Life of David – 2 Samuel 3 – Scripture Supply

David, “Search for significance.”

2 Samuel 3:1-21

Vs. 1-5 Padding our stats

Vs. 6-11 What’s yours is mine.

Vs. 12-21 I’m on your side.

Intro.

The first verse sets the tone for the section we will be examining this day, as we are told that “there was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David. But David grew stronger and stronger, and the house of Saul grew weaker and weaker.” This truth was God’s plan; it was what He had ordained, but the insecurity of this truth was not part of what the Lord desired. So much of our identities are in what we do and how others perceive us instead of how the Lord sees us. Consider this:

David took this season of growing stronger and stronger to demonstrate as much by adding wives and children to his family. (Insecurity)
Abner and Ishbosheth demonstrated the house of Saul growing weaker and weaker by infighting and making deals in an attempt to divert God’s plan. (Insecurity)

On either end, “David’s or the house of Saul” both were trying to bolster their images in a search for significance. It matters not if you are on the strong side or the weak side, as apart from seeing ourselves in the Lord, we will be on an unending quest to be seen as important. Hey, who cares if others see you as important when God has already throughout eternity declared you so important and precious to Him that He sent His son to die for you!?

Furthermore, this section shows the continual battle that rages on in our lives—the battle that Paul spoke of in Gal. 5:17 when he said, “The flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.” When we think of this battle, we think in terms of sin, but the battle begins way before we become entrapped by the things our flesh lusts after. It begins when we begin to search for our significance outside of our relationship with Christ. Yes, there is a battle that is going on, but rest assured, He who has begun a good work in you will see it through the day of completion.

Padding our stats

Vs. 1 The phrase “there was a long war” reveals a continual civil war between David and Israel rather than an occasional clash. Regardless of the war, David was growing stronger while Saul’s house was growing weaker. Based upon the concluding verses, two things transpired during this time:

David as well was busy increasing his kingdom by adding to his harem, and they in turn gave birth to six sons.
Abner was strengthening his hold upon Ishbosheth’s throne.

What I find interesting is that regardless of what both sides were trying to accomplish, God was nonetheless causing what He promised to come to pass: “David grew stronger and stronger, and the house of Saul grew weaker and weaker.” David’s additions to his family and Abner’s attempt to “strengthen his hold on the house of Saul” were merely cosmetic. God was at work. My point? Why do we continue in the foolish pursuit of trying to achieve our significance apart from the Lord, when He is going to have His way anyway? You and I ought not to waste another moment in pursuing our significance apart from seeing ourselves in the beloved.

Vs. 2-5 Consider what God is accomplishing in David: He is now ruler over the Keilah (1 Sam. 23:1) and over the Ziphites (1 Sam. 23:19), both of whom betrayed him into the hands of Saul, and now the Lord has placed him as their king. My point? There is an obvious blessing upon David and his reign as he continues to increase while Saul decreases, even in areas where years earlier people had rejected him. So why does David seek to add to his wives? In one word, I can answer that question: insecurity! Is that not amazing? Man, we humans are the most insecure of all of God’s creations, blessings, positions, and popularity. We all leave wanting more because we are never rich enough, thin enough, etc.

The outcome of David’s insecurity is he wants more wives; two (Ahinoam and Abigail) are just not enough, and four more—Maacah, Haggith, Abital, and Eglah (heifer). If you are going to show yourself as a powerful king, you have to have a big harem. Never mind that David is being disobedient to God’s word in Deut. 17:17, where they were told not to add wives like the pagan nations do. God did not say, “And 17 of you will be one flesh.” Polygamy started back in Gen. 4:19 with a descendant of Cain, Lamech, and slipped into Israel’s practice.

This was a common practice among the pagan nations to take many wives as treaties were put in place between nations by a king sending a daughter to become a part of the wives of another king. It would ensure peace because a king of one nation would be married to the daughter of another, which would establish a treaty with the nation because you wouldn’t want to break the treaty as it may cause the death of your daughter.

Hey, did you notice that it says here that David married “Maacah, the daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur?” Her name means “oppression.” She is the daughter of Talmai and was part of the Canaanites by way of the Geshurites. So? Well, in 1 Sam. chapter 27:8, we were told that David and his men made a raid upon the Geshurites and that he did not leave any alive in fear that they would tell Achish. So apparently he left her alive and now seeks her as his wife. From this relationship came Absalom and his sister Tamar (in fact, it was this region that Absalom fled after killing his half brother who raped his sister). Is it any wonder that the Bible tells us not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers? (2 Cor. 6:14)

By these six wives he had six sons, three of whom were to be a grief to him (Amnon, Absalom, and Adonijah).

