26th June 2026

26th June 2026


Pray (ACts)


Read (2 Samuel 2:1-11 focus v4b-11)


Message (Alan Burke)


You gotta love the unfolding circus with the Labour Party. Things seem to be spicing up for poor Keir, but to be fair, if you’re Prime Minister, you’re not ever going to be Mr Popular, and there seems to be a lot of politicking going on. If you’re unsure what politicking is, it is the action or practice of engaging in political activity, and there is a sense in which you might think that is exactly what David was doing here with the people of Jabesh Gilead. That he is a shrewd politician who is trying to grease the wheels in an attempt to become king over Israel. That, though, isn’t what is going on. Instead, David’s actions come out of his genuine affection for Saul, for when he heard of the death of Saul, his grief is clear, ordering that his lament concerning Saul and his son Jonathan be taught to the people of Judah (2 Sam 1:17; see also 1 Sam 26:17–19). 


David’s message for the people of Jabesh Gilead in v5 is really a prayer. He desires that the LORD bless them for doing what they did. He desires that the LORD would show them kindness and faithfulness, and he would show them favour for what they have done.  These people were on the wrong side; they had aligned themselves with Saul as their king, but David now that Saul is dead is inviting them to come and join with him. This is an invitation to follow David as king. The LORD God in this was working out his great plan of redemption; it foreshadows the gracious invitation that goes out to all people to come and follow the true king, the LORD Jesus Christ. He calls us to follow him, to leave our old life and allegiances behind, to be part of his kingdom that will last for all eternity. 


The king had come; he invited those who had aligned themselves with Saul to align themselves with him, but Abner, son of Ner, Saul’s cousin and commander of his army, made Ish-Bosheth king over Israel. From a human perspective, Ish-Bosheth was the rightful successor of Saul, but Abner, who had been with Saul throughout his reign (1 Sam 14:50-51), who was the right-hand man of Saul’s closest advisers, military and political, and he would have known that Saul recognised David was to be king. 


From then until David was recognised as the true King of Israel, there was war between the house of David and the house of Saul. It is tragic; there is much blood shed before finally David is made king over all Israel, for the attempts of Abner to subvert the plans of the LORD God were futile. There is only one victor in human history; it is the LORD and his king, for King David’s greater son has come, and he is coming again to judge the living and the dead. For those who reject his gracious invitation, they have set themselves as his enemies, for when this king returns as David foresaw by the work of the Holy Spirit in Psalm 110, he prophetically looked to when King Jesus returns. There we are told he will crush kings on the day of his wrath, he will judge the nations, heaping up the dead and crushing the rulers of the whole earth. (Ps 110:5-6). 


We are either on the side of the LORD and his king or we are his enemy; there is no neutrality, so which kingdom are you in, the kingdom of God, or the kingdom of the world? Is your allegiance to King Jesus or is it to Satan? The Roman Empire has fallen; it was nice to go back, but nations will continue to rise and fall, but God’s kingdom is an everlasting one (Job 12:23), and what matters above all is our allegiance with the King that the LORD has set over all, King Jesus. If he is your King, then know the great hope of how in the midst of all that is unfolding, he is working out his great plan of salvation that will see us joining with a great multitude before the throne, and every tear will be wiped from our eyes (Rev 7:9-17). 


Pray (acTS)


Sing


WSC
Q104 What do we pray for in the fourth petition?
A. In the fourth petition, which is, Give us this day our daily bread,” we pray, that of God’s free gift we may receive a competent portion of the good things of this life, and enjoy his blessing with them.
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