Nabal
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While camped in the wilderness of Paran, David and his men defended the flocks of those around them from marauding bands of thieves.
They provided this protective service at no expense to the owners.
David, therefore, sent ten men to request supplies from Nabal—a wealthy man who was shearing his flocks at Carmel. The harvesting of wool was a time of generosity to others.
“Sheep owners would normally be happy to reward those helping them against loss. David’s request for supplies was legitimate and in harmony with the customs of his time.” Today’s scripture is Nabal’s insulting reply to David’s request.
“David and his men had been like a wall of protection to the shepherds and flocks of Nabal; and now this rich man was asked to furnish from his abundance some relief to the necessities of those who had done him such valuable service. David and his men might have helped themselves from the flocks and herds, but they did not. They behaved themselves in an honest way. Their kindness, however, was lost upon Nabal.” “Nabal thought nothing of spending an extravagant amount of his wealth to indulge and glorify himself; but it seemed too painful a sacrifice for him to make to bestow compensation which he never would have missed, upon those who had been like a wall to his flocks and herds. Nabal was like the rich man in the parable. He had only one thought—to use God’s merciful gifts to gratify his selfish animal appetites. He had no thought of gratitude to the giver. . . . Present luxury, present gain, was the one absorbing thought of his life. This was his God.” David immediately gathered four hundred men and set out for a showdown. “This impulsive movement was more in harmony with the character of Saul than with that of David, but the son of Jesse had yet to learn of patience in the school of affliction.” Generosity should be second nature to a follower of Christ.
