Lesson 19: Examples of Forgiving – David (part 2)

2 Samuel 16:9-13 - Then Abishai the son of Zeruiah said to the king, “Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over and take off his head.” But the king said, “What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah? If he is cursing because the LORD has said to him, ‘Curse David,’ who then shall say, ‘Why have you done so?’” And 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.

2 Samuel 19:16-23 - And Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjaminite, from Bahurim, hurried to come down with the men of Judah to meet King David. And with him were a thousand men from Benjamin. And Ziba the servant of the house of Saul, with his fifteen sons and his twenty servants, rushed down to the Jordan before the king... And Shimei the son of Gera fell down before the king, as he was about to cross the Jordan, and said to the king, “Let not my lord hold me guilty or remember how your servant did wrong on the day my lord the king left Jerusalem. Do not let the king take it to heart. For your servant knows that I have sinned. Therefore, behold, I have come this day, the first of all the house of Joseph to come down to meet my lord the king.” Abishai the son of Zeruiah answered, “Shall not Shimei be put to death for this, because he cursed the LORD’s anointed?” But David said, “… Shall anyone be put to death in Israel this day? …And the king said to Shimei, “You shall not die.” And the king gave him his oath.


In the first verses above we see David running for his life when his son, Absalom, stole his throne and tried to kill David so he’d be able to remain as king. One of Saul’s servants met David on the road and insulted him – something for which any other king would have had him killed. But David held back on any judgment against Shimei because David felt as if this might be a judgment from God against him for things he’d done wrong.

In the second set of verses we find David returning to Jerusalem as the rightful king, and Shimei again meets David. This time Shimei knows he’s in trouble and he begs David for forgiveness – something no servant would ever dare to do to a king! Though David’s loyal men want him to be punished for his attack on David earlier, David stops them with his words of forgiveness for Shimei.

Do we show mercy to those who ask our forgiveness when someone has attacked us, and we have been proven to be right and just in our actions? This was Jesus’ example to us, and we will see this in a later lesson here. Jesus told Peter in Matthew 18:21-22 that he should forgive a person “seventy times seven” times for the same offense in a day. Jesus didn’t say we were supposed to count – just forgive.

Prayer today: Lord Jesus, help me not to count the number of wrongs against me, but to forgive every one.