of Nabal's house, and spare none, man nor man-child.
|
|
The ratification of his resolution was passionate: <I>So, and more also
|
|
do to God</I> (he was going to say <I>to me,</I> but that would better
|
|
become Saul's mouth,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+14:44"><I>ch.</I> xiv. 44</A>,
|
|
|
|
than David's, and therefore he decently turns it off) <I>to the enemies
|
|
of David. Is this thy voice, O David?</I> Can the man after God's own
|
|
heart speak thus unadvisedly with his lips? Has he been so long in the
|
|
school of affliction, where he should have learned patience, and yet so
|
|
passionate? Is this he who used to be dumb and deaf when he was
|
|
reproached
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+38:13">Ps. xxxviii. 13</A>),
|
|
|
|
who but the other day spared him who sought his life, and yet now will
|
|
not spare any thing that belongs to him who has only put an affront
|
|
upon his messengers? He who at other times used to be calm and
|
|
considerate is now put into such a heat by a few hard words that
|
|
nothing will atone for them but the blood of a whole family. Lord, what
|
|
is man! What are the best of men, when God leaves them to themselves,
|
|
to try them, that they may know what is in their hearts? From Saul
|
|
David expected injuries, and against those he was prepared and stood
|
|
upon his guard, and so kept his temper; but from Nabal he expected
|
|
kindness, and therefore the affront he gave him was a surprise to him,
|
|
found him off his guard, and, by a sudden and unexpected attack, put
|
|
him for the present into disorder. What need have we to pray, <I>Lord,
|
|
lead us not into temptation!</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. The account given of this matter to Abigail by one of the
|
|
servants, who was more considerate than the rest,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+25:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
Had this servant spoken to Nabal, and shown him the danger he had
|
|
exposed himself to by his own rudeness, he would have said, "Servants
|
|
are now-a-days so saucy, and so apt to prescribe, that there is no
|
|
enduring them," and, it may be, would have turned him out of doors. But
|
|
Abigail, being a woman of good understanding, took cognizance of the
|
|
matter, even from her servant, who,
|
|
|
|
1. Did David justice in commending him and his men for their civility
|
|
to Nabal's shepherds,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+25:15,16"><I>v.</I> 15, 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
"The men were very good to us, and, though they were themselves
|
|
exposed, yet they protected us and were a wall unto us." Those who do
|
|
that which is good shall, one way or other, have the praise of the
|
|
same. Nabal's own servant will be a witness for David that he is a man
|
|
of honour and conscience, whatever Nabal himself says of him. And,
|
|
|
|
2. He did Nabal no wrong in condemning him for his rudeness to David's
|
|
messengers: <I>He railed on them</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+25:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>he flew upon them</I> (so the word is) with an intolerable rage;
|
|
"for," say they, "it is his usual practice,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+25:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
He is such a son of Belial, so very morose and intractable, that a man
|
|
cannot speak to him but he flies into a passion immediately." Abigail
|
|
knew it too well herself.
|
|
|
|
3. He did Abigail and the whole family a kindness in making her
|
|
sensible what was likely to be the consequence. He knew David so well
|
|
that he had reason to think he would highly resent the affront, and
|
|
perhaps had had information of David's orders to his men to march that
|
|
way; for he is very positive <I>evil is determined against our master,
|
|
and all his household,</I> himself among the rest, would be involved in
|
|
it. Therefore he desires his mistress to consider what was to be done
|
|
for their common safety. They could not resist the force David would
|
|
bring down upon them, nor had they time to send to Saul to protect
|
|
them; something therefore must be done to pacify David.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="1Sa25_18"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Sa25_19"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Sa25_20"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Sa25_21"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Sa25_22"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Sa25_23"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Sa25_24"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Sa25_25"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Sa25_26"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Sa25_27"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Sa25_28"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Sa25_29"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Sa25_30"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Sa25_31"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec4"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Abigail Meets David.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1057.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>18 Then Abigail made haste, and took two hundred loaves, and
|
|
two bottles of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five
|
|
measures of parched <I>corn,</I> and a hundred clusters of raisins,
|
|
and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid <I>them</I> on asses.
