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1 Samuel
Chapter Twenty-five
1 Samuel 25
Chapter Contents
Death of Samuel. (1) David's request; Nabal's churlish
refusal. (2-11) David's intention to destroy Nabal. (12-17) Abigail takes a
present to David. (18-31) He is pacified
Nabal dies. (32-39) David takes
Abigail to wife. (39-44)
Commentary on 1 Samuel 25:1
(Read 1 Samuel 25:1)
All Israel lamented Samuel
and they had reason. He
prayed daily for them. Those have hard hearts
who can bury faithful ministers
without grief; who do not feel their loss of those who have prayed for them
and taught them the way of the Lord.
Commentary on 1 Samuel 25:2-11
(Read 1 Samuel 25:2-11)
We should not have heard of Nabal
if nothing had passed
between him and David. Observe his name
Nabal
"A fool;" so it
signifies. Riches make men look great in the eye of the world; but to one that
takes right views
Nabal looked very mean. He had no honour or honesty; he was
churlish
cross
and ill-humoured; evil in his doings
hard and oppressive; a man
that cared not what fraud and violence he used in getting and saving. What
little reason have we to value the wealth of this world
when so great a churl
as Nabal abounds
and so good a man as David suffers want!
David pleaded the
kindness Nabal's shepherds had received. Considering that David's men were in
distress and debt
and discontented
and the scarcity of provisions
it was by
good management that they were kept from plundering. Nabal went into a passion
as covetous men are apt to do
when 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. Let this help us to bear
reproaches and misrepresentations with patience and cheerfulness
and make us
easy under them; it has often been the lot of the excellent ones of the earth.
Nabal insists much on the property he had in the provisions of his table. May
he not do what he will with his own? 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 who intrusted us with it.
Commentary on 1 Samuel 25:12-17
(Read 1 Samuel 25:12-17)
God is kind to the evil and unthankful
and why may not
we be so? David determined to destroy Nabal
and all that belonged to him. Is
this thy voice
O David? Has he been so long in the school of affliction
where
he should have learned patience
and yet is so passionate? He at other times
was calm and considerate
but is put into such a heat by a few hard words
that
he seeks to destroy a whole family. What are the best of men
when God leaves
them to themselves
that they may know what is in their hearts? What need to
pray
Lord
lead us not into temptation!
Commentary on 1 Samuel 25:18-31
(Read 1 Samuel 25:18-31)
By a present Abigail atoned for Nabal's denial of David's
request. Her behaviour was very submissive. Yielding pacifies great offences.
She puts herself in the place of a penitent
and of a petitioner. She could not
excuse her husband's conduct. She depends not upon her own reasonings
but on
God's grace
to soften David
and expects that grace would work powerfully. She
says that it was below him to take vengeance on so weak and despicable an enemy
as Nabal
who
as he would do him no kindness
so he could do him no hurt. She
foretells the glorious end of David's present troubles. God will preserve thy
life; therefore it becomes not thee unjustly and unnecessarily to take away the
lives of any
especially of the people of thy God and Saviour. Abigail keeps
this argument for the last
as very powerful 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. 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.
When tempted to sin
we should consider how it will appear when we think upon
it afterwards.
Commentary on 1 Samuel 25:32-39
(Read 1 Samuel 25:32-39)
David gives God thanks for sending him this happy check
in a sinful way. Whoever meet us with counsel
direction
comfort
caution
or
seasonable reproof
we must see God sending them. We ought to be very thankful
for those happy providences which are the means of keeping us from sinning.
Most people think it enough
if they take reproof patiently; but few will take
it thankfully
and commend those who give it
and accept it as a favour. The
nearer we are to committing sin
the greater is the mercy of a seasonable
restraint. Sinners are often most secure when most in danger. He was very
drunk. A sign he was Nabal
a fool
that could not use plenty without abusing
it; who 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
destroy the little he has
than drinking to excess. Next morning
how he is
changed! His heart overnight merry with wine
next morning heavy as a stone; so
deceitful are carnal pleasures
so soon passes the laughter of the fool; the
end of that mirth is heaviness. Drunkards are sad
when they reflect upon their
own folly. About ten days after
the Lord smote Nabal
that he died. David
blessed God that he had been kept from killing Nabal. Worldly sorrow
mortified
pride
and an affrighted conscience
sometimes end the joys of the sensualist
and separate the covetous man from his wealth; but
whatever the weapon
the
Lord smites men with death when it pleases him.
Commentary on 1 Samuel 25:39-44
(Read 1 Samuel 25:39-44)
Abigail believed that David would be king over Israel
and greatly esteemed his pious and excellent character. She deemed his proposal
of marriage honourable
and advantageous to her
notwithstanding his present
difficulties. With great humility
and doubtless agreeably to the customs of
those times
she consented
being willing to share his trails. Thus those who
join themselves to Christ
must be willing now to suffer with him
believing
that hereafter they shall reign with him.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on 1 Samuel》
1 Samuel 25
Verse 1
[1] And
Samuel died; and all the Israelites were gathered together
and lamented him
and buried him in his house at Ramah. And David arose
and went down to the
wilderness of Paran.
Lamented him —
Those have hard hearts
that can bury their faithful ministers with dry eyes
and are not sensible of the loss of them who have prayed for them
and taught
them the way of the Lord.
Verse 2
[2] And there was a man in Maon
whose possessions were in Carmel; and the man
was very great
and he had three thousand sheep
and a thousand goats: and he
was shearing his sheep in Carmel.
Carmel — In
some part of this wilderness Israel wandered
when they came out of Egypt. The
place would bring to mind God's care concerning them
which David might now
improve for his own encouragement.
