Sermonette: September 3, 2018

As King David was approaching Bahurim, there was a man coming out; he was of the same clan as the house of Saul, and his name was Shimei, son of Gera. He kept cursing as he came out, 6 and throwing stones at David and at all King David’s officers, even though all the soldiers, including the royal guard, were on David’s right and on his left. 7Shimei was saying as he cursed: “Get out! Get out! You man of blood, you scoundrel! 8The LORD has paid you back for all the blood shed from the family of Saul,* whom you replaced as king, and the LORD has handed over the kingdom to your son Absalom. And now look at you: you suffer ruin because you are a man of blood.” 9Abishai, son of Zeruiah, said to the king: “Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over and take off his head.” 10 But the king replied: “What business is it of mine or of yours, sons of Zeruiah, that he curses? Suppose the LORD has told him to curse David; who then will dare to say, ‘Why are you doing this?’” 11 Then David said to Abishai and to all his servants: “If my own son, who came forth from my loins, is seeking my life, how much more might this Benjaminite do so! Let him alone and let him curse, for the LORD has told him to. 12 Perhaps the LORD will look upon my affliction and repay me with good for the curses he is uttering this day.” 2 Samuel 16:5-12

Here we read an excerpt from the Old Testament regarding King David, a very humbled man who recognized deeply that he was a sinner. He was guilty of adultery and murder and saw a sort of justice in seeing his son Absalom attempting to take his kingship away.

In this story, we see Shimei cursing King David and speaking to him unwelcome truths about his past and how they might be related to his present circumstances. We then see Abishai, someone loyal to the King, whose immediate response to Shimei’s cursing of King David is to want to curse right back and eliminate Shimei by lopping off his head. Finally, we see King David, a man after God’s own heart, who instead of taking offense at Shimei’s cursing looks at the occasion from the perspective of trust in God. He saw that God might have willed this man to be here for a reason. He is not preoccupied with why God might have willed the occasion, only that if God willed it, who is he that he might be interfering with potential divine justice. He knew he was a sinner and deserving of anything God might send him. Nevertheless, he further surmises that perhaps God will take pity on him and bless him later if he patiently accepts the suffering that God is sending him.

How do we react when a Shimei-type occasion appears in our lives? What is a Shimei-type occasion? It is when we are confronted with some form of irritation that disturbs our peace. It may be hearing a politician with an opposite point of view from ourselves, someone purposely or accidently doing something to irritate us, or a preacher saying something that disturbs us. It may even be reading what is printed here and being in disagreement.

Again, how do we react when a Shimei-type occasion appears in our lives? Are we easily offended and more prone to respond like Abishai and want to take matters into our hands by eliminating that which is disturbing our peace by lopping off their head (hopefully only figuratively)? Or are we more apt to react like King David by seeing the situation with the eyes of a greater trust in God? Do we see more that God might have willed this Shimei occasion to occur and that we should patiently accept what God is sending us? Do we consider that God might even bless us later if we quietly and patiently endure this situation that is disturbing our peace?

Our response to a Shimei-type situation can be an occasion for us to demonstrate more of our trust in ourselves or in God. The choice is ours.