|
|
19 And she said unto her servants, Go on before me; behold, I
|
|
come after you. But she told not her husband Nabal.
|
|
20 And it was <I>so, as</I> she rode on the ass, that she came down
|
|
by the covert of the hill, and, behold, David and his men came
|
|
down against her; and she met them.
|
|
21 Now David had said, Surely in vain have I kept all that this
|
|
<I>fellow</I> hath in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of
|
|
all that <I>pertained</I> unto him: and he hath requited me evil for
|
|
good.
|
|
22 So and more also do God unto the enemies of David, if I
|
|
leave of all that <I>pertain</I> to him by the morning light any that
|
|
pisseth against the wall.
|
|
23 And when Abigail saw David, she hasted, and lighted off the
|
|
ass, and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the
|
|
ground,
|
|
24 And fell at his feet, and said, Upon me, my lord, <I>upon</I> me
|
|
<I>let this</I> iniquity <I>be:</I> and let thine handmaid, I pray thee,
|
|
speak in thine audience, and hear the words of thine handmaid.
|
|
25 Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this man of Belial,
|
|
<I>even</I> Nabal: for as his name <I>is,</I> so <I>is</I> he; Nabal <I>is</I> his
|
|
name, and folly <I>is</I> with him: but I thine handmaid saw not the
|
|
young men of my lord, whom thou didst send.
|
|
26 Now therefore, my lord, <I>as</I> the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> liveth, and <I>as</I> thy
|
|
soul liveth, seeing the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> hath withholden thee from coming to
|
|
<I>shed</I> blood, and from avenging thyself with thine own hand, now
|
|
let thine enemies, and they that seek evil to my lord, be as
|
|
Nabal.
|
|
27 And now this blessing which thine handmaid hath brought unto
|
|
my lord, let it even be given unto the young men that follow my
|
|
lord.
|
|
28 I pray thee, forgive the trespass of thine handmaid: for the
|
|
L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> will certainly make my lord a sure house; because my lord
|
|
fighteth the battles of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, and evil hath not been found in
|
|
thee <I>all</I> thy days.
|
|
29 Yet a man is risen to pursue thee, and to seek thy soul: but
|
|
the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the
|
|
L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> thy God; and the souls of thine enemies, them shall he sling
|
|
out, <I>as out</I> of the middle of a sling.
|
|
30 And it shall come to pass, when the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> shall have done to
|
|
my lord according to all the good that he hath spoken concerning
|
|
thee, and shall have appointed thee ruler over Israel;
|
|
31 That this shall be no grief unto thee, nor offence of heart
|
|
unto my lord, either that thou hast shed blood causeless, or that
|
|
my lord hath avenged himself: but when the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> shall have dealt
|
|
well with my lord, then remember thine handmaid.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
We have here an account of Abigail's prudent management for the
|
|
preserving of her husband and family from the destruction that was just
|
|
coming upon them; and we find that she did her part admirably well and
|
|
fully answered her character. The passion of fools often makes those
|
|
breaches in a little time which the wise, with all their wisdom, have
|
|
much ado to make up again. It is hard to say whether Abigail was more
|
|
miserable in such a husband or Nabal happy in such a wife. A
|
|
<I>virtuous woman is a crown to her husband,</I> to protect as well as
|
|
adorn, and will <I>do him good and not evil.</I> Wisdom in such a case
|
|
as this was better than weapons of war.
|
|
|
|
1. It was her wisdom that what she did she did quickly, and without
|
|
delay; she made haste,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+25:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
It was no time to trifle or linger when all was in danger. Those that
|
|
desire conditions of peace must send when the enemy is yet a great way
|
|
off,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+14:32">Luke xiv. 32</A>.