Amnon will rape his half-sister and was murdered by his half-brother Absalom.
Chileab, also called Daniel (1 Chronicles 3:1), most likely died young or was ungodly, as he is not mentioned again.
Absalom, after killing his half-brother, leads a civil war against his father David.
Adonijah tries to seize the throne from David and then again from Solomon. He tries to take one of David’s concubines and ends up being executed for his arrogance.
Shephatiah and Ithream either died young or were ungodly, as they are only mentioned once again in the ancestry of David.

The result of David’s committing “mass marriage” by having all these wives all at once is that it just doesn’t work for the family. Yet there are those up the hill who look at the Bible and justify their own “mass marriages,” saying that it’s in the Bible. Hey, just because the Bible records something doesn’t mean that God is for it and we are to do it. Now, it is common sense that “mass marriage” is not a positive thing; I mean, think about sibling rivalry having 6 sons each from different wives!

With that said, God’s not into “serial marriage” either! “Serial marriage”? Yeh, that’s where you marry one and get rid of that one for a newer model, and every so many years trade one in for another. Paul told Timothy to look for those fellows that were “one woman men,” and that is what God’s word would have us follow. Henry Ford was once asked what the key to his automotive success was, and he quipped, “Simple, stick to one model.” Personally, I can’t risk trading in as I’ve already found the best, and I’m certain I wouldn’t find another that would put up with me.

Even more astonishing to me is that according to 2 Samuel 5:13–16, David will take even more wives and concubines and will have 11 more sons born to him. Solomon is going to pick up this same habit and carry it to an extreme. You see, we are told in 1 Kings 11:3 that Solomon had “seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart.” We may be tempted to say that we aren’t near as bad as David was, but God does not grade on the curve; He grades on the cross, and truth be told, we may not have done all the rotten stuff David did, but neither have we slain giants or worshiped God with such passion. You see, the amazing truth is that God uses imperfect people, and it is His greatness that works through us. I suppose one of the most difficult moments we will face is when we see our Lord face to face, and we shall see all of what we could have experienced of Him if we had only surrendered fully to Him. So much of our lives are spent on holding back parts of our lives, and I’m convinced that all that is going.

What’s yours is mine

Vs. 6-7 Judah had come to anoint David in Hebron, but the rest of the nation was in a wait-and-see pattern, with the majority siding with Abner’s Ishbosheth, but even with all of Abner’s help, Saul’s dynasty is losing strength as David’s is increasing, which only served to cause Abner to come out even more from the puppet king he backed. Simply put, “Baal’s man” just couldn’t do the job.

He was not gifted or strong enough to stand up as king. Abner is the kind of guy who always wanted to be on the winning side, and clearly he thought he was because he had a larger, more seasoned army; however, his defeat at the hands of David’s men under Joab proved otherwise. So now he hopes David’s kindness will save his own skin and secure a position in David’s staff. The deceased king’s harem belonged to his successor, and to even ask for one of those gals was considered an act of high treason. Now I rather think this principle applies for us pastors as well as the church, which belongs to no one but Jesus, and it is treason to “take” the bride of Christ as if it were our own possession.

As I said, when a man took another man’s concubine, it was like saying that you were filling their shoes, and Ishbosheth accuses Abner of literally doing so. Hey saint, we don’t have to worry about filling another man’s shoes; no, we are to just put our feet one step at a time in the steps of our Lord. Paul wrote to the Colossians in 2:10–12 that we should “walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.” Furthermore, he urged the Corinthians in 11:1 to “imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.”

We don’t have big shoes to fill, just big shoe prints to follow!

Vs. 8-11 Abner’s response leads us to believe that the accusation was false. Though it is possible that as he was going after Saul’s concubine to strengthen his hold on the house of Saul, it is far more likely that because of Abner’s increasing power, Ishbosheth felt insecure and invented this accusation as grounds for getting rid of Abner. So though he was being wrongly accused, in reality he was guilty of filling Saul’s shoes, as Ishbosheth couldn’t fit into them. Rizpah means “hot coal,” so either she was hot-looking or she was hard as coal, depending upon your perspective.

