Now Saul had a concubine whose name was Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah; and Ish-bosheth said to Abner, “Why have you gone in to my father’s concubine?” (2 Samuel 3:7).

Consider the folly of Ish-boseth here. The house of Saul was getting weaker and weaker. What is more, Ish-bosheth was losing power to his general, Abner. In the course of time, Ish-bosheth confronted Abner about his having sexual relations with one of his father's concubines. Yet, it was an empty threat, because he had no power to enforce  the penalty for treason. Even when Abner was even more blatant with his treason, declaring that he would give Israel over to David, there was nothing that Ish-bosheth felt he could do. 

Ish-bosheth does not appear to be a strong leader. But perhaps his greatest handicap was that the LORD was against him and his house. God was strengthening David to be king over Israel. 

Now, David was not absent such fears himself, for he too felt powerless before his very popular and strong general, Joab (cf. 2 Samuel 3:39). Now, he was wise enough not to bring any private or personal complaints against his general, as Ish-boseth had. Instead, he humbled himself and showed himself honorable before the people. Thus, he gained popular favor (cf. 2 Samuel 3:36-37), which added to his strength and protection against any conspiracy. 

Yet, beyond these strategies, David's real strength was in God's promise and providence. As Solomon would observe,

There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan
    that can succeed against the Lord (Proverbs 21:30).

Isaiah too would write,

And it is I who have created the destroyer to wreak havoc;
no weapon forged against you will prevail,
    and you will refute every tongue that accuses you (Isaiah 54:16-17).

In the New Testament Paul would declare,

 If God is for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31).

Friends, Ish-bosheth's downfall was primarily because he was on the wrong side of God's favor. David's triumph was primarily because he was on the right side of God's favor.

Now, I'm only considering temporal outcomes here, but such outcomes do not give the full picture, for then some might even say that Christ's ministry was a failed outcome, for He died a shameful and horrible death and all of His followers were scattered. Yet, we know that Christ's death was the greatest outcome of any event in history.

It is not simply temporal outcomes that matter. Eternal outcomes matter too, and even more. In fact, Paul would say that no hardship, failure or loss was worthy to compare with the eternal hope that every believer possesses (cf. Romans 8:18). He writes,

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal (2 Corinthians 4:16-18).

Friends, are you going through some hardship, failure or loss? Don't lose heart, but do trust and obey the Lord. It is enough that you are on the right side of God's favor. You will be safe against uncertain times and the schemes of crafty and wicked men. Instead of fretting, pray, and take your every anxiety to the Lord, always remembering to give Him thanks for everything, knowing that you are completely dependent on His grace (cf. Philippians4:6-7). Yes, dear friends, humble yourselves and pray. Even when you are shaking with fear, pray. Even when you only see darkness and feel dread in your future, pray. 

Meditate daily on God's Word. If you have more time, meditate more. Fill your mind with His truth, so that your perspective will not be hijacked by your fears. Even if you find yourself on the wrong side of God's favor, this is the best you can do.

Don't think you can simply take matters into your own hands, for this will certainly turn out badly for you. Consider the wise counsel that the seer, Hanani, gave to king Asa: 

For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him (2 Chronicles 16:9).

Listen to Solomon's words of wisdom:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart
    and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him,
    and he will make your paths straight (Proverbs 3:5-6).

I am weak today, though anointed king; and these men the sons of Zeruiah are too difficult for me. May the Lord repay the evildoer according to his evil" (2 Samuel 3:39).

This is an interesting statement. It appears that what David is saying is that even though he had been anointed king, he did not feel he had the strength to exact judgment against Joab for the murder of Abner. He did not even mention Joab by name but just refered to the "sons of Zeruiah." The sons were Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. They were all chief military leaders over David's army. Even though Asahel was dead, Joab and Abishai were still powerfully influential.

Ish-boseth, the son of Saul, foolishly confronted Abner, the commander of his army, over his concubine and, in turn, lost his kingdom (2 Samuel 3:6-11). In contrast, David would not be so foolish to confront his military commander over the matter of Abner's death, but he made sure that all Israel knew that he himself was not guilty. 

