2 Samuel 16:5-14
If you’re a King or a President of a major country, you do not expect anyone to curse you in your presence, much less to pick-up rocks and throw them at you and the people around you. If that happens in the good old USA, the person would be arrested, and if it happens in Russia or China, the person would be shot on the spot. Today we are going to see how King David handles this as he fled from the hand of his son Absalom.
This is the account in 2 Samuel 16:5-8, “When King David came to Bahurim, there came out a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera, and as he came he cursed continually. 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. And Shimei said as he cursed, “Get out, get out, you man of blood, you worthless man! The Lord has avenged on you all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose place you have reigned, and the Lord has given the kingdom into the hand of your son Absalom. See, your evil is on you, for you are a man of blood.”
Bahurim was a nearby Benjaminite village, and Shimei, son of Gera, is unknown except this action in David fleeing from Absalom and then later when Solomon brought judgment on him for his actions. We do know that he was of the house of Saul, but so were many people in the area. Shimei like many of us is accusing without understanding the facts. It's assumed he is referring to David having a hand in the death of Saul and Jonathan, or Ishbosheth’s death, none of that is true.
Now when you are the King or President you have the best of men around you to make sure you're protected at all times, Abishai was that man for David. And that kind of man has no tolerance for someone attacking his leader, and so Abishai asks David to let him kill Shimei as he had requested earlier for permission to kill Saul.
It seems to me that verse 10 can be taken many ways, but I believe David was not sure if Shimei was being used by God to curse him or not, and because of that fact, Shimei got a pass. This is a great place to return to David’s words in verses 11-14. “David said to Abishai and to all his servants, “Behold, my own son seeks my life; how much more now may this Benjaminite! Leave him alone, and let him curse, for the Lord has told him to. It may be that the Lord will look on the wrong done to me and that the Lord will repay me with good for his cursing today.” So David and his men went on the road, while Shimei went along on the hillside opposite him and cursed as he went and threw stones at him and flung dust. And the king and all the people who were with him arrived weary at the Jordan. And there he refreshed himself.”
I do recall those all night war games and carrying a Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR) its weight was around 16 pounds unloaded, and we had to take ammunition that added to the weight. I never was in combat, and it was not often that we shot our weapons. I said that only in the recall of how good it was to get to the end of the war games and find rest. But I did not have my son hunting me down with the intent of killing me; I’m not sure how one finds rest in that situation.
From the Back porch,
Bob Rice
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