Spend time in prayer and silence with God asking him to meet you and speak to you.
CONTEXT
The civil war ended with the death of Ish-bosheth. How it happened may surprise you.
Bible Reading
Now the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, set out, and about the heat of the day they came to the house of Ish-bosheth as he was taking his noonday rest. And they came into the midst of the house as if to get wheat, and they stabbed him in the stomach. Then Rechab and Baanah his brother escaped. When they came into the house, as he lay on his bed in his bedroom, they struck him and put him to death and beheaded him. They took his head and went by the way of the Arabah all night, and brought the head of Ish-bosheth to David at Hebron. And they said to the king, “Here is the head of Ish-bosheth, the son of Saul, your enemy, who sought your life. The LORD has avenged my lord the king this day on Saul and on his offspring.” But David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, “As the LORD lives, who has redeemed my life out of every adversity, when one told me, ‘Behold, Saul is dead,’ and thought he was bringing good news, I seized him and killed him at Ziklag, which was the reward I gave him for his news. How much more, when wicked men have killed a righteous man in his own house on his bed, shall I not now require his blood at your hand and destroy you from the earth?” And David commanded his young men, and they killed them and cut off their hands and feet and hanged them beside the pool at Hebron. But they took the head of Ish-bosheth and buried it in the tomb of Abner at Hebron.
– 2 Samuel 4:5-12
Devotion
Do you remember David’s response to the death of Saul? He mourned and had the man who killed Saul executed. He celebrated the things that Saul had done well. David had a deep respect for the leaders God ordained. He respected Ish-bosheth as Saul’s son, even though he wasn’t God’s choice.
David knew that kingdoms rise and fall at the hand of God, not man. What was important to him was righteousness, respect and, most importantly, honor.
The Big Question
How well do you treat others? Do you honor them as people created by a holy God? What does that kind of honor look like?
Conclude in prayer and silence reflecting on what you’ve learned.