Read Through the Bible in a Year 2018 Day 95: David Becomes King

Good morning, everyone!

Today I read 2 Samuel 1-3.

And if you read the title, you'll know that in today's reading, David becomes king. Finally. 

But that means that Saul is dead. Unfortunately, so is Jonathan. They were both killed in battle with the Amalekites.

David is very upset when he hears the news, naturally.

But something strange happens in the first chapter.

So, in 1 Samuel 31, Saul has lost the battle, all of his sons who went out to battle with him are dead, and he does not want to be taken by the Amalekites. So, he asks his armor bearer to kill him. But his armor bearer cannot do that. So, Saul falls on his own sword and dies.

In 2 Samuel 1, however, the Amalekite who "escaped" to bring the news to David, says that he killed Saul at Saul's request.

Well, he really shouldn't have lied, because David thinks that stretching out your hand against the Lord's anointed is a really bad thing. And so he has the Amalekite killed.

Whoops.

Don't lie. Don't brag about something that isn't true.

While it might not get you killed today, it can still have awful consequences.

Now, David's transition to king in Judah is very smooth. The people receive him, anoint him, and he becomes king.

However, Abner, the commander of Saul's army, makes Ish-bosheth, Saul's son, king over Israel. Whoops.

Are you asking the same question I did: Didn't he know that God anointed David king after Saul?

Yes. Yes, he did know that.

But he made Saul's son king anyway.

So, now Israel and Judah are divided. Still divided.

And civil war breaks out. Again.

So, Joab, the commander of David's armies, and Abner, the commander of Saul's armies, agree to let their men have a "contest." David's armies beat Ish-bosheth's armies. Badly.

But it doesn't end there. Naturally, Saul's son won't just give up his throne.

Now, during this war, in chapter 3, it says that the house of David grew continually stronger, but the house of Saul grew continually weaker.

This is because David is God's anointed king.

Now, something happens to really turn the tide of the war.

Abner is accused by Ish-bosheth of going in to one of Saul's concubines. I have no idea why he thought this, as the Bible isn't clear on that point, but the accusation makes Abner angry.

And he defects to David's side. David agrees to let him join, but only if he brings Michal, David's first wife, Saul's daughter. Abner does, but her husband...remember Saul gave her to another man...follows behind her, crying.

He eventually goes away, and she returns to David.

Now, something that irritates me about David is how many wives he has (I may get into this more later). Without Michal, I think he has six at this point. But Michal was his first wife, and just because Saul was suspicious of David, who was always completely loyal to Saul, didn't give him the right to give David's wife to someone else.

I know that man's rules were sometimes a bit different back then, but God's rules never change. Michal was David's wife. And so he gets her back.

So, David keeps winning the war. Abner has defected to David's side.

But then Joab does something he wasn't supposed to.

First, he tries to convince David that Abner is spying on him, but David doesn't believe it.

So, he and his brother murder Abner because he had killed one of their brothers in battle.

David is naturally angry, and declares that he and his kingdom are innocent before God of Abner's blood. Only Joab and his brother are guilty of it.

And David has favor with all his people.

So, it seems that despite the fighting, David's reign is off to a good start.

I hope you'll join me tomorrow when I read 2 Samuel 4-7.