It would not be until David's death and the passing of the throne to Solomon that David felt that his throne carried enough clout to exact judgment for Joab's treachery:

Now you yourself know what Joab son of Zeruiah did to me—what he did to the two commanders of Israel’s armies, Abner son of Ner and Amasa son of Jether. He killed them, shedding their blood in peacetime as if in battle, and with that blood he stained the belt around his waist and the sandals on his feet. Deal with him according to your wisdom, but do not let his gray head go down to the grave in peace. (1 Kings 2:5-6).

David had the wisdom to know that just ascending to the throne of Israel was no guarantee of power and influence. He had to win over the people. He had to be mindful of not offending his military leaders.

Also, he had the discernment to understand that he could consolidate his power better if he did not harm Saul or his sons. He honored them instead. God had rejected Saul and would Himself remove him from the throne, freeing David from any blood-guilt with respect to Saul. When David ascended the throne, no one could justifiably exact revenge against David, who was innocent of Saul's blood, even to the extent of mourning over the former king and killing those that brought him news of Saul's death as if it were a glad tiding. 

Friends, God gave David such wisdom and ingenuity to navigate the sensitive and dangerous political channels of this transfer of power. I do not point these things out to exalt David but to commend his trust in the LORD. I believe that David's reign and dynasty were built on the basis of this trust and faithfulness toward God. 

This is what I try to imitate with respect to the various platforms God has given me to serve Him, whether in the church, in my work, or in my home. I apply what wisdom God has granted me, as best I can, but I recognize my weakness and my susceptibility to ignorance and failure at every point. And while I relish the support of others, I do not depend upon it, for my motivation is simply trusting and honoring the Lord my God. It is His approval and reward that I ultimately seek. 

Brothers and sisters, I encourage you to follow my example in this, even as I follow the example of Christ.

God’s silence

There are times in scripture where God is silent. ‘silent’ in that we don’t get his opinion directly about every manner (sounds like life), such as the book of Ruth. The whole story unfolds but God gives no opinion or voice. We do get to see his thoughts in light of other scriptures and knowing him then applying it, not to mention what he does with people actions.

1 Samuel 2:1, is the only place, so far, where God has spoken; ‘shall I go’ – go, ‘where to’ –hebron… that’s it. From there, he is made King over Judah, gathers the support of Abner, thanks to a false accusation, is reunited with his first wife – which he never divorced, she was taken from him. (Old Testament law, required the man to give a letter of divorce, David never did that)

Justifying Evil

We are never called to do an evil. God does no evil we are to live up to his standards (thank you Jesus for His credit) yet God, in his sovereignty, uses our free will choice of committing evils to accomplish his will. In a time when David is shining, David declares his innocence of Abner’s death. By several counts you could say Abner did fine in his approach to killing Asahel. The biggest shame of this all is a Hebrew killed a Hebrew, which is not something we should overlook with any ease. 2 sides were fighting, one warned offering peace, a fight ensued, Abner came out alive; this was not murder, no Law was broken. The law does excuse for an avenger of blood to pursue, but David does not seem to see it in this light; David mentions the bloodguilt of the matter, expressing Abner’s death as unjust.

Thoughts

God’s silence is often taken as approval; conversely we should not assume disapproval. We should always use scripture to understand scripture and then to conclude. Abraham lied about his relationship with his wife, twice; does God condone lying? No. Does God condone lying if you are about to die? I think many would pause and try to justify a ‘yes.’

Joab I think would try to justify his actions; many would have a hard time arguing with him – his brother was killed! He could even argue that God expects an Avenger of Blood, ‘isn’t that why the cities of refuge exist?’ But had God’s original desires been fulfilled, this would never have happened. Had God’s commandments been followed, no civil war would have occurred. Had Saul been faithful David would not have been prepared to be king. Had Joab been more eager to see God’s desires come to fruition, even above his own bloodline’s interest, no blood avenging would have occurred.

Failure once to be faithful complicates matters, making it more difficult to decipher godliness. You see this in scripture, politics, and in my own life. When I have been given the grace I take a ‘Flood’ approach, or a ‘Stoning’ approach. Taking a hard reset, to ever sinful complicating matters has been God’s way of fixing things; so I would encourage the same.

