2 Samuel 16 (Part 1) Bible Study (David and Ziba / Shimei Curses David) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

Second Samuel chapter 16. This storm might make this bible study a little bit more special. Right? You made it tonight, And we'll trust that we'll endure it tonight as well. Can we pray again?

Yes. Lord, oh, Lord, we love you. You are everything to us. Lord, we thank you for the saints in this land in whom is all our delight. We thank you, oh lord, because the saints of the land are the excellent ones.

Oh lord, though we are imperfect, though we missed the mark many times, because of Jesus Christ, we are excellent, and your gentleness has made us great. Your blood has made us clean. Your spirit has sealed us forever as adopted sons and daughters. Lord, we are more detached from this world than ever. We say come, Lord Jesus.

Bring your rule and your reign. Establish your throne in Jerusalem and stretch out your scepter and bring righteousness and let your glory cover the earth as the sea covers this world. Until then, make us ready. Lord, make us ready for your return to not shrink from shame, but to be brought before your presence with ultimate joy and confidence that we have served you well. I thank you for my brothers and sisters who are able to be here tonight.

We bless those who couldn't for any other reason. We ask Lord that this night would be sanctifying and glorifying unto you in the precious name of the true king. Amen. Amen. Tonight I want to speak to you about we're gonna study about two two interactions that David had with two different individuals at a moment of crisis in his life.

Remember where David is at at this moment. David is wandering through the wilderness again. David has fled his home, his throne, his city, and is now escaping the wrath of his son, and is with some of his family and some of his loyal supporters. But on his way to a safe haven, there are two different characters who enter into the scene. Two different characters who arrive where David is and engage with David in pretty staggering ways.

The first one is someone you are familiar with if you are familiar with this book of the Bible. His name is Ziba. Ziba is the chief servant of who? Mephibosheth. Correct.

He was assigned by David to exercise oversight over Mephibosheth's land, his property, his harvest, since Mephibosheth was lame. Ziba is going to approach David with supposed kindness and generosity. That's what you're going to anticipate and see from the first few verses. Unlike Ziba, we have a different individual who will now appear on the scene and we are not familiar with him for he's introduced to us for the first time. And we see here that his name is Shammai.

Did I say that right, Pastor Daniel? Correct. I passed the Hebrew test, the Bible study. Shammai. And on the other hand, when it comes to Shammai, he will not approach David with charity.

He will come with a vicious and disgraceful spirit. And we're gonna examine each of these interactions more carefully and trust that as we look at these two, the Spirit of God has prepared something for us to learn in our own walk with Jesus and our own walk in this path of faith that we are embarking on. Each of us are are walking in this journey of obedience until we are called to glory. So let's do that. Read the first few verses of chapter 16 with me and let's pause and reflect further.

Verse one. When David had passed a little beyond the summit, Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth met him with a couple of donkeys saddled, bearing 200 loaves of bread, a 100 bunches of raisins, a 100 of summer fruits and a skin of wine. And the king said to Ziba, why have you brought these? Ziba answered, the donkeys are for the king's household to ride on the bread and summer fruit for the young men to eat and the wine for those who faint in the wilderness to drink. And the king said, and where is your master's son?

Ziba said to the king, behold, he remains in Jerusalem for he said, today the house of Israel will give me back the kingdom of my father. And the king said to Ziba, behold, all that belonged to Mephibosheth is now yours. And Ziba said, I pay homage. Let me ever find favor in your sight, my lord the king. Fascinating.

We see here in verse one when David had passed a little beyond the summit, a piece of information that helps us recall the treacherous journey that David was on. Let us not forget that he is barefoot, empty handed, emotionally exhausted. And I bring that up to you because those set of circumstances that an individual does not necessarily set up that individual for the best kind of discernment or decision making abilities. We're gonna discover that as we look further into David's situation. It's not hard to imagine how David is in great need.

He is in want. He is desperate and providentially we see this wonderful act of grace coming from a surprising guest. Verse one tells us who it is. Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth met him. Now he comes with this abundant supply and we're even told the exact receipt of this care package, but David has his suspicions.

David has his reservations and you get that impression based on his initial question to the arrival of Ziba. He says it, why have you brought these? The first thing the king wants to do is pull out of Ziba an honest reason. His true motive and being risky with his kindness. This is not just charity without a cost.

There is a high cost to this, knowing that there is a civil war that's about to break out. And Ziba gives the answer. Right? And he convincingly tells David that he is compassionately loyal to him and his men and his family. I've come all this way to help you.

