2 Samuel 21:3-6 Principle

 ”Therefore David said to the Gibeonites, “What shall I do for you? And with what shall I make atonement, that you may bless the inheritance of the Lord?” And the Gibeonites said to him, “We will have no silver or gold from Saul or from his house, nor shall you kill any man in Israel for us.” So he said, “Whatever you say, I will do for you.” Then they answered the king, “As for the man who consumed us and plotted against us, that we should be destroyed from remaining in any of the territories of Israel, let seven men of his descendants be delivered to us, and we will hang them before the Lord in Gibeah of Saul, whom the Lord chose.” And the king said, “I will give them.”“ ‭‭II Samuel‬ ‭21‬:‭3‬-‭6‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

a. What shall I do for you? In resolving this matter with the Gibeonites, David did not dictate terms to them. He came to them as a servant, not as a king.

b. That you may bless the inheritance of the LORD: David felt that if the Gibeonites could bless Israel then the reconciliation would be complete, and God’s chastening of Israel would end.

c. We will have no silver or gold from Saul or from his house, nor shall you kill any man in Israel for us: The Gibeonites made it clear that they didn’t want money or direct retribution. Though Saul made a wholesale slaughter of the Gibeonites, they didn’t ask for the same among the people of Israel.

d. Let seven men of his descendants be delivered to us: In those ancient times, the request of the Gibeonites was considered reasonable. Instead of money or an “eye for an eye” they only asked for justice against Saul through his descendants. David agreed to this (I will give them).

i. “Which God had now a purpose to root out, that they might not be further troublesome to David - who had lately suffered so much - in the quiet enjoyment of the kingdom.” (Trapp)

e. I will give them: David knew this was the right thing to do. Some believe he knew it was right because David knew that Saul’s descendants helped in or benefited directly from that massacre.

i. Obviously, we are not told everything about this incident; we must trust the principle stated by Abraham: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? (Genesis 18:25) (Guzik)

Principle 

There are times when we study the Bible that we wonder why certain things happened the way they did, but we are not God. Take the Book of Job for example, how would we react if God used us as the example instead of Job? 

”Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?”“ Job‬ ‭1‬:‭8‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

If only we had the faith of Job or Abraham!

Do you trust the principle stated by Abraham?

Blessings