The Life and Times of

David's Response to the Events of 2 Samuel 2:1--5:5

And so it is that David has been designated as Saul's replacement -- Israel's next king -- approximately 15 years before the events in our text. David has risen from a lowly shepherd boy, tending a few sheep his father owns, to a beloved member of Saul's own household and family, a man of great courage and military prowess. This does not quickly bring about the demise of Saul or the appointment of David as his replacement. David falls from Saul's favor, due only to his trust in God, his loyalty to his king, and his successes. David ceases to be the “rising star” in Israel with whom all are eager to be associated, and he becomes a fugitive with whom most Israelites are now afraid to associate lest they too incur Saul's wrath. David has gone through many different experiences, all of which will make him a better king for having endured them. He is now much better prepared to reign as Israel's king. But God is not yet ready to make him king. David is here a lot like Jacob, who rejoiced in obtaining his wife after laboring for Laban, only to learn that he still had seven years to serve before he could have all for which he had hoped. Even after David is anointed as king of Judah, he must wait a full seven years to be anointed king of all Israel. Let us consider the events leading to the fulfillment of Samuel's prophetic anointing, years earlier, and see how David has learned to “wait on the Lord.”

After nearly 15 years of waiting, most spent fleeing from Saul, David learns of Saul's death and the death of three of his sons. After mourning their deaths, David inquires of the Lord, seeking to learn what he should do in response to Saul's death. God indicates that David and his men should return to the city of Hebron in the land of Judah. It is there that the men of Judah anoint David king of Judah (2 Samuel 2:1-4a).

David's first recorded act as king of Judah is described in 2:4b-7. David may be seeking more information about Saul's battle with the Philistines and his death. One way or the other, it is reported to David that the men of Jabesh-gilead have acted courageously in retrieving the body of Saul and giving him a proper burial. David responds as a king should do. He responds by executing the Amalekite who, by his own admission, raised his hand against God's anointed. Now David responds by commending the men of Jabesh-gilead for honoring Saul, at great risk to themselves. Like the granting of a presidential medal of valor, the righteous deeds of noble men are rewarded.

I must also point out that David does include in his message to the men of Jabesh-gilead the fact that he has been anointed king over Judah by the people of Judah (2:7). This may well be an indirect way of indicating his availability to be anointed as king over Israel also. I doubt this thought is offensive to the people of Jabesh-gilead, or anyone else in Israel (except Abner -- see 3:17-19). But David is not about to try to make this happen, and indeed it does not.

The reason David is not anointed king of all Israel is Abner, the cousin of Saul, and commander of the armed forces of Israel (2:8-11). Abner's actions can hardly be justified. He knows God has designated David as the next king of Israel, and so do the people (3:8-10, 17-19). Abner is either attempting to avoid or to delay David's reign in the place of Saul (and his descendants). Abner installs Ish-bosheth as Saul's replacement. Few would argue the point with Abner, a man who is personally intimidating, not to mention that he has the armed forces under his authority. Who would dare oppose Abner or Ish-bosheth?

David does not oppose either of these men, not because he is afraid of them nor because he cannot do so. He does not oppose them because he will not, out of principle. Ish-bosheth is a descendant of Saul. David seems to embrace the principle laid down centuries later by the apostle Paul:

1 Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves (Romans 13:1-2).

One would be hard pressed to say Ish-bosheth has been installed as king over Israel by popular demand, or out of the godly motives and intentions of Abner. Abner seems to be seeking his own interests in appointing Ish-bosheth king. Nevertheless, David grants the fact that he is, indeed, king, and thus that it is God who ultimately put him in this position of power and authority. He will not resist the king, even to become king in his place. Furthermore, David made a promise to Saul, a promise not to cut off his descendants, and not to destroy his name from his father's household. David will not remove Ish-bosheth because he cannot do so and keep his word to Saul. Here is a man of principle, a man who will wait seven more years just to keep his word, just to wait on the Lord.

David is plainly absent in 2:12--3:11. His name may be mentioned, but he is not one of the central characters. The central characters are Abner, commander of Israel's armies, and Joab, one of David's men and one of the commanders of Judah's military force. These two men agree upon the “contest,” which not only gets the 24 contestants killed, but brings about open war between the people of Judah and the people of Israel. All appearances are that it is a senseless contest, a projection of the ego-centered competition of Abner and Joab. This war drags on, undermining the unity of Israel, causing needless suffering and death, and leading to the murder of Abner by Joab.

