2 Samuel 3:22-39
22 And, behold, the servants of David and Joab came from pursuing a troop, and brought in a great spoil with them: but Abner was not with David in Hebron; for he had sent him away, and he was gone in peace. 23 When Joab and all the host that was with him were come, they told Joab, saying, Abner the son of Ner came to the king, and he hath sent him away, and he is gone in peace. 24 Then Joab came to the king, and said, What hast thou done? behold, Abner came unto thee; why is it that thou hast sent him away, and he is quite gone? 25 Thou knowest Abner the son of Ner, that he came to deceive thee, and to know thy going out and thy coming in, and to know all that thou doest. 26 And when Joab was come out from David, he sent messengers after Abner, which brought him again from the well of Sirah: but David knew it not. 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. 28 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: 29 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. 30 So Joab, and Abishai his brother slew Abner, because he had slain their brother Asahel at Gibeon in the battle. 31 And David said to Joab, and to all the people that were with him, Rend your clothes, and gird you with sackcloth, and mourn before Abner. And king David himself followed the bier. 32 And they buried Abner in Hebron: and the king lifted up his voice, and wept at the grave of Abner; and all the people wept. 33 And the king lamented over Abner, and said, Died Abner as a fool dieth? 34 Thy hands were not bound, nor thy feet put into fetters: as a man falleth before wicked men, so fellest thou. And all the people wept again over him. 35 And when all the people came to cause David to eat meat while it was yet day, David sware, saying, So do God to me, and more also, if I taste bread, or ought else, till the sun be down. 36 And all the people took notice of it, and it pleased them: as whatsoever the king did pleased all the people. 37 For all the people and all Israel understood that day that it was not of the king to slay Abner the son of Ner. 38 And the king said unto his servants, Know ye not that there is a prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel? 39 And I am this day weak, though anointed king; and these men the sons of Zeruiah be too hard for me: the Lord shall reward the doer of evil according to his wickedness.
Human anger is at odds with God’s righteousness in the overwhelming majority of siutations. James 1:19-20 tells us, “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.” Those words are at the heart of what we find in 2 Samuel 3:22-39. Why does “the wrath of man” not produce “the righteousness of God?” It is because human anger is often self-centered. Holy anger is focused upon God’s name, God’s Word, and harm to others. There is a such thing as righteous anger in which people are angry over righteous causes. We see this exemplified in the Lord Jesus when He cleansed the temple (John 2:13-22). He was angry because God’s name was being blasphemed, His Word was disobeyed, and His people were being harmed, extorted, and prevented from worshipping Him. Rarely is human anger over such matters. Even when it is, it is difficult to act upon it in righteousness because we are fallen people tainted by sin. 2 Samuel 3:22-39 reveals to us such an incident where a person acted on anger and personal vengeance and that had the potential for disaster in the kingdom of Israel. David had just made peace with Abner in 1 Samuel 3:1-21 and Abner had demonstrated a commitment to honor David as king, but Joab, David’s general, still had a vengeful heart towards Abner for taking the life of his brother Asahel in 2 Samuel 2. How David would handle this situation would set a course for the kingdom going forward and dictate what kind of king he would be. Would he be a king marked by the peace of trusting in the Lord or would he be a king like Saul and all of the others around Israel marked by selfishness and exploitation. In this portion of Scripture, we learn three traps that we must avoid in this matter of human anger and three things we should pursue instead.
First, we must avoid the trap of selfish ambition and pursue wisdom. Joab had been off in battle before he returned to David to find that David had made peace with Abner. Joab was enraged at the news and went to David to convince him that Abner’s real motive was to spy on David and gather information to bring about his downfall. Of course, Joab’s motivation was driven by his vengefulness toward Abner for killing his brother Asahel, but he expressed it as “concern” for David. Joab’s disposition is consistently revealed to be that of a barrier to peace. Do you know people like that? It doesn’t matter how good things are going or how peaceful they are, they have to find something to point out, nitpick, or argue about. Jude 16 identified such people as “murmurs, complainers, walking after their own lusts.” Oftentimes, these types of selfish motives or desires are masked in spirituality, discernment, concern, or “wisdom,” but they are in fact revealed to be the opposite. Whenever selfishness or any form of self-advancement is at the heart of something, it breeds destruction and cannot produce peace. If our goal is to puff up ourselves by fault-finding then we are being driven by something other than the Spirit or Word of God. Joab likely had three real problems with Abner. First, Abner had killed his brother and he wanted revenge. Second, he likely doubted that Abner’s motives were sincere, but failed to reason that Abner had proven himself to David his king through restoring Michal, going to the elders of Israel, and calling the elders to follow David. Thirdly, it is possible that he saw Abner as a threat to his own position in David’s kingdom since Abner had held an equivalent role for Saul. Either way, all three of those motives were driven by selfish ambition. He was driven by vengeance, ignorance, and envy. Those are always a recipe for “confusion and every evil work” (James 3:16). Instead, true wisdom is “pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy” (James 3:17). It produces “peace” (James 3:18).
