Read chapter in full: www.biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=2Samuel+016

 

CHAPTER 16 (ESV)

 

5 When King David came to Bahurim, there came out a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera, and as he came he cursed continually. 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 And Shimei said as he cursed, “Get out, get out, you man of blood, you worthless man! 8 The Lord has avenged on you all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose place you have reigned, and the Lord has given the kingdom into the hand of your son Absalom. See, your evil is on you, for you are a man of blood.”

 

9 Then 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.” 10 But the king said, “What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah? If he is cursing 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 to all his servants, “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. 12 It may be that the Lord will look on the wrong done to me, and that the Lord will repay me with good for his cursing today.”

REFLECTION:

1. We can sense David’s mood as he fled Jerusalem with just a small group of people. Absalom, with a large army, was in pursuit. The situation seemed hopeless and depressing. And to top it all off, Shimei cursed David, shouting that God was just paying David what he deserved for his bloody past.
2. Everything had gone wrong. Besides, David’s conscience wasn’t clear. There were grounds to think that Shimei might be right. No wonder David seemed despondent and depressed as he gathered his cloak around him and hurried over the Brook Kidron in the late evening shadows.
3. Ps 3 was written by David “when he fled from his son Absalom”. How did David feel? And what can we do when we also feel as he must have?

 

• David looked around: LORD, how many are my foes! How many rise up against me! Many are saying of me, “God will not deliver him.” (vv1-2)
• David looked back: But you, LORD, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high. I call out to the LORD, and he answers me from his holy mountain. (vv3-4)
• Then David looked up: I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the LORD sustains me. I will not fear though tens of thousands assail me on every side. Arise, LORD! Deliver me, my God! Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked. (vv5-7)
• Then David looked ahead: From the LORD comes deliverance. May your blessing be on your people. (v8)

 

PRAYER:

Use Ps 3 to speak with God about my situations by “looking around, looking back, looking up and looking ahead”.