2 Samuel 19:16-23

2 Samuel chapter 19, beginning with verse 16. And Shimiye, the son of Gera, a Benjaminite, which was of Bahruam, hasted and came down with the men of Judah to meet King David. And there were a thousand men of Benjamin with him. Zyva, the servant of the house of Saul and his 15 sons, twenty servants with him, and they went over Jordan before the king. And there went over a ferry boat to carry over the king’s household, and to do what he thought good. And Shimei, the son of Gera, fell down before the king as he was come over Jordan. Said unto the king, let not my lord impute iniquity unto me, neither do thou remember that which thy servant did. perversely the day that my Lord went out of Jerusalem, that the king should take it to his heart. For thy servant doth know that I have sinned. Therefore, behold, I am come the first this day of all the house of Joseph to go down to meet my lord the king. But Abishai, the son of Zariah, answered and said, Shall not a shimii be put to death for this because he cursed the Lord’s anointed? David said, what have I to do with you, ye sons of Zari? That ye should this day be adversaries unto me. Shall there any man be put to death this day in Israel? For do not I know that I am this day king over Israel. Therefore the king said unto Shimei, thou shalt not die. And the king swear unto him. God blessed to us the reading of his sacred and holy word. When Joshua and the Israelites began their initial conquest of the land of Canaan, they were encountered by five kings of the southern part of Canaan, who had gathered all their men together into a huge army to confront them. And yet God granted the people of God victory, and you remember that he sent huge hailstones down on the, enemy caused the sun to stand still so the Israelites had more time to overcome them and finish the route. Now, five of these Canaanite kings that opposed Joshua and the Israelites hid in a cave when the route was on. And while they were hiding in the cave, the Israelites found them, put stones, a big, huge stones in front of the cave so they couldn’t get out, finished the route, and then came back and opened the cave up and got the king’s out. out. And Joshua forced them to lie on the ground. Then he told the captains of Israel’s army to come up, put their feet on the neck of these five Canaanite kings. And Joshua said this in Joshua 10, 25. Fear not, nor be dismayed, be strong and of good courage, for thus shall the Lord do to all your enemies against to whom you fight. The subjection of these five kings was just a picture, if you would, of the victory over all the kings and all the enemies of the Israelites when it came to the land of Canaan. Now, we should realize that this also is for us a picture of the fact that we shall be victorious over all our enemies, ultimately as well. This is what, a picture of what Christ grants his people down through the ages. Ultimately, every enemy of the people of the people of God will be brought into subjection. It’s certain and it’s sure because Christ is reigning on the throne. But even in this life, there are occasions there are times when we get a foretaste of this ultimate victory that we’re going to have. When your enemies are subdued before you, as such is a case and point in our text here, with Shimeon, who has proved to be a bitter enemy of David, the man of God, and yet he is compelled to fall prostrate before, prostrate before David, and complete. complete subjection and plead for mercy. I want to speak on the topic of your enemies subdued in this text of scripture tonight. Now, I’ll begin by saying this, that God has a way of subduing your enemies before you. Now, you are a king, and you enjoy the benefit of reigning of reigning Christ. Scripture speaks of you as a believer as belonging to a royal priesthood. We saw this from 1 Peter chapter 2 and verse 9 recently as Tom has been preaching through this text. A kingly priesthood is what we belong to. Like David, you reign under the authority of the true king, which is God himself in the person of the person of the Lord. the Lord Jesus Christ. You partake of the blessings of Christ kingly, office, and in that, you co-reign with him. Now, in some respects, you resemble Christ in the exercise of his kingship, for you are like him, in the sense that you are a partaker of the divine nature, as 2. Peter 1-4 tells us, and that you are more than conquerors through his power when it rests upon you, as Romans 837 indicates as well. And under Christ’s power, you rule and you judge the world as kings. The church has the keys of the kingdom to bind and to loose. And the church, according to God’s word, has the power to bless and to curse. You await the day when all the world is brought into subjection to you. When there’s a new heavens and a new earth in which dwells righteousness, when Christ returns, and he puts the last enemy under his feet, which is death itself. We look forward to that day. But even in the meantime, we get a little glimpses of the victory that is to come in this life. Now, when your ways please the Lord, he often subdues your enemies. Despite all David’s failures, and he has many, he is, after all, a man of God. His heart is right with the Lord, and so his enemy Shimiye is subdued before him. He is no longer the haughtyte, rebellious, defiant, cursor of the Lord’s anointed, as he was in 2 Samuel, Chapter 16. See his face in the dust before David here, acknowledging him as the rightful king. Now, such a response is also promised all God’s kingly people, not merely King David. Proverbs 167 