I've come all this way because you were on my mind and this is where things get interesting. Once David hears that, he responds with yet another question. With all of this presented before him, understanding Ziba's position, where he came from, naturally he demands for an answer concerning Mephibosheth. Where is he? I see that you brought this but where is your master's son?

And this is how he answers. You know, I knew that you would bring that up. And so I have to let you know that unfortunately, he is very excited about your exit. And he quotes him saying, today, the kingdom of Israel will give back to me what belong to my father. Now before we move forward, can I ask you something?

My fellow students of the Bible and I trust that you're discerning, I trust that we will grow in discernment, are there red flags with this presentation and explanation that came forth from Ziba? I see some heads nodding but I'm gonna ask you what it is. Why is this concern? Because this just seems like love. This seems like loyalty.

This seems like allegiance. This seems simple. It seems all and it doesn't seem surprising that yet another person at the right opportunity shows his true colors and says, yeah, this is good for me. What's happening to David? He deserves it.

David's already heard that many times before. So this is not something that shocks us and it probably doesn't shock David. But are there flags? Now you're nodding your head. So I'm gonna ask you, what are the flags?

Object is of Saul's lineage. Okay. So he is from Saul's lineage. But why is that suspicious? We know that.

And he experienced grace from David. He experienced favor, and he even expressed early on in David's reign of his love for him and how he's undeserving and unworthy to be treated in such a way. But what more about this? Again, the presentation let me be more specific. What he brought and what he said when he quoted his master.

Let me ask you this question. Is Ziba here inferring that he is the one to be credited for these resources? He is. Is he not? He is posturing himself in such a way where it seems like he is the benefactor.

He is the one who conjured up this whole thing and was the loyal friend when everybody else is abandoning him. That's the persona that he is projecting. Why is that suspicious? Think back to what he was called to do for the rest of his life when he was when David was trying to show grace to Mephibosheth. Okay.

Go back now to second Samuel nine and you'll see what I'm talking about here. We should be alarmed by Ziba's attitude here with what he is bringing to David and I'll tell you why. In second Samuel nine, look at verse nine. Then the king called Ziba, Saul's servant and said to him all that belonged to Saul and to all his house I have given to your master's grandson. Is it clicking yet?

And you and your sons and your servants shall till the land for him and shall bring in the produce that your master's grandson may have bread to eat. But Mephibosheth your master's grandson shall always eat at my table. Now Ziba had 15 sons and 20 servants. David commanded that Ziba would be in charge of the property that belonged to Saul and was transferred altogether over to Mephibosheth. He did not own a thing.

He just managed it. He had no right to one acre, one inch of an acre. He was simply supposed to supervise and come to the aid of Mephibosheth. If that is true, where did this stuff come from? Do you understand the question?

Do you understand the the the correlation here? If if this none of this belong to Ziba because he obviously had no right to this stuff, then the discerning person would say, well either Mephibosheth sent you these things to me or you stole them. Whatever option you go with, it puts a bad light on Ziba. Secondly, look back at his allegation. Like think and ponder deeply about what he's actually saying about Mephibosheth.

He's saying about Mephibosheth that now, today, the house of Israel will give me back the kingdom of my father. Does that really make sense? Does it really make sense for Mephibosheth to interpret what just happened as an opportunity for the the dynasty of Saul to be revived. David didn't just abandon the throne and leave it vacant. Absalom sabotaged it.

The son of David has taken over. Furthermore, even if that is the case to think that a crippled man has the confidence to believe that he can have and gain a following to then fight against Absalom is just daydreaming. It's silly. It's outlandish. So there's something about this statement concerning Mephibosheth Mephibosheth's character.

David knew him. Right? That can be debated because David knew a lot of guys and they turned their backs on him. But his condition, like he's lame. He couldn't even receive the produce from his own land and he's gonna lead a revolt and he's gonna try to win the throne from Absalom.

It just it's absurd. It doesn't make sense at least to us because you're sober minded. You're reading this with a clear understanding and a clear perspective. David is not in the best place here. So put yourself in the king's shoes.

Although these things are flags, they're blinking warning signs. You have a man who has experienced a series of rapid betrayals. It it doesn't seem too far fetched that yet another person who has received and experienced the kindness of David is now turning his back on him. But the problem is you can't believe everything you hear. And I believe here that Ziba was very aware of David's condition, his plight, and he took advantage of it.

