Daily Bible Reading: 2 Samual 2

David prayed for guidance, and God told him to go to Hebron. So, David did, with his wives and all his men. Then, the men of Judah came and anointed him as King, and told him that the men of JabeshGilead had buried Saul. David then sent messengers with warm thanks and promise of recompense for their service to Saul.

Saul had one son alive, Ishbosheth, which the captain of Saul's armies, Abner, made king over Israel. He reined for two years. David was made King in Judah and reined there for seven years.

Abner and Ishbosheth were in Mahanaim. They left there and went to Gibeon. When they got to the pool of Gideon, Joab and some of David's men were on one side of the pool, and Abner and Ishbosheth's men were on the other. Abner challenged Joab with, "Hey, Joab. You wanna play?" So they all got up and met.

Joab and Abner fought that day and David's men defeated Abner's men. One of David's men, Asahel chased Abner until Abner begged him to chase someone else or he'd have to kill him. When Asahel, refused to quit the chase, Abner turned on him and killed him.

Joab and Abishai continued to chase Abner until the tribe of Benjamin joined forces with Abner, and Abner begged the men of David to cease-fire to fight another day. They all agreed and returned to their hometowns, David's men having defeated Abner that day.

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The lesson I got out of this is that sometimes when you are in a battle, it is good to call a time-out, to think about your tactics and to rest until a much better strategy can be initiated. Both sides need this time-out to prevent any unnecessary losses.

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