Honoring God's King

2 Samuel 2:8-11 summarizes a time when, even though God had appointed David as Saul’s successor, the majority of Israel instead chose to crown Ishbosheth to rule the nation. Ishbosheth was Saul’s son, and by earthly standards would have taken the throne after the death of his father and other heirs in battle. This is a situation in which most of the Israelites chose to operate by earthly standards rather than seek the counsel of God. Even when Saul was initially crowned, God had told Samuel, “…they have rejected Me from being king over them” (1 Samuel 8:7). Their disinterest in God’s direction further displays their rejection of God’s rulership.

But not all rejected God’s king, David. 2 Samuel 2:10 states, “Ishbosheth, Saul’s son, was forty years old when he became king over Israel, and he was king for two years. The house of Judah, however, followed David.” By following David, God’s anointed one, the house of Judah also followed God. This was no mere political division. This was a religious division between the followers of God and those who sought to be like the surrounding nations (1 Samuel 8:5). The same kind of division occurs today between those who honor God by seeking His direction through His Word and those who alter Christianity by adopting variations of worldly religion.

God spoke through the apostle Paul concerning this eventuality, saying to Timothy, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry” (2 Timothy 4:2-5). Will you honor God’s king, Jesus, today by following the truth in all things, or do you have ears that long to be tickled by the fables and myths of the world? Are you like Judah, who honored God’s anointed one, or are you like the rest of Israel, following whatever the world says ought to come next?