And this is a lesson for us as followers of Jesus Christ. This is a reminder that temptation and deception often rears its ugly head at strategic moments that most of us are unaware of and are not very vigilant in. David here is in a very very poor state of mind and that's when Ziba comes and brings about this idea about Mephibosheth with an ulterior motive, of course. So let me let me present this to you. Based on looking at David, may I warn you my brother and my sister, number one that you and I are very susceptible to making poor judgments when we are emotionally wounded or overwhelmed.

I've seen it throughout my sojourning, throughout my pilgrimage in Christ that there is a certain attraction to sin or false notions when a person responds to pain of any kind in order to medicate it or search for some kind of immediate relief. Happens in so many scenarios. I've seen it in so many cases. I've seen young men have their heart broken and so they flee to pornography. I've seen people who have been traumatized in their childhood and so they justify destructive behavior to themselves and toward others.

It's a common trait of sons and daughters of Adam that when we are emotionally shattered, we tend to be drawn to certain frames of mind that invite sin and harm on so many levels. But not just when we are emotionally worn out, consider this, that David here is in danger because he's physically worn out. Physically worn out. You know, we we tend to tell people not to make commitments when they're overly excited. Even with our gospel presentations, people say that.

Right? Consider the cost, count the cost, don't get whipped up in your emotions here and make these vows that you're not gonna keep when you're sober in your emotions. And yet, we tell that to people who are excited and we don't tell them that when they're exhausted. Exhausted. You're saying brother, are you preaching psychology?

No. I'm preaching bible to you. There's so many examples of this. Let me give you the most prominent one, Elijah. Elijah was so fatigued, so mentally drained that he interpreted so many events out of its place.

He magnified things beyond what they were. And what I find so fascinating is that when God is ready to instruct his servant, he doesn't give him any kind of any kind of charge concerning his spiritual state before he lets him sleep, drink and eat. Before he addresses Elijah, he ensures that his body is replenished, that his mind is nourished and that he is in a normal state of mind even before he speaks spiritual truth to him. In some cases that is true. In some cases before a person even receives some instruction from the word, they need to go through all these other things beforehand.

I know that doesn't sound very spiritual but look at Elijah as an example and there's so many other cases of that. The Bible wants you to be wise. Bible wants me to be wise. Right? Can I give you some word of wisdom?

Don't make major decisions when you are not feeling well. I know that's not a tweetable quote from a Bible study, but I wanna help you in practical life so does the Bible. You're a representative of Christ and and life is determined often by our decisions. So let me give you a word of caution. When your body is tired, when your mind is overwhelmed, refrain from making judgments, refrain from making serious decisions that you might regret later on.

I tried to make that a discipline of mine especially being in ministry. There are texts that I am not going to answer until tomorrow. There are situations that arise and I just absorb it and I process it and and attempt not to make some kind of committed decision or choice that I might look back and say I wish I'd waited on. Do the same in your own life. Exercise the discipline to pull yourself away before you're pulled into something because of your flesh not being in accordance with the will of God because it is weak in one way or another.

David is gonna make a very silly conclusion out of all of this. He's actually gonna make a very rash decision and I believe on some levels because he's flustered. He's he's flustered and he just wants to deal with it immediately and he wants to kind of find some some reprieve, some relief. And what does he do? You read it in verse four.

Then the king said to Ziba, behold all that belong to Mephibosheth is now yours. Now you can tell the frustration there. So you know what? Whatever whatever was given him, it's just now yours. Unwise.

Not good. And sometimes the decisions that we make are irreversible. The best he could have done is just hear what Ziba had said, thanked him for it, and then process all that is happening including that updated news about Mephibosheth's statement, apparent statement. You know what Proverbs eighteen seventeen says. Right?

Proverbs eighteen seventeen says, the one who states his case first seems right. The one who states his case first seems right until another comes and examines him. Until another comes and examines him. Learn not to believe everything at face value. When it comes to a complicated situation, understand that it takes complex process in order to understand the truth of the matter, at least to come close as close as possible to the truth of the matter.

With all that being said, I probably gave it away, but maybe there is somebody here who is skeptical. Is Ziba telling the truth? After all that how can you say yeah, right? Is Ziba telling the truth? We don't have to guess because the facts of the matter will surface, don't they?

David will return to Jerusalem after they have victory over Absalom, and who comes to meet David? Mephibosheth. Look at chapter 19. And I want you to see how we are introduced to this man who wasn't there to speak for himself when Ziba approached David. And in second Samuel nineteen twenty four, what do we read?

