See v. 24. Abigail was basing her request on two important considerations:

 (1) David was fighting the battles of the Lord. Her reference to this fact was an implied rebuke that David was not now on an errand of the Lord, but on a mission entirely of his own choosing. In his battle against the Philistines at Keilah, David had made careful inquiry as to the will of God in the matter (ch. 23:2). No such consultation had taken place in the present instance. David did not have the approval of Heaven for his present undertaking.

 (2) David would be incurring guilt, from which his life had been reasonably free up till the present. The expression, “evil hath not been found in thee,” is an observation from a human point of view. David had made serious mistakes (see ch. 21:1, 2, 12, 13). But Abigail is obviously evaluating David’s character from the point of view of his competency for his future position as king of Israel. His defections up to this point had not as yet disqualified him for holding this high office. But had he carried out his purposes against Nabal, the incident would have raised serious queries in the minds of the people as to David’s fitness for being their future king. If he was to continue his policy of exterminating those of the citizens of his realm who dared oppose his will, his administration would be quite undesirable.