Now Saul had a concubine whose name was Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah. (2 Samuel 3:7)

Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year; and David sought the presence of the LORD. And the LORD said, “It is for Saul and his bloody house, because he put the Gibeonites to death.” So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them (now the Gibeonites were not of the sons of Israel but of the remnant of the Amorites, and the sons of Israel made a covenant with them, but Saul had sought to kill them in his zeal for the sons of Israel and Judah). Thus David said to the Gibeonites, “What should I do for you? And how can I make atonement that you may bless the inheritance of the LORD?” Then the Gibeonites said to him, “We have no concern of silver or gold with Saul or his house, nor is it for us to put any man to death in Israel.” And he said, “I will do for you whatever you say.” So they said to the king, “The man who consumed us, and who planned to exterminate us from remaining within any border of Israel, let seven men from his sons be given to us, and we will hang them before the LORD in Gibeah of Saul, the chosen of the LORD.” And the king said, “I will give them.” … So the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, Armoni and Mephibosheth whom she had born to Saul, and the five sons of Merab the daughter of Saul, whom she had born to Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite. Then he gave them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them in the mountain before the LORD, so that the seven of them fell together; and they were put to death in the first days of harvest at the beginning of barley harvest.

And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until it rained on them from the sky; and she allowed neither the birds of the sky to rest on them by day nor the beasts of the field by night. When it was told David what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done, then David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from the men of Jabesh-gilead, who had stolen them from the open square of Bethshan, where the Philistines had hanged them on the day the Philistines struck down Saul in Gilboa. And he brought up the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from there, and they gathered the bones of those who had been hanged. And they buried the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son in the country of Benjamin in Zela, in the grave of Kish his father; thus they did all that the king commanded, and after that God was moved by entreaty for the land. (2 Samuel 21:1-14)

During the last few weeks we have been reading about women who lived during the period of the Judges. At a certain point in time, God decided to give Israel a king. His first choice was a Benjamite named Saul. This king would not completely follow the Lord with all his heart and so God would take the throne from him. A young man in Saul’s employment would become the next king – David, the man after God’s own heart. David’s kingdom would last unbroken until the Lord Jesus Christ was born. Jesus would be the promised King Who would reign forever.

In the meantime, during this transition period after Judges and before the Davidic kingdom, a remarkable woman lived named Rizpah. Rizpah was Saul’s concubine. As a concubine Rizpah had little say in the events that surrounded her. But God had placed this faithful wife and mother in the center of two incidents that had great consequences in Israel.

As we mentioned, Saul did not obey God. God brought the Philistines against him. The Israelites lost the battle and Saul and his sons were slain. Rizpah was now a widow. This brought about the first incident that had important consequences for Israel.

Some Israelites tried to make Saul’s son Ish-bosheth the new king. That seemed reasonable since usually kingdoms were passed down from father to son.

However this went against what God had declared. God had appointed David to be the new king. A war broke out between the two men and their followers.

Ish-bosheth heard a rumor that his general Abner had “gone into” Saul’s concubine, Rizpah. Whether true or not this angered Abner and he defected to David. This extra military support enabled David to take the throne of Israel without any further trouble. And so a rumor about Rizpah was the incident that led to the end of Saul’s kingdom and the beginning of David’s dynasty.

The second story about Rizpah is the one that she is most remembered for. Indeed today she is still known as the woman who endured the most intense suffering that a mother can endure.

After David became king he still had to war against the Philistines. Remember, the Israelites had suffered defeat while Saul was king. David met them in battle and the Lord gave them the victory. David continued to defeat many other enemies.

Later in David’s reign a three-year famine occurred. David sought God to find out if the people had done something wrong to incur this punishment from Him. Sure enough, God told them that the Israelites were mistreating the Gibeonites. Saul had broken a 400-year treaty with them. (You can read the details of this treaty in the book of Joshua, chapter 9.) Saul had apparently decided to wipe out the Gibeonites. This was not right and displeased the Lord greatly. That is why God sent the famine.

David approached the Gibeonites and asked them what would make up for the wrong done to them. The Gibeonites asked that seven of Saul’s descendants be given to them for punishment. They said that they would be appeased if they could hang these seven men. David gave the Gibeonites Rizpah’s two sons and five of Saul’s grandsons. The seven were duly hanged. This occurred during the first days of the barley harvest.

Nobody took care of the bodies. They were just left there for the birds and other scavenging animals to pick on. But Rizpah loved her sons and she wanted to take care of their bodies according to the custom. She stood guard over their bodies for five months. Day and night she watched over her loved ones. She covered the bodies keeping he wild birds away and she fought off the wild animals that would have eaten them. Finally someone told King David was Rizpah was doing.

David was deeply moved. He went to Jabesh-gilead and brought back the bones of Saul and Jonathan where they had been left after they were killed in the battle against the Philistines. David made a burial place for Saul, Jonathan, Rizpah’s sons, and the five grandsons of Saul. They were all buried together in their homeland of Benjamin. This was the final chapter in the reign of king Saul. And the famine came to an end.

Rizpah’s name became synonymous with mother’s grief in Israel. No one suffered persecution more. Her way of dealing with it showed great courage, love, and devotion. In the face of hardship she went to work to do all she could asking no favors. God blessed her for her efforts.

Rizpah is an example for us in how to persevere during suffering and persecution. We should not get angry or fight back. We should determine to do what we can to make the best of the situation trusting in God. Though only a lowly concubine, Rizpah showed that all believers no matter what their station in life, should obey God and do the right thing no matter what the cost. God honored Rizpah for her devotion.