2 Samuel 2:1 - Meaning and Application

When Saul and Jonathan were dead, David knew he had been anointed king, and his path now seemed clear. Even so, he did not rush to force all Israel to accept him. He did not send orders through the land to demand loyalty under threat of death. He moved slowly, because faith does not panic, but waits for God’s time to bring his promises to pass.

Many had already joined him from several tribes while he stayed at Ziklag, as we read in (1 Chronicles 12:1-22). With that support, he might have taken the throne by force. But the one who wants to rule gently will not rise by violence. David gives us a good example here.

He first sought direction from God at this critical moment, as in (2 Samuel 2:1). He did not doubt that God would give him success, but he still used the right means, both spiritual and practical. Confidence in God’s promise should never make a believer passive. It should stir him to careful obedience.

David, as Scripture teaches, acknowledged God in his way. He asked the Lord through the breastplate of judgment, which Abiathar had brought to him. We should turn to God not only in trouble, but also when things seem to be going well and everything appears to favor us. David’s question was whether he should go up to one of the cities of Judah. He was not refusing all other places if God directed him elsewhere. He was showing prudence, since he would likely find the most friends in Judah, and modesty, because he would look first to his own tribe.

God answered him according to his promise and told him to go up to Hebron, as in (2 Samuel 2:1). Hebron was a priestly city and one of the cities of refuge, so it became for David a place of safety. It was a reminder that God himself would be a little sanctuary to him. The tombs of the patriarchs near Hebron would also bring to mind the old promise that had given David hope. God did not send him to Bethlehem, his own city, because that was small among Judah, as in (Micah 5:2). Instead, he sent him to Hebron, a larger and more important city, perhaps then the main town of that tribe.

David also showed care for his family and friends when he moved to Hebron. He took his wives with him, as in (2 Samuel 2:2), so that those who had shared his suffering might share his kingdom. It seems he had no children yet, since his first son was born in Hebron, as in (2 Samuel 3:2). He also took his followers and companions, as in (2 Samuel 2:3). They had stayed with him through his years of wandering, so when he came into a settled place, they settled there with him.

This reflects a larger truth: if we suffer with Christ, we will also reign with him, as in (2 Timothy 2:12). Christ does even more for his faithful servants than David could do for his. David gave his men a place to live, in the cities of Hebron and the towns around it. But Christ promises a kingdom to those who continue with him in his trials, and he will seat them at his own table, as in (Luke 22:29-30).

The men of Judah then honored David by anointing him king over the house of Judah, as in (2 Samuel 2:4). Judah had often acted as a separate tribe, and in Saul’s time it had been counted apart from the others. Now they did the same again, but only for themselves. They did not claim to make him king over all Israel. The other tribes could choose as they wished, but Judah declared that they would be ruled by the one God had chosen.

David’s rise was gradual. He was first anointed as king in promise, then as ruler over one tribe, and only later over all the tribes. In this way, the kingdom of the Messiah, the Son of David, also comes in stages. He is Lord of all by God’s appointment, but we do not yet see everything fully placed under him, as in (Hebrews 2:8).

David’s early rule over Judah alone also hinted that his kingdom would one day be reduced to that same tribe, as happened when the ten tribes rebelled against his grandson. Yet it would also encourage the godly kings of Judah, since David himself had first reigned over Judah only.

David then sent a respectful message to the men of Jabesh-Gilead to thank them for their kindness to Saul. He still wanted to honor his predecessor’s memory, showing that he did not seek the crown out of ambition or hatred for Saul, but because God had called him to it. He heard that the men of Jabesh-Gilead had buried Saul, and perhaps some thought David would be offended by what they saw as forwardness. But he was not.

He praised them for it, as in (2 Samuel 2:5). Since we owe love and honor to people while they live, we should also show respect to what remains of them after death, meaning their bodies, their names, and their families. David told them that Saul had been their lord, so they had done well to show him such kindness and honor.

David also prayed that God would bless them for it and repay them, saying, “May the Lord be kind and true to you,” as in (2 Samuel 2:6). God’s kindness is true kindness, because it rests on his promise and can be trusted. Respect and love shown to the dead, out of conscience toward God, are acts of mercy that will not lose their reward.

David did not stop at kind words. He also said, “I too will reward you.” He did not send them away to God’s reward in a way that let him avoid doing what he could himself. Good wishes are valuable, and thankfulness matters, but they are too small if we have the means to do more.

He also used this opportunity wisely to draw them to his side, as in (2 Samuel 2:7). They had honored Saul in his death, and now he wanted them to be last in honoring Saul. “The house of Judah has anointed me king,” he was saying, “so it is wise for you to join with them and be courageous in that choice.” We should not cling so tightly to the dead, no matter how much we valued them, that we ignore or despise the blessings God has given us in those who are still alive and whom he has raised up to take their place.