In this passage the time of waiting for David ended, albeit in a tragic way. The treacherous murder of Ish-Bosheth by two of his own soldiers was not the way David anticipated. The two murderers had no consideration towards God or David. Their greed was in assuming that David would reward them handsomely. It must have come as a shock to hear David’s response: “will I not therefore now require his blood at your hand and destroy you from the earth.” (See Genesis 9:6).  They were executed and their hands and feet cut off and hanged beside the pool at Hebron. This action was not only to punish the murderers, it was politically necessary for David so that he could not be associated with the heinous act. Verse 4 seems an odd inclusion in this passage. It does however illustrate how weak the house of Saul had become and that Ish-Bosheph would not have been the last contact with Saul’s family.  Shortly after this episode the elders of the Northern tribes approached David and asked him to accept leadership of the whole of Israel. They acknowledged that David had been chosen by God. 1 Chronicles 12:23-40 gives an impressive description of the event and the anointing by the Lord of David’s kingship.  David was roughly 15 when Samuel anointed him but he did not become king until he was 30, so he spent at least 15 years preparing for this great role. God uses much preparation time when the task is going to be great. David did not sit back resting on his laurels. He hit the road running. Jerusalem was a small Canaanite city which should have belonged to Israel some 400 years ago. He decided that the city should be their capital rather than Hebron. Despite the difficulty, David and his army captured the city and it was called the city of David. This was followed by further battles with the Philistines, but David did nothing without first conferring with God. Through his great faith he knew that the kingdom belonged to God and by obeying God’s instructions the Philistines were defeated and their gods destroyed. We all face challenges in our lives: health, provision or relationships.  Some are serious and some are very serious. If we allow the problems to dominate our thoughts completely our attitude changes and faith takes a backward step and hope becomes wishful thinking. Jesus gave us the most precious of gifts, the Holy Spirit and through Him we encounter God’s overriding goodness.

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For your meditation today: Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.