Abner is so upset that he says, “Who do you think you’re talking to here? Man, I put you into your position, and you’re after me over this hot coal?” “You’re just a man of shame, and the only reason you’re king is because I placed you there and have kept you in this position.” And it was true, as the military was on Abner’s side and Ishbosheth was just a puppet king.

So Abner promises Ishbosheth that he is going to back David and stop fighting against David and join him, and poor Ishbosheth can’t even say a word back as he is afraid of him. This is the first of ten times that we read of the phrase “throne of David,” and in Isa. 9:6-7 it will take on Messianic importance as it relates to Jesus. Again, you see two men in search of their significance trying to find where they fit in and knocking each other around to establish dominance and self-importance.

Now if Abner knew that David was God’s choice for king (verse 9), why did he fight against him before this? Abner is a good example of those of us who know things to be true but we don’t live as if they were true. Abner did the right thing in joining David’s side, but he did it for the wrong reason. Instead of joining David because Ishbosheth offended him personally, he should have joined David because he knew that David was God’s choice to be king. It is not enough for us to do the right thing; we must do so for the right reason, Christian.

I’m on your side.

Vs. 12-16 Abner comes in to strike a deal with David, and David accepts with only one revision, and that is he wants Michal, the daughter of Saul, whom he purchased at the price of 100 Philistine foreskins. You will recall that he received Michal in marriage (1 Samuel 17:26–28), but Saul took her away to spite David (1 Samuel 25:44). Now the one thing David doesn’t need is another wife, as he already has six of them; this is an ego thing as well as a political thing, as having her back would be uniting the house of Saul with himself. If I were David, I might have said, “Hey, look, I’ll make a deal with you, but only if you don’t bring Michal back!” as she was a pain. Perhaps Paltiel is weeping for joy and not sorrow?

So why did David request Michal back?

She was still his wife, even though she had been given to Paltiel 10 years earlier.
It was good diplomacy to unite the two warring factions.
By claiming Michal David was claiming Saul’s kingdom.
By having Abner bring Michal to David, it proved that Abner could deliver on his promise of bringing with him the rest of the nation.

Abner acts as if David and God needed his help in accomplishing God’s promises, and in so receiving Abner, David acts as if he was the bridge to the two kingdoms. So there is poor Paltiel following after Abner and Michal are crying at losing her, and Abner is a real tough guy as he turns around and says, “Go home,” and Paltiel does. David may have cared for Michal at one time but had been apart from her for some 15 years, but his reputation was in jeopardy if he let her stay with the man who loved her. People might say that he wasn’t tough enough to stand up as king. I’m not saying he had no right to her as his wife, as Saul had taken her from him, but it wasn’t about his rights; it was all about appearance, and that is a foolhardy reason to do things.

Vs. 17-21 Abner’s own words should have provided a conviction in his heart for his lack of action to the prophetic word he quotes to Israel. Abner, after striking a deal with David, goes back to Israel and tells them, “In times past you wanted David; now is your opportunity; now then go and do it.” Abner and twenty of them, no doubt, the leaders of the other tribes, come to David to see what he thinks of the idea, and he throws them a feast, and a deal must have been struck as Abner leaves to go tell the rest of Israel.

Now it is an interesting fact that this word came from Abner to Israel instead of from David to Israel, even though he was the king. Furthermore, we know that even though this word came from Abner to Israel and a deal was struck, David would not reign over Israel until several years later. Simply put, what man orchestrated, God did not honor until they were not forced but rather submitted freely. So based upon the delay in making David their king, it illustrates the weakness in proclaiming truth to others is always found in not living by it ourselves!

Yet with that said saint, this is a good word for you and me to reunite with the “Son of David,” not by coercion but rather out of His love for us. I think that we Christians need to regularly revive our relationship with the Lord; you know, quit making excuses and procrastinating and re-submit to God. We want to see the Lord move in the hearts of the unsaved, but we fail to realize that He must first move in the hearts of the saved. In fact, you won’t see a move in the hearts of the unsaved until we follow the council of 1 Chron. 7:14, as we are told that if we who are “called by My name will humble themselves, pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

Ah, now we come down to the reason why we search outside of our Lord for our significance, as the truth is known but sadly not obeyed! How about it, Christian, are we like Israel towards their king? Do we know the truth about Him yet remain lukewarm and reluctant to embrace Him as our King over every area of our lives?