Get rid of the evil in your life, if it comes back, do it again. If you are in a web of lies and deceit, admit it, apologize, repay your portions and sometimes more over areas you had no fault. Be more concerned with the God’s picture than your rights, hurts, and goals. His justice is what matters, not your immediate situation. Your faithfulness is what is eternal, not the conditions this side of eternity. Be forgiving, seek to redeem everything you can.

This pleased the people very much. In fact, everything the king did pleased them! (2 Samuel 3:36 NLT)

David fasts in mourning over Abner's death, and the people are pleased. What is more, the biblical writer tells us that everything the king did pleased them. I understand this to mean that he always acted with integrity, courage, wisdom, humility, and leadership. Whenever I come to this verse, my heart leaps inside me and yearns to know such a person and to be one myself. 

Today, we have just the opposite phenomenon with respect to our American government. Congress has an historically low approval rating among the people. The presidency, rather than being a rallying point for the country, has become the fulcrum of partisan leaning. If you are liberal, you will incline to approve of the current president. If you are conservative, you will likely disapprove. When is the last time that a member of Congress or the President has done anything which pleased all the people very much. Don't we find just the opposite. Rather than being a representation of what is most noble in the American people, they have instead shown themselves no better than anyone else, except for their power and influence. 

When we look to religious leadership, the picture does not become much better. Many go through the motions of their office, but it is rare to find anything exceptionally inspirational about them. It is distressing to think that we measure exemplary leadership with the litmus of whether or not they have been caught in some major scandal. The scale has been lowered so much that almost anyone can gain our approval with a singular good deed, or if they have a particular talent, or if they are a good businessman, or if they have influence, or if they can speak well. 

O Lord, where are the truly exceptional people?! Ones that even their enemies would be cut to the heart and admire in secret. Ones that truly inspire in every way. Certainly, they would only be so by your grace. Raise up, O Lord, such leaders among us. Cause us to raise our standards, both for our leaders, as well as ourselves.

All the people took note and were pleased; indeed, everything the king did pleased them. ³⁷ So on that day all the people there and all Israel knew that the king had no part in the murder of Abner son of Ner.
 
One could easily say that David is a good politician who performed such a political maneuver to bring people to his side.  But God who could penetrate our flesh to see the inside knew his heart was genuine.  Once again he truly has heart after God's heart just as the Scripture says in 1 Samuel 13:14, "But now your kingdom will not endure; the LORD has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you have not kept the LORD’s command.”   

In the midst of all the turmoil of his life, he truly gave his heart to the Lord.  He thought about what he would do to please God. Yujin mentioned in the SMT class about what the scripture means by "David is a man after God's heart."  David was proactive when it comes to loving God.  For example, I sometimes tell my children to do some chores at home, and they listen to me and do what I tell them to do.  I am happy that they would listen and be obedient to me, but when I come home one day and find the house completely cleaned or dishes in the sink washed and dried in the dish rack, I would be truly pleased because they think about pleasing me and do it voluntarily. David may have been like that toward God.  Let's think about how we please God our father today and do it whether it brings ourselves comfort or not.  

I'm a little confused...what's new, right?

In 1 Sam. 31 it says Saul took his own life by falling on his own sword.  It even goes on to say that his armor-bearer witnessed this.  In 2 Sam. 1 a young Amalekite man witnessed this and describes Saul's last moments as him leaning on his spear (not sword).  It goes on to say that the Amalekite actually kills Saul and not Saul committing suicide.  He supports his case by bringing Saul's crown and arm band to David.  How do these two passages support each other?  Is one of them false?

Yujin responds... Great question, brother Matt! The Amalekite witness is lying here. He lies because he thinks that David will reward him for killing his enemy, Saul. He was likely a witness of Saul's suicide and came right after to steal his crown and bracelet. I say the Amalekite witness is lying because the account of Saul's death in 1 Samuel 31:4 is by the biblical narrarator. It is more likely that the Amalekite is lying rather than the biblical narrarator, which may have been either Nathan or Gad, both prophets of God.