How to overcome temptations of power (2 Samuel 4)

When I was learning to drive, my driving instructor would often show me a particular manoeuvre, let me do it once, then move on to something else. It was rather unsatisfactory as I often did not feel after one try that I got the hang of what I was required to do. Thankfully, my instructor’s circumstances changed at one point, and she could not carry on teaching me, so she passed me on to a colleague of hers. My new driving instructor was a superb teacher and would get me to practice the same move over and over and over again, until I could confidently do it well every time. Learning new skills takes repetition and so does learning some life lessons.

Murder as God’s providence?

Our reading may give us a sense of déjà vu, as it records another instance of violence that is supposed to move obstacles out of David’s way to become king. After Abner’s death, Ish-bosheth loses his prop and, as the Hebrew puts it, ‘his hand became slack’ (NASB ‘he lost courage’; 2 Sam 4:1). Since it seems clear to his supporters that he is a lost cause, two of his commanders decide to finish him off and defect to David proving their loyalty by the murder of their master. Catching the king during his midday siesta (2 Sam 4:6), their attack on a vulnerable man is particularly revolting. In typical narrative style, the verse gives us the gist and then the following sentence returns to the act with more detail (2 Sam 4:7). Taking with them the dead king’s head, the murderers’ haste in travelling at night through the Jordan Valley (the Arabah) is understandable, since they carry incriminating evidence of their act. As they arrive in David’s court, they interpret their act as God’s providence, just as others have done before them (2 Sam 4:8 cf. 1 Sam 24:4; 26:8).

Unjustifiable violence

David, however, is not convinced. When he was running from Saul, he repeatedly refused the opportunity to kill his opponent and seize the throne or authorise others to do his dirty work for him (1 Sam 24:6; 26:9). He also refused to applaud such an act when the initiative came entirely from someone else, as when Saul was supposedly killed by the Amalekite (2 Sam 4:10; 1:10). In all these cases, David was particularly reluctant to act, since Saul was the Lord’s anointed, His choice for king. This time, however, David is facing someone who has never been selected by God. Will he accept the violence perpetrated on his behalf? David’s response is forceful in having the murderers executed and hung for public display (2 Sam 4:12) to underline his revulsion at their despicable act.[1] Once again, David shows himself as a man with a tremendous capacity to be generous towards his enemy (Ish-bosheth), whom he describes as ‘a righteous man’ (i.e. innocent; 2 Sam 4:11).

The God who redeems from distress

The lesson for David is important because a king’s great challenge is to use power for his own ends, which in the ancient world often involved violence. David will one day succumb to temptation and abuse his power by covering up adultery with just the kind of violence (murder) condemned here and by authorising his commander, Joab, to do his dirty work (2 Sam 11:14-15). For the present, however, David overcomes temptations of power by his deep conviction that the Lord will redeem his life from distress (2 Sam 4:9) and remove obstacles from his way. Our situation is likely far removed from David’s, yet the lesson we also must practise is to trust God’s help and refuse illegitimate means to achieve godly ends. The temptation may be financial, to cheat on our tax return so that we might give more money to the church or to support a child through education. It can involve not telling the truth about a chronic illness that can jeopardise an application for overseas mission work or any number of other ways in which we compromise our integrity to achieve a worthy aim. Like David, we must learn that God is greater in removing obstacles and if He does not immediately do so, we must patiently wait on Him. He is indeed a God who brings us through and out of distress and makes a way.

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[1] Hanging is not a form of execution in Israel but is done to display a corpse as a form of public humiliation and dishonour.

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