Nabal answered David’s servants, “Who is this David? Who is this son of Jesse? Many servants are breaking away from their masters these days. Why should I take my bread and water, and the meat I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give it to men coming from who knows where?”
David’s men turned around and went back. When they arrived, they reported every word. David said to his men, “Each of you strap on your sword!” So they did, and David strapped his on as well. About four hundred men went up with David, while two hundred stayed with the supplies.
One of the servants told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, “David sent messengers from the wilderness to give our master his greetings, but he hurled insults at them. Yet these men were very good to us. They did not mistreat us, and the whole time we were out in the fields near them nothing was missing. Night and day they were a wall around us the whole time we were herding our sheep near them. Now think it over and see what you can do, because disaster is hanging over our master and his whole household. He is such a wicked man that no one can talk to him.” 1 Samuel 25:10-17
“Nabal’s response reveals much about the man. Who is this David? Who is this son of Jesse? was not a request for information but a disdainful dismissal. It was like asking, ‘Why should I give him any food?’ But the problem went deeper than that. There was no need for Nabal to know who someone was or where they came from when someone asked for food at harvest time. The law of Moses insisted that some of the crop should be set aside for strangers, the poor and widows (Deuteronomy 15:7-11; 24:19-22; Proverbs 19:17).
At harvest time, anyone passing through the land of Israel should be given food. By refusing David’s request, Nabal was showing that he did not obey God’s laws… Nabal’s self-centeredness is clearly evident in the string of ‘I’s and ‘my’s that follow: Why should I take my bread and water and the meat that I have slaughtered for my shearers? He claimed total ownership of all that God had graciously blessed him with and did not acknowledge that it was a gift from God. He was like the rich fool of Luke 12:16-21.”
Nupanga Weanzana in “1 Samuel” in Africa Bible Commentary (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2006) 368-369.
Imagine how beautiful we as God’s people would look if we shared freely as God has instructed us. Instead, often onlookers say that our response reveals our self-centeredness, or in plain terms, that we as Christians are no different from the world. Many of us might go to church or profess Christian faith, but if we don’t live in obedience, we resemble Nabal the fool.
What does your response reveal when invited to support God’s people with what He has so generously supplied to you? Do you give generously at every turn know that God in Christ has been unthinkably generous to you? Do you give a little in gratitude but hold back most of what you have because you think it is your job to look after yourself?
Pause to think about the ways God has been good to you. Look at your holdings. Inventory all God has supplied. Take time to give thanks. What if you claimed God’s total ownership over all that? How would it impact your stewardship decisions? Don’t let your story end like Nabal’s did. Pray about a neighbor to help. Give to your church. Support GTP on a global scale.