Chapters 6-8, which we will study on December 5th, bring us to the high point of King David’s kingdom. With much rejoicing, David brings the long lost ark to Jerusalem and YHWH promises David (Everett Fox translation)
“I will make you a great name,
like the name of the great-ones that are on the earth” [2 Sam 7:9]
“Secure is your house and your kingdom for the ages” [2 Sam 7:16]
David defeats the Philistines finally for good. And yet, there is something wrong – is David setting his own sons up as priests? Instead of a harmonious alliance with Michal, daughter of King Saul, David goes his own way, and his sons after him quarrel endlessly. As chapter 9 opens, it is unclear if David takes in Jonathan’s lame son to do him a kindness, or to kidnap him.
“Just as we sense completion at hand, the narrator unsettles us. David, chosen and supported by Yhwh, is no simple model of piety.” The HarperCollins Bible Commentary p. 267