And Mephibosheth the son of Saul came down to meet the king. He had neither taken care of his feet nor trimmed his beard nor washed his clothes from the day the king departed until the day he came back in safety. So the sight of Mephibosheth as he approached the vindicated king is one of mourning. He's grieving and we're told that since the day David was made a fugitive that he endeavor to be such a man. One who is lamenting the loss of a friend, of his king, of his ruler, of the one he believed to be God's anointed.

Now why is that more than just a sentimental act? Why is what Mephibosheth doing or what he had done more than just an emotional appeal or statement about his love for David? Any idea? Who was reigning while Mephibosheth was doing this? Absalom.

Why would a man like Mephibosheth be in a state of mourning and lamenting when a new king has come to the throne? I don't know about you but if there was an Absalom supporter who saw Mephibosheth acting like this, could have put him in a lot of trouble. Mephibosheth, come here. Why are you not trimmed? Why are you not clean?

Could have been treason. Could have been a problem. And yet he was willing to risk his own life in order to just communicate his great and deep allegiance to David. That's a statement. Moreover, David now engages with him.

He says, why didn't you come with me? He tells him honestly, why didn't you come with me? Mephibosheth explains, Ziba is a liar. He slandered me. He said something about me that is not true, David.

And this is what David does. This is this is how he judges the whole thing. He said, you know what? Fine. Half of it goes to Ziba, half of it goes to you.

We'll split it down the middle. It belongs to both of you now and some might question David's judgment. You have every right to question it. Because when we come to that chapter, you'll realize that what David did was in connection to a law in Deuteronomy. And that will determine what his judgment whether it was right or it was off.

But more than that, I want you to see for the sake of this chapter how Mephibosheth responded to that misdirected settlement. What is his reaction? Look down at verse 30. And Mephibosheth said to the king, oh, let him take it all since my lord the king has come safely home. What a response.

Okay. Fine, Mephibosheth. I know it all belong to you at first, but we have a complicated story here. Half of it goes to Ziba, half of it goes to you. And Mephibosheth, with his beard and his smell and his clothes and his untrimmed features says let him take it all.

He can have it all because my king is back. You know, I was meditating on this and I thought to myself, I wonder if Solomon borrowed this tactic when it came to his first major judgment that made national news. Do you remember that? Two woman making an argument, a case that the baby in one of the woman's arms belong to one or the other and eventually Solomon says bring me a sword. Bring me a sword.

Says cut the baby in half, the living child in half and give each half to these women. And what does the true mother say? Oh, let the child live. Let the child live. She can have the baby.

They and Psalm says, you're the right one. I wonder if he knew this story and borrowed that tactic in wisdom and applied it to that situation. Food for thought. But what's more and more powerful to consider now at this point is to see that Mephibosheth proved his innocence, I believe. I mean, how much more do you need than this?

Because nothing mattered to this man more. This revealed that nothing mattered to him more than knowing that the king that he loved was exalted and that his kingdom is now established. I don't care about anything else. This is this is what it's all about and this is all I need and this is this is here and so forget about everything else. It doesn't move me.

It doesn't change anything about me because the object of my desire, my affection is before me. It's not in land. It's not in homes. It's not an opportunity. It's not in any experience.

And I I looked and said, man, I have something to learn from Mephibosheth. God help me. God help you. And here's what we can learn. The secret to overcoming the irreversible.

The irreversible and unjust damage that is caused by others is to be so enamored by the king that when things are even taken from you or added to you, you won't be shaken Because your treasure is in someone already and everything about your treasure is in him and so whatever comes or goes does not make a difference. You know, when I looked at what happened to Mephibosheth, it confirms to us just how heinous and despicable the sin of slander really is. Think about it. Because life and death is in the power of the tongue. Somebody's own words, a false witness can literally alter somebody else's future in dramatic ways.

And if it's not like in Mephibosheth's case where somebody's false report steals possessions or position, what it tends to regularly do is taint the reputation of certain individuals in the minds of others often permanently. No wonder why God hates the sin. And that happens to Mephibosheth. His life, naturally speaking, will never be the same. The king ordered that half of what he had owned, his estate is gone.

And there's no indication that it was fully recovered. Slander can do that. That's why people who do slander, who lie, who are very loose with their tongue will be held accountable to God. It has severe consequences. Be very careful how you handle people's names.

Be very careful of your suspicions. Though they should be there sometimes, let it remain internal as long as possible before they come out because it can do damage to people that you never intended to do and unfortunately for slanders, they intend to do it. And yet this man is so unmoved because the king is here. The king is before me. And I I thought to myself that is the secret.

