2 Samuel 3:22–30

At that moment the servants of David and Joab came from a raid and brought much spoil with them. But Abner was not with David in Hebron, for he had sent him away, and he had gone in peace. When Joab and all the troops that were with him had come, they told Joab, saying, “Abner the son of Ner came to the king, and he sent him away, and he has gone in peace.” Then Joab came to the king and said, “What have you done? Look, Abner came to you; why is it that you sent him away, and he has already gone? Surely you realize that Abner the son of Ner came to deceive you, to know your going out and your coming in, and to know all that you are doing.”

And when Joab had gone from David’s presence, he sent messengers after Abner, who brought him back from the well of Sirah. But David did not know it. Now when Abner had returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside in the gate to speak with him privately, and there stabbed him in the stomach, so that he died for the blood of Asahel his brother.

Afterward, when David heard it, he said, “My kingdom and I are guiltless before the LORD forever of the blood of Abner the son of Ner. Let it rest on the head of Joab and on all his father’s house; and let there never fail to be in the house of Joab one who has a discharge or is a leper, who leans on a staff or falls by the sword, or who lacks bread.” So Joab and Abishai his brother killed Abner, because he had killed their brother Asahel at Gibeon in the battle.

Joab just can’t believe that Abner has deceived David. “Surely you realize that Abner the son of Ner came to deceive you, to know your going out and your coming in, and to know all that you are doing.”

But then come the twist—Abner ends up being the one who is most deceived. He returns and lets himself get separated from his twenty-man guard, which makes it easy for Joab to kill him.

Joab obviously has plenty of reason to hold a grudge against Abner. Why did Abner let down his guard?

One might suspect that David was being dumb like a fox in making peace with Abner, but his reaction to his death rules that out. His condemnation of Joab (even the house of Joab) is astonishingly strong.

The real answer to why Abner let down his guard is that he assumed David had control over Joab. David really did want peace with his phony, unrepentant former enemy.

David’s forgiving attitude is why he’s called a man after God’s own heart. David models the gospel here.

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. — Romans 5:8

God’s forgiveness does not wait for our repentance. We run from God, but the hound of heaven chases us down.

Forgiveness comes first.

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These weekday DEEPs are written by Mike Slay. The Saturday ones are written by Matt Richardson. To subscribe to the DEEP click here:  https://www.ailbe.org/resources/community

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Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.