1 Samuel 3:22

1 Samuel 3:22 says, And, behold, the servants of David and Joab came from pursuing a troop, and brought in a great spoil with them: but Abner was not with David in Hebron; for he had sent him away, and he was gone in peace.  When Joab returned after a successful pursuit of some troops, Abner was not at Hebron, because David had sent him away in peace.  Joab was a leader in David’s army, and he hated Abner because he had killed his brother,  even though he did it reluctantly.  Sometimes, Christians can hold grudges against their fellow Christians for something that happened in the past or even because thay feel their position in the church is threatened by them.  Verse twenty-three adds, When Joab and all the host that was with him were come, they told Joab, saying, Abner the son of Ner came to the king, and he hath sent him away, and he is gone in peace.  Those who were with Joab brought him news of Abner making peace with David.  This was not good news to Joab.  If we share the news that those we hate or dislike have made peace with a fellow Christian over past differences, we may tend to not think of this as good news, even though we should.  Verse twenty-four continues, Then Joab came to the king, and said, What hast thou done? behold, Abner came unto thee; why is it that thou hast sent him away, and he is quite gone?  Joab came to David questioning why he had sent Abner away.  He would have preferred that Davhad killed Abner instead of sending him away in peace.  We need to remember that in spite of the differences, they were all a part of God's Chosen people.  Abner had not been there when Samuel at God's direction anointed David as king, so he may have thought that Saul's son was the legitimate heir to the throne.  Christians can still have disagreements today with both believing they are right, but if so, we should rejoice and not be angry if they reach a state of peace with each other.  Verse twenty-five concludes, Thou knowest Abner the son of Ner, that he came to deceive thee, and to know thy going out and thy coming in, and to know all that thou doest.  Joab basically accused David of not knowing what he was doing.  He accused Abner of coming there to spy on David.  He should have trusted David’s judgment instead, but that didn't agree with his desire that Abner be killed.  We cannot allow personal feelings about someone keep us from welcoming them into God's family or them mending relationships if they have been at odds with our fellow Christians and us.  We should also never believe that our opinion is always right.  Verse twenty-six states, And when Joab was come out from David, he sent messengers after Abner, which brought him again from the well of Sirah: but David knew it not.  After he left David, Joab sent messengers to Abner asking hiim to meet him and David knew nothing about this.  Matthew Henry says that Joab had the messengers say that David was the one who authorized the meeting.  Hopefully, if we are involved in something that is really only being done for our personal revenge, we will not use other Christians to achieve our purpose.  Verse twenty-seven adds, And when Abner was returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside in the gate to speak with him quietly, and smote him there under the fifth rib, that he died, for the blood of Asahel his brother.  When Abner returned, Joab took him aside as if he wanted to talk to him, but ambushed and killed him instead to avenge the death of Asahel.  Of course, not only had Abner not ambushed Asahel, he had done his best not to fight him at all.  Instead of challenging Abner to a fight to settle their differences, which would still not have been in keeping with David’s making peace with him, Joab killed him without even giving him as chance to protect himself.  We certainly don't need to act underhandedly when we deal with our fellow Christians, even if we believe they have done us serious harm.