Articles
“God's Restraining Mercy”
And David said to Abigail, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me! Blessed be your discretion, and blessed be you, who have kept me this day from bloodguilt and from working salvation with my own hand! For as surely as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, who has restrained me from hurting you, unless you had hurried and come to meet me, truly by morning there had not been left to Nabal so much as one male.” Then David received from her hand what she had brought him. And he said to her, “Go up in peace to your house. See, I have obeyed your voice, and I have granted your petition.”
1 Samuel 25:32-35
There are times when God, in his sovereign wisdom and mercy, restrains us from committing terrible acts against him, ourselves, and others. 1 Samuel 25 illustrates this restraining mercy of God. David, the Lord’s anointed but not-yet-sitting-king, was traveling through the wilderness when he sought the aid of a rich man named Nabal. But Nabal was “harsh and badly behaved” (1 Sam. 25:4) and regarded David as a rebellious upstart. He repaid David’s kindness to his shepherds (1 Sam. 25:6-8) with dismissal. In a moment of anger, David had his men prepare for battle and sought retribution from Nabal by destroying his entire house (1 Sam. 25:9-13, 21-22).
But Nabal’s wife Abigail, a “discerning and beautiful” woman (1 Sam. 25:4), heard the news of her foolish husband’s treatment of David and interceded with words of wisdom, humility, and kindness (Prov. 15:1) as well as gifts for David’s troop (1 Sam. 25:14-31).
Not only was David’s wrath placated and Abigail’s house delivered from death, but David himself was saved from the “bloodguilt” of revenge (1 Sam. 25:26). Abigail knew David would be king and wanted him to take the throne with a clear conscience. She said to David, “And when the LORD has done to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you and has appointed you prince over Israel, my lord shall have no cause of grief or pangs of conscience for having shed blood without cause or for my lord working salvation himself. And when the LORD has dealt well with my lord, then remember your servant.” (1 Sam. 25:30-31)
Because of Abigail’s faithful intercession, David could see clearly again. But David understood that it was really God who sent Abigail to stop him from doing violence and breaking the covenant (1 Sam. 25:32-35). He was saved from the pain of guilt he would have suffered later had he committed murder.
God’s restraining mercy is still active today in our lives. His word restrains us from great evil but, as in the story of David and Abigail, when we forget his words he may also send his servants to remind us of what is right. This is one aspect of God’s providence; God provides what we need in the moment (Gen. 22:8, 14). He is able to place certain people in our path to help us on our way.
I can’t count the number of times Rachael has “restrained” me from doing wrong or speaking out of turn and “delivered” me from embarrassment or much worse. The same can be said of my brothers and sisters in Christ who, through their good example and wisdom, hinder me from sinning and help me choose what is right.
The obvious question is are we the kind of people God can use to encourage others to do what is right and discourage them from doing what is wrong? (Heb. 3:12-13) We can be like Abigail and God can use us to limit evil and promote righteousness. Is this not what Jesus meant by being “light” and “salt” (Mt. 5:13-16)?
Whenever we experience God’s restraining mercy, let us do what David did by recognizing the Lord’s hand and praising him. “We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing.” (2 Thess. 1:3)
