More Bloodshed—When Will It End?

With Abner’s decision to support David’s reign, Ish-bosheth’s rule was significantly weakened. During the heat of the day, as Ish-bosheth lay down upon his bed to rest, two of his captains entered his room, severed his head, and then carried it to David in Hebron.

“They appeared before David with the gory witness to their crime, saying, ‘Behold the head of Ishbosheth the son of Saul thine enemy, which sought thy life; and the Lord hath avenged my lord the king this day of Saul, and of his seed.’ But David, whose throne God Himself had established, and whom God had delivered from his adversaries, did not desire the aid of treachery to establish his power. He told these murderers of the doom visited upon him who boasted of slaying Saul. ‘How much more,’ he added, ‘when wicked men have slain a righteous person in his own house upon his bed? shall I not therefore now require his blood of your hand, and take you away from the earth? And David commanded his young men, and they slew them. . . . But they took the head of Ishbosheth and buried it in the sepulchre of Abner in Hebron.” These men had slain Ish-bosheth for what they thought would be a personal reward.

David did not need criminals to assist in gaining the throne of a united Judah and Israel. Time and time again, the Lord had shaped events and delivered David from danger.

Murder was not to be countenanced (Exodus 20:13).

By their own words, they stood condemned.

Their actions had no legal defense.

“They pretended to be friends of David, but in being traitors to the man they served, they proved themselves to be unworthy citizens of the nation of Israel. Let some turn of events place David in an unfavorable situation, and they would not hesitate to slay him exactly as they had slain Ish-bosheth. Such men could not be trusted.” “Whoso boasteth himself of a false gift is like clouds and wind without rain” (Proverbs 25:14).