Verse 3
[3] Now
the name of the man was Nabal; and the name of his wife Abigail: and she was a
woman of good understanding
and of a beautiful countenance: but the man was
churlish and evil in his doings; and he was of the house of Caleb.
Abigail —
That is
the joy of his father: yet he could not promise himself much joy of
her
when he married her to such an husband: it seems
in inquiring
(no
unfrequent thing) more after his wealth
than after his wisdom.
Caleb —
This is added to aggravate his crime
that he was a degenerate branch of that
noble stock of Caleb
and consequently of the tribe of Judah
as David was.
Verse 4
[4] And
David heard in the wilderness that Nabal did shear his sheep.
Shear sheep —
Which times were celebrated with feasting.
Verse 6
[6] And thus shall ye say to him that liveth in prosperity
Peace be both to
thee
and peace be to thine house
and peace be unto all that thou hast.
Prosperity — By
this expression David both congratulates Nabal's felicity
and tacitly minds
him of the distress in which he and his men were.
Verse 7
[7] And
now I have heard that thou hast shearers: now thy shepherds which were with us
we hurt them not
neither was there ought missing unto them
all the while they
were in Carmel.
We hurt not —
This considering the licentiousness of soldiers
and the necessities David and
his men were exposed to
was no small favour
which Nabal was bound both in
justice
and gratitude
and prudence to requite.
Verse 8
[8] Ask
thy young men
and they will shew thee. Wherefore let the young men find favour
in thine eyes: for we come in a good day: give
I pray thee
whatsoever cometh
to thine hand unto thy servants
and to thy son David.
A good day —
That is
in a day of feasting and rejoicing; when men are most chearful and
liberal; when thou mayst relieve us out of thy abundance without damage to thyself;
when thou art receiving the mercies of God
and therefore obliged to pity and
relieve distressed and indigent persons.
Verse 17
[17] Now
therefore know and consider what thou wilt do; for evil is determined against
our master
and against all his household: for he is such a son of Belial
that
a man cannot speak to him.
Can not speak —
But he flies into a passion.
Verse 18
[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 corn
and an hundred
clusters of raisins
and two hundred cakes of figs
and laid them on asses.
Abigail took
… —
This she did without his leave
because it was a case of apparent necessity
for the preservation of herself
and husband
and all the family from imminent
ruin. And surely
that necessity which dispenseth with God's positive commands
might dispense with the husband's right
in this case.
Bottles —
Casks or rundlets.
Verse 22
[22] So
and more also do God unto the enemies of David
if I leave of all that pertain
to him by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall.
Enemies of David —
That is
unto David himself. But because it might seem ominous to curse
himself
therefore instead of David
he mentions David's enemies. But is this
the voice of David? Can he speak so unadvisedly with his lips? Has he been so
long in the school of affliction
and learned no more patience therein? Lord
what is man? And what need have we to pray
lead us not into temptation.
Verse 24
[24] And fell
at his feet
and said
Upon me
my lord
upon me let this iniquity be: and let
thine handmaid
I pray thee
speak in thine audience
and hear the words of
thine handmaid.
And said
… —
Impute Nabal's sin to me
and if thou pleasest
punish it in me
who here offer
myself as a sacrifice to thy just indignation. This whole speech of Abigail
shews great wisdom
by an absolute submitting to mercy
without any pretence of
justification
of what was done
(but rather with aggravation of it) she
endeavours to work upon David's generosity
to pardon it. And there is hardly
any head of argument
whence the greatest orator might argue in this case
which she doth not manage to the best advantage.
Verse 25
[25] Let
not my lord
I pray thee
regard this man of Belial
even Nabal: for as his
name is
so is he; Nabal is his name
and folly is with him: but I thine
handmaid saw not the young men of my lord
whom thou didst send.
Nabal is his name —
Nabal signifies a fool.
Verse 26
[26] Now
therefore
my lord
as the LORD liveth
and as thy soul liveth
seeing the LORD
hath withholden thee from coming to shed blood
and from avenging thyself with
thine own hand
now let thine enemies
and they that seek evil to my lord
be
as Nabal.
As Nabal —
Let them be as contemptible as Nabal is
and will be for this odious action;
let them be as unable to do thee any hurt as he is; let them be forced to yield
to thee
and implore thy pardon
as Nabal now doth by my mouth: let the
vengeance thou didst design upon Nabal and his family fall upon their heads
who
by their inveterate malice against thee
do more deserve it than this fool
for this miscarriage; and much more than all the rest of our family
who
as
they are none of thine enemies
so they were in way guilty of this wicked action.
And therefore spare these
and execute thy vengeance upon more proper objects.
Verse 27
[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.
Blessing — So
a gift or present is called here
and elsewhere; not only because the matter of
it comes from God's blessing; but also because it is given with a blessing
or
with a good will.
Unto the young men — As
being unworthy of thine acceptance or use.
Verse 28
[28] I
pray thee
forgive the trespass of thine handmaid: for the LORD will certainly
make my lord a sure house; because my lord fighteth the battles of the LORD
and evil hath not been found in thee all thy days.
The trespass —
That is
which I have taken upon myself
and which
if it be punished
the
punishment will reach to me.
Sure house —
Will give the kingdom to thee
and to thy house for ever
as he hath promised
thee. And therefore let God's kindness to thee
make thee gentle and merciful
to others; do not sully thy approaching glory with the stain of innocent blood;
but consider
that it is the glory of a king
to profit by offences: and that
it will be thy loss to cut off such as will shortly be thy subjects.
The battles —
For the Lord
and for the people of the Lord against their enemies; especially
the Philistines. And as this is thy proper work
and therein thou mayest expect
God's blessing; so it is not thy work to draw thy sword in thy own private
quarrel against any of the people of the Lord; and God will not bless thee in
it.
