Denial has always fascinated me as a psychologist.  You first see this with clients with addiction problems.  "You've been drinking again".  "I have not!".  Most addicts spend a lot of time denying have a problem.  But denial also shows up in many Christian marriages.  The senior pastor with the anger problem.  He's in denial but his wife and the church staff see it clearly.  The youth pastor with a lust problem.  Only his wife knows for sure, or the senior high girl who is on the recieving end of his stares.

The story of Nabal in the Bible is worth a read.  It is found in Chapter 25 of the book of 1 Samuel.  Nabal's name means fool, and he is has a big case of denial.  King David comes to him looking for support and he blows off God's annoited in a very arrogant manner.  Not a good idea.  His good wife Abigail then has to covertly save his life.  The denial part of the story comes from reading between the lines of the story.  The Bible tells us that Abigail is both wise and beautiful.  It is not hard to speculate that Abigail has often tried to share her wisdom with this blockhead - but no doubt he was too thick to take her counsel in the past.  In this incident with David she doesn't even try to talk to him....she knows her husband all too well.

So Nabal remains in denial.  He is in denial over the importance of David.  That is stated in the text.  But more importantly he is in denial over the eternal consequences of his arrogance. So God himself ends Nabal's denial the way it often ends...with a heart attack after a night of drinking too much.

What's your marriage denial problem?  Anger, lust, arrogance or something else?  Be careful the consequences of denial are often severe.