2 Samuel 1-4 As it was then, it is today. There are power struggles and expectations of praise from those in leadership, only to be met with righteous anger. Avenging is God’s work, not man’s.  

David, the man after God’s own heart, reveals how we should respond to the death of another—even If they are our rival. For the second time, we read of the end of King Saul, this time from an Amalekite. He came with news expecting David to rejoice in Saul’s death, so imagine his surprise when David called for his execution. He miscalculated David’s response because there is no glory in the death of God’s anointed. Again in chapter four, we read of another incident when two men decided to avenge David thinking their act of murder would receive praise. Instead, David had them executed because they killed an innocent man and, worse, in his own bed! They, too, sought to do God’s work with man’s methods. 

If David was right to be angry, how do we think God will deal with those who rejected and crucified Jesus Christ, His anointed? As David dealt harshly with the Amalekite and the two who slew Ishbosheth, God will deal harshly with those who reject His Son, Jesus Christ.