AWAKE BIBLE IN A YEAR APRIL 16
Read 2 Samuel 1-4
Psalm 75:6-7 For not from the east, nor from the west, nor from the desert comes exaltation but God is the judge he puts down one and exults another.
David has refused to obtain the kingdom through violence towards Saul. He mourns, weeps, and writes a lament for Saul and Jonathan. The selfless love of Jonathan will be honored and the first King of Israel is called mighty, in David’s lament the death of the first King is described as the removal of the oil on the his shield. 2 Samuel 1:21
Two kings are immediately inaugurated David the younger is 30 when he is anointed KING over Judah in Hebron, meanwhile Ish-bosheth is 40 when he is made king over Israel, by Abner the commander of Saul’s army. His reign is two years. There is a long civil war between the House of Saul and the House of David, but the house of David according to 2 Samuel 3:1 grows steadily stronger and the house of Saul grows weaker continually.
In 2 Samuel we see the origins of David’s rule and how even though he’s a man of war —he is not a man of direct violence to achieve God’s promise. The events unfold at another’s hand to give him all of Israel. David has divine help in removing the obstacles to his rulership over all of Israel.
As we read further will see the Lord promise a Davidic dynasty to endure forever. And there’s a future ultimate victory over evil through one of David‘s offspring guaranteed. David is an imperfect king, and yet one is coming who will reign over God’s people righteously. David’s rule fulfills God’s promise to Abraham in Genesis 15:7 as the promised land is conquered from Egypt to the Euphrates.
