Shimei Teaches Us to Avoid Being Accusing (2 Samuel 16:5-8 and Proverbs 3:30)

Shimei was convinced that David engineered the overthrow of the house of Saul. He might be the best example in Scripture of being accusing and being wrong. The sermon discusses three reasons to avoid being accusing and two ways we can avoid being accusing. Table of contentsFamily Worship GuideSermon NotesLesson One: Avoid being accusing like Shimei because (part one) it angers us at the wrong people.Lesson One: Avoid being accusing because like Shimei (part two) it resembles the devil.Lesson One: Avoid being accusing because like Shimei (part three) we could be wrong.Lesson Two: Avoid being accusing by (part one) listening to the other side.Lesson Two: Avoid being accusing by (part two) ensuring there are adequate witnesses. https://youtu.be/QKDfyXaTGWM Family Worship Guide Directions: Read the following verses and then answer the questions: Day 1: 2 Samuel 16:5-8, Proverbs 3:30—Why did Shimei think David overthrew the house of Saul? Can you think of any other reasons that were not mentioned in the sermon? What accounts can you think of that demonstrate David’s loyalty to Saul instead? Day 2: Job 1-2, Zechariah 3:3, Revelation 12:10—What was happening in David’s life when Shimei cursed and threw rocks at him and his men? Why is being accusing so dangerous? Can you think of any other reasons besides those mentioned in the sermon that it is so dangerous to be accusing? Day 3: John 7:51, Proverbs 18:13, 17, Numbers 35:30, Deuteronomy 17:6, 19:15—How can we avoid being accusing? Can you think of ways to avoid being accusing that were not mentioned in the sermon? Can you think of some accounts in Scripture of individuals who refused to be accusing and instead thought the best? Sermon Notes The title of this morning’s sermon is, “Shimei Teaches Us to Avoid Being Accusing.” On Sunday mornings we have been working our way through Luke’s gospel verse by verse. If you have sat under my preaching very long, you know that I like to look at the Old Testament to illustrate New Testament truths we are learning. Romans 15 and 1 Corinthians 10 both tell us this is one of the primary purposes of the Old Testament. Last week we finished a section on forgiveness. I didn’t want to talk about forgiveness for weeks without looking at an example in the Old Testament. The account I’ve had on my heart, that I’ve been taking notes on for weeks, is David and Shimei. But let me briefly explain why this first sermon won’t deal with forgiveness… The longer I preach the more I would compare it with sculpting. Every passage feels like clay that you hope God is forming into a sermon as you strive to be faithful to the text. We want the text to provide the sermon (this is known as exegesis), versus coming up with a sermon and then finding text to support it (eisegesis). As I began working on this passage I saw that the second half deals with forgiveness, which we will talk about next week. But the first half deals with Shimei being accusing and I wanted to be faithful to cover this as well. I think it has lots of application for us and I hope it encourages you hearing it as much as it encouraged me studying it. For this account to make sense, we are going to have to back up and look at passages that reveal why Shimei hated David so much. We are going to be jumping around a lot, but I want to let you know I have done my best to be precise and only look at those verses that will give us the background we need. Every single verse I’m going to read lays the foundation. Let’s start with 1 Samuel 22. Here’s the context… David faithfully served King Saul. He was willing to go out to fight Goliath when Saul was unwilling to do so. David continued to excel so much that the people sang, “Saul has killed his thousands, but David his ten thousands.” This made Saul insanely jealous and he started trying to murder David. Afraid for his life, and under the encouragement of his close friend, Jonathan, Saul’s son, David fled Jerusalem. 1 Samuel 22:1 David departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. And when his brothers and all his father's house heard it, they went down there to him. Many of David’s family members came to join him when he was on the run, as well as some other individuals… 1 Samuel 22:2 And everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was bitter in soul, gathered to him. And he became commander over them. And there were with him about four hundred men. When it says everyone who was in distress and everyone who was bitter in soul, or some translations say disgruntled, it means toward Saul and his reign. They are in distress and bitter in soul regarding the way he’s running the kingdom. So, David’s original team consisted of men who disliked Saul and David became their leader. Now turn to 1 Samuel 27. Here’s the context… David