The war between the house of Saul and the house of David lasted a long time. David grew stronger and stronger, while the house of Saul grew weaker and weaker. - 2 Sam. 3:1. NIV
David did not become king over all of Israel in one fell swoop. Although God had appointed him and Samuel annointed him, there were still battles to be fought with those who had been loyal to Saul. David never tried to extract revenge from those who followed the remaining sons of Saul and Abner, the leader of Saul's armies. Instead, David mourned for Saul and Jonathan and, later when Abner was killed by well-intentioned followers of David, they were punished and Abner was buried with respect. All of these actions further endeared the people towards David and eventually resulted in a unified kingdom.
It was God's will that David become king over all of Israel. That might have been a long and costly process were it not for David's heart which loved Saul, his family and his followers, even though most of them, with the exception of Jonathan, saw him as the opposition. The message that Jesus was to give later of "Love your enemies, do good to those who despitefully use you," was not lost on David. He reaped the rewards of loving. Love conquers all!
No comments:
Post a Comment