2 Samuel 4:1-12
4:1 Ishbosheth is informed of Abner's death and discouragement paralyzes him. The force behind his claim to power was made by Abner, the skillful politician that he was. Ishbosheth was afraid when Abner left, afraid that he would not return. But at the news that Abner could not return send him over the edge of defeat.
Similar are we who hinge our happiness, contentment and achievement on another person or thing instead of God. Ishbosheth is an empty and broken shell. Therefore, there is no power or passion within him. He has not been strengthened or established by God. When we neglect God, we neglect the growth and strength of ourselves. The title, the fame and the wealth drew Ishbosheth to the thrown... not his heart. He had no internal desire to actually organize and lead the body of people under his kingship. Without purpose and meaning, we quickly deflate. This is why God encourages us to pursue Him with our whole heart. Because if heart is absent, so is life. So is meaning and purpose.
4:2-3 Two of the late-Saul's captains, Rechab and Rimmon, decide to take matters into their own hands. They are disgusted with Ishbosheth's behavior.
4:4 There is no one in the family after Ishbosheth to make a legitimate claim to the throne. With that in mind, Rechab and Rimmon devise a hasty and brutal plan.
4:5 Rechab and Rimmon find Ishbosheth still in bed at noon. This behavior, especially for a king, is unacceptable. Servants of God in the Bible are described as waking up with or before the sun. There is so much work to do and the laborers are few, Luke 10:2. The children of Israel were fragmented and broken by the defeat of the Philistines and the rule of an unfaithful king. Their king needed to be actively involved in restoration... not relaxation, not despair.
4:6-7 Still, Rechab and Rimmon choose a brutal solution. They deceptively enter the king's quarters, kill Ishbosheth, and behead him.
4:8 The two men bring the head of Ishbosheth to David. Rechab and Rimmon are proud of their actions. They mistakenly believe David to be a vengeful and ruthless king.
4:9-10 But David is not pleased to receive the head of an innocent man. In fact, he's incensed. Murder has never been David's solution to barriers (and for that very reason, a terrible decision in David's future will nearly destroy him).
David explains that he is angry about the murder of Ishbosheth... just as he was angry about the death of Saul, 2 Samuel 1. People continue to believe that David hates his enemies and wants them destroyed. Because they do not understand God, they do not understand how David follows the will of God. David knows that if and when God decides to make him king over all of Israel, he will not have to deceive and murder to make it happen. David is not greedy for more or for power. He is content to take responsibility for what God has provided, as He provides it.
4:11-12 David was angry when a man tried to claim he killed a guilty king (for Saul indeed hated and tried to kill David). David is even more distressed that an innocent man lost his life... in a place where he should have been safe. David sentences Rechab and Rimmon to death and they are executed. David has his men bury Ishbosheth respectfully.
