2 Samuel 2 - Introduction

II.

By the death of Saul, David was now left as the anointed king of Israel. This chapter narrates the first steps he took towards securing the throne, and the opposition made to him by the adherents of the house of Saul. At first thought it may seem surprising that no invitation to assume the vacant throne should have come to David from his countrymen, by whom he had been formerly so greatly beloved and admired; but it must be remembered that for several years he had been secluded from their observation, living among their hereditary foes on friendly terms, and that the last news of him probably was his marching with the Philistines to the disastrous battle of Gilboa. As yet he had had no opportunity to place these things in their true light before his people.