The House of David Strengthened
3 Now there was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David; and David became steadily stronger, while the house of Saul became steadily weaker.
2 Sons were born to David in Hebron: his firstborn was Amnon, by Ahinoam the Jezreelitess; 3 and his second, Chileab, by Abigail the [a]widow of Nabal the Carmelite; and the third, Absalom the son of Maacah, the daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur; 4 and the fourth, Adonijah the son of Haggith; and the fifth, Shephatiah the son of Abital; 5 and the sixth, Ithream, by David’s wife Eglah. These sons were born to David in Hebron.
Abner Joins David
6 Now it happened that while there was war between the house of Saul and the house of David, Abner was [b]strengthening himself in the house of Saul. 7 And Saul had a concubine whose name was Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah; and [c]Ish-bosheth said to Abner, “Why have you gone in to my father’s concubine?” 8 Then Abner became very angry over Ish-bosheth’s [d]question and said, “Am I a dog’s head that belongs to Judah? Today I show kindness to the house of Saul your father, to his brothers and to his friends, and have not let you fall into the hands of David; yet today you call me to account for wrongdoing with [e]that woman? 9 May God do so to [f]me, and more so, if as the Lord has sworn to David, I do not accomplish this for him: 10 to transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul, and to establish the throne of David over Israel and over Judah, from Dan even to Beersheba!” 11 And Ish-bosheth could no longer say a word in response to Abner, because he was afraid of him.
We’re not even sure that Abner did anything with the concubine, but it seems jealousy ran in the family and this woman was enough to spark Ish-bosheth to a foolish accusation against the leader of his army.
No doubt, Ish-bosheth was getting nervous as the battle for control of Israel was not going in his favor. He knew the stakes, and his life was in jeopardy. Fear and jealousy can cause us to make terrible decisions and mistakes that we would not make in our right mind.
In every circumstance, we need to find our peace in God. Do not trust in your own strength or the strength of men. If your trust is in not in God, it will be betrayed, and you will fall into the trap of Saul and Ish-bosheth. Only fear and heartache will be the result.
Find peace, find hope, find joy in God alone, and “He will never leave you nor forsake you.”