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And say to Amasa, ‘Are you not my own flesh and blood? May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if you are not the commander of my army for life in place of Joab.’”
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He won over the hearts of the men of Judah so that they were all of one mind. They sent word to the king, “Return, you and all your men.”
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And he has slandered your servant to my lord the king. My lord the king is like an angel of God; so do whatever you wish.
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They buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in the tomb of Saul’s father Kish, at Zela in Benjamin, and did everything the king commanded. After that, God answered prayer in behalf of the land.
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David’s Song of Praise
David sang to the Lord the words of this song when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.
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my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation. He is my stronghold, my refuge and my savior— from violent people you save me.
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“In my distress I called to the Lord; I called out to my God. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came to his ears.
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For I have kept the ways of the Lord; I am not guilty of turning from my God.
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With your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall.
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“As for God, his way is perfect: The Lord’s word is flawless; he shields all who take refuge in him.
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For who is God besides the Lord? And who is the Rock except our God?
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It is God who arms me with strength and keeps my way secure.
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“The Lord lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be my God, the Rock, my Savior!
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He is the God who avenges me, who puts the nations under me,
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David’s Last Words
These are the last words of David: “The inspired utterance of David son of Jesse, the utterance of the man exalted by the Most High, the man anointed by the God of Jacob, the hero of Israel’s songs:
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“The Spirit of the Lord spoke through me; his word was on my tongue.
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The God of Israel spoke, the Rock of Israel said to me: ‘When one rules over people in righteousness, when he rules in the fear of God,
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“If my house were not right with God, surely he would not have made with me an everlasting covenant, arranged and secured in every part; surely he would not bring to fruition my salvation and grant me my every desire.
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But Joab replied to the king, “May the Lord your God multiply the troops a hundred times over, and may the eyes of my lord the king see it. But why does my lord the king want to do such a thing?”
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The king’s word, however, overruled Joab and the army commanders; so they left the presence of the king to enroll the fighting men of Israel.
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Before David got up the next morning, the word of the Lord had come to Gad the prophet, David’s seer:
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Your Majesty, Araunah gives all this to the king.” Araunah also said to him, “May the Lord your God accept you.”
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But the king replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen and paid fifty shekels of silver for them.
