David Becomes King over the House of Judah

David asks Yahweh whether he may go up to Judah. Even after Saul’s death, he does not decide on his own, and he goes up only after receiving the answer to go to Hebron. The men of Judah welcome him and anoint him king.

There was a time when David, afraid of Saul, disobeyed the word telling him to go to Judah, and as a result he suffered the humiliation of having his family and his people taken from him. Without obedience, one takes a longer road around and in the end comes back to the same place. Even after becoming king, he praises the people of Jabesh Gilead, who took up Saul’s body, for repaying kindness, and he does not rejoice even when he sees his enemy’s suffering. In this his maturity is revealed.

Obeying and being faithful even in small things is the condition for reward. Obedience itself, more than the outcome, is gain, and the one who, like David, endures and leaves judgment to God is the one who is used in the end. God knows everything, even the sincerity that is hidden, and he makes such a person a child like ice-cold water on the day of harvest.