has been on the run from Saul, probably anywhere from 10 to 15 years. He knows one place he can go that Saul will not follow him and that is to the land of the Philistines. Look at verse 1… 1 Samuel 27:1 Then David said in his heart, “Now I shall perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will despair of seeking me any longer within the borders of Israel, and I shall escape out of his hand.” God repeatedly saved David from Saul. Plus, God anointed David to become king, but he hadn’t become king yet so he should not have been telling himself that Saul was going to kill him. Skip to verse 4… 1 Samuel 27:4 And when it was told Saul that David had fled to Gath (this is one of the main Philistine cities), he no longer sought him. Since Saul was told that David went to Philistia, who knows how much that news spread. In other words, many Israelites probably learned David was in Philistia. Look at verse 7… 1 Samuel 27:7 And the number of the days that David lived in the country of the Philistines was a year and four months. David lived with the Philistines for sixteen months. Because David had been public enemy number one to the Philistines, having killed tens of thousands of them as the people were singing, including their great champion Goliath, we could easily wonder why the Philistines would let David live with them at all. There are probably two reasons… First, I suspect they heard about the rift between David and Saul. They knew Saul wanted to murder David, so it was kind of the enemy of my enemy becomes my friend type of situation. Second, David would fight against Israel’s enemies, but he told the Philistines that he was fighting against the Israelites. Look at verse 10… 1 Samuel 27:10 When Achish (this is one of the Philistine leaders) asked, “Where have you made a raid today?” David would say (and this is a lie), “Against the Negeb of Judah,” or, “Against the Negeb of the Jerahmeelites,” or, “Against the Negeb of the Kenites.” David was fighting Israel’s enemies, but he said he was fighting Israelites. Whenever we come up with a plan that forces us to lie, we can almost always be certain it is not God’s will. Look at verse 12… 1 Samuel 27:12 And Achish trusted David, thinking, “He has made himself an utter stench to his people Israel; therefore he shall always be my servant.” Now get this… David did such a good job convincing Achish that he had become Israel’s enemy that when the Philistines were going to battle against Israel, Achish fully expected David to go with them. Look at the next verse… 1 Samuel 28:1 In those days the Philistines gathered their forces for war, to fight against Israel. And Achish said to David, “Understand that you and your men are to go out with me in the army.” Now David finds himself in an incredibly difficult situation that I don’t think he expected when he first went to live with the Philistines…which is often the case when we trust our wisdom, or man’s wisdom, versus God’s wisdom: David had to either go with the Philistines to battle against Israel - God’s people, the nation he is anointed to rule over - or give away his true loyalty and get himself and his men killed. Providentially, God delivered David from this predicament. Some of the Philistine generals were not convinced of David’s loyalty. Look at 1 Samuel 29:3 to see what happened… 1 Samuel 29:4 But the commanders of the Philistines were angry with him (this is Achish, who tried to bring David to battle). And the commanders of the Philistines said to him, “Send the man back, that he may return to the place to which you have assigned him. He shall not go down with us to battle, lest in the battle he become an adversary to us. For how could this fellow reconcile himself to his lord? Would it not be with the heads of the men here? They were afraid that in the middle of the battle David would turn against the Philistines and join the Israelites. So they sent David and his men away. Look at verse 11… 1 Samuel 29:11 So David set out with his men early in the morning to return to the land of the Philistines. But the Philistines went up to Jezreel. David and his men are sent away, while the Philistines go out to battle against Israel. Now two important points to keep in mind: You don’t have to turn there, but listen to this verse about who joined David when he left the Philistines… 2 Samuel 15:18 The Cherethites, and all the Pelethites, and ALL THE SIX HUNDRED GITTITES WHO HAD FOLLOWED HIM FROM GATH, passed on before the king. Six hundred Gittites joined David when he left the Philistines. Gittites are people from Gath. Gath is one of the principal Philistine cities. Do you know who else was from Gath? The most famous Gittite in the Bible? Goliath! So, here’s the point: when David left Philistia six hundred Philistines joined him. It looks like David has become close their close friend. Turn to 2 Samuel 1.