Today’s Passage – 2 Samuel 15 – 16; 2 Samuel 17
Second Milers also read – Matthew 23 – 24; Psalms 56 – 60; Proverbs 12
The Scripture memory passage for April – 1 Corinthians 13
Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 34:6
“And when king David came to Bahurim, behold, thence came out a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera: he came forth, and cursed still as he came. And he cast 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. … Then said Abishai the son of Zeruiah unto the king, Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? let me go over, I pray thee, and take off his head. And the king said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah? so let him curse, because the LORD hath said unto him, Curse David. Who shall then say, Wherefore hast thou done so?” – (2 Samuel 16:5-6, 9-10)
This is certainly an exciting portion of Scripture. David and his men are fleeing the city of Jerusalem because of a rebellion led by his son, Absalom. David is at one of the lowest points of his life. He is especially upset because all of his troubles were caused by his own son. Can you imagine having a close family member turn against you like that? Absalom was trying to kill his father.
Right in the middle of all of this, as David is leaving Jerusalem, a man named Shimei begins to throw rocks, cast dust, and yell curses at David. This man was descendant of Saul, and had a beef against David because God had taken the kingdom from Saul, and had given it to David. Now David had an army of mighty men with him that would have loved nothing more than to silence Shimei, and permanently disable his rock-throwing career; but David will not let them. He believes that God had allowed this man to come along, and he wasn’t about to avenge himself because of this man. He figured that if God sent Shimei to curse him, then he had better leave him alone; and if God had not sent him, then God will take care of Shimei, in His time.
Look at some new testament Scriptures that deal with this subject of not retaliating:
“Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.” – (Romans 12:19)
“Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.” – (Matthew 5:38-39)
I have also experienced valleys in life where it seemed that everything was going wrong; and I have also had people come and attack me right in the middle of those already difficult days. The devil really knows how to kick a man when he is down. However, I can testify first hand, that God has a way of turning the tables. If you just hang in there long enough, and learn whatever it is that God is trying to teach you, then your adversaries will eventually be silenced. But, when you are under attack, the worst thing that you can do is attack back. Go to God like David did. David had some lessons to learn, and he learned them; and God eventually took care of Shimei, and all of the other evil men that were trying to hurt him.
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