10/22/2010 9:30:32 AM
SPIRITUAL DIARY
My
Worship Time Focus: David declares general amnesty
Bible
Reading & Meditation Reference: 2Samuel 19:16-23
Message of the verses: “16 ¶
Then Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjamite who was from Bahurim, hurried
and came down with the men of Judah to meet King David. 17 There were a thousand men of Benjamin with
him, with Ziba the servant of the house of Saul, and his fifteen sons and his
twenty servants with him; and they rushed to the Jordan before the king.
18 Then they kept crossing the ford to
bring over the king’s household, and to do what was good in his sight. And
Shimei the son of Gera fell down before the king as he was about to cross the
Jordan. 19 So he said to the king,
"Let not my lord consider me guilty, nor remember what your servant did
wrong on the day when my lord the king came out from Jerusalem, so that the
king would take it to heart. 20
"For your servant knows that I have sinned; therefore behold, I
have come today, the first of all the house of Joseph to go down to meet my
lord the king." 21 But Abishai the
son of Zeruiah said, "Should not Shimei be put to death for this, because
he cursed the LORD’S anointed?" 22
David then said, "What have I to do with you, O sons of Zeruiah,
that you should this day be an adversary to me? Should any man be put to death
in Israel today? For do I not know that I am king over Israel today?"
23 The king said to Shimei, "You
shall not die." Thus the king swore to him.”
In
this section of 2Samuel 19 we meet Shimei again, the man who had cursed David
while he was leaving Jerusalem, which was punishable by death and yet David did
not kill him because he thought that the Lord had sent Shimei to curse
David. Now on the way back Shimei
confesses to David that what he did was wrong, and you wonder if this was just
to save his own skin, but by forgiving Shimei David is showing a general
amnesty to all of the people who had sided with Absalom.
David
gave Shimei mercy in not killing him for he did deserve death, and when David
was about to die he spoke to Solomon about Shimei and Solomon gave him grace,
giving him what he did not deserve by putting him under house arrest in the
city of Jerusalem, but Shimei left Jerusalem and Solomon had him killed, for
Shimei could not follow the leadership put over him. “Yet in the same way these men, also by
dreaming, defile the flesh, and reject authority, and revile angelic majesties.” (Jude 8)
Spiritual meaning for my life today: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and
righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” I would suppose there are times in my life
when I seek the Lord’s forgiveness and not seek his cleansing from the
unrighteousness that I have committed against Him making me like Shimei,
someone I do not want to emulate.
My
Steps of Faith for Today:
1. Put
on the spiritual armor this morning.
2. Be
honest with the Lord in my prayers not just smooth talking and saying things
that I don’t mean.
10/22/2010 9:49:20 AM
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