Wait

Good morning my friends,

David's greatest weakness was the men he had surrounded himself with. When he ran from Saul a strange thing had happened; all the criminals and outcasts identified with him and came to him. He had some good men but a great many of them came with the character that had made them criminals and outcasts. David was not like them. He had God's sense of justice and of correct action.

David admired Abner and from the little we know of his character we can understand why. David would have fought under Abner's command and would have known him well as Abner would have known David well. Let us consider the little we know.

- he stood by his duty in the same sense of Jonathan. Even though he knew the kingdom had been given to David he stood by his duty of installing and protecting a descendant of Saul.
- his honour was important to him. When it was questioned for no legitimate reason he lost respect for the king and his belief in his ability to rule
- he was not hungry for blood. It seemed he only fought when necessary. He tried to avoid killing Joab's brother.
- he was a man of peace. When he accepted that the kingdom had to be brought under David he did it politically to avoid war.

Joab would go on to prove to be more trouble than he was worth for David. All David could do was sincerely mourn Abner's death in a way that greatly honoured David.

It seemed no matter how hard David tried there were always others to make sure that his throne was based in bloodshed. Under Abner's direction things had progressed to the point that David could have easily have assumed control over the united kingdom. However, two men took it upon themselves to kill the king of Israel in a way that David found disgusting He dealt with them in the same way he dealt with the man who said he had killed Saul.

David is one who believed that the end did not justify the means. David understood that God has his way of dealing with things. Any time we try to improve on this or rush it we only make a mess of it. These men who tried to rush David's kingship laid a foundation of trouble for David's kingdom. David would never know peace. This is a good example for us that we need to allow God to do what he has promised and not to rush things. The end never justifies the means. Cheating will never help you. Lying will never help you. Corruption will never help you. As Joab will discover much later on, all these things will catch up with you. Trust God. Be patient. Wait.