David King of Judah II Samuel 2

II Samuel 2:1 "And it came to pass after this, that David enquired of the LORD, saying, Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah? And the LORD said unto him, Go up. And David said, Whither shall I go up? And he said, Unto Hebron."

Remember, we talked about David being a praying man. Here he is again having a conversation with the LORD. I am reminded of the day when Joshua was ready to take Canaan and he met the Captain of the Host standing with his sword drawn. The LORD walked the hills with David.

We can jump ahead to chapter 7 verse 8 and 9 and we will see that the Captain of the Host was with David throughout all this ordeal. "Now therefore so shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I took thee from the sheepcote, from following the sheep, to be ruler over my people, over Israel: And I was with tee whithersoever thou sentest, and have cut off all thine enemies out of thy sight, and have made thee a great name, like unto the name of the great men that are in the earth."

David is 30 years old.

There are several people who are of note at this time. Saul is dead and Abner is the power in his steed but he made a king of one of Saul's sons.

v8 "But Abner the son of Ner, caption of Saul's host, took Ishbosheth the son of Saul and brought him over to Mahanaim; v9 And made him king ... over all Israel."

In Judah, David is king and Joab is his general. The two captains (generals in our day) met at a pool called Gibeon where they had young men from each side fight each other for, what seemed like, entertainment for them. Perhaps, it was to see whose fighters were the stronger. Joab (David's men) prevailed and Abner went on the run.

v14 "And Abner said to Joab, Let the young men now arise, and play before us. And Joab said, Let them arise."

When the fight was over Abner was defeated and he and Joab decided to call a truce. It was very costly for Abner.

v30-31 "And Joab returned from following Abner: and when he had gathered all the people together, there lacked of David's servants nineteen men and Asahel. But the servants of David had smitten of Benjamin, and of Abner's men, so that three hundred and threescore men died."

Asahel is mentioned separately because he was a runner and following Abner when he ran away but Abner killed him. Asahel was Joab's brother. See II Samuel 4:27.

The tribe of Benjamin has lost a lot of people again. Their first loss was when they defended a city that had broken God's law and attempted to harm a priest. Now they are following Abner and have lost again.

To the present, we have seen Saul unseated and David made king in Judah. Abner is in control in the rest of Israel and has made a king of Ishbosheth. The kingdom is divided but will not stay that way for long.

Psalm 44:1 "We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, what work thou didst in their days, in the times of old."

Keywords: Bible Study, Old Testament, Saul, David, Abner, Joab, Israel, Judah, Milton Southerland, "David is made king of Judah and Joab has defeated Abner. The kingdom is divided.