Next, we must avoid the trap of personal vengeance and pursue peace. Since Joab’s argument with David did not sway David from his decision to have peace with Abner, Joab left David’s presence in anger and decided to take matters into his own hands. Without David knowing, Joab sent messengers to Abner that would bring Abner back to Hebron. When Abner returned, Joab killed him in the gate of the city. We find in verse 30 that Abishai, Joab’s other brother, was with him in carrying this out. In response, verses 28-29 tell us that David renounced the evil actions of Joab and David cursed Joab for his sin. Joab’s actions were wrong on multiple levels. First, what he did was murder, not self defense or fighting in war. He killed a defenseless, non-hostile Abner. Second, Joab rebelled and sinned against the God-ordained authority in his life by contradicting David and acting out from under his direction and leadership. His selfish pride and desire for vengeance led him to think that he knew better than the leader that God had placed in his life. You can always tell the humility of a person by how they respond to leadership and authority in their life. If they are submissive, they are humble. If they are obstinate and rebellious, they are prideful. The two things are always connected. Prideful people are always the people that have a problem with authority (Romans 13:1-2; Hebrews 13:17). Lastly, Joab’s actions put the whole kingdom in danger. Think about how horrible this would look. Abner had convinced many leaders in Israel to follow David because David had made peace with Abner. How would it reflect upon David if those same leaders learned that David’s nephew had then killed him in cold blood? It could have shown the leaders that David was two-faced and not to be trusted. That is one of the reasons why David harshly denounces Joab’s actions. Joab’s actions did not reflect his will as king. Also, Joab’s personal vengeance reflected poorly on his king. How do our actions reflect upon our King, the Lord Jesus? Whenever you and I act in selfishness, vengeance, or pride, we give a horrible representation of our King. Let us avoid that trap and pursue peace instead so that people might know that we serve the “Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).
Lastly, we must avoid the trap of arrogant pride and pursue humility. David’s second action after denouncing Joab’s sin was to hold a public funeral to honor Abner as a great man in Israel’s history and force Joab to lead the charge in mourning for him. By doing this, it publicly demonstrated David’s good will toward Abner. It also taught Joab a lesson in humility because he now had to publicly lead the mourning for the man he had just murdered. Verses 32-34 tell us of David’s kind public eulogy for Abner and verse 35 tells us that he fasted for the entire day of mourning. When the people saw this (v. 36) “it pleased them.” It pleased them because they were convinced that the king that they had come to trust and follow was truly innocent in the matter. Their trust had not been misplaced. David was a righteous king who had the best interests of his people at heart. The question here is: How were unity and peace achieved? The answer is through humility. True peace and unity in the body of Christ are only lived out in humility. Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:1-3, “I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” How is unity kept? Humility. What is the greatest obstacle to unity and peace in the body of Christ? Pride. Let us avoid the trap of arrogant pride and pursue humility.
Wisdom, peace, and humility are the inevitable fruit born in the heart and life of one who is yielded to God. These ought to be the pursuits of our hearts, not our selfish ambitions, personal vendettas, or pride. When we act according to these latter three things, no matter how “righteous” we may think our actions are, they are inevitably tainted by sin and the fruit that those actions produce will inevitably be death and destruction. The key in life is to serve, not ourselves, but the kingdom of God. It is only when we put aside the traps that we’ve identified, that you and I can live lives that bear fruit for His eternal kingdom. Pursue wisdom, peace, and humility. These are only found in one place and it’s not within ourselves. They are found in the greater David, the Lord Jesus Christ and His Spirit that He gives to those who trust in Him.