Evil hath not
… —
Though thou hast been charged with many crimes by Saul and others; yet thy
innocency is evident to all men: do not therefore by this cruel act
justify
thine enemies reproaches
or blemish thy great and just reputation.
Verse 29
[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 LORD thy God; and the souls of
thine enemies
them shall he sling out
as out of the middle of a sling.
A man —
Saul though no way injured.
Thy soul — To
take away thy life.
Bundle of life —
Or
in the bundle: that is
in the society
or congregation of the living; out
of which
men are taken
and cut off by death. The phrase is taken from the
common usage of men
who bind those things in bundles
which they are afraid to
lose. The meaning is
God will preserve thy life; and therefore it becomes not
thee
unnecessarily to take away the lives of any; especially of the people of
thy God.
With the Lord —
That is
in the custody of God
who by his watchful providence
preserves this
bundle
and all that are in it; and thee in a particular manner
as being thy
God in a particular way
and special covenant. The Jews understand this. not
only of the present life
but of that which is to come
even the happiness of
departed souls
and therefore use it commonly
as an inscription on their
grave-stones. "Here we have laid the body
trusting the soul is bound up
in the bundle of life with the Lord." Sling out - God himself will cut
them off suddenly
violently
and irresistibly; and cast them far away; both
from his presence
and from thy neighbourhood
and from all capacity of doing
thee hurt.
Verse 31
[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 LORD shall have dealt well with my lord
then remember thine handmaid.
No grief —
The mind and conscience will be free from all the torment which such an action
would cause in thee. By which
she intimates
what a blemish this would be to
his glory
what a disturbance to his peace
if he proceeded to execute his
purpose: and withal implies
how comfortable it would be to him to remember
that he had for conscience to God
restrained his passions.
Causeless —
Which she signifies would be done if he should go on. For though Nabal had been
guilty of abominable rudeness
and ingratitude; yet he had done nothing worthy
of death
by the laws of God or of man. And whatsoever he had done
the rest of
his family were innocent.
Avenged —
Which is directly contrary to God's law
Leviticus 19:18; Deuteronomy 32:35.
Then —
When God shall make thee king
let me find grace in thy sight.
Verse 32
[32] And
David said to Abigail
Blessed be the LORD God of Israel
which sent thee this
day to meet me:
The Lord —
Who by his gracious providence so disposed matters
that thou shouldst come to
me: He rightly begins at the fountain of his deliverance; and then proceeds to
the instruments.
Verse 33
[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.
From coming
… —
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.
Verse 35
[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.
Accepted —
That is
shewed my acceptance of thy person
by my grant of thy request.
Verse 36
[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 was merry within him
for he was very
drunken: wherefore she told him nothing
less or more
until the morning light.
A feast — As
the manner was upon those solemn occasions. Sordid covetousness
and vain
prodigality were met together in him.
Told nothing — As
he was then incapable of admonition
his reason and conscience being both
asleep.
Verse 37
[37] But
it came to pass in the morning
when the wine was gone out of Nabal
and his
wife had told him these things
that his heart died within him
and he became
as a stone.
His heart died — He
fainted away through the fear and horror of so great a mischief though it was
past. As one
who having in the night galloped over a narrow plank
laid upon a
broken bridge
over a deep river; when in the morning he came to review it
was
struck dead with the horror of the danger he had been in.
Verse 38
[38] And
it came to pass about ten days after
that the LORD smote Nabal
that he died.
Smote —
God either inflicted some other stroke upon him
or increased his grief and
fear to such an height
as killed him.
Verse 39
[39] And
when David heard that Nabal was dead
he said
Blessed be the LORD
that hath
pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal
and hath kept his
servant from evil: for the LORD hath returned the wickedness of Nabal upon his
own head. And David sent and communed with Abigail
to take her to him to wife.
Blessed
… —
This was another instance of human infirmity in David.
David sent —
But this doubtless was not done immediately after Nabal's death
but some time
after it; though such circumstances be commonly omitted in the sacred history;
which gives only the heads
and most important passages of things.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on 1 Samuel》
25 Chapter 25
Verses 1-44
Verse 1
And Samuel died
and all the Israelites were gathered together and
lamented him.
“When I die
will I be missed?”
“And Samuel died; and all Israel lamented him.” What an epitaph!
What a character to have deserved such an epitaph! The humblest mortal can so
live as to leave a gap when he goes--a fact we realise with difficulty
for we
say
“Oh! the great ones are missed
but I am poor and humble; my attainments
are so insignificant.” No life need be insignificant. “And Samuel died; and all
Israel lamented for him.” Some poor housewife in far Beersheba
who had never
been five miles from home
when the word comes that Samuel is dead
she goes to
the corner
lifts her apron to her eyes and weeps. Such is the result of a good
life. We do not know how far its influence may travel. Are we not all of us
largely influenced by men and women whose faces we have never seen
whose
voices we have never heard? Do they not lead us
cheer us
inspire us on our
way?
1. The self-forgetting life. We want to learn to do good quietly
unostentatiously.
2. Joy in daily tasks.
3. Disinterested virtue. To live a good life in order to be missed
and nothing more
is one thing. But to live it without any such intention is
another. Our virtue must be disinterested.
4. The life of service. So we speak of the useful life as the true
one. The ideal life is that of consecrated service. Is there anyone living in
loneliness who will say: “When I had not a friend in the world
when I came up
from come country place and went into a certain church
that man befriended
me?”
5. Active religion. “And Samuel died
and all Israel wept for him.”
We
too
must die. Will men weep for us? Will the world be sorry or will he
clap his hands? (Ebenezer Rees.)