|
|
|
|
2. It was her wisdom that what she did she did herself, because, being
|
|
a woman of great prudence and very happy address, she knew better how
|
|
to manage it than any servant she had. The virtuous woman will herself
|
|
<I>look well to the ways of her household,</I> and not devolve this
|
|
duty wholly upon others.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Abigail must endeavour to atone for Nabal's faults. Now he had been in
|
|
two ways rude to David's messengers, and in them to David: He had
|
|
denied them the provisions they asked for, and he had given them very
|
|
provoking language. Now,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. By a most generous present, Abigail atones for his denial of their
|
|
request. If Nabal had given them what came next to hand, they would
|
|
have gone away thankful; but Abigail prepares the very best the house
|
|
afforded and abundance of it
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+25:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>),
|
|
|
|
according to the usual entertainments of those times, not only
|
|
<I>bread</I> and <I>flesh,</I> but <I>raisins</I> and <I>figs,</I>
|
|
which were their dried sweet-meats. Nabal grudged them <I>water,</I>
|
|
but she took <I>two bottles</I> (<I>casks</I> or <I>rundlets</I>)
|
|
<I>of wine,</I>
|
|
loaded her asses with these provisions, and sent them before; for <I>a
|
|
gift pacifieth anger,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+21:14">Prov. xxi. 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
Jacob thus pacified Esau. When the <I>instruments of the churl are
|
|
evil, the liberal devises liberal things,</I> and loses nothing by it;
|
|
for by <I>liberal things shall he stand,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+32:7,8">Isa. xxxii. 7, 8</A>.
|
|
|
|
Abigail not only lawfully, but laudably, disposed of all these goods of
|
|
her husband's without his knowledge (even when she had reason to think
|
|
that if he had known what she did he would not have consented to it),
|
|
because it was not to gratify her own pride or vanity, but for the
|
|
necessary defence of him and his family. which otherwise would have
|
|
been inevitably ruined. Husbands and wives, for their common good and
|
|
benefit, have a joint-interest in their worldly possessions; but if
|
|
either waste, or unduly spend in any way, it is a robbing of the
|
|
other.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. By a most obliging demeanour, and charming speech, she atones for
|
|
the abusive language which Nabal had given them. She met David upon the
|
|
march, big with resentment, and meditating the destruction of Nabal
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+25:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>);
|
|
|
|
but with all possible expressions of complaisance and respect she
|
|
humbly begs his favour, and solicits him to pass by the offence. Her
|
|
demeanour was very submissive: <I>She bowed herself to the ground
|
|
before David</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+25:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>)
|
|
|
|
<I>and fell at his feet,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+25:24"><I>v.</I> 24</A>.
|
|
|
|
Yielding pacifies great offences. She put herself into the place and
|
|
posture of a penitent and of a petitioner, and was not ashamed to do
|
|
it, when it was for the good of her house, in the sight both of her own
|
|
servants and of David's soldiers. She humbly begs of David that he will
|
|
give her the hearing: <I>Let thy handmaid speak in thy audience.</I>
|
|
But she needed not thus to bespeak his attention and patience; what she
|
|
said was sufficient to command it, for certainly nothing could be more
|
|
fine nor more moving. No topic of argument is left untouched; every
|
|
thing is well placed and well expressed, most pertinently and
|
|
pathetically urged, and improved to the best advantage, with such a
|
|
force of natural rhetoric as cannot easily be paralleled.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. She speaks to him all along with the deference and respect due to so
|
|
great and good a man, calls him <I>My lord,</I> over and over, to
|
|
expiate her husband's crime in saying, "Who is David?" She does not
|
|
upbraid him with the heat of his passion, though he deserved to be
|
|
reproved for it; nor does she tell him how ill it became his character;
|
|
but endeavours to soften him and bring him to a better temper, not
|
|
doubting but that then his own conscience would upbraid him with
|
|
it.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. She takes the blame of the ill-treatment of his messengers upon
|
|
herself: "<I>Upon me, my lord, upon me, let this iniquity be,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+25:24"><I>v.</I> 24</A>.
|
|
|
|
If thou wilt be angry, be angry with me, rather than with my poor
|
|
husband, and look upon it <I>as the trespass of thy handmaid,</I>"
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+25:28"><I>v.</I> 28</A>.
|
|
|
|
Sordid spirits care not how much others suffer for their faults, while
|
|
generous spirits can be content to suffer for the faults of others.
