Righteous Judge

II Samuel 4
Ishbosheth's two captains assassinated him while he lay resting on his bed, then took his head to David, thinking to receive a reward. Instead, David has them slain for their evil deed.

Incidentally, their act does finally secure Israel's allegiance to David. If David were not bent on judging righteously, he may have overlooked their crime. After all, he had had no end of trouble and loss of lives over Ishbosheth. With the last claim to the throne on Saul's end done away with, David could breathe easy and go about God's business of shepherding Israel. But David is no pragmatist. He has a higher moral code...we saw it in his refusal to kill Saul, in his punishment of the Amalekite who claimed to have killed Saul, and now in the case of the assassination of Saul's heir.

David had a clear idea of right and wrong when it came to war. You might say he followed a chivalric code that believed (naively, we might say) that right would triumph, and had no need of underhanded machinations or foul play.

Let's remember that he was right! God will avenge any wrong done to us. It is not our job to avenge ourselves, and we should never cover up a crime just because it is to our benefit.

Another thought...by acting this way, David discouraged other assassinations or mistreatment of Saul's followers. If he had rewarded the captains, many other killings may have followed. By his righteous judgement, he encouraged right behavior.