The House of David vs. The House of Saul (A Blog Exclusive)

The deaths of Saul and his three sons clears the way for David, a man after God's heart, to become king. However, the succession of David to the Israelite throne was not a foregone conclusion, as the opening chapters of 2 Samuel make clear. David, even though he is a military hero and the (once) son-in-law of Saul is not the only person with a claim on the throne; a heretofore unmentioned son of Saul, Ishbaal, supported by the Israelite general Abner, has a more direct claim. The struggle between David and Ishbaal -- and more importantly, the struggle between their supporters -- for the throne lasts roughly two years.

David learns of the death of Saul from someone who claims to have rushed from Saul's side to give David the news. David is rather unbelieving of the news and questions the man thoroughly. Over the course of the interview, it becomes clear that the man, an Amalekite, was not with Saul at the time of his death (even though he claims to have killed the king himself at the king's request); likely the man was seeking favor from the notorious David by bringing what he imagined would be well received news. Instead, David is heartbroken by the king's (and Jonathan's) death, and he and his men rip their clothes and enter a period of mourning. Further, he orders the conniving Amalekite be executed.

David's response to Saul's death is similar to the response of the men of Jabesh-gilead, who conducted a raid to recover the king's body from the Philistines. He leads his men in a period of weeping and fasting for the fallen king of Israel. Then the young poet-general (sounds like a poor man's philosopher-king) composes a lamentation about the death of Saul and Jonathan, which is preserved in 1 Samuel (and there is no reason to doubt that David wrote it). In this response, we see David's respect for Saul as God's anointed king, despite Saul's personal death-wish for him; perhaps we even see the affection of the younger David who had once been like a son to Saul and a brother to Jonathan.

But David is not overwhelmed by Saul's death, and he quickly acts to assert his claim on the Israelite throne (the realization the promise made by Samuel's anointing him as a boy). As he had previously begun to bribe, or at least soften, the influential leaders of the south, David expects their support. He (and his army) resettle in the land of Judah in the city of Hebron; there David is anointed king by the leadership of the Hebrew tribe of Judah.

But Judah is but one tribe of the Israelites, and the other tribes recognize Ishbaal, the son of Saul who is supported by the military leader Abner and his army, as king. (This is the first obvious rift that will eventually split the Hebrews into two countries, the Kingdom of Israel in the north and the Kingdom of Judah in the south.) Both sides believe that their king has the claim to rule the entire Hebrew kingdom, and soon they are at war with each other.

Interestingly, David again tries to refrain from attacking other Israelites; just as he had refrained from attacking the army of Saul, David refuses to lead an attack against the army of Ishbaal. However, supporters of David do fight on his behalf, even defeating Ishbaal's army, under Abner, at Gibeon. While this battle does not reunify the kingdom, it does begin the process by which David will become king of all the Hebrews.

After the battle and after a personal confrontation with Ishbaal, Abner approaches David to negotiate a deal by which Abner will switch his support, and implicitly that of his army, from Ishbaal to David. During the negotiation, David insists that his previous wife, Michel, be returned to him; because Saul had married her to someone else after David went into exile, this required that she would be separated from her current husband. Further, the act would recognize David's power and stature. Ishbaal, seeing the writing on the wall with the defection of Abner, sends Michal to David, hoping that this would placate David.

After the deal between Abner and David is reached, and while Abner is traveling, one of David's subjects seizes the general and kills him to avenge the death of his brother, killed in the Battle of Gibeon. When Ishbaal learns of Abner's death, he becomes completely distraught because he knows that the allegiance of the people is switching more and more to David. Before Ishbaal can take any decisive action, however, he is assassinated by two brothers who think that King David will reward those who pave the way to uniting the Israelite kingdom. Much like the scheming Amalekite who told David of Saul's death, the two brothers are shocked by David's harsh rebuke: for their part in killing a recognized king, they are put to death.

This is a recurring pattern for much of David's life, at least according to the scripture writer of 1 and 2 Samuel -- David bears no involvement, and thus no guilt, in several dark deeds that benefit him. He never raises a hand against Saul, who eventually dies. He never raises a hand against Abner, who eventually dies. He never raises a hand against Ishbaal, who eventually dies. In some ways, on might wonder if there's some revisionism in this story, cleaning it up a bit. Even if not, it is obvious that David is quite the opportunist, skilled at playing people off each other (remember his dealings with the Philistine king Achish), condoning people to fight on his behalf while maintaining plausible deniability for their actions (those who fought against the army of Ishbaal).

With the death of Ishbaal, support of the leaders of Israel coalesces around David, who becomes king of all the tribes of Israel, reestablishing Saul's kingdom. Like any astute leader, he seeks a common purpose to further unify the people, which he finds in leading a war against the Jebusites, who have land holdings within the Israelite kingdom. The outcome of this war will be the focus of Sunday's sermon.