David never moved an inch until Abner’s invitation came. In light of the fact that the house of David and the house of Saul had been at war for many years, yet we see David making a feast for the man who rejected him even after Saul was gone, it reveals to us that David had no agenda. Whether it is Abner, Keilah, or Ziphites. Simply put, David was a peacemaker, and we are called to be peacemakers as well. Though this was wise and generous of David towards a former adversary, and a lesser man might not have forgiven Abner for leading an army against him, it was nonetheless something that God would not honor until the people of Israel responded on their own.

David; “Beyond the Gates of His Grace”

2 Samuel 3:22-39

Vs. 22-30 Grace for me, judgment for you

Vs. 31-39 The Lord shall repay

Intro.

So far in 2 Samuel, looking at David’s reign as king, we have taken note of our own application of the difference between being Spirit-led and flesh-driven. From there we moved to the application from the text of our struggle for significance apart from seeing ourselves in the Lord. Now we come to the tragic murder of Abner at the hands of Joab and his brother Abishai, which speaks to our hearts about grace. Grace? Yes, as Abner is lured away from it and Joab thinks that he ought to be the only one that deserves it. And it is in this tale that we again marvel at the similarities in our own lives.

How easy it is to be lured from the protection that only God’s grace affords. Christian, there is no protection for us outside of our refuge; one step from His banner of love, and we like Abner will fall just outside its gates.
And in the case of Joab, he reminds us of the duplicity of our hearts, which has made its home inside His grace but does not afford others of like passions equal residence.

I’m afraid that we, like these two, have much to learn about God’s grace!

Grace for me, judgment for you

Vs. 22-23 The beginning phrase “at that moment” reminds us of the timing of the events that were about to transpire. You see David’s popularity was growing, but he was still in Judah and just on the verge of reigning in Israel, as the deal brokered by Abner would lead to not only a smooth transition but a peaceful one as well, but such was not to be the case for Abner or the uniting of the nation. Joab was lurking in the background, waiting for the opportune time to avenge the death of his brother Asahel at the hands of Joab, and he didn’t care at what price.

David had sent Joab and his army on a raid to secure wealth for his new kingdom, and upon his return, he had heard that David provided a feast for Abner and sent him away in peace. The reaction of Joab to David is reminiscent of the elder brother of the prodigal son to his father at the acceptance and grace given to the rebellious son. How about it? Do we feel slighted by the grace expounded upon others, forgetting what God has so richly lavished upon us? Joab had become imprisoned by bitterness, hatred, and the quest for revenge, and gone from his view was the king’s grace extended towards him, who was equally responsible for starting the civil war that cost him his brother.

Hey Christian, listen up. The death of Abner by the hand of Joab caused the end of the movement to make David the king over all the land, as it would be several more years until David would be inaugurated king over all of Israel. Furthermore, David demoted Joab from being a general and stripped him of his rank. It will be five years later before David comes to Jerusalem to establish the city as the center for the kingdom.

David said, “Whatever man will go into the city and deliver the city shall be the general over my armies,” and Joab was the guy who went in by way of the spring of Gihon, which was the water source for the city of Jerusalem. So Joab was reappointed as general over David’s army. (1 Chron. 11) What is my point? Only this: “Service which is not being birthed and bathed in His grace is not only “deadly” but slows the blessing God so wants to give us.”

Vs. 24-25 Joab was majorly bummed at David as he had no use for Abner and as he had been out on a raid that brought much spoil and felt that David did him a disservice by not keeping Abner around as a reward for his work. Hey, we too are out raiding enemy lands for our King. Is our service “grace” motivated, or do we expect our King to give us what we want for our deeds, like Joab? Now remember, Joab is the nephew of David, but David is still the king and does not show him respect. And even though his comments about Abner have truth to them, his actions are not justified by Abner’s sinful behavior, as two wrongs don’t make a right.

To further bolster his position, Joab accuses Abner of being a spy for Ishbosheth with his ultimate aim of taking down David and the newly formed kingdom. Clearly, Joab hadn’t received the comforting words he hoped to hear from David as he engineers a deceptive plan to kill Abner, one of which David was not aware. Joab was accusing Abner of being a double agent for Ishbosheth, and he was particularly angry that David let Abner go without arresting or killing him. But there are two other reasons for Joab’s frustration at David’s acceptance of Abner.

According to Num. 35, Joab saw himself as the “avenger of blood” for the death of Asahel, his brother, and wanted to avenge his death, and David could have arrested and held Abner so that he could have killed him.
Joab was chief general for David’s army; thus, Abner was a rival who had a lot of top-level military experience and might be able to replace Joab as David’s chief military assistant.

