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David Crowned King at Last
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David’s tribute to one who had been his bitter enemy won the
admiration of all Israel. “For all the people and all Israel understood
that day that it had not been the king’s intent to kill Abner the son of
Ner.” In the private circle of his trusted counselors and attendants,
the king recognized his own inability to punish the murderers as he
desired. He left them to the justice of God. “The Lord shall repay
the evildoer according to his wickedness.”
When Ishbosheth “heard that Abner had died in Hebron, he lost
heart, and all Israel was troubled.” Soon another act of treachery
completed the downfall of the weakened, rival power. Ishbosheth
was murdered by two of his captains who, cutting off his head,
rushed with it to the king of Judah, hoping by this to gain his favor.
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David Punishes the Murderers of His Enemy
But David did not want the help of treason to establish his power.
He told these murderers about what happened to the man who
boasted that he had killed Saul. “‘How much more,’” he added,
“‘when wicked men have killed a righteous person in his own house
on his bed? Therefore, shall I not now require his blood at your hand
and remove you from the earth?’ So David commanded his young
men, and they executed them.”
After the death of Ishbosheth, there was a general desire among
the leading men of Israel for David to become king of all the tribes.
They declared, “You were the one who led Israel out and brought
them in; and the Lord said to you, ‘You shall shepherd My people
Israel, and be ruler over Israel.’ Therefore all the elders of Israel
came to the king at Hebron, and King David made a covenant with
them at Hebron before the Lord.” So through God’s leading the way
had opened for him to come to the throne.
The change in the people’s attitude was decisive. The revolution
was quiet and dignified, in keeping with the work they were doing.
Nearly half a million people, the former subjects of Saul, thronged
Hebron and its surrounding area. The hour for the coronation was
appointed. David—the man who had been expelled from the court
of Saul, who had fled to the mountains and hills and to the caves
of the earth to preserve his life—was about to receive the highest
honor that human beings can confer on a person. Priests and elders,