Beginning of the End - Ellen G. White

As a man falls before wicked men, so you fell.
David's tribute to one who had been his bitter enemy won the
admiration of all Israel. "For all the people and all Israel understood
that day that it had not been the king's intent to kill Abner the son of
Ner." In the private circle of his trusted counselors and attendants,
the king recognized his own inability to punish the murderers as he
desired. He left them to the justice of God. "The Lord shall repay the
evildoer according to his wickedness."
When Ishbosheth "heard that Abner had died in Hebron, he lost
heart, and all Israel was troubled." Soon another act of treachery
completed the downfall of the weakened, rival power. Ishbosheth
was murdered by two of his captains who, cutting off his head,
rushed with it to the king of Judah, hoping by this to gain his favor.
David Punishes the Murderers of His Enemy
But David did not want the help of treason to establish his
power. He told these murderers about what happened to the man
who boasted that he had killed Saul. "'How much more,'" he added,
"'when wicked men have killed a righteous person in his own house
on his bed? Therefore, shall I not now require his blood at your hand
and remove you from the earth?' So David commanded his young
men, and they executed them."
After the death of Ishbosheth, there was a general desire among
the leading men of Israel for David to become king of all the tribes.
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