Verse 3
Now the name of the man was Nabal
and the name of his wife
Abigail.
Nabal
the churl
I. Nabal
the
churl. What an apt thumbnail sketch is given of the whole race of Nabals in the
confidential remark passed between his servant and his wife
“He is such a son
of Belial that one cannot speak to him!”
1. He was very great. There are four kinds of greatness; young men
choose the best for your life aim! It is little to be great in possessing;
better to be great in doing; better still to conceive and promulgate great
thoughts; but best to be great in character.
2. He was a fool
his wife said. He surely must have sat for the full
length portrait of the fool in our Lord’s parable
who thought his soul could
take its ease and be merry because a few big barns were full.
3. He was a man of Belial
his servant said. He seems to have had no
compunction for his churlish speeches: no idea of the consequences they might
involve. As soon as the words were spoken
they were forgotten; and in the
evening of the day on which they were spoken we find him in his house
holding
a feast
like the feast of a king
his heart merry with wine
and altogether so
stupid that his wife told him nothing less or more till the morning light.
II. David
precipitate and passionate. One of the most characteristic features in David’s temper
and behaviour through all these weary years was his self-control. But the
rampart of self-restraint built by long habit went down
like a neglected sea
wall
before the sudden paroxysm of passion which Nabal’s insulting words
aroused. At this hour David was on the brink of committing a crime which would
east a dark shadow on all his after years. In calmer
quieter
holier hours it
would have been a grief to him. From this shame
sorrow
and disgrace he was
saved by that sweet and noble woman
Abigail.
III. Abigail
the
beautiful intercessor. She was a woman of good understanding and of a beautiful
countenance--a fit combination. Her character had written its legend on her
face. There are many beautiful women wholly destitute of good understanding;
just as birds of rarest plumage are commonly deficient in the power of song. It
is remarkable how many Abigails get married to Nabals. God-fearing women
tender and gentle in their sensibilities
high-minded and noble in their
ideals
become tied in an indissoluble union with men for whom they can have no
true affinity
even if they have not an unconquerable repugnance. To such an
one there is but one advice--You must stay where you are. The dissimilarity in
taste and temperament does not constitute a sufficient reason for leaving your
husband to drift. It may be that some day your opportunity will come
as it
came to Abigail. In the meantime do not allow your purer nature to be bespotted
or besmeared. Nabal’s servants knew the quality of their mistress
and could
trust her to act wisely in the emergency which was upon them; so they told her
all. She immediately grasped the situation
despatched a small procession of
provision bearers
along the way that David must come
and followed them
immediately on her ass. She met the avenging warriors by the covert of the
mountain
and the interview was as creditable to her woman’s wit as to her
grace of heart. Frank and noble as he always was
he did not hesitate to
acknowledge his deep indebtedness to this lovely woman
and to see in her
intercession the gracious arrest of God. What a revelation this is of the
ministries with which God seeks to avert us from our evil ways! They are
sometimes very subtle and slender
very small and still. (F. B. Meyer
B. A.)
Verses 4-13
And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal did shear his sheep.
Nabal
the churl
David never made a wiser choice
and he never said a truer thing
than when he exclaimed
“Let me fall now into the hand of the Lord (for His
mercies are great)
and let me not fall into the hand of man.” The history of
David’s collision with Nabal furnishes us with a twofold confirmation of the
truth of David’s assertion and the wisdom of his decision. David
in a season
of feebleness
sought to rest himself upon Nabal’s gratitude
and he found that
be was trusting in the staff of a broken reed which pierced him. In his
necessity he made an appeal to Nabal’s generosity
and he found it was as vain
as trying to quench his thirst with the waters of Marah. On the other hand
Nabal’s ingratitude and unkindness met with no charity at first on the part of
David. While Nabal was utterly destitute of brotherly kindness
David failed
for a time in the love which is not easily provoked. “Whether it be for the
relief of our necessities
or for the pardon of our transgressions
let us fall
now into the hand of the Lord
for His mercies are great.” Everything around
Nabal was calculated to make him a happy
thankful
sweet-tempered
and
kindhearted man. He had good blood in his veins; and by the memories of his
noble and godly ancestor he ought to have been restrained from all that was
mean and graceless. The inspired writer alludes be his ancestry as if that
increased the guilt of his conduct. “he was of the house of Caleb;” but he was
a bad branch growing out of a good stock
for “he was churlish and evil in his
doings.” Alas! he was neither the first nor the last of those who have come
into possession of many of the temporal results of their fathers’ piety
but
have shamefully repudiated the godliness which brought the golden harvest. The
Bible makes the nobleness of a man’s ancestry one more reason why he should
serve the Lord and cleave to Him with full purpose of heart. The prophet
Jeremiah went with words of sharp rebuke and heavy condemnation to one who was
proving himself a degenerate son of a godly sire
“Did not thy father eat
and
drink
and do judgment and justice
and then it was well with him? But thine
eyes and thine heart are not but for thy covetousness
and for oppression
and
for violence
to do it.” Nabal had what many would deem a far more substantial
reason for personal goodness than the fact that he belonged to the house of Caleb.
