II Samuel 1 – 4 and A Short Prayer

II Samuel 1-4

In the last chapter of I Samuel, we read an account of the death of Saul and his three sons. According to this account, Saul killed himself. When his armor-bearer saw he was dead, he killed himself, too. According to the Amalekite who reported Saul’s death to David, He “put Saul out of his misery” as Saul requested. We are never told if this is true or if the Amalekite was just expecting to receive a reward from David for reporting that he had killed Saul. In any case, I’m sure the reactions of David and his men surprised him, especially David’s question about why he was not afraid to kill the Lord’s anointed, followed by his orders to kill him.

David is still seeking the Lord’s guidance as we begin chapter 2. In response to a question about whether he should return to Judah, the Lord tells David to move to Hebron. After David moves back, the men of Judah crown David king over the people of Judah. If you will recall, Samuel anointed David as the next king after Saul did not do what God ordered.

Abner, the commander of Saul’s army, did not seek the Lord’s guidance and proclaimed Saul’s son Ishbosheth king over “Gilead, Jezreel, Ephraim, Benjamin, the land of the Ashurites, and all the rest of Israel.

When the Israelites left Egypt, they were a united, cohesive group with leaders such as Moses and Joshua and even under the judges. Now, we have two fairly distinctive factions. I guess no one would be surprised that war broke out between them. In the first battle, David’s forces defeated the men of Israel.

Joab, commander of David’s army, had two brothers: Abishai and Asahel. Asahel had quite a reputation as a runner – he could “run like a gazelle”—and, as Abner and his men were retreating from the battle, Asahel chased after Abner. Abner, who didn’t want to kill him, tried to stop him from chasing after him, but could not. He ended up killing Asahel then had to persuade Joab not to keep pursuing them.

As the two factions warred against each other, David became stronger and stronger, while Ishbosheth’s kingdom became weaker.

Apparently, David was a busy guy. Of the six sons he had after he moved back to Hebron, not a single one had the same mother. Nothing is said here about how the various wives and sons got along, but we can probably guess that there were problems.

All was not well in Ishbosheth’s kingdom, either. Abner left in a huff to join David after Ishbosheth accused him of sleeping with one of Saul’s concubines. David would only allow Abner to negotiate with him if Abner brought back David’s first wife, Michal (Saul’s daughter). Abner did so, but not without Michal’s husband Palti following behind. Not a pretty picture.

While all of this was going on, Abner consulted with the elders of Israel and the men of Benjamin to support David. After David sent Abner away, Joab and his brother Abishai killed Abner. By statements he made and by fasting and weeping, David convinced the people that he had nothing to do with Abner’s murder. In this way, David was able to solidify the two kingdoms.

As for Ishbosheth, he was, as he should have been, very afraid. Two sons of Rimmon sneak in and kill him. They take his head to Hebron, expecting David to reward them – I guess they didn’t hear about the Amalekite who brought David news of Saul’s death. David orders his men to kill them and cuts off their hands and feet. Their bodies were hung beside the pool in Hebron. (I hope no one drank the water there.) For some reason, Ishbosheth’s head was buried in Abner’s tomb.

Tomorrow, it’s Psalm 6, 8, 9, 10, 14, 16, 19, and 21

A Short Prayer

A friend sent me this in an e-mail:

Hi Lord, its me.

We are getting older and things are getting bad here. Gas prices are too high, no jobs, food and heating costs too high. I know some have taken you out of our schools, government and even Christmas, but Lord I'm asking you to come back And re-bless the United States of America .

We really need you!

There are more of us who want you than those who don't!

Thank You Lord,

I Love you.

"Life without God is like an unsharpened pencil - it has no point."

Another Holster

By the way, I made another holster for my brother Ray. I think it turned out pretty well.

Until next time…