April 15th - 2012
“Shimei: Before The King”
I’d like to begin with a question today. What do Saddam Hussein, Hosni Mubarak, Muammar Qaddafi, and King David have in common? Answer: they were all deposed, removed from their respective thrones: Hussein from the presidency of Iraq (December 2006), Qaddafi from Libya (October 2011), Mubarak from the presidency of Egypt (April 2011), and King David from Israel in 966 BC.
Yet, of these four, only one returned to power. And, if you know your history, you know that that man was King David. Last Sunday we had the privilege of presenting the cantata “The King Is Coming.” Today’s sermon from the Book of II Samuel describes the return of another king, King David, to his throne in Jerusalem.
Please open your Bible with me to II Samuel chapter nineteen. I’ve titled today’s sermon “Shimei: Before The King.” Shall we pray?
What you find in II Samuel nineteen are some individuals whose lives were greatly affected when David was removed from his throne. Then, as the king returns, each one of these people gives an account of himself to David. And yes, one day King Jesus will descend from Heaven and set up His throne in Jerusalem. And each person here today, you and I, will have to give an account to Him of what we’ve done.
So, there is a lesson here that relates to our judgment to come. But there’s also, as you so often have found in II Samuel, lessons for our lives today; lessons that the LORD set down on these pages from the hearts of the people who surrounded King David.
In particular, there is a red line that runs just under the surface of the story of King David that I’d like to say something about. That red line is the matter of forgiveness. It appears in every relationship in David’s life. Sometimes it’s half-hearted; but what you see when you read II Samuel is a man being trained by Heaven itself in the art of forgiveness.
Today, from II Samuel 19 God gives David one more opportunity to learn again what forgiveness means. And the man He has sent to teach him this is Shimei. Look with me at II Samuel chapter nineteen and verse fifteen. II Samuel 19:15 “So the king returned, and came to Jordan. And Judah came to Gilgal, to go to meet the king, to conduct the king over Jordan.”
When King David was removed from his throne, when he was ousted by his son Absalom, many of David’s subjects; his friends, his family, even his soldiers, chose to suffer with him. Some didn’t; of course. But those who were faithful to him, crossed with him over the Jordan River into what we call today the country of Jordan, for one natural reason; to save their skin.
Now, initially it may not seem to be very important just where David and those faithful friends chose to go. But, as you know, where you go at such times is just as important as what you do.
Turn back with me just a few pages of your Bible to II Samuel 17 to see just where King David and his loyal friends were living while Prince Absalom was on the throne. II Samuel 17:24 “Then David came to Mahanaim. And Absalom passed over Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him.”
David and his faithful support group crossed the river into a region called Gilead. You’ve probably heard of healing and soothing properties of the balm of Gilead. The town inside Gilead and into which David and his men moved is still in existence today.
The spelling is just a bit different; but it’s the same place. Today Mahanayim is a very small Israeli kibbutz. It’s located 85 miles north of Jerusalem and just south of the Hermon Mountains in Lebanon. It became a kibbutz, a sort of communal style town, in 1939 and today it has about 350 people living there.
Here’s what it looks like today.
And while at Mahanaim, friends supplied David and his soldiers. Look at verse twenty-seven. II Samuel 17:27 “And it came to pass, when David was come to Mahanaim, that Shobi the son of Nahash of Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and Machir the son of Ammiel of Lodebar, and Barzillai the Gileadite of Rogelim,
(28) Brought beds, and basins, and earthen vessels, and wheat, and barley, and flour, and parched corn, and beans, and lentiles, and parched pulse,
(29) And honey, and butter, and sheep, and cheese of kine, for David, and for the people that were with him, to eat: for they said, The people is hungry, and weary, and thirsty, in the wilderness.”
In this case, it wasn’t the balm that soothed David, but his friendships.
Shobi, Machir, and Barzillai were men who remained loyal to David in a time when David passed through some deep waters and truly needed their support. This was not true of many others. How you respond when God allows a trial in someone else’s life says something about you; especially when it’s someone else’s trial that affects you personally.
Yet, of these four, only one returned to power. And, if you know your history, you know that that man was King David. Last Sunday we had the privilege of presenting the cantata “The King Is Coming.” Today’s sermon from the Book of II Samuel describes the return of another king, King David, to his throne in Jerusalem.
Please open your Bible with me to II Samuel chapter nineteen. I’ve titled today’s sermon “Shimei: Before The King.” Shall we pray?
What you find in II Samuel nineteen are some individuals whose lives were greatly affected when David was removed from his throne. Then, as the king returns, each one of these people gives an account of himself to David. And yes, one day King Jesus will descend from Heaven and set up His throne in Jerusalem. And each person here today, you and I, will have to give an account to Him of what we’ve done.
So, there is a lesson here that relates to our judgment to come. But there’s also, as you so often have found in II Samuel, lessons for our lives today; lessons that the LORD set down on these pages from the hearts of the people who surrounded King David.
In particular, there is a red line that runs just under the surface of the story of King David that I’d like to say something about. That red line is the matter of forgiveness. It appears in every relationship in David’s life. Sometimes it’s half-hearted; but what you see when you read II Samuel is a man being trained by Heaven itself in the art of forgiveness.
Today, from II Samuel 19 God gives David one more opportunity to learn again what forgiveness means. And the man He has sent to teach him this is Shimei. Look with me at II Samuel chapter nineteen and verse fifteen. II Samuel 19:15 “So the king returned, and came to Jordan. And Judah came to Gilgal, to go to meet the king, to conduct the king over Jordan.”
When King David was removed from his throne, when he was ousted by his son Absalom, many of David’s subjects; his friends, his family, even his soldiers, chose to suffer with him. Some didn’t; of course. But those who were faithful to him, crossed with him over the Jordan River into what we call today the country of Jordan, for one natural reason; to save their skin.
Now, initially it may not seem to be very important just where David and those faithful friends chose to go. But, as you know, where you go at such times is just as important as what you do.
Turn back with me just a few pages of your Bible to II Samuel 17 to see just where King David and his loyal friends were living while Prince Absalom was on the throne. II Samuel 17:24 “Then David came to Mahanaim. And Absalom passed over Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him.”
David and his faithful support group crossed the river into a region called Gilead. You’ve probably heard of healing and soothing properties of the balm of Gilead. The town inside Gilead and into which David and his men moved is still in existence today.
The spelling is just a bit different; but it’s the same place. Today Mahanayim is a very small Israeli kibbutz. It’s located 85 miles north of Jerusalem and just south of the Hermon Mountains in Lebanon. It became a kibbutz, a sort of communal style town, in 1939 and today it has about 350 people living there.
Here’s what it looks like today.
And while at Mahanaim, friends supplied David and his soldiers. Look at verse twenty-seven. II Samuel 17:27 “And it came to pass, when David was come to Mahanaim, that Shobi the son of Nahash of Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and Machir the son of Ammiel of Lodebar, and Barzillai the Gileadite of Rogelim,
(28) Brought beds, and basins, and earthen vessels, and wheat, and barley, and flour, and parched corn, and beans, and lentiles, and parched pulse,
(29) And honey, and butter, and sheep, and cheese of kine, for David, and for the people that were with him, to eat: for they said, The people is hungry, and weary, and thirsty, in the wilderness.”
In this case, it wasn’t the balm that soothed David, but his friendships.
Shobi, Machir, and Barzillai were men who remained loyal to David in a time when David passed through some deep waters and truly needed their support. This was not true of many others. How you respond when God allows a trial in someone else’s life says something about you; especially when it’s someone else’s trial that affects you personally.