|
|
Abigail here discovered the sincerity and strength of her conjugal
|
|
affection and concern for her family: whatever Nabal was, he was her
|
|
husband.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. She excuses her husband's fault by imputing it to his natural
|
|
weakness and want of understanding
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+25:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Let not my lord</I> take notice of his rudeness and ill manners,
|
|
for it is like him; it is not the first time that he has behaved so
|
|
churlishly; he must be borne with, for it is for want of wit: <I>Nabal
|
|
is his name</I>" (which signifies a <I>fool</I>), "<I>and folly is with
|
|
him.</I> It was owing to his folly, not his malice. He is simple, but
|
|
not spiteful. Forgive him, for he knows not what he does." What she
|
|
said was too true, and she said it to excuse his fault and prevent his
|
|
ruin, else she would not have done well to give such a bad character as
|
|
this of her own husband, whom she ought to make the best of, and not to
|
|
speak ill of.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
4. She pleads her own ignorance of the matter: "<I>I saw not the young
|
|
men,</I> else they should have had a better answer, and should not have
|
|
gone without their errand," intimating hereby that though her husband
|
|
was foolish, and unfit to manage his affairs himself, yet he had so
|
|
much wisdom as to be ruled by her and take her advice.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
5. She takes it for granted that she has gained her point already,
|
|
perhaps perceiving, by David's countenance, that he began to change his
|
|
mind
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+25:26"><I>v.</I> 26</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Seeing the Lord hath withholden thee.</I> She depends not upon her
|
|
own reasonings, but God's grace, to mollify him, and doubts not but
|
|
that grace would work powerfully upon him; and then, "<I>Let all thy
|
|
enemies be as Nabal,</I> that is, if thou forbear to avenge thyself, no
|
|
doubt God will avenge thee on him, as he will on all thy other
|
|
enemies." Or it intimates that it was below him to take vengeance on so
|
|
weak and impotent an enemy as Nabal was, who, as he would do him no
|
|
kindness, so he could do him no hurt, for he needed to wish no more
|
|
concerning his enemies than that they might be as unable to resist him
|
|
as Nabal was. Perhaps she refers to his sparing Saul, when, but the
|
|
other day, he had him at his mercy. "Didst thou forbear to avenge
|
|
thyself on that lion that would devour thee, and wilt thou shed the
|
|
blood of this dog that can but bark at thee?" The very mentioning of
|
|
what he was about to do, to shed blood and to avenge himself, was
|
|
enough to work upon such a tender gracious spirit as David had; and it
|
|
should seem, by his reply
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+25:33"><I>v.</I> 33</A>),
|
|
|
|
that it affected him.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
6. She makes a tender of the present she had brought, but speaks of it
|
|
as unworthy of David's acceptance, and therefore desires it may be
|
|
given to the <I>young men that followed him</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+25:27"><I>v.</I> 27</A>),
|
|
|
|
and particularly to those ten that were his messengers to Nabal, and
|
|
whom he had treated so rudely.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
7. She applauds David for the good services he had done against the
|
|
common enemies of his country, the glory of which great achievements,
|
|
she hoped, he would not stain by any personal revenge: "<I>My lord
|
|
fighteth the battles of the Lord</I> against the Philistines, and
|
|
therefore he will leave it to God to fight his battles against those
|
|
that affront him,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+25:28"><I>v.</I> 28</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>Evil has not been found in thee all thy days.</I> Thou never yet
|
|
didst wrong to any of thy countrymen (though persecuted as a traitor),
|
|
and therefore thou wilt not begin now, nor do a thing which Saul will
|
|
improve for the justifying of his malice against thee."</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
8. She foretels the glorious issue of his present troubles. "It is true
|
|
<I>a man pursues thee</I> and <I>seeks thy life</I>" (she names not
|
|
Saul, out of respect to his present character as king), "but thou
|
|
needest not look with so sharp and jealous an eye upon every one that
|
|
affronts thee;" for all these storms that now ruffle thee will be blown
|
|
over shortly. She speaks it with assurance,
|
|
|
|
(1.) That God would keep him safe: <I>The soul of my lord shall be
|
|
bound in the bundle of life with the Lord thy God,</I> that is, God
|
|
shall <I>hold thy soul in life</I> (as the expression is,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+66:9">Ps. lxvi. 9</A>)
|
|
|
|
as we hold those things which are bundled up or which are precious to
|
|
us,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+116:15">Ps. cxvi. 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>Thy soul shall be treasured up in the treasure of lives</I> (so the
|
|
Chaldee), under lock and key as our treasure is. "Thou shalt abide
|
|
under the special protection of the divine providence." The <I>bundle
|
|
of life is with the Lord our God,</I> for in his hand our breath is,
|
|
and our times. Those are safe, and may be easy, that have him for their
|
|
protector. The Jews understand this not only of the <I>life that now
|
|
is,</I> but of that <I>which is to come,</I> even the happiness of
|
|
separate souls, and therefore use it commonly as an inscription on
|
|
their gravestones. "Here we have laid the body, but trust that <I>the
|
|
soul is bound up in the bundle of life, with the Lord our God.</I>"
|
|
There it is safe, while the dust of the body is scattered.
