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. And they came into the midst of the house as if to get wheat, and they stabbed him in the stomach...and beheaded him. They took his head ...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.” But David answered... “As the Lord lives, who has redeemed my life out of every adversity, 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. 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?” 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. (2 Samuel 4:5–12)
Rechab and Baanah made the same mistake as the Amalekite in 2 Samuel 1 who came with news of Saul's death. Like the Amalekite, they call David "lord" and appear to be in full submission to him. They appear to be on David's side and want him to be king. They think they are doing him favors and are convinced their actions will earn them special favor in the eyes of David.
They were all very, very wrong.
In the case with the Amalekite who arrived with news of Saul's death: he lied to David. He claimed to have found Saul alive and to have been instructed by Saul to finish him off. But 1 Samuel 31:4 tells us Saul took his own life by falling on his own sword. He lied to the king in order to look good! But his lie cost him his life. He expected reward from the king, but his plan drastically backfired and he received condemnation instead. The same thing happens in 2 Samuel 4 with these two brothers. They somehow believe betraying and murdering Ish-bosheth will be looked upon with great favor by David. Their actions show is they really did not know David very well.
Why was David so offended and angered by the actions of these brothers, and of the Amalekite? Because their actions proved they did not fear God, but feared man. David is not the betraying type. He is an honorable man even in battle. He only killed those he faced. Killing a man in his bed? That was the way of the coward! That is how wicked people get things done.
David had many opportunities to take Saul's life - once when Saul was asleep. But David refused to harm Saul in any way. Even cutting off the corner of his garment left him feeling like he crossed the line! David proved his loyalty to Saul and by doing so he proved he was a true servant of the Lord. He has no need to take matters into his own hands. Instead, he left everything to the Lord and knew if God wanted him to be king - in time he would be. Ultimately, David was not serving himself. He was not seeking his own honor, but the honor of the Lord. These two brothers did this for their own honor, not for David's nor for God's. Turns out they were only serving themselves.
We can make similar mistakes. Sometimes we do "good deeds" and perform religious acts meant to "please" God. By doing them, we believe God will smile upon us and our actions. But he knows the motives of our hearts and he judges the means we use to accomplish what we "think" is noble. These two brothers used means that were wicked and disgraceful. The end result did not justify the means and their true motives were exposed.
One of the signs we are serving ourselves is when we have a "by any means necessary" attitude. The temptation to compromise just a little bit rather than trust in the Lord to providentially work it out in his timing is a telling sign. We need to always examine our motives and ask ourselves: who are we really serving? We may be serving ourselves more often than we care to admit.
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