The wealth which had come down to him had evidently been increased by the
Divine blessing on his own endeavours
and he stood forth conspicuous above all
his neighbours for the splendour and luxury with which he could surround
himself. “The man was very great
” but his prosperity hardened his heart and
filled his spirit with haughtiness. The arrogance of spirit
and coarseness of
speech
and niggardliness of heart
which Nabal displayed
were unmistakable
proofs that in his prosperity he had forgotten the God to whom he was indebted
for it. Hence that which should have made his lowliness to grow and blossom
like a lily of the valley
did only serve to make his poisonous pride flourish
like the deadly nightshade
and that which should have filled him with grateful
love to God and generous love to men
only helped to increase his
self-indulgence and his self-idolatry. There was another reason why better
things might have been reasonably expected of Nabal. God had given him a true
help-meet--a woman who
if he had yielded to her influence
would have done
much to lift him out of his roughness and wickedness into refinement and
godliness. It is one of the marvels of human nature that some rough and selfish
men can live for year after year in fellowship with gentle and self-denying
women
and yet be no more impressed and improved by them than the dead heart of
Absalom was moved by the tears and wailings of his disconsolate father. If such
men die impenitent and unpardoned
surely for them condemnation will be heavy
and perdition will be deep! David was in danger of perishing for lack of a
little of that of which Nabal had such an abundance
and therefore the appeal
for relief was sent. Amongst the Jews
and other Eastern peoples
the time of
sheep shearing was commonly the season of special liberality. Beside the force
of good old customs
there was another reason why on that particular day
David’s solicitation was seasonable. It was partly on the ground that his men
had been guardians of the flocks that David rested his appeal
and there could
not be a better time for that appeal than the season when the flocks were
counted and the fleeces were gathered. Many have thought that the prudence and
policy of David’s conduct
were more obvious than its dignity. Did he not in
some measure demean himself
they ask
by setting forth so fully the services
he had rendered? It is not usual
they say
be do a man a good turn
and then
to go and tell him all about it
and ask for some grateful recognition of it.
Before we blame David for being undignified
let us try to realize his position
and his temptations
he must have been in great straits
or he would never have
sent in such a way to a man like Nabal. There are people whom you cannot fully
know until you ask them for something. While no direct appeal is made to their
supposed benevolence
their real character is masked; but the moment you press
them to be generous
despite all their efforts to wear it still
the severing
drops off
and they stand forth in all their native unsightliness. To what a
revelation of Nabal’s heart the prayer of David led! Nabal could not say it was
the wrong day for charity
so he said this was a wrong case. Such people are
never destitute of reasons for not giving
and are not ashamed to try and cover
their niggardliness with excuses so flimsy that even the sight of a bat would
be strong enough to pierce them. If he had been placed in circumstances like
Abraham
and angels had come to partake of his hospitality
he would probably
have cried out
“Give my bread and flesh to people with wings! What next
I
wonder!” The provocation to David must have been great
and we are more grieved
than surprised that at once his soul was all on fire with wrath. David forgot
how much God had done for Nabal
what ingratitude God had received at Nabal’s
hand
and yet how patiently God had borne with him for many years
and how
lavishly God had blessed him despite all his guiltiness. We might have hoped
that
instead of fostering human vengeance
David would have striven to imitate
Divine long-suffering; but
the wisest men are not always wise
and the best
men are not always consistent. The history shows
what is very credible
that
Nabal was a great coward as well as a coarse blusterer. When he heard of
David’s indignation “his heart died within him
and he became as a stone.” It
would seem as if the weight of his own craven fears helped to sink him into the
grave. Possibly his own cowardice was the instrument with which the Lord smote
him; and the terrors of his guilty spirit were the disease of which he died.
This much is certain
he perished for his sins. The very day wherein he refused
relief to those who had befriended him
“he held a feast in his house like the
feast of a king.” He was utterly wanting in meekness and gentleness
courtesy
and kindness. He would indulge himself even to gluttony and drunkenness
and
yet refused his bread to those who were ready to perish. His name has become
imperishable by being written in the book which is to be translated into every tongue
and read in every land; but the immortality which Scripture has given him is an
immortality of infamy. (C. Vince.)
Verse 11
Shall I then take my bread
and my water.
Avarice of Nabal
Such is still the language of the avaricious man; such are still
the excuses made by the insensible heart
when it seeks some pretext to exempt
it from relieving the wants of the unhappy. Let us consider the frivolity of
these his excuses.
I. Excuse made by
Nabal my possessions are strictly and properly my own
and I have a right to
employ them as I please. “Shall I take my bread
and my water
and my flesh.”
This is also an excuse that we still hear daily presented by the covetous and
uncharitable. But common as is this excuse
it is not only demonstrably false
but also awfully impious
and strikes directly at the providence
the
government
and the sovereignty of the Most High God. No! Your wealth is not
your own natural
as well as revealed religion
declares that you are only
stewards.
II. Excuse of
nabal: the supposed inferiority of those for whom his assistance was solicited
and his want of relationship to him. “Who is David? and who is the son of
Jesse? There be many servants now-a-days that break away every man from his
master.” This excuse also is still daily presented
when we plead for the
distressed. There can be little doubt
that the ignorance of Nabal was only
pretended
that he might render his reply more contemptuous
he well knew the
valour and reputation of David. Do you add
with Nabal
“Who is David? Who are
these poor orphans? What relationship are they to me
that I should assist
them?” They have descended from the same patent with you; their origin is your
own. In them as well as you
there is a soul endued with wonderful faculties; a
soul destined to endless happiness or eternal misery.
III. Excuse of
Nabal: his unwillingness to encourage vice or indolence. “There be many
servants now-a-days that break away every man from his master!” This excuse too
we often hear when we ask relief for the distressed. “Shall I give?” Yes:
because of the instability of all earthly things. Do you still ask with Nabal
“Shall I give?” Yes; consider the day of trouble and bestow your benefaction.
“Shall I give?” Yes; if you wish your memory to be cherished by your survivors.
“Shall I give?” Yes! for the judgment day is approaching: and then: what
unutterable anguish
what agonising horror
shall convulse the heart of him who
“shall receive judgment without mercy
because he hath showed no mercy!” (H.
