I’m not a big sitcom girl. All those wacky situations just make me mad the characters got themselves into it in the first place.
And don’t let me get attached to one of the characters. Now I’m mad every time a different character roasts the one I love. I didn’t sign up for all this emotional distress.
Seriously, though, sometimes I wish I could be as unbothered as that sitcom character that is the butt of every joke. Barely flinching. No tears. Not cutting anyone out of their lives.
There’s no way someone could do that in real life.
No big deal
Actually, I take that back. Because 2 Samuel 4 makes it clear that David is in his unbothered era.
It’s a short chapter, but it’s not very sweet. It features a murder: two brothers who had been loyal to King Saul assassinate his reigning son, Ishbosheth.
It’s pretty gross. They stab him and then cut off his head for good measure (verses 6-7). Then they travel all night long to present David with the results of their crime.
They expect praise and glee. Ishbosheth was the last man standing between David and the throne of all of Israel. No doubt David had been plotting on bringing Ishbosheth down himself. Having saved him some work, they were sure a lucrative reward was coming their way.
No. David killed them, beheading them the same way they beheaded Ishbosheth.
They had gotten it all wrong! David hadn’t been concerned about Ishbosheth. He wasn’t greedily planning to take him out and have the throne all to himself.
David was chilling. Trusting. He knew that since God had promised him the throne of all Israel, he would have it – in God’s timing.
Who knew God would use an assassination to do it?
“I got you.”
Some questions remain. Was the assassination part of God’s perfect plan to give David the throne? If so, was it necessary for David to get revenge on the assassins? Or was God’s plan to kill Ishbosheth in a natural way, without the help of angry subjects?
Whatever the answers, the bottom line is that David is now free to reign over both Israel and Judah, like God promised. And he didn’t have to worry about a single detail. God handled everything.
That kind of calm, security, unbotheredness is available to us, too. God will keep His promises to us. We don’t have to stress. We don’t have to worry.
We just have to trust Him and then watch Him work.
What do you think? Do you think David was right to kill the assassins?
Delicate Pages 