says, says, when a man’s ways please the Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him. Now, to look at some of these issues tonight, I want to, I want you to turn with me to the book of Revelation. There are several passages I want to read to get the New Testament perspective on this. I’ll start with Revelation chapter 1 and verses 4 to 6. Revelation chapter 1 verses 4 to 6. John, to the seven churches which are in Asia, grace be unto you and peace from him which is, which was, and which is to come, from the seven spirits which are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and have made us kings and priests unto God and His Father. To him be glory and dominion forever and ever, amen. Look at chapter 2 and verses 26 and 27, and he that overcometh and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations. And he shall rule them with a wrong, of iron. As the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers, even as I received in my father. And here we have the co-rein of the believer with Christ. And then, if you would, to the book of Revelation and chapter 3. And verse 9. Scripture says here, behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which they are Jews and are not, but do lie. Behold, I will make them to come and worship or bow before thy feet and to know that I have loved thee. Apostate Jews here, who are certainly haters of the Christian church, persecutors, extraordinary of the early church, are truly opposing King Jesus and His kingdom on this earth. Their true, I do not. identity then is not Orthodox Jews. But as he says, they may belong to a synagogue, but it’s not God’s synagogue. It’s Satan’s synagogue. And they serve the God of this world. They are not true Jews, because they’re not following in the works of Abraham. They do lie when they say that they’re Jews, because they’re not true Jews. And the Lord Jesus Christ here will force these bitter enemies to be humbled before his people and be forced to acknowledge God is with the church. So there’s a sense in which he promises to humble these people so that they have to acknowledge the true people of God. We can look at other passages, but this is the New Testament perspective. Look at Isaiah chapter 60, if you would. Here’s another passage, verse 14. Isaiah 6014, The sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee, bowing before you. And all they despise thee shall bow themselves down at the souls of thy feet, and they shall call thee the city of the Lord, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel. Here they are the enemies of God’s peace. humble before God’s people. Look at chapter 49 of Isaiah and verse 23 also. Here is a passage that deals with the recovery of Israel from captivity going back into the land. And it says, and kings shall be thy nursing fathers and their queens, thy nursing mothers. And they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth and lick up the dust of thy feet. and thou shalt know that I am the Lord, for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me. Here again, we have the promise of God’s people being exalted here over those who are either their enemies or those who even have the rule over them at the moment. And so we see God has a way of subduing your enemies before you. He doesn’t always do this in this life. But he does it sometimes, and we have record of it, sometimes in Scripture, and promise of it ultimately. And so we have the indication of what will take place in the future for sure. But sometimes even in this life, we see this occurring. Secondly, tonight, your enemies are often submissive out of expediency and self-preservation. Versus 16 to 20. of our text tonight. Now your enemies are compelled to show submission to you, verses 1618. Shimei had acted disgracefully toward David. He had abused David with his foul tongue, railed against him, cursed him. You remember how vicious and harsh he had been in the book of 2nd Samuel, chapter 16. If David had been defeated, you can imagine Shimiye boasting. Well, I told him how it was going to be earlier and be rejoicing. But David’s victory has left Shemiye in a really difficult position, precarious position. He needs to find a way to pacify the king’s wrath here. He has to survive. Shemiahymiye may be a low-down snake, but even snakes would like to survive, if it means crawling. and so he will crawl if that’s what it takes. So to curry favor with the king, Shimiye came with a large company of men from the tribe of Benjamin. A thousand were told here to welcome David back. Notice how quickly Shimiye did this. One of the first to greet David is he goes across the Jordan. He knew David could use public support. And with a thousand people from the best, Benjaminite tribe, which is the tribe that would probably most be opposed to David, because they’re the tribe of Saul, the previous king. He wants to win over David so that David will spare him. Shimiye is like the congressman. He went off on an overseas vacation, enjoying fun and girls on a yacht while his pregnant wife was home near the time of giving birth. He has no intention of flour. lying home to be with his wife during the childbirth. However, several days after the stillborn child is delivered, all of a sudden the senator rushes home. Not out of urgent concern for his wife, certainly not out of love for his wife, but because his political advisor has convinced him that a shattered marriage would destroy his political career. It wasn’t a matter of love. It wasn’t a matter of even a loyalty as wife. It was a matter of self-preservation. And