David & Shimei

David & Shimei: How to respond to someone who throws rocks at you when you are down

The Story
Act 1 (II Samuel 16:5-15)

II Samuel 16:5-8 Now when King David came to Bahurim, there was a man from the family of the house of Saul, whose name was Shimei the son of Gera, coming from there. He came out, cursing continuously as he came. 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 Also Shimei said thus when he cursed: “Come out! Come out! You bloodthirsty man, you rogue! ⁸ The Lord has brought upon you all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose place you have reigned; and the Lord has delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom your son. So now you are caught in your own evil, because you are a bloodthirsty man!”

3 Lies

1.  He said David murdered Saul

2.  He said David stole the throne

3.  He said God gave Absalom the throne

Act 2 (II Samuel 19:16-23)

II Samuel 19:18b-20 Now Shimei the son of Gera fell down before the king when he had crossed the Jordan. ¹⁹ Then he said to the king, “Do not let my lord impute iniquity to me, or remember what wrong your servant did on the day that my lord the king left Jerusalem, that the king should take it to heart. ²⁰ For I, your servant, know that I have sinned. Therefore here I am, the first to come today of all the house of Joseph to go down to meet my lord the king.”

Types of Forgiveness

Conditional – “I’ll forgive you if …”

Partial – “I’ll forgive you but will still hold onto some of the hurt”

Delayed – “ I will forgive you eventually”

Complete – “I forgive you.”

Keys to Forgiveness

Build a thicker skin

Proverbs 19:11 The discretion of a man makes him slow to anger, And his glory is to overlook a transgression.

Recognize your own need of forgiveness

Matthew 7:3  And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?

Consider how an unwillingness to forgive affects you

Offense – resentment – hatred – grudge – revenge

Embrace the opportunity to picture Christ

Luke 23:34  Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”