In many ways, it is a rather sordid story. The two sides met for a contest, and blood was shed, leading to all out war. In this fighting, Asahel, brother of Abishai and Joab, is hot on the heels of Abner. Abner does not wish to kill Asahel, but knows this young man is not about to give up the chase. Finally, after failing to talk Asahel out of his pursuit, Abner kills him. It is not murder, because it is an action which takes place during war. It is almost an act of self-defense, but Joab will never accept this. He is intent upon revenge.

The problem is that David and Abner ended the war. Abner has been getting more and more bold. He always was the real power behind the scenes, but he eventually casts aside all pretenses by taking Saul's concubine for himself. This act is symbolic, virtually announcing that he is taking over Saul's place (see 1 Kings 2:13-25; compare Genesis 35:22; 49:3-4). Ish-bosheth finds this action too much to handle, and so he works up the courage to confront Abner. When Abner is rebuked by Ish-bosheth, he blows up. He scolds Ish-bosheth for ingratitude and reminds him who is really in charge. He chooses this opportunity to change sides. The house of David is steadily prevailing over the house of Saul (3:1); in Abner's mind, it is time to switch to the winning side. He tells Ish-bosheth he is now going to throw his support to David, thus making him king. Abner, the king-maker, has made Ish-bosheth king; now he will make David king. Ish-bosheth is duly impressed and frightened. It is the last protest he will ever register with Abner (3:6-11).

Abner then approaches David with the offer to make him king. He claims to be “in charge,” that the land is really his. If David will but make a covenant with Abner, Abner will handle the rest. He promises to bring all Israel over to David. It seems that if he had lived, he would have done as he promised. Before his death, Abner meets with the leaders of both sides. There is an agreement in principle. All that has to be done is finalize it.

Abner's “untimely” death brings things to a screeching halt. What Abner promised David he would do, and what it looks like he almost finished doing, is suddenly interrupted by his own death. Abner comes to David with a delegation of men. The deal has been made. A truce has been declared, and the war between Israel and Judah is formally ended. Twice in our text we are told that Abner left “in peace” (3:22, 23). I understand this to mean that the war has ended. This means that Joab cannot kill Abner legally; to kill Abner now would be murder, because it is not in a time of war (see 1 Kings 2:5).

While David had been “making peace” with Abner, Joab has been out “making war.” He has conducted a very successful raid. We are not told who this raid is against, but it is certainly possible that Joab's raid is against Israelites. When Joab returns from this raid, he is told that Abner has been there, meeting with David, and that he has been sent away in peace. Joab is furious. How can David be so foolish to be taken in by Abner? Does he not know that this is a ploy? David does not give in to Joab, and when Joab leaves David, he secretly sends to have Abner brought back to him. Deceitfully, Joab manages to get Abner to a place where he can kill him, and this he does.

When David learns of the murder of Abner by Joab, he acts quickly and decisively. He publicly renounces the actions of Joab as reprehensible. There is no excuse for what he did. David condemns the murder and calls down divine judgment on Joab and his family (3:28-29). David then mourns the death of Abner, seeing to it that his burial is honorable, even if his death was not (he died the death of a fool). David not only walks behind the bier, weeping loudly and chanting a lament for Abner, he refuses to eat all day long. It is obvious to all that David has no part in the death of Abner. Everybody knows it and likes it (3:31-39). David's standing with the people continues to increase.

I am inclined to think God providentially removes Abner so that David will not become king thanks to Abner, the king-maker, but rather thanks to the King-Maker. Abner's reasons for switching his allegiance from Ish-bosheth to David are questionable. In some ways, Abner's approach to David seems similar to Satan's approach to our Lord in His temptation (Matthew 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-12). Like Satan, Abner claims that the kingdom he offers is really his (compare 2 Samuel 3:12; Luke 4:5-7). Abner wants David to enter into a covenant with him (2 Samuel 3:12), but when David does become king of all Israel, he enters into a covenant with them (the people) “before the Lord” (2 Samuel 5:3). Somehow, I see Abner's offer as a shortcut, an easier path to what God wants to give David another way. If so, Abner's death and the resulting delay in David becoming king make sense.

