We Were More Loyal Than You!

And, behold, all the men of Israel came to the king, and said unto the king, Why have our brethren the men of Judah stolen thee away, and have brought the king, and his household, and all David’s men with him, over Jordan? —2 Samuel 19:41

A dispute arose among the tribes as to who had been most loyal.

How quickly the tribes had changed their minds from seeking to depose David to welcoming him back. The tide of public opinion had turned in David’s favor.

Elders on both sides were quick to sense this sentiment and, like true politicians, sought to align themselves with the returning king.

The majority of those waiting to welcome David home were from his own tribe of Judah. This was to be expected as the tribes of Israel were further west and north of the Jordan River’s border. Additionally, word of David’s return had not yet reached all the tribes to the north, so it was expected their turnout would be lower (2 Samuel 19:41).

Yet division had always existed between the people of Israel in the north and Judah in the south. These tribes always seemed to be engaged in some sort of resentment or another (Judges 8:1; 12:1). David’s reign had begun with only the tribe of Judah anointing him king (2 Samuel 2:4). Attempts to get all the tribes of Israel to recognize David’s right to the throne met with little success until he had sat on the throne in Hebron for seven years (2 Samuel 3:10; 5:1–5). Now David was back, and so was the loathing.

Judah had every right to claim David as their own, for he was kin.

Yet they wanted it made clear that they had not received special treatment from the king (2 Samuel 19:42). “And the men of Israel answered the men of Judah, and said, We have ten parts in the king, and we have also more right in David than ye: why then did ye despise us, that our advice should not be first had in bringing back our king? And the words of the men of Judah were fiercer than the words of the men of Israel” (v. 43).

“The dispute was happily arrested after a time, but the fact of its occurrence did not augur well for the future. The present differences between north and south foreshadowed greater troubles to come. Sectional jealousies and rivalries were constantly sowing the seeds of disaster.” Church jealousies and rivalries still lead to disaster!