To Encourage You

2 Samuel 16:13 “So David and his men went on the road, while Shimei went along on the hillside opposite him and cursed as he went and threw stones at him and flung dust.”

Have you ever heard someone say or have you ever read somewhere that “God has a wonderful plan for your life”? Perhaps this is a takeoff on Jeremiah 29:11, which says, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” In any event, when I read something like the account of David and Shimei above it makes me wonder, “What kind of plan was that?!” Here we have the anointed king of Israel running from his own son, Absalom, and while he was running, he was being accosted by the man Shimei, one of former King Saul’s men. One of the titles that David is given in the Scriptures is “a man after God’s own heart” (Acts 13:22), so surely God had a wonderful plan for HIM, did he not?!! But was all this misfortune part of that plan, including the taunts of a man who called him a “worthless man of blood” (2 Samuel 16:13)?  Why would a king put up with such a thing?

We are told that during Shimei’s completely disrespectful treatment, “Abishai the 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.’” So, if you had been David, what would YOU have done? In this world that seems to delight in revenge, would you have given the ok to Abishai if it had been in your power to do so?

But here we see a picture of WHY David was called “a man after God’s own heart.” In his restraint, we see a shadow of the incredible heart of God. One of the reasons David showed patience toward such a person as Shimei was that David understood the sovereignty of God over his own life. He saw God just as in control of his humiliation at the hands of Shimei as he did in his conquest of Goliath many years before. In fact, He said this about Shimei’s behavior: “Behold, my own son seeks my life; how much more now may this Benjaminite! Leave him alone, and let him curse, for the Lord has told him to” (2 Samuel 16:11).  He saw past the actions of Shimei to the sovereign hand of God, and he knew that Shimei would not, in fact COULD not do what he was doing, if God hadn’t allowed Him to do so. David showed incredible patience in this instance, for he most certainly could have avenged himself in an instant. Yet he refused to do so. He showed such strong restraint.

Which brings us to another King, a much greater One, Who showed much greater longsuffering restraint (and continues to do so). Of course I’m talking about the Lord Jesus Christ. The King of kings, unlike David, never did anything wrong. He never gave anyone a reason to curse or accuse Him, for He had never sinned against them. Yet, curse Him they did. In Matthew 27 we read about how the religious leaders, the Roman soldiers, and even the thieves who were crucified with him, all mocked and reviled him. Yet, what did He do? He did exactly what Isaiah prophesied He would do, i.e., “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth” (Isaiah 53:7).  And not only that, He prayed for them with these words: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).

You see, Jesus knew that God “had a wonderful plan for His life.” But that plan was an eternal one. It went far beyond the here and now. He trusted His Father in everything. He trusted that God was in sovereign control of His life. And so He didn’t avenge Himself. As Peter tried to defend Him by cutting off a man’s ear with a sword, Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back in its place, for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?” (Matthew 26:52-54).  And to Pilate, before he sentenced Him to be crucified, He said this: “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above” (John 19:11).  

So how do we, as Jesus’ followers, see the events in our own lives? Do we expect to be treated any better than Him? And if we are treated badly, even undeservedly so in our own mind, are we willing to trust our Great Shepherd? Do we trust His awesome sovereignty over our lives? You see, it’s in such tests of life that God reveals to us our own hearts. It’s in the valleys that God helps us to see if we have the heart of a David, or more than that, the meekness and longsuffering gentleness of Christ.