Take for example his early life. He was a shepherd who was willing to give his life for the sheep. He fought off numerous animals, so we know he was strong and able to fight well. Yet he was still the smallest of his family, least likely to be chosen for king. We know he was a great musician because Saul requested his presence, and throughout that whole ordeal, David did what he could to honor the king and love him, even in the face of death. So David was a 'man after God's own heart', and yet we see in his later life as a king, when he should have been at war, he was falling into sin. Lust, adultery, and death. It reminds me of James 1:15-16. Desire, when it has conceived, results in sin, and sin, when it is finished, brings forth death. And we see the rest of the life of David was marked by the shame and treason of his son, and as God said to David, the sword will never be removed from his house.
But that's just the history of David. Now we get back to 2 Samuel 16, and I'm looking specifically at verses 5 - 14.
Shimei Curses David
5 Now when King David came to Bahurim, there was a man from the family of the house of Saul, whose name was Shimei the son of Gera, coming from there. He came out, cursing continuously as he came. 6 And he threw stones at David and at all the servants of King David. And all the people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left. 7 Also Shimei said thus when he cursed: “Come out! Come out! You bloodthirsty man, you rogue! 8 The LORD has brought upon you all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose place you have reigned; and the LORD has delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom your son. So now you are caught in your own evil, because you are a bloodthirsty man!”
9 Then Abishai the son of Zeruiah said to the king, “Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Please, let me go over and take off his head!”
10 But the king said, “What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah? So let him curse, because the LORD has said to him, ‘Curse David.’ Who then shall say, ‘Why have you done so?’”
11 And David said to Abishai and all his servants, “See how my son who came from my own body seeks my life. How much more now may this Benjamite? Let him alone, and let him curse; for so the LORD has ordered him. 12 It may be that the LORD will look on my affliction, and that the LORD will repay me with good for his cursing this day.” 13 And as David and his men went along the road, Shimei went along the hillside opposite him and cursed as he went, threw stones at him and kicked up dust. 14 Now the king and all the people who were with him became weary; so they refreshed themselves there.
I was particularly drawn to verse 12. "It may be that the LORD will look on my affliction, and that the LORD will repay me with good for his cursing this day."
Now I don't know about you, but I don't think that most people would respond to verbal attacks - let alone, physical attacks - with calmness and humility, saying "the LORD has ordered him", even if we know it's the truth. See, what Shimei is saying about David is true. He was put into Saul's place and God had given the kingdom over to his son and he was caught up in his bloodthirsty ways. So it couldn't really be argued that Shimei was just lying about David.
Even so, how would you have responded? Who really likes to hear about what they did wrong. Didn't David already confess and ask for forgiveness? So why should old wounds be re-opened? Doesn't that go against the grain of how we think things should be? And even then, do you think you would have said to Abishai "Yes, take his head off before he smears my name any more". But David, still a man after God's own heart (note that when we say heart, it means David's heart and desire was for God, even though his actions were sometimes sinful, which makes since, seeing that David was as human as we are and had a sin nature), says not to do anything.
There's a lot of humility there. David is being reminded of the sins that he committed all because of his lust for a woman, and yet he says that perhaps God will look on him and bless him for the way he is responding his current circumstances. David here is trying to do what's right. He doesn't want to cause unnecessary bloodshed (unlike with Uriah), and he wants to respond with humility to the cursing of Shimei. David understood that he couldn't get away from his sin or the consequences of it, and he resorted to making the best of the situation with a positive attitude, rather than what our sin nature would say to do, and add on to his own sinful acts.
So I think that there's something we can see from all this. There are two types of words that can be used against us. There are those that are true and those that are lies.
With lies, there's something to be said for a holy life. I am reminded of a verse (though I can't remember the reference) that talks about when someone brings up a lie against you, you shouldn't have to counter it. People should know that - based on how you live - it's a lie. This requires living a holy and righteous life, which most of us don't try to hard to do. We constantly fall into sin and don't spend the necessary time in prayer and communication with God to work on that temptation. But that is how we should live, so that people will know we are who we claim to be.
With truths, who are we to squelch the truth? People today talk about transparency, and what's more transparent than the truth. Usually, when attacks containing truth come out, most people respond with a personal attack of some kind, because you can't deny the truth without adding on to your stack of sins. But who wants to sit there and accept something that makes them look bad? David did. He let Shimei continue cursing and his attitude was - to be cliche - that if "he did the crime, he'll do the time".
Let's learn from this. What are you and what am I going to do when these things arise in our lives (or are we going to strive to live in a way that these things never happen)? How will we respond? Make the decision now, and it'll be easier to follow later.
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