Hebron therefore and its neighborhood seem to have been peculiarly fitted for the reception of David and his followers. He came back to his own tribe, where he might expect to find warm and devoted friends, and to a commanding position, which would enable him to act with that wisdom and energy which his peculiar circumstances required. The fertility of the country also, and its abundant supplies, were essential to his success ; for otherwise he would not have been able to make provision for the vast numbers who resorted continually to him. Thus, step by step, was the providence of God leading the son of Jesse forward to the exalted station which he was destined to fill. CHAPTER XX. DAVID IS ANOINTED KING OVER JUDAH. ABNER ASA DAVID'S reception at Hebron was soon known throughout the whole tribe of which it was the metropolis, and excited a deep and general interest in his favor. In addition to this, there were many weighty reasons why the men of Judah should desire to see him the successor of Saul. He was one of their own family. The patriarch Jacob had long ago foretold the establishment of the sovereignty in their tribe. David belonged to it. He had already been chosen of God and anointed by the prophet Samuel to sway the sceptre; and now, as it seemed to them, by the death of Saul the crisis had come, and Providence was clearly pointing out the way for the consummation of their wishes. They resorted therefore from all parts of the tribe to Hebron, and anointed David king over the house of Judah. He was now about thirty years of age; he had been ripening fast in the school of experience, had much practical wisdom and energy of character, and above all, felt his dependence on God, and looked to him for guidance and support. Immediately after his accession to the throne, JABESH-GILEAD. 141 David was told what the men of Jabesh-Gilead had done in rescuing the bodies of Saul and of his sons, and in affording them the last sad offices of respect. His regard for the late sovereignfor David's magnanimity and sense of duty were too strong to permit him to indulge any other feelings than those of loyalty towards Saul-and his devoted attachment to Jonathan, led him to view so heroic a deed of gratitude with deep emotion. His was a soul to appreciate it; and one of the first acts of his reign was to send a message to Jabesh-Gilead, to let those brave men know the sentiments which he cherished in view of their conduct. He invoked the blessing of the Lord upon them, adding, "And now the Lord show kindness and truth unto you: and I also will requite you this kindness, because ye have done this thing. Therefore now let your hands be strengthened, and be ye valiant: for your master Saul is dead, and also the house of Judah have anointed me king over them." They could no longer look to Saul for that protection which David now offered them, and which, in his new and elevated station, he was ready to afford. He urged them therefore not to yield to fear, but still. to exhibit their accustomed courage in defending themselves against their enemies. In the meanwhile another king appeared in Israel. It was Ish-bosheth, a son of Saul, about forty years of age, and who, as we have reason to believe, would never have dared to aspire. to such an eminence if he had not been brought forward and sustained by Abner, who had been the principal commander of Saul's forces, and was his near kinsman. Abner could not brook the thought of David's being king. His self-interest, his ambition, and probably his resentment too against one who had so often proved his superior in military skill, to his great mortification and disgrace, induced him to take the course which he did. Soon after the death of Saul he escorted Ish-bosheth to Mahanaim, a city of the Levites in the tribe of Gad, on the east side of the Jordan, and there made him king with the usual ceremonies. Whether Abner had previously obtained the consent of any of the tribes to this step, or whether he relied on the support of those over whom he thought he had the most influence, does not appear. It is probable that for one or the other of these reasons he made Ish-bosheth king, as we are told, over Gilead, or the whole country east of the Jordan, between that river and Arabia, and over the Ashurites, men of the tribe of Ashur, and over Jezreel, and over Ephraim, and over Benjamin, and to be sure of having the regal title broad enough, over all Israel. It would seem too, that as Abner's influence extended, all the tribes, excepting that of Judah, acknowledged the validity of this title, and received Ish-bosheth as their sovereign. Mahanaim was doubtless chosen by Abner as the place best adapted, at first, for the centre of FIGHT AT GIBEON. 143 his enterprise, because it was in a secure part of the country; most of the larger cities on the other side of the Jordan being in the hands of the Philistines, or exposed to their attacks. Here Ish-bosheth resided some time, during which he and David had no recorded collision with each other. We next hear of Abner and his forces at Gibeon, one of the principal cities in the tribe of Benjamin. This movement was probably intended to enlist the feelings of that tribe and of the adjoining ones more strongly in behalf of Ishbosheth, and to enable him, advancing farther south, to dethrone David and bring the tribe of Judah into subjection. For after a lapse of two years, during which there had been no open warfare between the two monarchs, such a state of things now existed. A regard to his own safety led David to order Joab, the commander of his troops, to approach Gibeon with a considerable force, in order to watch the motions of Abner, and to take such steps as the exigency might demand. Joab was attended by his brothers, Abishai and Asahel; the three being the sons of Zeruiah, David's sister. The hostile armies met at the pool of Gibeon; Joab and his men being on one side of it, and Abner and his on the other. It was not long before the latter proposed to Joab, probably by a messenger sent for the purpose, that some of the |