Vengeance of God

“It is mine to avenge….See now that I myself am he! There is no god besides me. I put to death and I bring to life, I have wounded and I will heal, and no one can deliver out of my hand.” (Deut. 32:35,39; Heb. 10:30)

A story of David, Nabal and his wife Abigail illustrates an important lesson – Do not avenge yourself. David was traveling with four hundred men and camped near Nabal who was a very wealthy resident in Israel. David’s men watched over Nabal’s herds and shepherds as they were in the wilderness. After a time David sent messengers to Nabal informing him of this service and requesting whatever he could provide. Nabal rebuffed them and sent them back with curses. David was enraged and prepared to destroy Nabal and his men the next day. 

Abigail, Nabal’s wife, was told of his insolence toward David’s men, so she loaded donkeys with many provisions and went out to meet David. She met him as he was coming to avenge himself against Nabal. She apologized for Nabal’s foolishness and haughty response saying, “When the Lord has fulfilled for my Lord every good thing he promised concerning him and has appointed him ruler over Israel, my Lord will not have on his conscience the staggering burden of needless bloodshed or of having avenged himself.”

David replied, “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, who has sent you today to meet me. May you be blessed for your good judgment and for keeping me from bloodshed this day and from avenging myself with my own hands.” (1 Samuel 25:26, 30-33)

After David left Abigail she went back and found Nabal very drunk. The next day she told him how close he had been to death and destruction. He fell into a comma and died ten days later. David found out about it and took Abigail as his wife. Later Abigail was captured in Ziklag and rescued by David. David’s second son, Kileab, also known as Daniel was from Abigail.

Later, as Saul was searching for David to kill him, God gave David three opportunities to defend himself by killing Saul. In each instance David refused, leaving it to God to remove Saul as king. It may be that David learned well the benefits of leaving vengeance in the hands of the Lord, during this episode with Nabal, particularly considering his acknowledgment that Abigail had been sent by God to prevent avenging himself. We must learn this lesson, and go further, forgiving those who mistreat us.