In this message we come to the second major section of the history concerning David (2 Sam. 2—24). This section covers the matter of David's being crowned by the people to be the king for the kingdom of God on the earth.
After David passed through all the trials and was approved by God, he was crowned by the tribe of Judah.
When David inquired of Jehovah whether he should go up into one of the cities of Judah, Jehovah told him to go up to Hebron. David went to Hebron, bringing up his men who were with him and their households. They dwelt in the cities of Hebron, and there in Hebron the men of Judah anointed David king over the house of Judah (2:1-4a).
According to 5:4 David was thirty years of age when he began to reign.
The house of Judah followed David, and he reigned over the house of Judah for seven and a half years (2:10b-11).
David gained the men of Jabesh-gilead who had buried Saul (vv. 4b-7). When David was informed concerning what they had done, he sent messengers to them, telling them that they were blessed of Jehovah for showing this kindness to Saul and promising to repay them for this good thing which they had done. In this way David gained these men of Jabesh-gilead.