What Does II Samuel 21:11 Mean?

David is informed of Rizpah's vigil: "And it was told David what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done." The report reaches the king and provokes a response: the faithfulness of the concubine shames the king into action. Rizpah's persistent devotion to her dead sons becomes the catalyst for David's decision to give honorable burial not only to the seven executed men but also to the bones of Saul and Jonathan, which have been languishing in Jabesh-gilead since their recovery in 1 Samuel 31.

The power of Rizpah's vigil lies in its wordless eloquence. She makes no petition, files no legal complaint, and delivers no speech. She simply sits on the rock and guards the dead, and the sustained silence of her witness is more persuasive than any argument. The king who ordered the execution is moved by the mother who refused to abandon it, and her faithfulness to the dead becomes the instrument through which the living receive the blessing of proper burial.

The Lord Jesus is moved by the persistent faith of His people: the Canaanite woman who would not stop asking, the widow who would not stop pleading, and the centurion whose faith amazed the Son of God. "Shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him?" The persistent prayer of the faithful, like Rizpah's persistent vigil, moves the heart of the King to act, and the answer that comes is always greater than the request that was made.