To err is human, to forgive is divine

“So the king (David) said to Shimei, ‘You shall not die.’  And the king promised him on oath.”  2 Samuel 19:23.

Verse chosen from today’s Bible reading: 2 Samuel 19-20, Psalm 55, and Matthew 28.

Shimei, remember him?  He was the cursing, mud-slinging, rock-thrower David encountered as he abandoned Jerusalem ahead of Absalom.

At that time, David’s companions wanted to behead him but David prevented it.

Shimei has now comes to senses and realizes that David should be the king.  He begs for forgiveness and pledges his allegiance to David.

But David’s companions have not forgotten Shimei’s previous behavior and want him killed.  Again, David spares Shimei’s life.

David displays the highest level of role-model behavior in this episode.

Most of us have been injured in one form or another in the past.  We remember what happened and we carry a grudge whether verbally, internally, or both.  We can’t let the issue go.  They were wrong and we feel the hurt.

David, could well have felt the same way.  He had reasons to hate/destroy Shimei.  He chose not to.

We must be the same way.  We must let go of the hurts of our past.  Carrying them becomes a burden we don’t need to carry.

God has every reason to hate/destroy us.  We are sinners; past, present, and future.  BUT His love for us overrides His justice and He found a way for the burden of our sins to be removed.  We are in the clear as Shimei now was.  The person (David) that Shimei sinned against now promised that it would be so.

“Lord, thank You for lifting my sins from me and taking them on Yourself.  What a Savior!  You have saved me from the ultimate consequence of my sinfulness.  I am in the clear on Judgment Day.  Hallelujah!”

We are forgiven.  God took care of our sin problem.  We must live accordingly.

 

 

God only knows

“’Leave him alone; let him curse, for the Lord has told him to.  It may be that the Lord will look upon my misery and restore to me his covenant blessing instead of his curse today.’”  2 Samuel 16:11-12.

Verses chosen from today’s Bible reading: 2 Samuel 15-16, Psalm 32, and Matthew 25.

I love to read the Bible for myself.  Why?  I often catch things that give me a better sense of how to live and how not to live.

It is easy to be filled with stereotypical imagery.  An example is in today’s story about David and Shimei.

David is fleeing Jerusalem because Absalom has become more powerful (so David thinks) than he is.  There is no communion, by David, with God.  He is resigned to a live away from Jerusalem.

Then he is confronted by Shimei.  This guy curses David and throws things at him and lives to tell the story!  David’s fellow travelers want to behead Shimei but David won’t let them.  Why?  David believes that Shimei is speaking the words of God against him.

Understand that David has had instances (Think Bathsheba) before in which God has been angry with him.

The point I’m drawing from this is that David realizes that God will do what He wants to do.  He tosses forward the possibility that because God sees David’s misery He will remember His covenant with David.  David, however, is not certain of it.

I have mentioned before the 6-year-old in my church community with Stage 4 cancer.  The situation is miserable to say the least.  What will God do?  He knows about Ellie.  He has heard the petitions on her behalf made by many in my church.  Yet we don’t know the mind of God.  He’s infinite.  We’re finite.

David seems to grasp those truths in today’s story.  “It may be that God will….,” is what David says.  David is trusting God to get it right.  He leaves the details to the God he loves.  And we must do the same.

“Lord, You do indeed know best.  You are trustworthy.  Forgive me for trying to script what You should do.  You are infinite.  You will get things right.  I rest in You.”

Do you think that God doesn’t know what to do about your “situation?”  He knows better than you or I ever will.  Trust Him to get it right.

St. Lucia