2nd Samuel 1:10-16

2nd Samuel 1:10-16, “So I stood upon him, and slew him, because I was sure that he could not live after that he was fallen: and I took the crown that was upon his head, and the bracelet that was on his arm, and have brought them hither unto my lord. Then David took hold on his clothes, and rent them; and likewise all the men that were with him: And they mourned, and wept, and fasted until even, for Saul, and for Jonathan his son, and for the people of the LORD, and for the house of Israel; because they were fallen by the sword. And David said unto the young man that told him, Whence art thou?  And he answered, I am the son of a stranger, an Amalekite. And David said unto him, How wast thou not afraid to stretch forth thine hand to destroy the LORD's anointed? And David called one of the young men, and said, Go near, and fall upon him.  And he smote him that he died. And David said unto him, Thy blood be upon thy head; for thy mouth hath testified against thee, saying, I have slain the LORD's anointed.”

This young Amalekite told King David that he killed Saul. David was horrified. The Amalekite, a member of a heathen nation, sincerely thought that David would be happy and thankful that he killed Saul. Everybody and their dog knew about the conflict between Saul and David. Everybody knew that Saul was hunting for David, wanting to kill him. The Amalekite no doubt expected to receive a great reward from the king, but he didn't understand God's ways. David knew that it was wrong to raise up one's hand against God's anointed man. The naïve young Amalekite didn't understand such things. To his horror, the young Amalekite learned that instead of being hailed as a hero, King David saw him as an evil villain of the Lord. The Amalekite even handed over Saul's crown and bracelet to David, corroborating his story.

The shocking amazing thing about this story is that the Amalekite LIED to David. In fact, Saul committed suicide and was not slain by the Amalekite...

1st Samuel 31:4-5, “Then said Saul unto his armourbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse me.  But his armourbearer would not; for he was sore afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword, and fell upon it. And when his armourbearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell likewise upon his sword, and died with him.”

1st Chronicles 10:4-5, “Then said Saul to his armourbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and abuse me.  But his armourbearer would not; for he was sore afraid.  So Saul took a sword, and fell upon it. And when his armourbearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell likewise on the sword, and died.”

Wow! What a lesson to be learned from this true story! The young Amalekite saw a golden opportunity (so he thought) to hit the big time and make a lot of money. He very likely anticipated that David was going to throw a party for him, give him a big bag of gold, and become buddies with him for killing David's enemy, Saul. What saith the Scripture? Proverbs 16:25, “There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.”

Let this be a lesson to all of us, that having even the most noblest and sincere of intentions can still go horribly wrong! Some of the worst ideas in history have been done with the best of intentions. The road to Hell is paved with good intentions.

2nd Samuel 3:27-29

2nd Samuel 3:27, “And when Abner was returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside in the gate to speak with him quietly, and smote him there under the fifth rib, that he died, for the blood of Asahel his brother. And afterward when David heard it, he said, I and my kingdom are guiltless before the LORD for ever from the blood of Abner the son of Ner: Let it rest on the head of Joab, and on all his father's house; and let there not fail from the house of Joab one that hath an issue, or that is a leper, or that leaneth on a staff, or that falleth on the sword, or that lacketh bread.”

King David is a frustrating character in the Holy Bible. In the preceding Scripture text David said that the blood of Abner wasn't upon his hands, but in fact it was upon his hands, because as the king it was his duty to execute justice in the land. David should have punished Joab for murdering Abner in cold blood.

Abner had been the commander of Saul's armies. When Saul died Abner served King David. Joab had a brother named Asahel. Asahel pursued Abner and Abner warned him to back off and leave it alone, but like his stubborn brother Joab, Asahel refused to back off from pursuing Abner to kill him. Abner was reluctant to kill Asahel because he was David's young nephew, the son of David's sister. But Asahel was impetuous to kill Abner and continued to pursue him, so Abner had no choice but to kill Asahel, Joab's brother.

Consequently, Joab murdered Abner, which was wrong. Abner defended himself against Asahel. What else could Abner have done? Joab was a bad guy! Joab later would murder David's son Absalom, defying the king's royal order not to harm Absalom. Joab didn't care, he just did what ever he felt like doing. I encourage you to listen to Alexander Scourby read the Old Testament book of 2nd Samuel, it is very intriguing.

David did have blood upon his hands. When someone is murdered, even if it is an unidentified body found in a deserted area, there is blood upon the land in God's sight until there is justice for that slain person. David as king had a responsibility to execute justice for Abner, but for whatever he didn't. David had no right to claim to wash his hands of Joab's murder of Abner. King David could have punished Joab, but chose not to. David had blood on his hands!