When King David arrived at Bahurim, one of Saul’s relatives, Shimei son of Gera, came out to meet him, cursing him as he came. Shimei started throwing stones at David and his officials, even though David was surrounded by his men and his bodyguards. Shimei cursed him and said, “Get out! Get out! Murderer! Criminal! You took Saul’s kingdom, and now the Lord is punishing you for murdering so many of Saul’s family. The Lord has given the kingdom to your son Absalom, and you are ruined, you murderer!”
Here is someone at the risk of his own life (!) hurling insults at King David and nothing, absolutely nothing, that he is saying has any basis in fact! And how people love to profit from the misfortune of others to boldly affirm God’s judgement / declare what God is or is not doing (Job 22:4-5). In the face of that, we just need to keep pushing on…
Abishai, whose mother was Zeruiah, said to the king, “Your Majesty, why do you let this dog curse you? Let me go over there and cut off his head!”
“This is none of your business,” the king said to Abishai and his brother Joab. “If he curses me because the Lord told him to, who has the right to ask why he does it?” And David said to Abishai and to all his officials, “My own son is trying to kill me; so why should you be surprised at this Benjaminite?”
[Abishai is indeed Mr. Shortcut (1 Samuel 26:8). 😁] When it comes to personal attacks, we musn’t look for quick fixes to rid ourselves of them (although it is worth noting that David is open to retribution (1 Kings 2:8-9)). Moreover, David here doesn’t look to minimise his humiliation (quite the contrary). Please help me to do the same, Father (2 Corinthiens 12:9-10).
“The Lord told him to curse; so leave him alone and let him do it. Perhaps the Lord will notice my misery and give me some blessings to take the place of his curse.”
May I look beyond the hate in the hopes that you change misery into glory / blessing, Lord.
So David and his men continued along the road. Shimei kept up with them, walking on the hillside; he was cursing and throwing stones and dirt at them as he went.
What motivates some people to act with such relentlessness? And that based on a world view totally contrary to reality?! (How being biaised clouds our vision!) Did the Lord indeed tell Shimei to curse (Exodus 7:3-4)? If so, it would evenually be to the cost of his own life (1 Kings 2:41-46).