2 Samuel 2 is an odd chapter. It’s the chapter where David is finally crowned king over Judah, and somehow I expect everything now to be plain sailing for David. All the years of hardship, of fleeing from a murderous king, are over. God’s plan is being fulfilled. All He has promised is coming to pass. This is the good bit!
But instead of pomp and majesty and sheer relief, I find David continuing to seek God’s face and showing kindness and mercy to people – and then I’m jolted into the realisation that all is far from perfect in this new season. David is surrounded by fiercely loyal men (Joab and Asahel) who have very little spiritual discernment and whose methods are military and not religious. He lives among enemies who are determined not to let God’s will be done but who pursue their own agenda (Abner, Saul’s cousin and commander of the army, installs Ish-Bosheth, Saul’s son, as king over the other tribes of Israel.) There is what seems to us pointless slaughter, then Asahel is killed, sowing the seeds of further hatred and further violence. Becoming king is not, it seems, the end of all David’s troubles.
Many of us operate on an ‘if only…’ philosophy. ‘If only we got that promotion/ new job/ lived somewhere nicer/ were married/ single/ had children/ didn’t have children…. our discipleship would be so much easier.’ We pursue dreams tenaciously, only to discover their fulfilment brings us a whole new set of problems. We find it hard to be content or satisfied for long.
David, in this chapter, teaches us to wait on God and hope in Him, rather than relying on others or expecting the solutions to life’s problems to come from our own skillset. We walk with God while we wait; we work for God while we wait. Waiting is never a waste of time. It’s several more years until David becomes king over all Israel. But David can wait. He knows that this is all part of God’s plan and that nothing can thwart that plan, no matter how hard people may try! Keep waiting. Keep hoping.