And the king said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah? so let him curse, for Jehovah has said to him, Curse David! Who shall then say, Why dost thou so?
David is fleeing Jerusalem during his son Absalom's revolt, and Shimei, a man from Saul's family, curses him and throws stones. Abishai asks to kill him on the spot; the king refuses, and says the Lord Himself told Shimei to curse.
Abishai looked at the man in front of him; David looked past him. One writer sets David's answer beside Peter's, when Peter tried to defend his Master from the men sent to arrest Him.
In short, he quietly bows his head to God's dealing with him. He felt, no doubt, that he was only reaping the fruit of his sin, and he accepted it. He saw God in every circumstance. To him it was not Shimei, but the Lord. Abishai saw only the man, and wanted to deal with him as such. It was the same with Peter later, when he tried to defend his beloved Master from the band of murderers sent to arrest Him. Both Peter and Abishai were living on the surface, looking at second causes. The Lord Jesus lived in the deepest submission to the Father: "Shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given Me?" This gave Him power over everything. He looked beyond the instrument to God — beyond the cup to the hand which had filled it.
Abishai's offer sounded like loyalty to a dishonoured king. But David answers the sons of Zeruiah as men whose thinking he will not share.
Abishai's words show that he was completely unable to enter into David's sufferings under God's discipline. He could not understand David's humble submission, or his firm resolve to walk in this path... David says to Abishai: "What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah?" Their thoughts could only come from the flesh, and they came from the enemy.
David says the Lord told Shimei to curse. That does not make the cursing right.
Of course God did not approve of Shimei's bitter attitude. But God had not stopped him from cursing, and David knew that he deserved to be cursed, even though Shimei was saying more than was true. How much better then for David to learn from God in this matter rather than to silence Shimei by killing him.
God's permission had a purpose that neither Shimei nor Abishai could see.
The malice is plain. As for Saul and his family, David can easily clear himself of the charge. Yet he still sees that in some sense this rude man from Benjamin has his orders from the Lord: "the LORD has said to him, 'Curse David.'" The Lord has permitted it, for a deeper purpose than Abishai in his anger could understand, or than Shimei himself could imagine.
Shimei called David a man of blood over the deaths in Saul's family — a charge David could have disproved. He does not try.
All of David's integrity might rise up against such an accusation — and yet indeed he was a man of blood! Shimei did not know it, but God knew it. This wicked man was God's instrument to remind David of his fault: "the LORD has said to him, 'Curse David.'" David accepts the curse. His broken heart looks for no defence, no excuse, and no reward for his past righteousness.
The name Shimei threw at him fitted another matter altogether. Another writer names the death David had on his hands.
And yet David saw something else in Shimei's curses and in his calling him a man of blood. The blood of Uriah, which he had shed, must have come to his mind at once.
One writer draws from this a rule that covers far more than David's case.
Nothing can touch His people without His permission... It is a simple, basic principle, yet many take long years to grasp it. Once the soul is clear that God Himself is directly concerned in every detail of life, it is set free from being taken up with the instruments at work. So David will not let the eager Abishai touch the offender. He knows that "the LORD has said to him, 'Curse David,'" and can therefore leave it all in His hands, trusting Him to turn the curse into a blessing.
Sparing Shimei was not the end of the matter. Shimei later apologised, and David left the case to his son Solomon.
Though Shimei had cursed David, David would not trust himself to take revenge on his own behalf. How important it is that we should keep to such a principle! But David knew that Shimei's apology was not sincere. So he told Solomon to use wisdom and see that Shimei was put to death for this evil, which had really been done against the Lord.
- Cause — The charge was false in its details. Yet David saw his own sin behind it, and took the words "man of blood" without excuse.
- Permission — God did not approve Shimei's malice. He did not stop it either, and He had a purpose in it that neither man could see.
- Sight — Abishai and Peter saw only the man in front of them. David saw the Lord behind Shimei, and the Lord Jesus looked past the cup to the hand that filled it.