Kollock
D. D.)
The Message of the Church to man of wealth
An awful and uncertain spectacle
but the spectacle which is
exhibited in every country where Rights are keenly felt and Duties lightly
regarded--where insolent demand is met by insulting defiance. Wherever classes
are held apart by rivalry and selfishness instead of drawn together by the Law
of Love--wherever there has not been established a kingdom of heaven
but only
a kingdom of the world--there exist the forces of inevitable collision.
I. The causes of
this false social state.
1. False basis on which medial superiority was held to rest.
Throughout Nabal’s conduct was built upon the assumption of his own
superiority. He was a man of wealth. David was dependent on his own daily
efforts. Now observe two things.
2. A false conception respecting Rights. It would be unjust to Nabal
to represent this as an act of wilful oppression and conscious injustice. He
did what appeared to him fair between man and man. He paid his labourers. Why
should he pay anything beyond stipulated wages? Recollect too
there was
something to be said for Nabal. This view of the irresponsible right of
property was not his invention. It was the view probably entertained by all his
class. It had descended to him from his parents. They were prescriptive and
admitted rights on which he stood. On the other hand
David and his needy
followers were not slow to perceive that they had their rights over that
property of Nabal’s. In point of fact
David had a right to a share of Nabal’s
profits. The harvest was in part David’s harvest
for without David it never
could have been reaped. Here
then
is one of the earliest instances of the
Rights of Labour coming into collision with the Rights of Property. Now when it
comes to this
Rights against Rights
there is no determination of the question
but by overwhelming numbers or blood. We find another cause in circumstances.
Want and unjust exclusion precipitated David and his men into this rebellion.
It is common enough to lay too much weight on circumstances. Circumstances of
outward condition are not the sole efficients in the production of character
but they are efficients which must not be ignored. Favourable condition will not
produce excellence: but the want of it often hinders excellence. It is true
that vice leads to poverty: all the moralisers tell us that
but it is also
true that poverty leads to vice.
II. The message of
the Church to the man of wealth. The message of the Church contains those
principles of life which
carried out would
and hereafter will
realise the
Divine Order of Society.
1. The spiritual dignity of man as man. Recollect David was the poor
man
but Abigail
the high-born lady
admits his worth. Worth does not mean
what a man is worth--you must find some better definition than that. That is
the Church’s message be the man of wealth
and a message which it seems has to
be learned afresh in every ago. It was new to Nabal. It was new to the men of
the ago of Christ. In His day
they were offended in Him
because He was humbly
born. “Is not this the carpenter’s son?” It is the offence now. They who retain
those superstitious ideas of the eternal superiority of rank and wealth
have
the first principles of the Gospel yet to learn.
2. The second truth expressed by Abigail was the Law of Sacrifice.
She did not heal the grievance with smooth words. Starving men are not to be
pacified by professions of good will. She brought her two hundred loaves
and
her two skins of wine
her five sheep ready dressed
etc. A princely provision!
Now this the Church proclaims as part of its special message to the rich. The
Self-sacrifice of the Redeemer was to be the living principle and law of the
self-devotion of His people. To the spirit of the Cross alone we look as the
remedy for social evils.
3. The last part of the Church’s message to the man of wealth touches
the matter of rightful influence. Very remarkable is the demeanour of David
towards Nabal
as contrasted with his demeanour towards Abigail. In the one
case
defiance
and a haughty self-assertion of equality--in the other
deference
respect
and the most eloquent benediction. It was not therefore
against the wealthy class
but against individuals of the class
that the wrath
of these men burned. See then
the folly and the falsehood of the sentimental
regret that there is no longer any reverence felt towards superiors. There is
reverence to superiors
if only it can be shown that they are superiors. The
fiercest revolt against false authority is only a step towards submission to
rightful authority. Emancipation from false lords only sets the heart free to
honour true ones. (F. W. Robertson
M. A.)
Verse 17
For he is such a son of Belial
that a man cannot speak to him.
The bad-tempered man
In this chapter you find a perfect picture of a choleric
bad-tempered man. There is a saying “that the worst temper in the house always
rules
” and often it is so. I have seen father and mother weakly yielding to
some boorish
ill-tempered child. You have met the workman who was feared by
all his fellows because he was a churl
a sullen
violent-tempered man
a
modern Nabal
which means a fool. What a picture of home life is drawn for us
here in this chapter. In the foreground is Nabal
the grumpy
sullen
beetle-browed
coarse-tongued
drunken husband--the prototype of hundreds of
husbands of today
Who rule in their own little world with all the despotism of
a Nero
and who only need a larger platform and greater power to show us how
inhuman
how cruel
and how like the devil men can become. That is Nabal in low
life
but you find Nabal in high life
in political life
ay! and in church
life too. And then there is Abigail
Nabal’s wife
in the picture
and she is
its redeeming feature. She is as tactful as she is beautiful
and she knew her
husband’s moods well
and she is always particularly gracious when the wind is
in the east
and Nabal is most out of temper. “He’s gey bad to live with
” was
the testimony of Carlyle’s mother
and the reading of some of the letters his
wife wrote are nothing less than heart breaking. “If he would only be
satisfied
” she said
“but I have learned that when he does not find fault he
is pleased
and that has to content me.” Such a wife as Abigail is a crown to
her husband; a daily blessing from God; but Nabal had the dark spirit within
him
and never saw her worth. There are men who will go through a rose garden and
never smell its sweet fragrance. Graciousness
and sweetness
and gentleness
are wasted on such natures as Nabal’s
but let those who have to deal with
these churls remember that it is always worth while to practise these virtues
if only for their own sake. Abigail did not let Nabal destroy her good temper
although her married life was little better than a martyrdom. “The mind
”
Milton tells us
“is its own place
and it can make a heaven of hell
and a
hell of heaven
” and Abigail
denied the love of her husband
won the love and
respect of the servants
and was a shelter in the time of storm to them.