that’s what we have here with Shimia, I think. It’s a matter of self-preservation that he comes to David here with this humble spirit. In the book of Esther, you recall, Haman, the Agagite, rises to a position of great power and authority under King Ahzoueris. Now, this man was a bitter enemy of the Jews, and he persuades. the king, to issue a decree, to kill all the Jews in his entire kingdom, which was a worldwide kingdom. In particular, Haman was peeved at one particular Jew named Mordecai, who would not show him respect in his position as chief prince of the land. So Haman plots not to just get it Mordecai, but to get all the Jews, and he wants to hang Mordecai on the gallows that are 75 feet high so the whole city, the whole royal city of Shushan can see it. Everything seems to be going in Haman’s favor, but then we find God suddenly turns the tables on him. Unbeknownst to Haman. Sometime previous to this, Mordecai has spared the king’s life because he overheard a plot against the king. And when God took away the king’s sleep, and he didn’t know what to do, he couldn’t sleep, he ordered the book of the chronicles of the kingdom of the read, and they came to that section about this plot against the assassination of the king himself. And about Mordecai, who turned in these two men, who he overheard. who he overheard. Well, God’s providence caused him to reach that particular point. We don’t know how long he read. I don’t know, maybe you thought if I read the boring account of the kingdom, I can get some sleep. Maybe it’ll put me to sleep or something. I don’t know. But he finds out that Mordecai hasn’t been rewarded. So when Haman comes before the king, that morning, to insist. and request permission to hang Mordecai. He is ordered by the king instead to honor Mordecai. Oh, it must have, it must have galled Haman. They put the royal robes on Mordecai and to leave the royal horse and chariot through the streets of the city. The guy that he wants to hang so that the guy’s disgraced before the whole city, he himself has to honor before the whole king, the whole city. it. That’s how God can turn things around. Another example of God putting enemies, calling him the bow and be before the feet of his people. Mordecai’s mortal enemy being forced to be in submission to him with sweet vindication, was it not? An ominous sign of Haman’s inevitable downfall. Even his wife says to him, if Mordecai be of the seed of the Jews before whom thou hast begun to fall, thou shalt not prevail against him, but shalt surely fall before him. She could see the handwriting of the wall. She can realize this is just a foretaste of what’s going to happen. You’re doomed if this is the case. You’re doomed. And so the book of Esther ends with Haman hanged on the gallows. And guess you’re who has his place as the chief prince in the land here of the kingdom of Hazuarez, Mordecai. So these accounts, both David and Mordecai, provide hope and comfort for every child of God. The Lord Jesus Christ can compel the most ardent enemies to be humbled before you in this life even. This is just a token of the fact that. that ultimately all the enemies will be subdued when Christ returns and he bruises all the enemies under his feet. So your enemies are compelled to show submission to you. Notice your enemies are forced to confess their wrongdoing. If you look at verses 19 and 20 here, he comes in, he says to the king, don’t impute iniquity to me, and then later in verse 19 and 20, he says, I know, he says, I know I’ve sinned against you. Yeah, I’ve done the wrong thing. He admits his wrongdoing. What else could he do? Now, though, there’s no reason, and we’ll see this later, that Shemiye has undergone any real change of heart. He committed what he would classify as a tactical error by, you know, his treason against the king. And now he’s he has to attempt to save his skin. Sometimes people confess that they’ve sinned against you when they’re seeking the less the severity of your response. Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, after the locust plague, is upon his nation, and everything’s getting eaten up that’s green in the land. He confesses the Moses and Aaron, I have sinned against the Lord your God and against you. Exodus 10, 16. you know what? Pharaoh was never a changed man. His heart was still hard and he still wouldn’t let the Israelites go. He was only interested in having the effects of the famine lessened, or the plague of the locust lessened, so that it would be taken away or at least minimized in some sense. Despite the fact that people confess wrongdoings in order to spare themselves, it still vindicates the people of God. still is a vindication that they were wrong and they have to admit they were wrong before you. You know, fish sometimes leap out of the water with great energy. And yet it would be foolish to conclude that the fish has left the water for good. Because in a moment the fish is back in the water and swimming around again in the water like he never left. Perhaps a fire. fly has tempted him alofter. Maybe there was a predatory fish and made him jump just to get out of the way and avoid danger. But the fish still finds the water home, sweet home. There’s no character change. And so when you see people who are committed to doing evil, suddenly confessing their sin, we don’t jump to conclusion immediately that, of course, they’ve got a new heart and everything’s different about them. Some sudden excitement stirs them, but they’ll soon go back to their old sinful ways. Still, it is comforting to find God compelling