When David initially accepts Abner's offer of the kingdom, he agrees, but with one condition. That condition is that he be given back his wife, Michal (2 Samuel 3:13-15). Merab is first offered to David, but David does not accept this offer. He does, however, accept Saul's offer with regard to Michal. This woman was given to David, and this marriage was certainly consummated. Nevertheless, after David fell out of favor with the king and fled for his life, Saul took Michal and gave her to a man named Laish for a wife (see 1 Samuel 25:44).

Why is David so insistent about the return of his wife? First and foremost, I believe it is because she is his wife. David does not take Michal with him when he flees from Saul, but he has married her and lived with her as his wife. The fact that Saul has given her to someone else does not make her less than David's wife. David believes in the permanence of marriage. She is still his wife, and he wants her back. Secondly, David insists that Ish-bosheth give Michal back to him. His father, King Saul, has taken Michal away from David; let the one who rules in Saul's place right this wrong. Thirdly, as the “contest” between Abner's 12 men and Joab's 12 set a war in motion, so the reuniting of David and Michal will symbolically join the house of David with the house of Saul. David wants Michal back because she is still his wife and he loves her, but also because it is what is best for his own people.

With the death of Abner at the hand of Joab, Ish-bosheth loses all his courage. He is hardly able to stand up to Abner, let alone even think about standing up against David. Now Ish-bosheth is on his own, knowing that Abner has already set up David to rule in his place. As our author informs us, Ish-bosheth is “scared spitless” (as we say), and Israel is troubled. What will happen now?

Two men think they are the solution. These men are fellow members of the tribe of Benjamin and commanders of divisions of Israelite soldiers (4:2). Their names are Baanah and Rechab, both sons of Rimmon. To put the matter bluntly, Ish-bosheth is a lame duck. He cannot really rule on his own because Abner provides the brains and the brawn (soldiers) of this puppet-king's administration. But there he is, a token king who is a weak man, ruling an ever-weakening nation. David is destined to be the king of all Israel, and everyone knows it, but no one knows how to turn this situation around to make it happen. And so these trusted leaders come to the king's house in the middle of the day, pretending to get wheat. The king is taking his midday nap when the two enter his bedroom and kill him in his sleep. They then cut off his head and travel all night to reach David at Hebron. They proudly present the head of Ish-bosheth, the son of Saul, “David's enemy.”

They do not understand at all. They do not understand David's submission to God and his refusal to raise his hand against God's anointed (or even one who has in some less noble way been made king). They do not understand David's love for Saul, or his commitment to protect the lives of his offspring and the honor of his name (1 Samuel 24:16-22). They do not learn from David's previous actions that David is not so eager to gain the throne that he will wink at the wickedness of those who seek to kill God's anointed.

9 David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and said to them, “As the LORD lives, who has redeemed my life from all distress, 10 when one told me, saying, 'Behold, Saul is dead,' and thought he was bringing good news, I seized him and killed him in Ziklag, which was the reward I gave him for his news. 11 “How much more, when wicked men have killed a righteous man in his own house on his bed, shall I not now require his blood from your hand and destroy you from the earth?” 12 Then David commanded the young men, and they killed them and cut off their hands and feet and hung them up beside the pool in Hebron. But they took the head of Ish-bosheth and buried it in the grave of Abner in Hebron (2 Samuel 4:9-12).

Once again, David is no opportunist who will stoop to any means to gain the throne God has promised him. Neither will David look the other way when others do evil to facilitate his ascent to the throne. David is a man who understands what being God's king is all about:

A divine decision is in the lips of the king; His mouth should not err in judgment (Proverbs 16:10).

A king who sits on the throne of justice Disperses all evil with his eyes (Proverbs 20:8).

A wise king winnows the wicked, And drives the threshing wheel over them (Proverbs 20:26).

Take away the wicked before the king, And his throne will be established in righteousness (Proverbs 25:5).

In the first five verses of 2 Samuel 5, David is anointed king of all Israel, at last, at long last! It started many years before, when David must have been in his teens.² Much to the surprise of David and his family, he is anointed as the next king of Israel. It is around 15 years before David is anointed king of Judah, and another seven before he is king of all Israel. But now, at long last, David is king. In the final portion of this message, I would like to take a step back from all the details and look at the big picture given to us by the author in 1 Samuel 16 through 2 Samuel 5.