|
|
|
|
(2.) That God would make him victorious over his enemies. Their souls
|
|
he shall <I>sling out,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+25:29"><I>v.</I> 29</A>.
|
|
|
|
The stone is bound up in the sling, but it is in order to be thrown out
|
|
again; so the souls of the godly shall be bundled as corn for the barn,
|
|
but the souls of the wicked as tares for the fire.
|
|
|
|
(3.) That God would settle him in wealth and power: "<I>The Lord will
|
|
certainly make my lord a sure house,</I> and no enemy thou hast can
|
|
hinder it; therefore <I>forgive this trespass,</I>" that is, "show
|
|
mercy, as thou hopest to find mercy. God will make thee great, and it
|
|
is the glory of great men to pass by offences."</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
9. She desires him to consider how much more comfortable it would be to
|
|
him in the reflection to have forgiven this affront than to have
|
|
revenged it,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+25:30,31"><I>v.</I> 30, 31</A>.
|
|
|
|
She reserves this argument for the last, as a very powerful one with so
|
|
good a man, that the less he indulged his passion the more he consulted
|
|
his peace and the repose of his own conscience, which every wise man
|
|
will be tender of.
|
|
|
|
(1.) She cannot but think that if he should avenge himself it would
|
|
afterwards be a grief and an offence of heart to him, Many have done
|
|
that in a heat which they have a thousand times wished undone again.
|
|
The sweetness of revenge is soon turned into bitterness.
|
|
|
|
(2.) She is confident that if he pass by the offence it will afterwards
|
|
by no grief to him; but, on the contrary, it would yield him
|
|
unspeakable satisfaction that his wisdom and grace had got the better
|
|
of his passion. Note, When we are tempted to sin we should consider how
|
|
it will appear in the reflection. Let us never do any thing for which
|
|
our own consciences will afterwards have occasion to upbraid us, and
|
|
which we shall look back upon with regret: <I>My heart shall not
|
|
reproach me.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
10. She recommends herself to his favour: <I>When the Lord shall have
|
|
dealt well with my lord, then remember thy handmaid,</I> as one that
|
|
kept thee from doing that which would have disgraced thy honour,
|
|
disquieted thy conscience, and made a blot in thy history. We have
|
|
reason to remember those with respect and gratitude who have been
|
|
instrumental to keep us from sin.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="1Sa25_32"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Sa25_33"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Sa25_34"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Sa25_35"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec5"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>David Blesses Abigail.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1057.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>32 And David said to Abigail, Blessed <I>be</I> the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> God of
|
|
Israel, which sent thee this day to meet me:
|
|
33 And blessed <I>be</I> thy advice, and blessed <I>be</I> thou, which
|
|
hast kept me this day from coming to <I>shed</I> blood, and from
|
|
avenging myself with mine own hand.
