And David reigned over all Israel; and David executed judgment and justice unto all his people.
David reigned over the whole nation of Israel, administering judgment and justice to every one of his people. That even-handed and fair treatment of all stood almost without equal among kings. His uprightness in governing secured for him the trust and devoted loyalty of the nation.
The long years of hardship and peril through which he had passed had schooled him to handle men with wisdom, to feel for those who were downtrodden, and to abhor wrongdoing. To govern with such righteousness was possible for him only by the strength and wisdom supplied by God. This upright record belonged to the period before his great fall, and it stands in sharp contrast with his later turning away from God which spoiled it. Even after that turning he still retained the place and authority God had given him, yet he employed it to order what broke God's law.
David reigned over the whole nation of Israel, administering judgment and justice to every one of his people. That even-handed and fair treatment of all stood almost without equal among kings. His uprightness in governing secured for him the trust and devoted loyalty of the nation.
The long years of hardship and peril through which he had passed had schooled him to handle men with wisdom, to feel for those who were downtrodden, and to abhor wrongdoing. To govern with such righteousness was possible for him only by the strength and wisdom supplied by God. This upright record belonged to the period before his great fall, and it stands in sharp contrast with his later turning away from God which spoiled it. Even after that turning he still retained the place and authority God had given him, yet he employed it to order what broke God's law.