Read 2 Samuel 2:1-32
As is often the case, when there is a change of government, one faction will rejoice and support it while the other will oppose it. With the death of Saul, David moved his base of operations from Philistine country into the Israelite city of Hebron, the stronghold of David’s own tribe, Judah, and there his tribe anointed him King. However, the commander of Saul’s army (Abner) didn’t recognise David as king and rallied the rest of the tribes to support Ish-Bosheth, a surviving son of Saul. Civil war followed and the kingdom is not united until Chapter 5. Isn’t it a shame that God’s people seem to spend as much time fighting each other as they do fighting the enemies of God! Throughout history there have been many instances of debates, disagreements and outright war between different groups of Christians, and even today so much energy is spent in arguments between Christians over relatively trivial matters.
Why was Abner so keen to resist the rule of David? We know that David had been anointed as king over all God’s people by Samuel way back in 1 Samuel 16. Perhaps Abner didn’t know that and was continuing to be loyal to his old master, Saul, by supporting his son as the new king. But if we take a sneak preview into Chapter 3, we see that Abner did know that the Lord had promised the kingship to David (3:9-10 and 3:17-18). So Abner was not only resisting David, he was resisting the will of God.
That seems pretty futile to us as we look at the facts dispassionately on the pages of the Bible. But are we really that different to Abner? Resisting the will of God, going against his word, is what sin is. And as Paul said in the New Testament, ‘All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God’ (Romans 3:23). Every day we do the things that we want to do, knowing that they are not in accord with God’s will and God’s word. We are all a bit like Abner – we should know better, but we persist in doing what is wrong.
We are told that the war between the House of Saul and the House of David lasted a long time (3:1). But as it ground on, David’s position grew stronger and Abner’s weaker. It was clear that David would win and that God’s will would be fulfilled and that David would, in time, become ruler over all God’s people. Surely Abner could see this, but it is surprising how stubborn we can be and sometimes we want things so much that we are blind to the common sense that tells us that we can’t always get we want. And we see here, too, that God works out things in his own way and his own time. Paul, again, tells us that sometimes God’s judgement is to let someone continue in their sin (Romans 1:18-32). And that is what he did with Abner who continued to oppose David and the Lord until the Lord finally did bring judgement upon him.