2 Samuel 4:9

DAVID EXPLAINS HOW HE VIEWS THEIR MURDER

"But David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon, the Beerothite, `As the Lord lives who has redeemed my life out of every adversity, when one told me, "Behold, Saul is dead," and thought he was bringing good news, I seized him and slew him at Ziklag, which was the reward I gave him for his news. How much more when wicked men have slain a righteous man in his own house upon his bed, shall I not now require his blood at your hand, and destroy you from the earth.'"

David had every right to be outraged and disgusted with this treacherous murder of Ishbosheth by two of his retainers who were supposed to be serving and protecting their master. David makes three points in this response. "First, he referred to his own experience of the ways of the Lord, thus giving the lie to their claim of having been the Lord's tools in that brutal murder; and in the second instance, he pointed out the precedent which he himself had already established in the killing of the Amalekite."[12] His third point was that Ishbosheth was a "righteous man," contrasting with Saul who was wicked. By the time David got this far into his response, those two evil brothers must have anticipated what would come next.

"Shall I not now require his blood at your hand?" (2 Samuel 4:11). "`To require blood' means to hold the murderer guilty and to execute him (Genesis 9:51; 42:22; Psalms 9:12)."[13] It is the commandment of God that murderers should be executed (Genesis 9:6); and that is not an option; it is a Divine Order. God have mercy upon the United States for their rebellion against God in this very particular. Unless the crime of our society in allowing murderers to go unpunished is corrected, the ultimate downfall of our nation is certain.

"And destroy you from the earth" (2 Samuel 4:11). Unavenged blood cries from the earth to God Himself (Genesis 4:10). And we may be sure that the swelling chorus of such cries to God from the blood-soaked streets of America today shall not forever go uncorrected by the Eternal One.