- Silence — David made no defence and took no revenge. He would not trust himself to settle a score on his own behalf.
- Rest — Once you are sure God is directly concerned in every detail, you stop being absorbed with whoever is causing the trouble. You can leave it all in His hands.
And David said to Abishai, and to all his servants, Behold, my son, who came forth of my bowels, seeks my life how much more now a Benjaminite? let him alone and let him curse; for Jehovah has bidden him.
David is on the road out of Jerusalem, pushed off his throne by his own son. A man named Shimei walks beside the road cursing him, and David stops Abishai from killing him by pointing past the man to God.
Before Shimei appeared, David had already read his situation correctly. He had lost the throne to his own son, and he did not treat that as mere politics.
It is painful to see the man who defeated Goliath driven from his home and his throne by his beloved son. And this happened under God's hand. For if God had not allowed it, who could have driven God's elect from the royal seat in which Jehovah had placed him? ... But whom He loves He chastens. So all this shows the righteous rule of God. But for David it is also a time of deep heart-searching, and of a closer, more real knowledge of God. His heart was bound to God truly and forever, so all his sorrows bore fruit, even though his own faults caused them.
The verse works by comparison. David has already taken the greater blow from his son. He will not fight back at the smaller one from a stranger.
Of course Shimei's bitter attitude did not have God's approval. But God had not stopped him from cursing, and David knew that he deserved cursing, even though Shimei was going beyond what was true. It was far better for David to learn from God here than to silence Shimei by killing him. In fact, he says that his own son Absalom was doing far worse than Shimei, seeking David's life... If he was to bow to God's governing hand in Absalom's case, then surely he was to do the same in the case of Shimei.
Shimei blamed David for the blood of Saul's family. The charge was false. Yet David did not argue back, because another man's blood really was on his hands.
He blamed David for "all the blood of the house of Saul," but that charge had no basis and was unjust... And yet David saw something else in the curses of Shimei and in calling him a bloody man. The blood of Uriah, which he had shed, must have come to his mind at once.
"The LORD has told him to" is the heart of the verse. David is not excusing Shimei; he is refusing to stop at the visible cause.
In short, he meekly bows his head to what God is doing. He felt, no doubt, that he was only reaping the fruit of his sin, and he accepted it. He saw God in every circumstance, and owned Him with a subdued and reverent spirit. To him it was not Shimei, but the Lord. Abishai saw only the man, and wanted to treat him on that level. He was like Peter later on, who tried to defend his beloved Master from the band of murderers sent to arrest Him. Both Peter and Abishai were living on the surface, and looking at secondary causes. ... He looked beyond the instrument to God — beyond the cup to the hand which had filled it.
David's "Leave him alone" is spoken to a loyal friend, not to an enemy. The problem with Abishai was how he measured himself against Shimei.
Despicable as Shimei might be, he and Abishai are equal in God's eyes. The realization of our own unworthiness keeps us from using insulting words about the race we belong to. A man who despises people always considers himself better than others. ... Besides, Abishai's words show that he could not enter into David's sufferings under God's discipline. He could not understand David's humble submission, or his settled resolve to walk in this path.
David said nothing back to his accuser. One writer, reading a psalm of David's grief, sees in that silence a faint sketch of a greater one.
He speaks as if he were a leper outside the camp. And such is the picture of a convicted sinner, or of a saint under discipline... And that blessed Saviour, at once "spotless" and yet "made sin," was led to the slaughter without opening His mouth. He did not answer the accusing of the wicked, but silently... committed Himself to Him who judges righteously. This was expressed in David towards Shimei. David did not know the counsel of the sons of Zeruiah — his soul had no sympathy with it.
- Instrument — Shimei is the visible cause; David looks past him, and "to him it was not Shimei, but the Lord."
- Permission — God did not approve the cursing, but He did not hinder it; David treats what God allows as what God sends.
- Consistency — David bowed under the greater blow from his son. He will not fight back at the smaller one from Shimei.
