I picked my wife up at the airport and we headed straight to the hospital to counsel and console our dear friend whose baby was arriving several weeks early. The anticipation of coming home is often arrested by the sobering reality we face upon arrival.
Such was the case for king David following the suppressed revolution led by his deceptive and now deceased son Absalom in 2nd Samuel 19. David’s previous critic named Shimei had arrogantly cursed the king as a “worthless fellow” (2 Sam. 16:7) and cast stones on him and his followers as they fled from Absalom. But then Shimei “rushed to meet King David” (19:17) and humbly cowered before him to win his favor and save his own life.
In verse 19, Shimei asked David to forgive him, forget his past mistreatment of the king, and forgo any grudge. Shimei offered his confession—“I have sinned”—and his conduct—“I have come today, the first of all the house of Joseph…” (verse 20)—as reasons for David to refrain from retaliating.
Shimei was a chameleon, as are some church goers today whose interest in God’s king (Jesus), kingdom, and people is purely selfish. Their church involvement promotes their business, placates their spouse, and/or pleases their parents, and so they profit from it.
David’s body guard recognized Shimei’s hypocrisy and insisted that this scoundrel get what he deserved for cursing “the Lord’s Anointed” (Exodus 22:28), but the king decided otherwise.
The king’s compassion in sparing Shimei is worthy of our consideration. David “swore to him, you shall not die” (2 Sam. 19:23), which anticipated the good news of pardon available through faith in David’s greater son, Jesus. The guilty one (Shimei) confessed his wrong and was shown mercy by the Lord’s Anointed, just as all who are guilty now and turn from their sin (Acts 3:19) and trust in Christ (Acts 16:31) will mercifully escape eternal condemnation (Romans 6:23).
Whether we pretend allegiance to the Lord or purposely reject Him, He wants us to experience His forgiving compassion. We must confess our sin and accept by faith that Jesus paid the price to release us from the penalty our evil deserves (John 3:36; 1 Peter 2:24).
All who have experienced the Lord’s mercy are admonished and able to express it—“just as the Lord forgave you so also should you” (Colossians 3:13). Lord help us delight in forgiving and not giving our spouse, children, siblings, neighbors, and co-workers what their errant conduct deserves.
The Lord’s compassion compels the rebellious to experience it and the righteous to express it.