James Nisbet's Church Pulpit Commentary
2 Samuel 3:17
‘MAKE JESUS KING’
‘And Abner had communication with the elders of Israel, saying, Ye sought of David in times past to he king over you: Now then do it.’
Whether these words were spoken by Abner with actual sincerity of heart and purpose, it is not for me to say. But he had played the hypocrite, first with David, and then with Ish-bosheth, and at last he has come and thrown himself down at the feet of David, whom he knew had been anointed by God to be king over Israel. He had come with the declaration that he wanted David to be king; and you remember how David met the attempt of this man to win his favour towards himself: “One thing I require of thee” (v. 13). Brethren, the great David always has that to say, when men come to Him and announce Him as King: ‘One thing I require of thee.’ And what is that? ‘ That thou give Me back My own; and that My bride be Mine instead of another’s.’
I. It is when men and women crown Jesus Christ Lord of all that they begin to be truly and lastingly blessed.—Now I desire to set before you this fact. You remember that immediately before Saul’s death, David was brought to the very lowest point at Ziklag. The people wanted to stone him; but David encouraged himself in his God. And the Lord Jesus Christ, before He was brought to the throne, was brought to the very lowest, forsaken of all, and despised and rejected of men: not only did they speak of stoning Him, but they crucified Him as a malefactor. And while there were just a few who came to meet David at Ziklag, no sooner did God send him to Hebron (which means fellowship) than company after company came to acknowledge him as king. So was it with Jesus Christ. From the very day that God took Him to the place of fellowship in heaven, and put His own Beloved on the throne of glory, company after company has come to the Master, exactly as these companies came to Hebron to David to declare that they would make him king. But David waits. Seven-and-a-half years did he tarry in Hebron, as Jesus waits on the throne.
II. And now, if you look for a moment at the case of this man Abner, you see one who had every opportunity of knowing David, but he had set his face towards the world, and had sought to gain precedence and glory for himself, without recognising the purpose of God towards David. And there are large multitudes of people who have named the name of Christ, but who have not departed from iniquity. They have gone after Ish-bosheth, the man of shame. There are men and women here who, if they were questioned, would have to acknowledge the fact that David has had a formidable rival in the flesh. Even while they know God’s purpose concerning David, they have had an Ish-bosheth in their life, to whom they have given fealty. There are men and women, leaders in the hosts of Israel, whose consciences tell them that whereas they could have been captains in the Lord’s host to bring their fellows to David’s feet, they have gone after the man of shame, and sojourned with him in disgrace.
III. Then comes the terrible awakening.—And I believe that long before we get much comfort or blessing or peace, many of us will have to come to that period of awful conviction which came upon Abner—a conviction of shame that he had wronged God. Your heart tells you, perhaps, that you have been making a compromise with the Spirit of God, and that your David is not receiving His right. And at last, as you awake—God grant it may be now!—you say, ‘I have served the wrong king and I now in humility acknowledge my crime.’ And that great King will say, in effect, ‘One thing I require of thee: I will not see thy face until thou yieldest Me My rights.’ And you will have to do it; and when you have done it you will become messengers to bring others. You know how David won the faith of Israel back to himself. He was willing even to receive Abner; and that makes me think that David believed in the sincerity of Abner. Oh! that Christ may believe in the sincerity of heart of those who are assembled here! Oh! that David, God’s Beloved, may be able to say to many of us here, ‘Now go and fetch all Israel to My feet.’
Prebendary Webb-Peploe.
Illustration
‘Abner set himself with great vigour to fulfil the promise made by him in his league with David. First, he held communication with the representatives of the whole nation, “the elders of Israel,” and showed to them his own self-condemnation, how God had designated David as the king through whom deliverance would be granted to Israel from the Philistines and all their other enemies. Next, remembering that Saul was a member of the tribe of Benjamin, he took special pains to attach that tribe to David, and as he was himself likewise a Benjamite, he must have been eminently useful in this service. Thirdly, he went in person to Hebron, David’s seat, “to speak in the ears of David all that seemed good to Israel and to the whole house of Benjamin.” Finally, after being entertained by David at a great feast, he set out to bring about a meeting of the whole congregation of Israel, that they might solemnly ratify the appointment of David as king, in the same way as, in the early days of Saul, Samuel had convened the representatives of the nation at Gilgal. That in all this Abner was rendering a great service both to David and the nation cannot be doubted. He was doing what no other man in Israel could have done at the time for establishing the throne of David and ending the civil war.’