|
|
34 For in very deed, <I>as</I> the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> 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 <I>that</I> 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.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
<I>As an ear-ring of gold, and an ornament of fine gold, so is a wise
|
|
reprover upon an obedient ear,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+25:12">Prov. xxv. 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
Abigail was a wise reprover of David's passion, and he gave an obedient
|
|
ear to the reproof, according to his own principle
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+141:5">Ps. cxli. 5</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Let the righteous smite me, it shall be a kindness.</I> Never was
|
|
such an admonition either better given or better taken.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. David gives God thanks for sending him this happy check to a sinful
|
|
way
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+25:32"><I>v.</I> 32</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who sent thee this day to meet
|
|
me.</I> 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.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. He gives Abigail thanks for interposing so opportunely between him
|
|
and the mischief he was about to do: <I>Blessed be thy advice, and
|
|
blessed be thou,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+25:33"><I>v.</I> 33</A>.
|
|
|
|
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.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
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, <I>Deliver me from blood-guiltiness.</I> He was coming to
|
|
<I>avenge himself with his own hand,</I> and that would be stepping
|
|
into the throne of God, who has said, <I>Vengeance is mine; I will
|
|
repay.</I> 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 <I>kept me back from hurting thee,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+25:34"><I>v.</I> 34</A>.
|
|
|
|
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:
|
|
"<I>Except thou hadst hasted,</I> the bloody execution had been done."
|
|
The nearer we were to the commission of sin the greater was the mercy
|
|
of a seasonable restraint--<I>Almost gone</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+73:2">Ps. lxxiii. 2</A>)
|
|
|
|
and yet upheld.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. He dismissed her with an answer of peace,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+25:35"><I>v.</I> 35</A>.
|
|
|
|
He does, in effect, own himself overcome by her eloquence: "<I>I have
|
|
hearkened to thy voice,</I> and will not prosecute the intended
|
|
revenge, for I <I>have accepted thy person,</I> 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
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+28:23">Prov. xxviii. 23</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="1Sa25_36"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Sa25_37"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Sa25_38"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Sa25_39"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Sa25_40"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Sa25_41"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Sa25_42"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Sa25_43"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Sa25_44"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec6"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>David Marries Abigail.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1057.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>36 And Abigail came to Nabal; and, behold, he held a feast in
|
|
his house, like the feast of a king; and Nabal's heart <I>was</I>
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merry within him, for he <I>was</I> very drunken: wherefore she told
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him nothing, less or more, until the morning light.
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37 But it came to pass in the morning, when the wine was gone
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out of Nabal, and his wife had told him these things, that his
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heart died within him, and he became <I>as</I> a stone.
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38 And it came to pass about ten days <I>after,</I> that the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>
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smote Nabal, that he died.
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39 And when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed
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<I>be</I> the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, that hath pleaded the cause of my reproach from
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the hand of Nabal, and hath kept his servant from evil: for the
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|
L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> hath returned the wickedness of Nabal upon his own head. And
|
|
David sent and communed with Abigail, to take her to him to wife.
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|
40 And when the servants of David were come to Abigail to
|
|
Carmel, they spake unto her, saying, David sent us unto thee, to
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|
take thee to him to wife.
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|
41 And she arose, and bowed herself on <I>her</I> face to the earth,
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|
and said, Behold, <I>let</I> thine handmaid <I>be</I> a servant to wash the
|
|
feet of the servants of my lord.
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|
42 And Abigail hasted, and arose, and rode upon an ass, with
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|
five damsels of hers that went after her; and she went after the
|
|
messengers of David, and became his wife.
|
|
43 David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel; and they were also both
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|
of them his wives.
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|
44 But Saul had given Michal his daughter, David's wife, to
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|
Phalti the son of Laish, which <I>was</I> of Gallim.
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|
</FONT></P>
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|
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<P>
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We are now to attend Nabal's funeral and Abigail's wedding.</P>
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|
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|
<P>
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|
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|
I. Nabal's funeral. The apostle speaks of some that were <I>twice
|
|
dead,</I>
|
|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jude+1:12">Jude 12</A>.
|
|
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|
We have hare Nabal <I>thrice</I> dead, though but just now wonderfully
|
|
rescued from the sword of David and delivered from so great a death;
|
|
for the preservations of wicked men are but reservations for some
|
|
further sorer strokes of divine wrath. Here is,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. <I>Nabal dead drunk,</I>
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|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+25:36"><I>v.</I> 36</A>.