Vs. 26-27 In verse 25, Joab had maligned Abner’s motive by saying it was nothing more than deception and then turns around and deceives the very one he just accused of deception. Have you ever noticed that our sins always look worse on someone else? The word privately is also rendered “peaceably,” which suggests that Joab was using deception in order to lure Abner out of Hebron, and based upon verse 30, Joab and Abishai were waiting to ambush Abner when they lured him from the city of Hebron. This made Joab’s execution of Abner a premeditated murder. How so? Well, according to Joshua 20:7, Hebron was a city of refuge where the matter could have gotten a fair hearing, but Joab did not want to risk peace when revenge was what his heart was after.

You see God, through Joshua, had set up cities of refuge, a sort of self-imposed trial, and then prison, by which, after seven years, a person who unintentionally or in self-defense killed another could go free. The idea was that if the person would not live under these guidelines, then perhaps they weren’t as innocent as they insisted. God had Joshua set up six cities, one of which was Hebron. It was understood that a “blood avenger” (usually the closest able body relative) had every legal right to avenge the death of a loved one if they went outside the city. But as long as they remained in that city those 7 years, they were off limits, and afterwards they were set free in the year of Jubilee and were free to go back to their homes and families without any fear of retaliation.

So Joab made sure that Abner was killed outside the gate of Hebron and acting as Asahel’s blood avenger. Joab knew that Abner had a rightful claim of self-defense and was protected inside the city of Hebron, but he wanted him dead anyway, so he lured him outside the city. Joab may have justified his actions by saying, “I’m doing this to defend and honor David, my king.” But the truth is, sin and treachery are never honoring anyone but our own self-centered interests. The flesh is always seeking justification for its actions, and by far the worst type of deception is self-deception, where we believe that our actions are God-approved and honoring to Jesus when in truth they only bring disgrace upon his name.

Hey saint, we too have our “city of refuge” (our rock of salvation, our Adullam), where we have run from the crimes that we have committed, and it is Jesus. Ah, but outside the gates awaits the “blood avenger,” the enemy of our souls, who is waiting for you and me. The tragic truth is that there are far too many professing believers living outside the gate, and as such, they have left the protection of His loving arms.

Some are lured outside by the enemy of our souls, like Abner by Joab. And like Abner, they think they are strong warriors, wise leaders, and nothing will happen if they wander out into the world beyond the gates of His grace, but Abner died as “a fool dies” (verse 33). Hey Christian, listen up. Don’t see how far you can step outside of the gates of His grace; instead, dwell deep inside the expanse of His protection. Stop walking the fence to see how close you can live to the world and still be a Christian. All you are doing is ripping yourself off and endangering your well-being. Jesus said of His beloved people in Luke 13:34. “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing!”

Furthermore, these two brothers knew the wishes of their king but put their own sinful desires above the interests of the king as well as the peaceable transition for the kingdom. The truth of the matter was that Asahel was in pursuit of Abner in the ill-advised aftermath of a brutal contest in which Joab fully agreed too. So he was not murdered but was the victim of Joab’s and Abner’s stupidity. Oh, how difficult it is for you and me to accept our own responsibility for our actions.

We want someone else to punish instead of being brokenhearted and repenting. Furthermore, Abner pleaded with Asahel to stop and in fact defended himself. Joab was nothing if not precise, as according to 2:23 his brother Asahel was killed by the blunt end of the spear that went through his stomach, and so Abner was stabbed in his stomach, or as one version records, both were stabbed “under the fifth rib,” so Joab made sure it was “under the fifth rib for an under the fifth rib.” So the fifth rib is an “an eye for an eye” mentality.

Vs. 28-30 David, upon hearing the news of Abner’s death, disclaims any knowledge of what his two nephews had done and names the plagues that Moses had warned of would befall all who disobeyed God’s word (Deut. 28:25-29). Although David had nothing to do with this murder, he is concerned with the precedent Joab’s action would set, as he did not want his administration to have a reputation for brutality, especially as it related to Saul’s former kingdom, as it would make it difficult for David to win the rest of Israel over to his side.

This curse upon Joab and his family went like this: “May Joab’s family not fail to have someone that has their skin fall off, crippled, die of a horrible disease. May they die by their own hand, be killed tragically, or starve to death.” With this, David removes Joab for a few years until he needs some brave person to go into Jerusalem to unlock the city gates, and Joab volunteers.

