Ultramarathon

January 8th, 2025

Ultramarathon

2 Samuel 4:5-5:5

5 Now the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, set out, and about the heat of the day they came to the house of Ish-bosheth as he was taking his noonday rest. 6 And they came into the midst of the house as if to get wheat, and they stabbed him in the stomach. Then Rechab and Baanah his brother escaped. 7 When they came into the house, as he lay on his bed in his bedroom, they struck him and put him to death and beheaded him. They took his head and went by the way of the Arabah all night, 8 and brought the head of Ish-bosheth to David at Hebron. And they said to the king, “Here is the head of Ish-bosheth, the son of Saul, your enemy, who sought your life. The Lord has avenged my lord the king this day on Saul and on his offspring.” 9 But David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, “As the Lord lives, who has redeemed my life out of every adversity, 10 when one told me, ‘Behold, Saul is dead,’ and thought he was bringing good news, I seized him and killed him at Ziklag, which was the reward I gave him for his news. 11 How much more, when wicked men have killed a righteous man in his own house on his bed, shall I not now require his blood at your hand and destroy you from the earth?” 12 And David commanded his young men, and they killed them and cut off their hands and feet and hanged them beside the pool at Hebron. But they took the head of Ish-bosheth and buried it in the tomb of Abner at Hebron.

1 Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said, “Behold, we are your bone and flesh. 2 In times past, when Saul was king over us, it was you who led out and brought in Israel. And the Lord said to you, ‘You shall be shepherd of my people Israel, and you shall be prince over Israel.’” 3 So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and King David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord, and they anointed David king over Israel. 4 David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years. 5 At Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and at Jerusalem he reigned over all Israel and Judah thirty-three years.

A 15 Year Race

I once thought of the 26.2-mile marathon as the runner’s ultimate endurance test. Then I learned about ultramarathons. These grueling races can stretch for 50, 100, 200 miles, or more, often in harsh conditions; “Moab 240” leads runners across nearly 240 miles of desert terrain. Watching competitors complete these epic challenges is inspiring and emotional! Today, we get to watch David complete his 15-year ultramarathon of faith.

A Familiar Scenario

Baanah and Rechab know that Saul’s house is going down. They should simply join David’s kingdom at the bottom, as humble subjects. Instead, they hatch a scheme to move straight to the top: they will murder Ish-bosheth, Israel’s king. This will extinguish Saul’s kingdom, get David on the throne faster, and, they imagine, David will reward them with high government positions! So they do their dirty job. They wait for Ish-bosheth’s noon nap and lie their way into the king’s house. They sneak into the royal bedroom, stab the king in his sleep, and cut off his head. Then they slip over to David’s camp, hand him the bloody box, and declare that they have done God’s work (4:5–8).

It’s a familiar scenario by now. David has tried for fifteen years to do things God’s way: trusting the Lord to give him the Kingdom in his time. But at every step, the people in his life tempt him to abandon the path of patient faith for an ungodly shortcut to get what he wants. Abishai urged David to kill Saul in the cave. An Amalekite wanted David to gloat over Saul’s death. Joab murdered Abner in cold blood. Now Banal and Rechab think David will celebrate the assassination of Ish-bosheth. Each of these folks is on David’s side and shares his ultimate goal. But they want him to forsake God’s way for man’s way. We can also have people who love us and want our best, but who don’t understand our commitment to God, and the way of faith that we are trying to walk.

God's Way

But when everyone in his life tries to drag him onto a detour, David falls back on what he knows about God: “As Yahweh lives, who has redeemed my life out of every adversity (9).” David knows that his life belongs to a living, personal, sovereign God. Yahweh is guiding David for his glory, accomplishing all his purposes for him. God is taking care of David. God has made a covenant with him. God has committed to redeem his life from every adversity. That means David does not have to resort to ungodly behavior to secure his future. And so he makes it clear that he wants nothing to do with these wicked men (just as with Joab and the Amalekite). David has them executed and displayed, and then gives his old enemy Ish-bosheth an honorable burial. He wants everyone to know: “if I become king, I got there God’s way.”

Every Knee Bows

This episode seems to be a final test for David. He goes to bed that night the leader of one tribe, and wakes up with the other eleven tribes all kneeling in his front yard. They’ve all rejected him for fifteen years! But they have watched him all that time. He has maintained absolute integrity, honoring God, doing everything by the book. David’s many enemies have all fallen, until David alone is left standing. No one in Israel can now deny that he is God’s anointed. So every knee bows in Israel, and every tongue confesses that David is lord. They beg him to be their shepherd! For David, it has been a long, steep climb to this coronation. God’s way is often slow and solitary. But it is ultimately safe and satisfying. You can trust him with your ultramarathon of faith, too. “But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day (Prov 4:18–19).

FOR THE NEXT INSTALLMENT, SEE:

The First Hundred Days