sinners against their actual desire to come and humbly confess their sin to you. That is amazing that God does that at times. So your enemies are often submissive out of expediency, out of self-preservation. Third point tonight is this. submissive enemies deserve to be severely punished but are sometimes granted temporary reprieve. We see that in verses 21 to 23. Now, you don’t seek personal revenge. Abishai, one of David’s captains of the army, wanted to defend David’s position. He wanted to dish out to Shimiye his just desserts. and Abishai had a point. Shimiye deserves to die. He really does. His head should be carried off in a bucket. It’s disgraceful the behavior he showed toward the king. He should be made an example to prevent anybody else from acting in such a disrespecting manner. But David is not a vindictive person. He’s not here to belieffully extract revenge against his enemies. David knew this day that he was restored to be king over Israel. And his honor inclined to, his honor inclined him to forgive someone who came and confessed to sin. This was not, he said, a day to demonstrate a vindictive spirit. Toward those who had wronged him. Indeed, the majority of the kingdom had sided with Abslon. So his actions towards Shumiya would be a signal to the rest of the nation that here’s a guy that even cursed the king and the king’s willing to take him back and accept him and not even put him to death. Again, an encouragement to all the people of the kingdom to come back under David’s rule. He spares one of the worst offenders. Spurgeon once told a story about a driver of a passenger stage. It was using his whip. quite freely on one of the horses. And a gentleman on the box seat who was watching the driver saw that he never struck the other horse. He only struck one of the horses. And the drivers, when he asked the driver about it, the driver said, bless you, sir, if I was to touch that mare, when I went near her in the stable at night, she would kick me like a Christian. Remarkable statement. a Christian. Do Christians kick, so to speak, to extract revenge? Can it be that even when someone confesses wrongdoing that they can expect a harsh, vindictive response from Christians? Hear the words of the psalmist, be not as the horse or the mule. Christians should not imitate the beast by rendering evil for evil. you know, kicked for a lash, railing for railing, where they’ll be just like the horse of the passenger stage who kicked. That’s not how Christians are. You’re not to seek personal revenge. David here is willing to forgive the man. Now you are merciful to wrongdoers seeking mercy. Verse 23, therefore the king said unto shimmy, I thou shalt not. die. And the king even swear unto him here. Took it as an oath. He promises the humbled chimiei here, thou shalt not die. Those who are forgiven by the Lord should be the most ready to forgive others. And this is the way of the kingdom. Be therefore merciful as your father also is merciful. Luke 6.3.3. This is always a tell-tale mark of a true disciple of Jesus Christ. They’re moved to show pity and compassion on others. This is what sets us apart from the worldling who always wants to get his pound of flesh. But the Christian is willing to forgive. Look at Joseph. How grossly mistreated he was. by his brothers. And yet when he gets to Egypt and God exalts him, he doesn’t extract revenge. He takes care of their families, provides for them and make sure that they survive during the years of famine and so forth. Look at Moses. Remember when Miriam had spoke against Moses, maligned him, and was struck with leprosy by the Lord? What did Moses say? He said, well, you got what you deserved. Good, it’s good that you got. Is that what he did? The scripture tells us that Moses interceded most earnestly on her behalf. Heal her now, O Lord, I beseech thee. Do we act on the principle taught in the sermon of the Mount, blessed of the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. So you are merciful to wrongdoers seeking mercy. You find God sometimes waits to execute judgment. While David does not extract personal revenge, but he shows mercy on this occasion, he still thinks that Shimei is a troublemaker. Look with me now at Second Kings. Just a few pages ahead here. Second Kings chapter 2 and verses 8 and 9. David is about to hand the kingdom over to Solomon. Solomon. And he’s sort of giving him a few fatherly wisdom remarks before he becomes king here, before he takes over as the king full time. Actually, he’s been already crowned, but David’s sort of given him a lay of the land here on what to do. Notice what he says here. And be old above us with the Shimiye, the son of Gere, a Benjaminite of Barum, which curse me with a grievous curse in the day. when I went to Mahat Nayan. But he came down to meet me at Jordan, and I swear to him by the Lord saying, I will not put thee to death with the sword. Now therefore, hold him not guiltless. For thou art a wise man and knowest what thou oughtest to do unto him. But his whorehead bring down to the grave with blood. Don’t forget this guy. Remember him. And David was willing to wait for God to avenge him. But he warns Solomon. You keep a sharp eye on this guy. David expects Shimiye, I think, to step out of line. Sooner or later. And he says, Solomon, make sure you execute him. He deserves to be put to death for what he did. The fact of the matter is that God at times delays judgment. Shimiyai is a case and point. deserves to be put to death. And he does step out of line. And he is put to death by Solomon. As we’ll see later in