Dave's Diary

Daily Readings: 2 Samuel 4 and Psalm 81

The death of Abner (2 Samuel 3) was a disaster for Ish-bosheth. Abner’s military prowess and influence over the soldiers had propped up Ish-bosheth’s rule, and now Abner was gone. The king was weak because he had trusted in a man rather than in God, and now he “lost heart” and became utterly discouraged. He did not believe in his own ability to lead his men to victory, and he clearly did not believe that God was with him in any real way.

In his discouragement lies our discipleship lesson for today: There is no fullness of life without faith. Trusting the LORD is the key to living a life of abundance and fullness, even in the face of apparent defeat. May the Lord grant us the gift of faith and thereby enable us to truly live our lives in fullness – even when life is tough!

As a passing comment, David’s continued sense of the need to honour members of his enemy Saul’s household (like Is-bosheth) can seem confusing. Why would he be so intent on carrying out justice against Rekab and Beerah, for killing his enemy? Surely they had helped him?

But remember the vow Jonathan called upon David to make in 1 Samuel 20: “¹⁴ … show me unfailing kindness like the Lord’s kindness as long as I live, so that I may not be killed, ¹⁵ and do not ever cut off your kindness from my family – not even when the Lord has cut off every one of David’s enemies from the face of the earth.”

David had promised his dearest friend that he would not act like the other kings of his day and murder off the members of his rival’s household. He sincerely longed to be different and to show kindness to the family of Saul, for Jonathan’s sake. He intended to fulfil his vow, and now others were going against that intention. So, he did not see the actions of Rekab and Beenah as being Godly. They claimed, “This day the Lord has avenged my lord the king against Saul and his offspring.” But David didn’t believe it had been the Lord (in whose Name he had taken his vow). He saw it as cold-blooded murder and hence executed justice against the murderers.

Heavenly Father, help me to live my life from a heart-position of trusting You. I believe that this attitude will lead me to fullness of life. Help me to live out the faith I have in You, even when it means being very different to others around me. May I be kind as You are kind, and holy as You are holy. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.