The Powers Behind the Throne

Reflections on 2 Sam. 3:6-21


Politics is the maneuvering of people with power for a position of supremacy. Over a period of about two years, David had been growing stronger than Saul’s son Ish-bosheth. The power struggle involved many people behind the scenes, people not sitting on either throne.

ABNER. Abner was Ish-bosheth’s commander-in-chief. Four or five years after the Philistine victory over Saul on Mt. Gilboa, Abner was able to proclaim Ish-bosheth, Saul’s surviving son, king of the northern tribes. He managed to accomplish this even though many of Israel’s elders wanted to make David their king (see v. 17). Ish-bosheth was a weak and incompetent monarch, so Abner became ambitious strengthening his own position.

RIZPAH. Ish-bosheth saw Abner’s power growing and suspected that Abner had asserted it by sleeping with Rizpah, one of the concubines in the royal harem. Whether Ish-bosheth was paranoid about the success of his military commander as Saul had been, or Abner had in fact slept with Rizpah, Abner was insulted. Abner suddenly found it convenient to appeal to God’s promise to David, and he openly declared that he would establish David as king over all Israel. Although Abner openly proclaimed his treasonous purpose, Ish-bosheth was so afraid of Abner that he could not even speak, let alone order his execution.

MICHAL. When Abner sent emissaries to David, he quickly learned that Michal was more important to David than he was. David declared that he would not negotiate with Abner or allow Abner in his presence unless he brought “Michal, daughter of Saul” with him (v. 13). The importance of Michal was reinforced when David sent messengers directly to Ish-bosheth demanding that he order the return of “my wife Michal” (v. 14). In this way, David rejected secrecy in Abner’s negotiations, required public transfer of Saul’s daughter to David’s family reasserting his right to the throne, and insisted that Ish-bosheth publicly acknowledge that his father Saul had no legal right to give David’s wife to another man. (Paltiel was heartbroken, but the heartbreak was of his own making because he had married another man’s wife.)

ELDERS OF ISRAEL. The elders of Israel and Benjamin played a key role in who would rule all Israel. For a long time, they had wanted to make David their king, and perhaps Abner sensed that he could not deliver their support to Ish-bosheth much longer. At Abner’s urging, the elders cast their support to David. Abner undoubtedly felt the euphoria of a power broker, but it was the support of the elders that David wanted, not merely the support of Abner.

GOD. David’s throne was actually God’s throne, and God would give it to whom he wished despite all human schemes. Saul had tried to cut David off from claiming the throne by driving him out of the country and giving his daughter, David’s wife, to another man. Abner had tried to retain royal power for Saul’s family and his own power within that family even though he knew God had chosen David. Michal was a pawn in the hands of those who wanted power, and the elders of Israel followed the lead of Abner despite their private desire to make David their king. Whatever human powers were involved in the politics of the time, God was the real power behind the throne, and he made David king of all Israel.