Is it not is that not an indication of what it is that is required of me if I wanna know true spiritual success and even soar above all the slurs and all the lies and all the vomit that comes from people who don't fear God? Lord, help me be like Mary of Bethany who was silent in the presence of her critics and accusers. Why? Because she was so caught up in worshiping Jesus Christ. She was so consumed in that moment of realizing with the limited revelation that she had, I'm going to anoint him with all that I have.

I'm gonna break it with no thought of getting anything back, pouring out all in Christ. And when people saw that and were offended by that, there is no indication that Mary defended herself. She didn't speak up. She wasn't at the feet up. She wasn't at the feet of Jesus and looked up to Judas and the boys and say, don't you guys realize that I love the master?

She didn't say anything of the sort. She did not defend herself one bit. You know who did though? Jesus. Jesus defended her.

She was busy worshiping and she left her cause, her character in the hands of the master. Maybe I love you. I love you, so bear with me. Maybe the reason why you are so consumed with what people do or say is because you're not consumed with Christ enough. Have you ever thought about that solution?

Have you ever thought that these flares and these reactions and these sleepless nights is indicative of something deeper? Maybe maybe I'm too busy and I put too much value in what people say and I'm not sitting at the feet of Jesus long enough. I'm sure that woke up some of you. It's good. So those are the lessons from Ziba, but let's move on to our next character here in verse five.

When King David came to Bahorim, there came out a man of the family of the house of Saul whose name was Shemaiah, 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 who are on his right hand and on his left. And Shammai said as he cursed, get out. Get out you men 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. Seems like a nice guy.

Ziba might have been subtle with his scheme to try to manipulate the situation for personal gain, but this antagonist here is everything but subtle. You can't get any more of an obvious and direct demonstration of someone's hatred for someone else. It's right here. It's public. It's clear.

It's loud. It is accompanied with objects being thrown in the air. This is the kind of man Shammai is. And when you look at Ziba and Shammai, you kind of get, though they are different in their schemes, you get a clue of how the enemy works in our own battle with him. Alright?

It doesn't like Ziba, the enemy work deceitfully sometimes. He has a presentation when in fact there's a different goal. He's deceptive. And yet at the same time like Shammai, he often attacks openly and clearly and you know exactly who you are facing and dealing with. Ziba is a liar, so is Satan.

Shammai is an accuser, so is Satan. A wonderful picture of a natural thing that's happening that points to spiritual truth. And though these two differ in their approach to David, they have one thing in common, they're both connected to the house of Saul. And this is a direct descendant from Saul. And so we see here that Shammai is very angry, very hostile, very aggressive.

Why? We heard it. Because he really believed that David unjustly took the throne from Saul and even killed for it. This is how he proceeded. This is how he understood why David was promoted the way he was promoted.

Question, is it true? It's not true. David didn't touch the lord anoint the lord's anointed. Who touched the lord's anointed? The lord.

The Lord touched the Lord's Anointed. David had nothing to do with this. And I look at Shemaiah and I think to myself, that's a bitter guy. I mean, that's a guy with pent up anger that just waited for the right opportunity to speak up and let it all out. When a man like David is at his weakest, Shimei comes up and he makes his his his true feelings known.

And and when we read here that David came to Bahurim, it's believed that this is in the region of Benjamin, the tribe of Benjamin. And it was a city that hosted very strong Saul supporters even during David's reign. So you still had people who believe that the throne belonged to Saul and here's a strong obvious case of that. But imagine being a person so embittered, so filled with anger and wrath and unforgiveness, based on something that doesn't have any genuine proof and could have been easily misinterpreted. Here's what I'm trying to say, you have very troubled people even in the church.

Very disturbed souls that are harboring hideous feelings, that are being absolutely destroyed from within. Because they have mishandled, misinterpreted, misjudged actions or events either from people or even from God himself. And they're just living with that erosion, that poison of hatred and disgust based on something that doesn't even validate it. That doesn't even have proof for it. That has been again magnified to be something beyond of what it really was.

You have people like that. And that's what we see here. A man who is angry about something that's not even really true. That's not true at all. And when I saw this I thought to myself, this is unfortunately the case of many people who claim to be Christians.

But here's what we see else. Look at his words and I want you to I want you to say what stands out to you. Look here at verse eight. 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. What stands out to you from that?

What stands out to you? It's okay, gentlemen. Don't worry about it. Don't worry about it. Nothing stands out to you?