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|
|
|
Abigail came home, and, it should seem, he had so many people and so
|
|
much plenty about him that he neither missed her nor the provisions she
|
|
took to David; but she found him in the midst of his jollity, little
|
|
thinking how near he was to ruin by one whom he had foolishly made his
|
|
enemy. Sinners are often most secure when they are most in danger and
|
|
destruction is at the door. Observe,
|
|
|
|
(1.) How extravagant he was in the entertainment of his company: <I>He
|
|
held a feast like the feast of a king,</I> so magnificent and abundant,
|
|
though his guests were but his sheep-shearers. This abundance might
|
|
have been allowed if he had considered what God gave him his estate
|
|
for, not to look great with, but to do good with. It is very common for
|
|
those that are most niggardly in any act of piety or charity to be most
|
|
profuse in gratifying a vain humour or a base lust. A mite is grudged
|
|
to God and his poor; but, to make a <I>fair show in the flesh, gold is
|
|
lavished out of the bag.</I> If Nabal had not answered to his name, he
|
|
would never have been thus secure and jovial, till he had enquired
|
|
whether he was safe from David's resentments; but (as bishop Hall
|
|
observes) thus foolish are carnal men, that give themselves over to
|
|
their pleasures before they have taken any care to make their peace
|
|
with God.
|
|
|
|
(2.) How sottish he was in the indulgence of his own brutish appetite:
|
|
<I>He was very drunk,</I> a sign he was <I>Nabal, a fool,</I> that
|
|
could not use his plenty without abusing it, could not be pleasant with
|
|
his friends without making a beast of himself. There is not a surer
|
|
sign that a man has but little wisdom, nor a surer way to ruin the
|
|
little he has, than drinking to excess. Nabal, that never thought he
|
|
could bestow too little in charity, never thought he could bestow too
|
|
much in luxury. Abigail, finding him in this condition (and probably
|
|
those about him little better, when the master of the feast set them so
|
|
bad an example), had enough to do to set the disordered house to-rights
|
|
a little, but told Nabal nothing of what she had done with reference to
|
|
David, nothing of his folly in provoking David, of his danger or of his
|
|
deliverance, for, being drunk, he was as incapable to hear reason as he
|
|
was to speak it. To give good advice to those that are in drink is to
|
|
<I>cast pearls before swine;</I> it is better to stay till they are
|
|
sober.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. Nabal again dead with melancholy,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+25:37"><I>v.</I> 37</A>.
|
|
|
|
Next morning, when he had come to himself a little, his wife told him
|
|
how near to destruction he had brought himself and his family by his
|
|
own rudeness, and with what difficulty she had interposed to prevent
|
|
it; and, upon this, <I>his heart died within him and he became as a
|
|
stone.</I> Some suggest that the expense of the satisfaction made to
|
|
David, by the present Abigail brought him, broke his heart: it seems
|
|
rather that the apprehension he now had of the danger he had narrowly
|
|
escaped put him into a consternation, and seized his spirits so that he
|
|
could not recover it. He grew sullen, and said little, ashamed of his
|
|
own folly, put out of countenance by his wife's wisdom. How is he
|
|
changed! His heart over-night merry with wine, next morning heavy as a
|
|
stone; so deceitful are carnal pleasures, so transient the laughter of
|
|
the fool. <I>The end of that mirth is heaviness.</I> Drunkards are
|
|
sometimes sad when they reflect upon their own folly. Joy in God makes
|
|
the heart always light. Abigail could never, by her wise reasonings,
|
|
bring Nabal to repentance; but now, by her faithful reproof, she brings
|
|
him to despair.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. Nabal, at last, dead indeed: <I>About ten days after,</I> when he
|
|
had been kept so long under this pressure and pain, <I>the Lord smote
|
|
him that he died</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+25:38"><I>v.</I> 38</A>),
|
|
|
|
and, it should seem, he never held up his head; it is just with God
|
|
(says bishop Hall) that those who live without grace should die without
|
|
comfort, nor can we expect better while we go on in our sins. Here is
|
|
no lamentation made for Nabal. He departed without being lamented.
|
|
Every one wished that the country might never sustain a greater loss.