“Nabal
” says Dr. Whyte
“died of a strange disease
indebtedness to his wife.”
He could not brook the thought that he owed his life to the good sense of his
wife and to the forbearance of David; it was wormwood and gall
and it poisoned
him
and he died of a heart frozen by his own wickedness. Have there not been
times when our bad temper has ruled
and we have forgotten to be either just or
generous? Nabal died of a frozen heart
but he has had a resurrection in many a
life. Boorishness and churlishness were not buried in Nabal’s grave. “Temper
”
says Bishop Watson
“is nine-tenths of religion.” “Let this mind be in you
which was also in Christ Jesus
” pleads the Apostle. It is the Christ mind that
is the great thing
not simply doing the right thing
but doing it in the right
spirit. Nabal was a rich man
but he never was a gentleman; you could not make
a gentleman out of such stuff as constituted Nabal’s nature. Have you met
him--this loud-voiced
blatant
well-dressed
overfed churl. A quaint old
Methodist used to say
“Never judge a man by the size of his house. A very
small rabbit may live in a very big hole.” “Behaviour
” says Emerson
“is the
finest of the fine arts. Manners are the garments of the spirit
the eternal
clothing of the being.” Even religion turns sour with some men
and that which
should spell light
brightness
and cheerfulness spells instead sourness
unrighteousness
and exclusiveness. You remember how Robert Falconer’s
grandmother hid away his fiddle
fearful lest the lad should be tempted by it
into worldly things
never dreaming that God melts the heart of some by
touching the bow of a fiddle with His own figures
as He speaks to others by
the voice of some great preacher. He has many ways of fulfilling Himself. How
this churlishness destroys the best in life
and robs it of sweetness. The
prodigal came home
and his reception would have been perfect but for the one
thing
and that was his brother’s churlishness. “Sir
” said Dr. Johnson
“a man
has no more right to say an uncivil thing than to act one; no more right to say
a rude thing to another than to knock him down.” Epictetus has left us a great
lesson in his famous saying
“If a man is unhappy
remember that his
unhappiness is his own fault; for God hath made all men to be happy.” (Samuel
Herren.)
Verse 29
The soul of my Lord shall be bound in the bundle of life.
The bundle of life
The imagery
of course
is Oriental. It is very true that the life
of man is bounded up with the Divine; “bound up in the bundle of life
” how
expressive it is--tied to Him. The soul and life of man is in the bundle with
the life of God.
1. This is the beginning of human history. There is but one life in
the world
and that life pours itself out and becomes the life of man. And
man’s life is like the life of God
and it is
in its measure
the life of God.
This life is very realistically described as being breathed out from the lips
of the Almighty into the muscles of man.
2. Now this is something that gives us not only a very exalted idea
of God
but a very exalted idea of man. I do not know of anything that needs to
be more impressed upon us today than the dignity of human nature--let me change
the word--the divinity of human nature. Nothing can exalt a man above the
greatness of his nature
the greatness that is his because his life is a Divine
life
his life is in the bundle of life with God. Let us remember this
that
whatever happens
we are made of God’s will
that God wanted us to be made
that He wanted us to be here. There is something we can do that nobody else
could do
and that God’s wealth in the world is the wealth of men and women who
can meet Him
answering love with love
answering with wisdom and confidence
and obedience.
3. It is very easy to see what comes out of this. There comes out of
it on the one side God’s great delight in us. “The Lord’s portion is His
people.” As long as God is rich
we are rich
as long as God is happy we can be
happy if we want to be. As long as God is wise we are wise if we want to be. We
are in the bundle with Him. You are bound up in the bundle of life
whatever happens
to you happens to Him
and if you choose to have it so
whatever happens to
Him
according to the measure of your day
will happen to you. And God likes
this trust
this confidence. The more we trust Him the more He is delighted in
us. God depends upon us. We are in the bundle of life
and when we drop out of
the bundle of life and leave God alone--well
did you ever have a child go out
of your house and leave you? That is a little bit of the feeling that God has
when we get out of the bundle of life
when we seek after pleasures which he
has forbidden
when there is anything in our business that He does not approve.
It is so ordained that while we are in the bundle of life with God we are free
perfectly. We are not compelled to be there. You can get out of the bundle of
life any time you want to. We find a great deal going on in the world that does
not seem to be consistent with the bundle of God. How can there be all this
misery if London is in the bundle with God? But all London is not in the bundle
with God. It ought to be
it can be
but it has slipped away. Yet it is pretty
plain that a good many of us have got outside the bundle of God. How does God
regard it? How do you regard it? I would like to ask what would happen to God
if you get out of the bundle. What would happen if your boy
whom you love a
hundred times more than you love Him
got out of your bundle? From the first of
Genesis we find how man slipped out of God’s bundle. One day they came to
Christ and found fault with Him because they said He ate and drank with
publicans and sinners
and He turned and said
“You do just the same.” “Oh
no
” they said
“we never do such a thing.” “Do you not? You have a hundred
sheep and lose one--what do you do?” “I go after it to bring it back.” “Why do
you do that? Why do you not send someone else after it? Because it is my
sheep.” “Precisely. That publican
he is not ‘a’ publican; he is ‘My’ publican
‘My’ sinner
‘My’ boy.” God is trying to get you back into the bundle. Every
man who is unhappy
every man who does not love Christ and confess Him has
dropped out of the bundle. Christ is trying to get him back into the bundle. (A.