Okay. Absalom was a man of blood. Sure. But look at the words that Shammai is using. That's what I am pointing to.

That's what I'm trying to bring your attention to. Thank you. He's invoking the name of the Lord twice. The Lord. The Lord.

I mean, look, you might know the name of the Lord, but the way you're acting makes me question why you would use the name of the Lord. Isn't it amazing that you have somebody so filled with this kind of anger and bitterness who can comfortably and freely attach the name of God to their claims, to their statements. More moreover, you have a man who is invoking the name of the Lord while breaking the law of the Lord. How is he breaking the law of God in this? I'm saying he is actually violating a specific law in his attitude towards David.

In Exodus twenty two twenty eight, we're told that you and I, well namely Israel, but it applies to us in some way, should never curse a ruler of the people. That's Exodus twenty two twenty eight. You should not revile God and you shall not curse a ruler of the people. And that's exactly what he's doing, cursing continually. So here's a man who's invoking the name of the Lord while breaking the law of the Lord.

And it's hypocrisy at its finest. But have you ever wondered why is it that unsanctified, unholy, carnal people have the strange comfortability and confidence to invoke the name of the Lord? I've dealt with it so many times. I've gotten it in emails. I've gotten it in letters.

I've gotten in face to face encounters where you have people who invoke the name of the Lord and they have no right to invoke the name of the Lord. Can I tell you why? Because it adds authority to their claims even though they are false. It makes their case more compelling when in fact it is dangerous. It is one of the most prominent ways that the name of our precious and blessed God is blasphemed.

In order for an argument to seem more winsome and more convincing, God's name is is brought into something that it shouldn't be brought into. And that's what we see. God's name wielded as a weapon not to strike down that which is false. Not to strike down that which is false, but to do what? But to confuse and mislead those who are in the truth.

You know this, but it's worth saying again. Be aware of that kind of form of manipulation. Be aware of that kind of form of manipulation just because somebody is godless, and I'll say godless in a strong language, godless and careless enough to attach God's name to ridiculous arguments or statements does not make it credible at all even in the slightest. This is this is psychological tactics to take the name of the Lord to invoke fear in David. And you have people who do the same today in 2023.

The Lord told me to tell you. The Lord said this to you. The Lord is warning you. K. So based on my experience with the what the Lord told people to tell me, there's there's two conclusions.

Either the Lord is unfaithful and doesn't mean what he says or people are liars. I'm gonna go with the latter. And so be careful of that. Right? We're seeing this is this is this is an attack and God's name is involved in it.

In the same way that we saw David respond to the onslaught of his son Absalom, his his beautiful his beautiful and humble attitude, we have additional wisdom given to us in how you and I can properly pivot persecution when it comes our way. K. Let's look at that in closing very soon. Look here in verse nine. Then Abishai the son of Zuriya said to the king, why should this dead dog curse my lord the king?

Let me go over and take off his head. Noble, you see a man who is passionate about the reputation of his king, probably not the best solution to dealing with this. You're not gonna find this kind of example or instruction in the Sermon of the Mount. Do you think Abishai meant it? Yeah.

If David gave the word, Shammai would have no mouth to say anything. And David doesn't allow him to. As much as we can sympathize with Abishai's feelings, what strikes me is how David interprets and comprehends what's taking place. Look here in verse 10. But the king said, what have I had to do with you, you sons of Zaria?

If he is cursing because the Lord has said to him, curse David, who then shall say, why have you done so? Abishai, what am I gonna do with you guys? Honestly, every solution for you is to kill somebody. What if God told him to curse me? What are you gonna do about it?

What can you do about it if God told him to curse me? Let him curse me. Now it's obvious to us, I hope, that David didn't have the theology where God in some instances encourages somebody to break his law. We already established that what Shammai is doing is breaking the law. You do not curse the ruler of the people.

So what is David doing here? David is doing what he did when he understood what was taking place with Absalom, totally seeing God's sovereignty in this. And that that just ministers to me that when you have something as gigantic as Absalom's treason, down to a pesky individual who can't keep his mouth shut, David was able to see the umbrella of God's sovereignty over it all. When I lost my throne, when I lost my home, I see God's sovereignty. When I have this person at work that doesn't seem to stop annoying me and persecuting me, I see God's hand at work.

Saying how? Well, in some cases, the Lord uses, not inspires, but uses the heart of evil, vile, despicable, brutal men to bring about some kind of maturity in us. And that's what's happening here. David is is walking, hearing the echoing voice of this madman on a hill while dust is flinging in the air and stones are being thrown. David is understanding that he is under God's discipline and perhaps this is part of it.

