2 Samuel 19

(July 15, 2014)

                I am, sadly, well acquainted with people who will curse you when you are down.  There are two things that dominate my thoughts in my current days.  First, how do I put back together things that were broken (at least in large measure) because of the actions of people like Shimei.  And second, how do I respond to those people in the event that I am able to undo the damage that they have caused and restore that which was broken.

                Once again, David provides a powerful example.  Shimei apologizes, but I don’t even believe that is necessary.  Instead, David simply recognizes that he is king and therefore has no need to consider the accusations of Shimei.  Likewise, I know where my accusers are right, and I know where my accusers are wrong.  I can accept that, regardless of how they may be behaving now, I can at least conceive of good intentions on their part.  Whether I am able to undo the damage or not, I can look on myself as having kept true to the things the Lord showed me not very long ago, and set aside my hurt feelings and humble myself.

                It seems almost counter-intuitive, but the way to humble myself in these situations is to remind myself of my position in the Lord’s Kingdom.  To paraphrase David, “do not I know that I am this day a prince in Israel?”  And that is enough, and let the Lord judge between me and the Shimeis in my life.