2 Samuel: The Triumph of the King

The history of David – the unfolding drama of 2 Samuel – gives us a slice of life in the real world. We see people in their true colours: the petty, selfish, murderous, yet fiercely loyal, Joab; the war-lord Abner, honourable, perhaps, but only when it suited him; the sad, incompetent Ish-Bosheth, ‘alone and palely loitering’ through his humdrum colourless life; and the miserable and vicious sons of Rimmon, who murdered Ish-Bosheth in his sleep. And there is David, the man after God’s own heart, borne along by his regal calling on the tide of God’s mighty providential acts.