The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in 2 Samuel 16:11-14,
"David then said to Abishai and all his officials, 'My son, my own flesh and blood, is trying to kill me. How much more, then, this Benjamite! Leave him alone; let him curse, for the Lord has told him to. It may be that the Lord will look upon my misery and restore to me his covenant blessing instead of his curse today.' So David and his men continued along the road while Shimei was going along the hillside opposite him, cursing as he went and throwing stones at him and showering him with dirt. The king and all the people with him arrived at their destination exhausted."
David fled Jerusalem when his son, Absalom, mounted his revolt against David. As David fled, this man, Shimei, from Saul's family cursed David and threw stones at him. David could have had him dispatched in a heartbeat (and certainly seemed to have had a disposition that would prompt him to do so), but David endured the scorn and humiliation Shimei heaped on him as David was driven from his beloved city.
Why didn't David take up Abishai's suggestion, "Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over and cut off his head."? Verse 9. Moreover, why did the Lord allow David to suffer so? Why the humiliation, the defeat, the loss, the heartbreak over this undeserved and unjust action of Absalom and furthered by Shimei? Didn't the Lord love David? And, if the Lord did, why didn't he keep these difficulties from David?
David was a great man of faith. Of him, Paul quotes the Lord as saying, "I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do." Acts 13:22. David was among the group of the heroes of faith that the writer of Hebrews speaks of, "the world was not worthy of them." Hebrews 11:38, and "were all commended for their faith", verse 39.
David's reaction at his mistreatment by Shimei was, "Leave him alone; let him curse, for the Lord has told him to." David suffered and recognized the Lord's hand in it. Quite possibly David knew in his heart something the writer of Hebrews would later say of David and the others recognized for their faith in Hebrews 11,
"All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them." Hebrews 11:13-16.
Possibly David had in mind a truth his own son, Solomon would observe, "My son, do not despise the Lord's discipline, and do not resent his rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in." Proverbs 3:11-12. This is the same thing Jesus had to say in his letter to the church in Laodicea, "Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline." Revelation 3:19.
The next time you are struggling with difficulties, even to the point of feeling you are being rebuked by the Lord, remember, God rebukes and disciplines those he loves, even as he did David at the hand of Shimei.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
"David then said to Abishai and all his officials, 'My son, my own flesh and blood, is trying to kill me. How much more, then, this Benjamite! Leave him alone; let him curse, for the Lord has told him to. It may be that the Lord will look upon my misery and restore to me his covenant blessing instead of his curse today.' So David and his men continued along the road while Shimei was going along the hillside opposite him, cursing as he went and throwing stones at him and showering him with dirt. The king and all the people with him arrived at their destination exhausted."
David fled Jerusalem when his son, Absalom, mounted his revolt against David. As David fled, this man, Shimei, from Saul's family cursed David and threw stones at him. David could have had him dispatched in a heartbeat (and certainly seemed to have had a disposition that would prompt him to do so), but David endured the scorn and humiliation Shimei heaped on him as David was driven from his beloved city.
Why didn't David take up Abishai's suggestion, "Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over and cut off his head."? Verse 9. Moreover, why did the Lord allow David to suffer so? Why the humiliation, the defeat, the loss, the heartbreak over this undeserved and unjust action of Absalom and furthered by Shimei? Didn't the Lord love David? And, if the Lord did, why didn't he keep these difficulties from David?
David was a great man of faith. Of him, Paul quotes the Lord as saying, "I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do." Acts 13:22. David was among the group of the heroes of faith that the writer of Hebrews speaks of, "the world was not worthy of them." Hebrews 11:38, and "were all commended for their faith", verse 39.
David's reaction at his mistreatment by Shimei was, "Leave him alone; let him curse, for the Lord has told him to." David suffered and recognized the Lord's hand in it. Quite possibly David knew in his heart something the writer of Hebrews would later say of David and the others recognized for their faith in Hebrews 11,
"All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them." Hebrews 11:13-16.
Possibly David had in mind a truth his own son, Solomon would observe, "My son, do not despise the Lord's discipline, and do not resent his rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in." Proverbs 3:11-12. This is the same thing Jesus had to say in his letter to the church in Laodicea, "Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline." Revelation 3:19.
The next time you are struggling with difficulties, even to the point of feeling you are being rebuked by the Lord, remember, God rebukes and disciplines those he loves, even as he did David at the hand of Shimei.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
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