David’s words were accurate. He and his men had indeed shown kindness to Nabal, protecting his shepherds and flocks in the region of Carmel while Nabal remained at home a few miles away (1 Sam. 25:2, 15). When Nabal simply mocked him in return, David’s anger was aroused, showing that his motives were not entirely pure. David expected some favor in return, and the injustice of good being repaid with evil was more than he could bear.

But Abigail met David’s anger with an overwhelming display of grace. She brought him a gift of two hundred loaves of bread and five sheep already prepared, along with wine, grain, clusters of raisins, and cakes of figs (v. 18). The gift represented her desire that the Lord would hold David back from bloodshed (v. 26), and David received it in that spirit (vv. 32–35).

By way of spiritual application, Nabal’s ungrateful response to David’s kindness is like the sinner’s reply to “the kindness and the love of God our Savior” (Tit. 3:4). David reacted to Nabal the way the Law responds to the sinner, girding its sword upon its thigh and seeking to destroy. Yet Abigail’s grace came onto the scene to preserve Nabal’s life, just as God’s grace has intervened to deliver us from the claims of the Law.

The main interpretation of this text, though, shows the necessity of grace in our daily relationships. The need was urgent! David told Abigail that he would have slaughtered Nabal’s entire household “unless you had hurried and come to meet me” (v. 34). God used the grace of Abigail to prevent David from committing sin, and David later realized how much better it was to let the Lord plead his cause (v. 39). May we all be willing to rush in with grace, overcoming evil with good.