II Samuel 16:1-23 – Generational Curse
The Living Word With Chuck Davis
II Samuel 16:1-23 – Generational Curse
>> Welcome to the Living Word with Chuck Davis. [MUSIC] >> Second Samuel, 16, 1 to 23, generational curse. When David passed a little beyond the summit, Ziba the Servant and Mephibosheth met him with a couple of donkey saddled bearing 200 loaves of bread, 100 bunches of raisins, 100 of summer fruits and a skin of wine. The king said to Ziba, "Why have you brought these?" Ziba answered, "The donkeys are for the king's household to ride on, the bread and summer fruit for the young men to eat, and the wine for those who faint in the wilderness to drink." The king said, "And where is your master's son?" Ziba said to the king, "Behold, he remains in Jerusalem, for he said, 'Today the house of Israel will give me back the kingdom my father.' Then the king said to Ziba, 'Behold all that belong to Mephibosheth is now yours.'" And Ziba said, "I pay homage. Let me ever find favor in your sight, my Lord the king." When King David came to Bahrim, there came out a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name was Shemi, the son of Gera, and he came and he cursed continually, and he threw stones at David and all the servants of King David, and all the people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left. And Shemi said, "As he cursed, 'Get out, get out, you man of blood, you worthless man. The Lord has avenged on you all the blood of the house of Saul, and whose place you have reigned, and the Lord has given the kingdom into the hand of your son, Absalom. See, your evil is on you, for you are a man of blood.' Then Abishai, the son of Zeruai, said to the king, 'Why should this dead dog curse my Lord, the king? Let me go over and take off his head.' And the king said, 'What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruai?' If he is cursing because the Lord has said to him, 'Curse David, who then shall say, 'Why have you done so?' And David said to Abishai, 'And to all his servants, behold, my own son seeks my life. How much more now may the Benjomites leave him alone and let him curse for the Lord has told him to? It may be that the Lord will look on the wrong gun to me, and that the Lord will repay me with good for his cursing today. So, David and his men went on the road. While Shimai went along on the hillside opposite him, and cursed as he went and threw stones at him in flung dust. And the king and all the people who were with him arrived weary at Jordan. And there, he refreshed himself. Now Absalom and all the people and the men of Israel came to Jerusalem and a hit the fell with him. And then Hushai, the archive David's friend, came to Absalom. Hushai said to Absalom, 'Long live the king, long live the king.' Absalom said to Hushai, 'Is this your loyalty to your friend? Why did you not go with your friend?' And Hushai said to Absalom, 'No, for whom the Lord and his people and all the men of Israel chosen, this I will be, and with him I will remain. And again, whom should I serve? Should it not be his son, as I have served your father so I will serve you?' Then Absalom said to Hifothal, 'Give your counsel, what shall we do?' Absalom said to Absalom, 'Go into your father's concubines, whom he has left to keep the house, and all Israel will hear that you made yourself a stench to your father. And the hands of all who are with you will be strengthened.' So they pitched a tent for Absalom and the roof and Absalom went into his father's concubines in the sight of all Israel. Now in those days, the counsel that Absalom gave was as if one consulted the word of God. So was all the counsel of Hifothal esteemed both by David and by Absalom. Beginning of this account, Ziba brings donkeys filled with food or bearing food. Remember, she was the nurse of Mephibosheth, his servant at this time. One of the sad turns in the story. She says, Mephibosheth remains in Jerusalem saying, 'Today the house of Israel will give me back the kingdom of my father.' All the kindness that David showed to that dead dog, a phrase that gets repeated, certainly the biblical writer wants us to capture that. Now gets turned back on David's head. Shimai curses him, he's from the family of Saul, and one of David's servants wants to go and behead him. Remember in history, this is why kings obliterated those who are from the previous reign of the country, of the Empire, David refuses, David's not a man of retaliation, let him speak his words. I'm sure, create a little bit of sadness in David's heart about Mephibosheth, but it's just the way the story is going. Edwards in his book says of David, 'Heree, nonetheless against all reason, judges his own heart first before looking out for his own interest.' He's not going to take on the spirit of Saul, which is one of revenge, one of paranoia. Absalom puts his rebellion to the next stage. He goes into all of David's concubines. Not only does it, as an act of rebellion, he does it in a tent on top of the house so that all will see it. He's making a bold statement about now who's in charge. The sole wad of this passage is to show us the contrast between David and Absalom. Absalom is driven by power and a bitter root. His hatred is just going to grow. It's going to be like a mass cancer tumor that's going to take over everything. David's failure leads him to a broken spirit, and he chooses not to take retaliation into his own hands. The now wad of this is a reminder to run away from power. Don't run away from spiritual authority, operate in spiritual authority, but run away from power. I was actually studying these passages about four months ago before coming to the time of actually recording these podcasts. I looked at my journal from that time, and as I was going through this section, I was thinking about people that have been difficult in my different leadership. I have a list of about 25 that still remain in my mind, and I began releasing them one by one, saying, "You know what? I don't want to be that kind of person." If they were rebelling against God's plan, then they were rebelling against God, not me. And even though they were difficult to me or against me in those moments, they were giving me an opportunity to be crucified with Christ. So Lord, today we take on the spirit of David. We release people. We release them in the same way that you have released us. Your grace, your mercy over us, your grace and your mercy through us, we pray. In Jesus' name.