After decades of war with the House of Saul, David could finally step into the leadership role the prophet Samuel had foretold. Saul was the leader chosen to appeal to the people for his stature and appearance. He lacked character, got off mission and descended into paranoia. By contrast, David was called a man after God’s own heart.
The norm was to favor one’s own tribe. But David repeatedly demonstrated that he wanted to be a leader for the entire nation. An Amalekite first brought him the news of Saul’s death and claimed to have been the one that dealt the final blow. Rather than reward him, David rebuked him and convicted him of murder.
David went out of his way to build bridges with Saul’s descendants, including bringing his grandson, Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth, to eat at his table. In spite of his efforts, he constantly had to deal with rivalries and mistrust. Abner, the captain of the army of the House of Saul, defected and brought the troops with him. Yet, Joab, the leader of David’s army, killed him to avenge the death of his brother. When David fled Jerusalem, Shimei, a member of Saul’s tribe, cursed him and threw rocks at him, revealing he had never accepted him as the legitimate king.
The root cause of David’s struggle was tribalism, which prizes loyalty to one’s group above others. We see tribalism played out in the struggle of many Middle Eastern and Central Asian countries today, where people historically self-organized in tribes, making Western style democracy awkward. Increasingly, we see it played out in the United States, where people perceive diversity to be a threat and go to extreme lengths to try to preserve their way of life.
Bill Haslam, former governor of Tennessee, faced this situation when he took office. White Christian voters, who represented his base, wanted to make the Bible the official book of the state. While the intent was nominally to preserve Judeo-Christian values, the reality was that it violated the constitutional provision prohibiting government from establishing a religion. Furthermore, it alienated the large Kurdish population living in the state, who expected equal protection under the law.
In the end, Governor Haslam vetoed the law. He explained to Don Miller, in the podcast, Business Made Simple, that he was elected to be governor of all the people, regardless of their faith. Rather than being caught up in the wishes of his tribe, he led with empathy, which engendered trust. He also shored up democracy, since the precedents lawmakers set today can backfire later.
Proverbs 29:2 says that “When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice. But when a wicked man rules, the people groan.” As we see in these examples, being a righteous leader means looking out for all the people, not just one’s tribe.