Perhaps this is part of it. And if that is true, then David could embrace it and absorb it and say, okay, this is if this is what God is allowing then let it be so. And think about it. Although this is a false accusation, is there some truth in it? Why?

Yeah. So that's one example of what David had done and that's a different scenario, but I think we can look back and just say David is a man of blood not concerning the house of Saul, because of Uriah even. Exactly. You cannot build me a house because you're a what? Man of blood.

Right? So there is some level of truth in what Shammai is saying. Though Shammai is unaware of it and is misguided in his judgment of who David is. So what is happening here? I believe God is allowing this to happen to keep David humble.

Only David only David can know what what was being translated here. And David under the discipline of God is willing to undergo it. Is it a strange idea that God would allow a thorn in the flesh to remain for the sake of the preservation or the growth of one of his servants. No. It's not strange.

What did Paul say about the thorn in his flesh? There's much debate about the thorn of the flesh, but he elaborates when he says, a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of who? Okay. Second Corinthians. Let's go there.

Verse 12. Excuse me. Chapter 12 verse seven. Second Corinthians twelve seven. Paul says, so to keep me from being conceded because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations Pause.

You want greater revelation of God and his word? Be careful. Be careful of that. You want to be used mightily by God. You want these encounters with God.

Be careful. To keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations. A thorn was what? Given me. Given me.

Something was given. It was granted by who? By God. A thorn was given me and it was authored and permitted by God almighty. Last time I checked, a thorn is not the most demanded gift out there.

In fact, it's one of the most irritating things you can have though though it's a small instrument, it can actually affect your whole being if your conscience and aware of that thorn. And Paul confessed, it was given me. That thorn was placed in me. A messenger of Satan to what? Harass me.

Was it a physical ailment? Some say yes. Was it the persecution of the Jews? That might be more convincing. But to keep me from becoming conceded, the key phrase there is the storm was given me.

God put it in me. God granted it to me for a sanctified purpose though the instrument was a messenger of Satan and though the means was harassment. It was uncomfortable. And it's something that I pleaded with the Lord three times to remove. But God in his wisdom knew that this harassment would make you holy if you responded to it correctly.

And here you have Shammai who is harassing David and David I'm sure had the same frame of mind as Paul. Let it be. Let it be. Side note. Side note, my brother, my sister.

Side note. David here receiving this kind of treatment is also a nudge for us to consider the criticism of others, even your own enemies. Consider the criticism of people even those who hate you. Why? Can I tell you one reason why?

Pay attention to this. It might help you with what you're enduring. Because your enemies are often more willing to point out something in you than your closest friends are. Yeah or no? Yeah.

Very bold. Sometimes they'll make it public. Sometimes they're courageous enough to attach their name to the letter. Not as courageous enough to go beyond that though. When criticism comes your way, when when you hear something about you that's unpleasant, what do you do?

You know what most people do? They throw it away. They don't even look at it. They think this is this is meant to discourage me and to and to destroy me and to derail me. Maybe maybe that's the intent.

Maybe that's the motive. And maybe there is an ingredient of truth in it that you should consider for yourself and prayfully bring it before the Lord and see if God is using an enemy to actually bring something to your knowledge that your friends don't wanna say to you. And so I could tell you from experience that I've heard many things from different people and they're not usually amens. God bless you, brother. And I've had to learn to say that a lot of this is off.

Lord, is there anything here that might be true though? And if there is, can you show me and confirm it to me so that I can be more sanctified in your sight and before the people that you've called me to serve with? This is a call to wisdom. But we don't see him just doing that. Now come here to verse 11, 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. Just leave him alone. And here's what's so great about David. I'm telling you if you apply this to your life, you will know much relief, much much relief. Here's what happens here.

David looks at a greater problem at hand and that enables him to ignore smaller ones. Behold, my own son seeks my life. How much more now may this Benjamin? I have a bigger thing to deal with here. My son now is after me and you want me to worry about some guy up there in the hills yelling my name and throwing dust in his own face?

I'm not I don't have time for that issue here. I have a bigger fish to fry And so let me reserve my energy, my focus on this, something that really matters. Now in David's situation, he's turning his perspective to a greater problem to overshadow lesser ones. You're a Christian and God calls you to look above and look even higher than looking at something more monstrous and threatening in order to relieve you from lesser things. God calls you to look at other things.

