2 Samuel 5:1 - Meaning and Application

Here, all the tribes of Israel came humbly to David and asked him to take the throne, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. David should not approve the murder of Ish-bosheth, but he could still make use of the opportunity it brought and receive their appeal. Judah had already accepted David as king more than seven years earlier, and the peace and blessing under his rule drew the other tribes to him. For a fuller account of how many came from each tribe and how they celebrated at Hebron, see 1 Chronicles 12:23-40.

Their first reason was their close tie to him. They said, “We are your bone and your flesh” (2 Samuel 5:1). They meant not only that he was one of them, and therefore not a foreigner who would be unfit to rule by the law (Deuteronomy 17:15), but also that they belonged to him. They knew he cared for them as a man cares for his own body, unlike Saul and his house. Those who receive Christ as king may use similar words to him, since he has made himself like his brothers in every way (Hebrews 2:17). They may ask him to rule over them and bring this ruin under his hand (Isaiah 3:6).

Their second reason was David’s past service to the nation. While Saul was king, David was the one who truly led Israel out to battle and brought them back in victory (2 Samuel 5:2). If he had been faithful in smaller service, he was fit to be trusted with more. Good service done for us should stay in our memory when the time comes to choose leadership.

Their greatest reason was God’s own choice. The Lord had said, “You will shepherd my people Israel,” meaning he would govern them like a shepherd cares for sheep. Rulers should feed their people, looking to their good and not their own gain. He would also be a captain in war, exposed to the hard work and danger of the camp. Since God had said it, they were finally ready to say it too.

David’s public and solemn installation followed. The elders of Israel gathered, and the terms were settled between them, with promises made and accepted on both sides (2 Samuel 5:3). David pledged to rule them well as judge in peace and captain in war, and they pledged to obey him. He made a covenant with them before the Lord, so God was witness to it. Then David was anointed king for the third time. His rise was gradual, so his faith could be tested and his experience could grow. In this, his kingdom pointed to the Messiah’s kingdom, which would also advance step by step, for we do not yet see everything placed under him (Hebrews 2:8), though we will see it (1 Corinthians 15:25).

We are also told David’s age and the length of his reign. He was thirty years old when he began to reign after Saul’s death (2 Samuel 5:4). That was the age when the Levites first began their service (Numbers 4:3), and about the age when David’s greater Son, Jesus, began his public ministry (Luke 3:23). It is an age when people usually reach full strength and sound judgment. David ruled forty years and six months in all, seven and a half years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem (2 Samuel 5:5). Hebron was an honored place and a priestly city (Joshua 14:15), but Jerusalem was to become more famous still, the holy city. Great kings often built up cities of their own, and David did so with Jerusalem, which became the city of David. Its name remains important to the end of the Bible, where we read of the new Jerusalem (Revelation 21).