Verse 5
DAVID'S FIRST ACTION AS KING
"When they told David, "It was the men of Jabesh-gilead who buried Saul," David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh-gilead, and said to them, "May you be blessed by the Lord, because you showed this loyalty to Saul your lord, and buried him. Now may the Lord show steadfast love and faithfulness to you! And I will do good to you because you have done this thing. Now therefore let your hands be strong, and be valiant; for your lord is dead, and the house of Judah has anointed me king over them."
This paragraph relates David's very first action after becoming King of Judah. The men of Jabesh-gilead were of Benjamin, the tribe of Saul; and David's promise here to do good to them clearly signaled that David would not indulge in any vengeful recriminations against the people of Israel who had loved and supported Saul. Coupled with his royal compliment to those brave men for their valiant rescue of Saul's body and their providing decent burial for his bones, this assurance of David must have been welcome indeed to the men of Jabesh-gilead. Without this, they might have feared vengeance from the Philistines because of their daring raid in rescuing Saul's body. This diplomacy, tact, good will, and understanding on David's part are examples of the qualities that eventually crowned him with such amazing success.
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