the, you’ll see later in the book of First Kings here. The Christian is called upon to patiently wait for God to strike down his or her enemies in due time. And they’re eventually going to step out of line to the point where something’s going to happen. And God’s going to make sure that they are punished to the evil that they’ve done to you and I against the kingdom of God. Look at First Kings chapter 21, if you would. There’s another interesting passage here. Versus 27 to 29. This particular occasion here is the end result of Ahab coveting Nabos Vineyard. Jezebel writing the letters to the elders of the city and then putting Nabob to death and him stealing the kingdom. And now he goes down to the vineyard and he’s looking it over because it’s right next door to his palace. And he’s checking it all out and he’s delighted with the kingdom that are the vineyard that he has. And while he’s there, who shows up but the prophet Elijah? And he says, you are the troubler of Israel. He says, no, I’m not the troubler of Israel. You’re the troubler of Israel. You’re the troubler of Israel. and he pronounces a severe judgment upon King Ahab and Jezebel. That the whole household of Ahab are going to be cut off every male in the family. The dogs are going to eat. Jezebel’s eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel and so forth. And there’s going to be a severe judgment on the house of Ahab because of what he did. Now notice verses 27 to 29. It came to pass when Ayap heard these words that he rent his clothes, put on sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth and went softly, and the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite saying, seeest thou how Ahab humbleth himself before me. Because he humbled himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his days, but in his son’s days, will I bring the evil upon his house? You’re not going to cut off the house completely immediately. He’s still going to do it, but there’ll be a slight delay in the judgment. In the fall of 2002, there was a major college football game to be played in Blacksburg, Virginia. Georgia Tech versus Virginia. As a rule, nothing prevents the completion. of a football game. It could be, you know, freezing cold out. It can be, there can be snow, there can be rain, there can be mud, there can be ice. They usually play anyhow. But this game wasn’t played because there was severe lightning, and it was too dangerous they thought to play the game. When something, then something more unusual happened, the game was canceled, and it never got played. Normally a game would just be postponed at the end of maybe December or something, they would squeeze it in at the end of the schedule. However, neither coach wanted to burden his schedule with an extra game that late in the season, so it never got played. Now, what does this have to do with King Ahab? Just this. It’s essential to distinguish between a postponement and a cancellation. God postpones the judgment against Ahab’s dynasty. or his household here, but he doesn’t cancel it. After Elijah pronounces divine judging upon him, Ahad humbles himself, he tears his clothes, he puts on the sackcloth, he fasts his lips, restrains his lips, but it was merely an external humiliation, for his heart was still not right with the Lord. There is no rebuke here of Jezebel for stealing Nabossam Vineyard, or There is no giving of the vineyard back. There’s no punishment of Jezebel for murdering Naboth. There’s no leaving of his idols. He’s still a bail worshipper. When we get to chapter 22, there’s no change of attitude toward the prophets of the Lord because he got Maciah locked up in prison because he doesn’t like the message that he gives him. There’s no true fear of God when God, through Micaiah, tells him not to go up the Ramath-Gilead. He decides he’s going to put under disguise and go up anyhow. God takes note, though, of Ahab’s external humiliation and delays the outpouring of his wrath for a short time. Eventually, his whole family is going to be cut off, and his dynasty will disappear. Nothing has really changed, as far as that goes. The dogs still lick his blood, and the dogs still eat up the body of Jezebel, just as the promise is. But God does not always exercise. execute complete justice in this life. Sometimes people are granted a long reprieve, and then he meets it out at the end. Look at 1 Timothy chapter 5 in verse 24, if you would. 1 Timothy 5, 24. We read here, Some men’s sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment, and some men they follow after. Some men are judged in this life. Some men, those sins make. maybe even remain hidden some of them, but eventually in the life to come, and when they get to the judgment before God, they are punished fully and completely. So some people get their judgment in this life, but some perhaps get a reprieve till a later time. Well, the subjection of those five Canaanite kings in Joshua’s day was a sign of eventually the submission of all Israel’s enemies. Shimei is another example in the same vein of thought. And the same is true regarding the submission of your enemies in this life. There is a fuller and greater submission to come when Christ will put down all our enemies. But even in this life, there are occasions when God shows us what he’s going to do in the future. May you with gratefulness to go. look forward to the day when Christ does cause all our enemies to be in submission before us. And indeed, let us not forget that we reign with Christ as his people as part of the royal priesthood. Let us close with prayer.