- Conscience — the charge about Saul's house was false. But it touched real guilt, the blood of Uriah, so David took the sting instead of arguing.
- Silence — David knew he deserved the blow, so he had no sympathy with Abishai's sword. In that silence he pictures the One who gave His accusers no answer at all.
It may be that Jehovah will look on mine affliction, and that Jehovah will requite me good for my being cursed this day.
David is fleeing Jerusalem, driven out by his own son. A man from Saul's family walks along the ridge above him, throwing stones, dust and curses. His officer offers to end it with a sword. David says no. He lets the abuse stand and rests everything on one hope: that God will see, and will answer with good.
David's refusal to strike back was not weakness but a way of seeing. He read the whole scene as coming from a hand above Shimei's.
He meekly bows his head to what God has appointed. He felt, no doubt, that he was only reaping the fruit of his sin, and he accepted it. He saw God in every circumstance, and acknowledged Him with a quiet and reverent spirit. To him it was not Shimei, but the Lord. Abishai saw only the man, and wanted to deal with him on that basis. Peter did the same later, when he tried to defend his beloved Master from the band of murderers sent to arrest Him. Both Peter and Abishai were living on the surface, looking at secondary causes. The Lord Jesus was living in complete subjection to the Father. "Shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?" This gave Him power over anything. He looked beyond the instrument to God — beyond the cup to the hand that had filled it.
The charge Shimei shouted was false. David had not shed the blood of Saul's family. Yet another name came to his memory as he listened.
His accusation that he was responsible for "all the blood of the house of Saul" was unfounded and unjust. He was not responsible for the death of Saul and Jonathan. He was just as guiltless of the death of Abner and Ish-bosheth. And yet David saw something else in the curses of Shimei and in calling him a bloody man. The blood of Uriah which he had shed must have suddenly come to his mind... His eyes now look to the Lord whose chastening hand rested so heavily upon him.
David could have pointed to his own record of righteousness. He put none of it forward.
Shimei did not know it, but God knew it. This wicked man was a divine instrument to remind David of his fault... David accepts the curse; his broken heart seeks no defence, no excuse, and no compensation of any kind for his past righteousness. For him this is God's judgment and his only recourse is grace.
David's words are a hope, not a claim. Was the hope justified?
What he says in verse 12 was true. If someone bows to the government of God, and leaves such matters in God's hand, that is the way of true blessing in the end. David proved it in experience.
David was a forgiven man. Why then was he on this road at all? The answer is a distinction between grace and God's government.
Nathan the prophet did announce God's pardon to the king after his repentant confession. But he added that the sword would not depart from his house, "for whatever one sows, that will he also reap." The grace of God pardons the repentant sinner so that he does not die, and restores him to fellowship with God. Do not confuse that grace with the righteous government of God. God's government often makes a fallen but restored child of God feel the solemn consequences of sin for the rest of his life. This is not only God's justice; it is His wisdom and grace. ... He knows how easily we forget how serious sin is, once its painful consequences have passed away.
The lesson is not reserved for kings in exile. It reaches the small provocations of a normal week.
Perhaps there are few things we fail in so much as this: seeing the presence of God, and His dealing with our souls, in every circumstance of daily life. We keep getting trapped by looking at secondary causes. We do not see God in everything. So Satan gets the victory over us. Nothing happens to us, from morning to night, in which we may not hear the voice of God and see the hand of God. If we were more awake to that, what a holy atmosphere it would surround us with!
- Sin — the road out of Jerusalem was the harvest of David's own past; he accepted the stones as fruit he had planted.
- Sight — he looked past the man throwing them. "To him it was not Shimei, but the Lord." Abishai saw only a target for a sword.
- Silence — he offered no defence and claimed no credit for his past righteousness. A broken heart pleads grace, not its record.
- Sword — Nathan had already brought God's pardon, yet the sword stayed in David's house. Forgiveness and God's governing hand are two different things.
- Hope — "it may be" is trust, not certainty. David left the matter in God's hands, and found it the way of blessing.