II Samuel 16

"As King David came to Bahurim, a man came out of the village cursing them. It was Shimei son of Gera, from the same clan as Saul's family. He threw stones at the king and the king's officers and all the mighty warriors who surrounded him. "Get out of here, you murderer, you scoundrel!" he shouted at David. "The Lord is paying you back fro all the bloddshed in Saul's clan. You stole his throne, and now the Lord has given it to your son Absalom. At last you will taste some of your own medicine, for you are a murderer!"

"Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king?" Abishai son of Zeruiah demanded. "Let me go over and cut off his head!"

"No!" the king said. "Who asked your opinion, you sons of Zeruiah! If the LORD has told him to curse me, who are you to stop him?""


I read this passage last night and was thinking about it as I fell asleep. I tried to put myself in King David's position. He had not long ago been the king of all Isreal, one of the wealthiest men in the world, and in close personal communication with God. Within a few days he lost his kingdom to a revolt by his own son, and was left fleeing his palace. Talk about things going badly for him.

Typically, when things start going badly is when I start getting grumpy and a little short-tempered. The last thing I would want is for some random guy to start yelling insults at me and hitting me with stones. If I had it within my power to strike back at him, I think I most definitely would. However, David responds completely differently. His follower wanted to go kill the man, but David prevented it saying "...If the LORD has told him to curse me, who are you to stop him?" After losing his kingdom, his family, his wealth, and everything else he had in this life, David still had the wisdom and composure to not take revenge. He still held on to the fact that God was in control, and he was completely satisfied with that.

This story really challenged me. I'd like to be like David in this story: when life is completely falling apart around me, and someone is cursing me and hitting me with rocks, I hope I have enough faith in God to be content knowing that He is in control.