Was David a hypocrite for mourning for Saul as he did, after having cried out to God for vindication against him? I don’t believe so. Recall that in the beginning of their relationship Saul loved David; perhaps that feeling was mutual. In any case, the nation of Israel had suffered a great defeat, with their king and his sons killed in battle. That would have given all the people reason to mourn; as a leader and a poet who felt such things deeply, David had all the more reason to mourn. Then there was Jonathan, whose soul was knit with David’s in friendship “more wonderful than (the love of) women” and by whom he had been strengthened in the Lord. His absence would doubtless be missed as David took over leadership of the nation.
Everyone seemed to understand that David was chosen by God to be the next king. The trouble between the commander of his army and that of Saul’s army demonstrated that assumption of leadership is not that easy. One can’t lead if the people refuse to follow. So David ruled as king of Judah alone for the first seven and a half years of his reign. Likely the situation was due in part to the habitual lawlessness that characterized the period of the judges. A nation doesn’t overcome that in the space of a generation with a weak leader such as Saul was. Do you see how precious a good leader is to a people? We have the luxury of taking that for granted in our nation, but it is a blessing from God. We should use the reminder in today’s reading to thank God for our leaders and pray for them.
Note David’s typical king-like behavior in taking four more wives (five if you count Michal) in the seven and a half years he ruled from Hebron. One of them was the daughter of the king of Geshur, which was a pagan king occupying land east of the Jordan River and adjacent to Israelite tribes living east of the Jordan. This was obviously a marriage designed as a political alliance. Such behavior might have been what a king was supposed to do in man’s eyes, but was not part of God’s plan for Israel’s king. These choices would cause him and the entire nation great heartache in the future. Even though he was a man after God’s own heart, David was not spared the consequences of his sinful choices. Let’s not be deceived into thinking that we could be spared the consequences of our sinful choices, either.