2 Samuel 16:10 And the king said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah? so let him curse, because the Lord hath said unto him, Curse David. Who shall then say, Wherefore hast thou done so?
Getting Cursed Out and Keeping Your Heart Right
Shimei came out cursing David on the day he fled Jerusalem that fateful day. He left the palace and his rebel son Absalom in charge for the time being. David had a very humble attitude his whole ministry as King of Israel. He knew he was not perfect in his dealings all the time and he would rather have the Lord do his revenge than himself. He also felt he deserved some of the bad that happened to him and took any mercy the Lord gave him with gratefulness. He learned a long time ago that vengeance did not belong to himself but it belong to the Lord. He had a lot of infighting in his administration as King. He had messed with Ahithophel’s granddaughter Bathsheba and now was Ahithophel’s chance to get even. Joab had an axe to grind with David and ended up defying his orders and killing Absalom. Regardless, David tried to keep his heart right with the Lord.
Getting Less Than You Deserve
David realized early in life that he often got less punishment than he deserved. A humble spirit will allow you to get cursed out and still keep your heart right. It is pride and thinking that we deserve better that makes us get upset when we get chewed out or cursed at. The reality is we probably deserve worse. The whole concept of forgiveness in the Bible is we forgive others, not because they deserve it, but rather because the Lord forgave us so much. We have a debt to pay to the Lord that we will never pay back. As a result, you should never run out of forgiveness for others. That is a hard pill to swallow at times but David had figured that out in his youth when Saul was chasing him all over the land of Israel. What is your attitude when you get cursed like Shimei? Do you take it patiently and let the Lord take care of it or do you take matters into your own hand and try to chop off some heads like the son’s of Zeruiah?
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