Year One, October 1

Let Patience Have Its Perfect Work1

2 Samuel 16:5-14

5When 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. (At the very moment when grief had made poor David very sensitive, the foul mouth of Shimei was opened to curse him. When a person turns his abuse on a person who really needs pity, it proves he has a very cruel temperament. It is considered very cowardly to strike a man when he is down. Shimei was just such a coward. All the time that David was successful we do not hear about Shimei. Our trials show us who our friends are. They also reveal our enemies.)

6And 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. (His stones and his words were meant to not only hurt the king, but to show his utter contempt for him; contempt which he had found convenient to keep secret for many years.) 7And Shimei said as he cursed, “Get out, get out, you man of blood, you worthless man! 8The 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.”

This was an obvious lie. David had never laid his hand on Saul or any of his family. Did he not execute the Amalekite who said he had killed Saul? Did he not mourn intensely when Saul and Jonathan died? Did he not ask about any of Jonathan’s family who still might be alive, so that he could show kindness to him? Had he not entertained Mephibosheth at his own table? Evil tongues will not be quiet. No amount of innocence can prevent their slanderous lies.

9Then 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.” (No one can be surprised at Abishai’s anger. Shimei was barking like a vicious dog. It seemed only fair to repay his stones with iron. But David was not eager to take revenge, so he rebuked his angry bodyguard.) 10But 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?’” 11And 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. 12It 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.”

How humbly did David submit to the abuse the Lord sent. He refused to take revenge on Shimei for attacking him so furiously, because he understood it was God’s way of chastening him for his past sins. Nothing helps us be patient when being taunted or harassed as humbly seeing the hand of God in it as his discipline for our former faults. David has well said in the psalms, “I do not open my mouth, for it is you who have done it.”2 He took comfort because he believed the Lord would not always scold him, but would eventually return and bring him peace. Nothing brings God to his children’s rescue like the attacks of their enemies. Fathers cannot bear to hear their dear ones abused.

13So 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. (David’s patience only encouraged Shimei’s rude behavior. That horrible person went from bad to worse, but he could not provoke the king to take revenge. The tolerance that David showed here makes him look even greater than when he enjoyed everyone’s praise. Expensive clothes and gold do not look as good on a king as patience and tolerance. Here, David can be compared to our Redeemer who “endured from sinners such hostility against himself,”3 and answered those who criticized him with prayers and blessings.)

14And the king, and all the people who were with him, arrived weary at the Jordan. And there he refreshed himself. (Even when David was at his lowest point, he still had some who followed him. When he and his men were worn out, providence4 gave them refreshment. In the worst of times, let us hope for better days to come.)

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¹ James 1:4 (New King James Version)

² Psalm 39:9

³ Hebrews 12:3

⁴ Providence  - Usually, when used with a capital “P” it refers to God; when used with a lower case “p”, it refers to God’s will, his divine intervention, and his predetermination (predestination).