Daily Bible Reading: 2 Samual 4

After the death of Saul and Jonathan, everyone fled for their lives. Jonathan's son was being cared for by a nurse, who dutifully grabbed him to flee. While in flight, she fell with Jonathan's son, Mephibosheth, in her arms. He was crippled for life because of it.

When Ishbosheth heard about Abner's death, he didn't know what to do. He just wrung his hands, then went to bed.

Two men of the Tribe of Benjamin who were captains of bands in Saul's army (named Rizpah and Baanah) came in and decapitated Ishbosheth around noon-time. They then took his head to David, thinking they had earned a hero's reward.

David, when he saw the head of Ishbosheth, became angry. He told them, "When someone came and told me that Saul was dead and that they had killed him, I slew the man and mourned Saul's death. How can you be so ignorant as to think I would rejoice over Ishbosheth?"

He had Rizpah and Baanah's hands and feet cut off, then hung them over the pool in Hebron, then he buried Ishbosheth's head in the same tomb he buried Abner.

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Another lesson I have learned from this is that, perhaps, it is not good to do anything without the proper authority to do it. When you are acting on behalf of a government or a household, it is always best to run everything by the head of such entity before taking any action. This prevents any misunderstandings as to the nature of the leadership.

David stayed true to his character in that he did not wish evil on Saul or his house, even though they were persecuting him. David took what he did not understand and gave it to God to fix.

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