Read: 2 Sam. 1-4
David’s rise to the kingdom was not a smooth transition. He had an adversary, Abner who had been Saul’s right hand man. David respected and honored Abner even though Abner was conniving and made Saul’s son, Ishbosheth, the king over Israel. David became king over Judah. When Ishbosheth questioned Abner’s authority over a concubine of Saul’s that Abner was seeing, Abner’s response made Ishbosheth afraid of him.
Abner killed young Asheal in battle which was the brother of Joab. Joab was the leader of David’s army who he sought revenge and killed Abner. David, who was innocent in the matter, mourned and honored Abner in his death. Two zealous Judites killed Ishbosheth thinking they would be honored by David. Instead they were rewarded with death. Saul had one more son who was still living, Meshibosheth who was lame. We will read more about him in the next few days.
In a nutshell: David got his kingdom and didn’t have to fight for it. He asked God what to do after Saul’s death and God told him to move to Hebron. Hebron is the place where kings are anointed. There the people set him up as king. The people killed his adversaries: Abner and Ishbosheth. David just trusted in God. What a great lesson for us. When God is ready to promote us, we don’t have to help him. He can do it all by himself. Our job is to abide in the vine.
Lord, help us to abide in You today.
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