Hopeful things, glorious things, permanent things. As we heard last week, he calls you to look at the greater cause. So give up the right, give up the throne. You have a great commission. You have a purpose in this life.

Turn your eyes on eternity. Turn your eyes to the reward that will come with the soon returning king. Turn your eyes to the permanence of the glories of the resurrection. Turn your eyes to understand that there is a Jesus who will vindicate you one day. Turn your eyes and understand that there is something bigger than this life and more powerful than what people can do to you.

Turn your eyes there. See what we're seeing here in principle is that David's perspective was the very means by which he would know longevity and his purpose in life. And if you don't have the right perspective, you will not last long. I guarantee it. You won't.

And every little thing that comes your way and every little problem and every little peep of persecution will just be added on to you until you finally collapse. The way in which arrows bounce off of you is when you have the shield of faith on you and part of that shield of faith is looking beyond what is seen to the things that are unseen, for the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. Look beyond. Look beyond. David did that and they gave him enough fuel to move forward.

And I I guess you could say he did that to some regard in verse 12. 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. You have to cultivate a perspective and train your eyes to be set on the realities that outlast the temporary harassments of today. Verse 13. What did that perspective do?

So David and his men went on the road while Shemaiah went along on the hillside opposite him and cursed as he went and threw stones that have been flung dust. Didn't change a thing about his circumstance. If anything you have an emboldened Shammai who sees a weak limping man and decides to just continue in his embarrassing behavior. Nothing changed around him, but David had the fortitude to move forward because of what you just learned. The Lord will deal with it.

The Lord might reward me. I have bigger things to deal with in life. One of the ways in which you'll be able to in your service to God dust off the things that try to cling to you is realize that people who tend to cause problems often do not have an eternal perspective. Just you're dealing with people in a different different grid of life, just move forward. And I love how this section of scripture ends.

Verse 14, and the king and all the people who were with him arrived weary at the Jordan and there he refreshed himself. As much as I are called to be comforted by the grandeur of our perspective and that perspective reaching to the point where it touches an unseen world, that doesn't mean that your only source of comfort in this life is a future is a future promise that is yet to be realized. What I see here is that the Lord is capable and able to provide tangible comfort and refreshment in the affliction. Not just beyond the affliction, but in it, during it. He knows how to prescribe the right amount of support so that you can continue to move forward in that which he called you to do.

And the first that came to mind now and I really mean it here, this is actually my last verse, It's second Corinthians one. Second Corinthians chapter one and verse three. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the father of mercies and God of all comfort. What a title to get from God about God. The God of all comfort.

You know what it means for God to be the God of all comfort? It means that he has comfort for every situation that requires comfort. That's what we see in verse four, who comforts us in all our affliction. It doesn't say who will comfort us one day from our affliction. Says who comforts us in all our affliction.

During it, he's able to supply and extend a helping hand in which you can actually know the surging grace that is able to energize you in faithfulness and worship to the Lord. Here you have David who is living in the shadow of a man opposite of him, hurling at him with the thoughts of betrayal and people with ulterior motives who are opportunists and take advantage of crises to have their own agenda moving forward. He is just surrounded by chaos. And yet verse 14 tells us that he was brought to a place where God providentially allowed him to be refreshed. God opened a window for a cool breeze to come by and for this man to take in a deep breath after enduring the heat of people's evil.

And God can comfort us in many many ways and even in mysterious ways. Did you consider this? The the thought cross your mind that while David as we heard was weary and exhausted, that the Lord used a man who brought all this stuff for the sake of trying to get what he knew he would get if he convinced David. And though this man had a a very evil and self centered goal, the Lord used that kind of a man to to nourish his own man. It's just incredible.

Reminds me of the unclean bird that came and fed Elijah. Unclean. Sometimes and oftentimes God uses mysterious and unpredictable instruments to help us and to guide us and to empower us and to strengthen us. Let's pray. Lord, we love you again.

We love you more than when we told you we loved you before we started because we have been sanctified by the truth. Your word is truth. We feel richer than when we entered into this place. We feel more equipped than when we entered into this place. We feel more blessed than when we entered into this place.

Lord we ask that you would help us be lovers of your word, doers of your word, strengthen us to be discerning, to be mindful of your sovereignty, enlarge our perspective of what really matters, what is true and lasting. And help us, oh Lord. Be so overwhelmed by our knowledge of the glory of Jesus Christ that even when dogs surround us and lies are targeted toward us that we can we can silently embrace it because we are already enamored by who is before us. May that be the the quality of faith that this church has. In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen. Let's stand together.