A WHOLE MAN

7 And Shimei said as he cursed, “Get out, get out, you man of blood, you worthless man!  2 Samuel 16:7  Generally, when we hear a sermon about David he is described as being a man after God’s own heart. But in today’s Old Testament reading, we read a very different description of David; a “worthless man” (2 Sam 16:7). Just for context, in today’s passage we read of David’s retreat out of Jerusalem, away from his son Absalom who is seeking to kill him. And during this retreat we read of a very interesting story of a broken David, who allows stones to be hurled at him from a Benjaminite, Shimei, while passing through Bahurim. It is a very short story, but it is very peculiar and rich in significance. Shimei, apparently, believed that his defiant actions against the king were divinely ordained. While stoning David, he declares that this is by the hand of God and is punishment on him for the blood of Saul, his relative. He is upset about David and everything that he believ...

16 And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever. 2 Samuel 7:16 As we continue through our Bible in a Year plan, we have begun the book of Second Samuel in our Old Testament reading. You can think of Second Samuel as though it were the next movie in the series because you will see that it continues where we left off in First Samuel. You will recall that we were left at a cliffhanger moment, Saul had just fallen in the war with the Philistines and David was just returning from a battle of his own to recapture his family, livestock, and possessions from the Amalekites. We are left with a series of questions at the end of the first book such as, will the nation of Israel survive without a king and without a prophet (Samuel had died as well)? Will David return home to Israel instead of dwelling with the Philistines? What will David do after he hears that Saul has died? Second Samuel answers all of these questions and, m...