Mckenzie
D. D.)
The bundle of life
It is a very beautiful expression
especially when you consider
what the word bundle would mean in those times. Nowadays we do not usually
associate anything precious with a bundle. It is rather the other way. If a
household were removing
for instance
it would be the odds and ends
the
things of little value
that would likely be put into a bundle for convenience
of removal. The precious things of the household would be secured in some safer
way than by being simply huddled together in a bundle. A commercial traveller
in journeying by rail
would have his big bundles in the van
but anything particularly
valuable would be carried by himself in pocket book or hand bag securely
fastened. But in those primitive days they had not such elaborate means of
securing safety. In shifting their tents to pastures new
any things of special
value would simply be bound up in a bundle
and the husband or wife would see
to it that that bundle was well looked after on the journey. It would be with
them on their camel
or somewhere where they could always see it. Note
however
in passing
that other metaphor Abigail makes use of with regard to
the enemies of David: “The souls of thine enemies
them shall He sling out
as
out of the middle of a sling.” It is a very forcible way of putting it. It just
means emphatically the opposite of the care and attention connected with the
bundle. What could be thought more lightly of than the stone slung out of a
sling? So
the bundle implies that which is particularly valuable
whereas the
stone slung out of a sling suggests that which is worthless
not worth taking
any trouble or concern about. But let us direct our attention to the other wish
that Abigail expresses regarding” David. It is a beautiful thought
the thought
of being bound in God’s bundle of life.
1. Does it not
for one thing
imply
very specially
safety? They
are safe who are bound in God’s bundle of life. It is a great word in the Bible
sense--safety--greater than we shall ever comprehend here. God’s desire is to
save men from themselves
from their sins
from their spiritual foes.
2. Another thought implied in the phrase
the bundle of life
is that
of preciousness. So
in the bundle of life
we have to consider not man’s but
God’s estimate of values. The neediest are
in a sense
the dearest. Look at
the publicans of old as compared with the self-righteous Pharisees.
3. But one thing more also is suggested by the bundle
viz.
that it
will not always be a bundle. After all
the bundle is but a temporary
arrangement. Only for the time being
when a household would be removing
would
the valuables be packed up in a bundle
with little regard to arrangement and
order. But in the new home the bundle would be opened
and each article put
carefully in a place of its own. And so with God’s opening and rearranging of
the bundle of life. The words of Abigail
in connection with David
seem to
refer to the present life
to David’s safety here from the foes that were
assailing him. I am aware that the Jews
nowadays are in the habit of using the
phrase in reference to the life beyond. But is it not more in harmony with the
idea of a bundle to apply the phrase to the present life? It is here
not
hereafter
that things are not as they should be
not as we would wish them to
be; it is here that there is the medley and confusion of a bundle. The best and
the worst are often in strange positions
and juxtapositions
in this world.
And look
too
how those dear to us often get separated
far and wide in life.
But the time will come when there shall be separation no more
“and there shall
be no more death
neither sorrow nor crying
neither shall there be any more
pain; for the former things are passed away.” May that be our prayer and trust
for us all
that
when all is over
so far as this world is concerned
it will
not be for us a being slung out as out of the middle of a sling
but only the
opening of the bundle
and the rearrangement and final settlement in the
eternal home. But remember
too
that while here
just as the contents of the
good wife’s bundle
though mixed together for the time being
would still be
precious
and still safe
amid all the temporary disorder
so
even here
where
things are oft inexplicably mixed
and many things are hard to understand
and
harder still to bear
they are nevertheless safe and precious
now and
evermore
in His sight
who are bound in God’s bundle of life. (J. S. Maver
M. A.)
Verse 32
Blessed be thou
which hast kept me this day from coming to shed
blood.
Prevention of sin an invaluable mercy
These words are David’s 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. (Jonah 4:9; Acts 26:9). But to go no further than the
text! do we not think
that while David’s 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.
And this shall be made to appear upon these three following
accounts.
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 man’s condition.
Of the satisfaction of his mind. And
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 madman’s 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 God’s gift
and not man’s
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 God’s 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 God’s 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
God’s 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 God’s 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 David’s 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 sinner’s mind
at the time
when he is arrested in his guilty career
when sin is prevented. The state of
the sinner’s 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 Jeremiah’s 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 sinner’s 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 David’s 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 God’s 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.)
Verse 38
And blessed be thy advice.
Good advice
I. It is well to
be ready to take advice. The older we grow the more ready most of us are to be
advised regarding our plans and purposes. We know better the wisdom of being
so. It is generally the young who scorn advice. They are apt to think they know
everything that needs to be known.
II. It is important
to go to the best sources for advice. If you were in doubt as to your way in
London
the best plan would be to ask a policeman. He is generally an authority
on such a matter
and would be sure to give you correct and civil instructions.
When people are in ill-health they go to the doctor for medical advice
and in
any legal difficulty they naturally apply to the lawyer. It is worse than
useless to get advice from the incompetent
that may only land you in deeper
difficulty
or more hopeless trouble. “With the well advised is Wisdom
” says Solomon.
It would have been a good thing for his son Rehoboam had he paid attention to
that. How much it means to have a good adviser to go to
and especially in the
earlier years of life! Everyone thinks with pity of any young girl left
motherless
who grows up without that counsel and guidance and sympathy so much
needed in her young life
and which none so well as a mother can give. And now
if not then
we can heartily use David’s words
and say
“Blessed be thy
advice.”
III. Above all
in
spiritual things
we need advice. We can’t devise and scheme and succeed there
all by ourselves. It is often said in the story of David’s life
that he
“inquired of the Lord.” (Christian World Pulpit.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》