|
|
<I>David,</I> when he heard the news of his death, <I>gave God
|
|
thanks</I> for it,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+25:39"><I>v.</I> 39</A>.
|
|
|
|
He blessed God,
|
|
|
|
(1.) That he had kept him from killing him: <I>Blessed be the lord, who
|
|
hath kept his servant from evil.</I> He rejoices that Nabal died a
|
|
natural death and not by his hand. We should take all occasions to
|
|
mention and magnify God's goodness to us in keeping us from sin.
|
|
|
|
(2.) That he had taken the work into his own hands, and had vindicated
|
|
David's honour, and not suffered him to go unpunished who had been
|
|
abusive to him; hereby his interest would be confirmed, and all would
|
|
stand in awe of him, as one for whom God fought.
|
|
|
|
(3.) That he had thereby encouraged him and all others to commit their
|
|
cause to God, when they are in any way injured, with an assurance that,
|
|
in his own time, he will redress their wrongs if they sit still and
|
|
leave the matter to him.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. Abigail's wedding. David was so charmed with the beauty of her
|
|
person, and the uncommon prudence of her conduct and address, that, as
|
|
soon as was convenient, after he heard she was a widow, he informed her
|
|
of his attachment to her
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+25:39"><I>v.</I> 39</A>),
|
|
|
|
not doubting but that she who approved herself so good a wife to so bad
|
|
a husband as Nabal would much more make a good wife to him, and having
|
|
taken notice of her respect to him and her confidence of his coming to
|
|
the throne.
|
|
|
|
1. He courted by proxy, his affairs, perhaps, not permitting him to
|
|
come himself.
|
|
|
|
2. She received the address with great modesty and humility
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+25:41"><I>v.</I> 41</A>),
|
|
|
|
reckoning herself unworthy of the honour, yet having such a respect for
|
|
him that she would gladly be one of the poorest servants of his family,
|
|
to wash the feet of the other servants. None so fit to be preferred as
|
|
those that can thus humble themselves.
|
|
|
|
3. She agreed to the proposal, went with his messenger, took a retinue
|
|
with her agreeable to her quality, and <I>she became his wife,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+25:42"><I>v.</I> 42</A>.
|
|
|
|
She did not upbraid him with his present distresses, and ask him how he
|
|
could maintain her, but valued him,
|
|
|
|
(1.) Because she knew he was a very good man.
|
|
|
|
(2.) Because she believed he would, in due time, be a very great man.
|
|
She married him in faith, not questioning but that, though now he had
|
|
not a house of his own that he durst bring her to, yet God's promise go
|
|
him would at length be fulfilled. Thus those who join themselves to
|
|
Christ must be willing now to suffer with him, believing that hereafter
|
|
they shall reign with him.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
<I>Lastly,</I> On this occasion we have some account of David's wives.
|
|
|
|
1. One that he had lost before he married Abigail, Michal, Saul's
|
|
daughter, his first, and the wife of his youth, to whom he would have
|
|
been constant if she would have been so to him, but Saul had given her
|
|
to another
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+25:44"><I>v.</I> 44</A>),
|
|
|
|
in token of his displeasure against him and disclaiming the relation of
|
|
a father-in-law to him.
|
|
|
|
2. Another that he married besides Abigail
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+25:43"><I>v.</I> 43</A>),
|
|
|
|
and, as should seem, before her, for she is named first,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+27:3"><I>ch.</I> xxvii. 3</A>.
|
|
|
|
David was carried away by the corrupt custom of those times; but from
|
|
the beginning it was not so, nor is it so now that Messias has come,
|
|
and the times of reformation,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+19:4,5">Matt. xix. 4, 5</A>.
|
|
|
|
Perhaps Saul's defrauding David of his only rightful wife was the
|
|
occasion of his running into this irregularity; for, when the knot of
|
|
conjugal affection is once loosed, it is scarcely ever tied fast again.
|
|
When David could not keep his first wife he thought that would excuse
|
|
him if he did not keep to his second. But we deceive ourselves if we
|
|
think to make others' faults a cloak for our own.</P>
|
|
|
|
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