Joab’s life is a great illustration of what often causes people to ponder and question the Lord. You see people wonder how a person whom God has clearly used in the lives of others can be actively engaged in living a compromised life, contrary to the truths they proclaimed. It seems people error on two extremes:

They tend to invalidate all that God accomplished through a person when they find out that the person whom God has used was not living by the very truth they proclaimed.
Second, they tend to defend all that the instrument God chooses to use does by saying, “Hey, look at all the good that they did for God; clearly, He is ok with the way they lived their life.”

Hey saint, the truth is that God is so great that He does not need perfect people in order to use them for His purpose. You see, God uses us in spite of us, not because of us, but that in no way gives us a free pass to live our lives apart from submitting ourselves to His Word. Think of it like this: “A doctor could well proclaim the benefits of diet and exercise and its positive influences upon our physical well-being and all the while himself not be practicing what he preaches.

His truth concerning what he shared is no less true, even if it is compromised by his failure to apply it in his life.” Paul spoke of such in 1 Cor. 9:26–27, saying of himself, “I fight, not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.” Disqualified from what? Well, not from his salvation but rather from two things:

Disqualified, most importantly, from reaping personally the benefits of the truth to which he taught others.
Disqualified from being able to further teach the truths of obedience, as many would no longer believe what you said because of your failure to live it in your own life.

Based upon verse 39 (the sons of Zeruiah are too harsh for me), David’s nephews had never been easy to deal with, so he said nothing, not because he agreed but because he desired to heal a nation more than defend his rights. David saw through Joab’s excuses and realized that they were nothing more than self-justification for a personal vendetta.

The Lord shall repay

Vs. 31-34 David commanded that the men under Joab’s control tear their garments, weep, and show the signs of repentance worthy of a great man. Joab and Abishai were part of the precession, so most people probably didn’t realize that they were the murderers. Yet with all of this, David never put those two on trial for murder, yet he writes a eulogy saying that Abner was never a prisoner of war and died by a foolish act, by men whom he trusted. Notice that David does not protest Abner’s death but rather the means by which it was accomplished, as there was no trial and no concern for the facts. No, Joab, who was just as wicked as he, lured him outside the city of refuge, outside of the protection that dwelling in the city of Hebron afforded him, and killed him vengefully.

Vs. 35-39 David further honored Abner by burying him in the royal city of Hebron and by calling him a prince of a man; then he appointed Abner’s son Jaasiel as an officer over Benjamin. David would leave the judgment of his two nephews up to God.

The people saw David’s grief over Abner’s death even though Abner got what was coming to him. David realized (as could we all) that if he “got what was coming to him,” then we all would die outside of our Hebron, lured away and enticed because we thought ourselves impervious to the things of the enemy. Peter (the rock) said to Jesus, “Even if all are made to stumble because of You, I will never be made to stumble.” Yet it was that very night that a little girl put him to flight. Paul said in Gal. 6:1 that “if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted.”

Abner had spent most of his life thinking he was on the right side, but in reality he was fighting against God’s clear choice. Finally, in the end, he realizes that he is on the wrong side and joins the right side, but for all the wrong reasons.

Listen up now; even though Abner does the right thing for all the wrong reasons, God nonetheless used it to save the followers of Ishbosheth from further harm as they join David in serving God. Hey, saint, just because God uses you doesn’t mean that our hearts are in the right place. I have spoken to far too many Christians over the years that wave the success of their ministry as that which proves that they are alright with God. The success of our service never qualifies those that He justifies. His work on our character is the only visible demonstration of His justification, not our anything.

David did not want his kingdom established by violence; he believed that vengeance belongs to the Lord and wanted God to establish his kingdom, not his own actions. This whole affair was a mess, but it would not be the first or the last mess of David’s kingdom. In some regard, “messes” are inevitable, as Proverbs 14:4 says, “Where no oxen are, the trough is clean; but much increase comes by the strength of an ox.” Thus David’s words point out a truth: there are situations too tough for us to handle, and we just need to turn them over to the Lord. Our power is limited, and we need to rest in the fact that the Lord will take care of it. It is “Let the Lord do His best, and you commit to rest in His best!”

When David was dying, he told Solomon, “Do not let his gray hair go down to the grave in peace.” (2 Kings 2:5-6) So Joab was actually put to death by Solomon when Solomon took over the kingdom. This is a good lesson when someone is wound up in our lives and we can’t seem to separate ourselves from their wickedness, as we can say as David did, “The Lord shall repay the evildoer according to their wickedness.”