3 hearts 2 sam 19:18-23
Coming out of the return of the King- Shimei comes before David and begs for forgiveness and greets him. He realizes what he has done and what he did wrong. Abishai steps in and wants to kill him. David gives him grace.
Who will you be in this story?
- Heart to Repent
Shimei says “know I have sinned” he comes to the realization that he was a contributor to the demise of the kingdom and of David- This is the guy who came along David in 2 sam 16
2 sam 16:5-8 This dude was tossing stones, cussing, yelling at David-
His heart has changed quite drastically- hasn’t it?
2 Sam 19:19-20 “Do not let my lord impute iniquity to me, or remember what wrong your servant did
What a heart change! It was God that did it- Not David You’ll remember that David didn’t engage with Shimei- He left him to himself and let God handle his heart- and he repented!
God bless Shimei and his heart change- Praise God- This is the heart of repentance! He realized that he had done wrong- and that he needed the forgiveness of David
Proverbs 28:13 He who covers his sins will not prosper, But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.
Shimei is walking this out- He was in a sea of people from Israel- he didn’t have to come forward and repent to David- but he wanted to- he wanted to make it right! Repent
David was a man of repentance as well Psalm 32:5 I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” And You forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah
This is the heart of someone who loves God- they want to turn from their sins- they want to make it right with God and with others- admit their sins and re-establish the relationship
There truly can be no reunion of the relationship without repentance- Sorrow, admittance, turning away- Shimei didn’t keep tossing stones and cussing asking for forgiveness- he changed
Matthew 3:8 Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance,
And that’s for us as well- if we’ve truly repented- it will show in our words and actions-
What does it mean to you?
What relationships do you have in your life that are strained because you have not repented?
If you’re not a Christian- the most important repent is from sin towards Christ-
But even professing Christians can get caught up in selfish pride and be ruining relationships because they refuse to repent to those whom they have hurt
Repentance is “I know what I did, please forgive me, I wont do it again”
2 Cor7:10 For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.
Shimei didn’t go back to his old ways- he went forward away from his sins- towards David
Acts 3:19 Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,
If you find that your relationships are strained with God or others, you may not be living a life of repentance- there is a one time- but there is a continual living in repentance-
Realising wrong, admitting it, asking for forgiveness and moving forward away from the sin
I have people in my life I have never heard ask for forgiveness or admit fault once
I’m not saying you need to walk around saying “im sorry” to everything- but if you never hear anyone admit fault for anything- its hard to believe they are living repentance
Acts 17:30 Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent,
Repentance is the beginning of the Christian walk and it’s a life we all should be living
Luke 13:3 Revelation 3:19
- Heart for Revenge-
Abashai “Shall not Shimei be put to death” Oh Abashai- You can’t help it can you- Old habits die hard
If anything- Abashai is consistent- He’s always down to defend David at whatever cost
Shimei had come against David- and now Abashai wants to get his- lets kill him
Remember- This is the same guy who was going to kill Saul, same guy who wanted to kill Shimei back in 2 sam 16. If there’s something to go down- He’s down- He wants his pound of flesh
You wonder why hes in the scriptures- probably because he shows the contrast- the wrong
Its not God’s heart, David heart, nor should it be our heart- We can’t live that way
Leviticus 19:18 You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.
Proverbs 20:22 Do not say, “I will recompense evil”; Wait for the Lord, and He will save you.
These are old testament truths that still apply today- God wants to be the one to bring about his justice- not us- he does not want us to take matters into our own hands-
But its not the heart of most people- most of us want to give people back what they deserve
Drove to cali this week- lady comes up on the side- double 1 finger salute- chased down- no
Pro 24:29 Do not say, “I will do to him just as he has done to me; I will render to the man according to his work.”
No- of course I didn’t do anything- I wanted to- but as a Christian- I have a higher standard
Romans 12:17 Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men.
What does it mean to you?
Are you a revengeful person? Do you enjoy hurting others and getting back at them?
You’re wrong- its wrong- its not of God and he doesn’t approve of it- change your heart
Romans 12:19 Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.
When you step in to take revenge on your own- you miss out on God taking his revenge.
1 kings 2 lays out the demise of Shimei- He gets his eventually- David didn’t do it- David lived up to his word- Solomon did it- executed him-1 kings 2:42-46 David didn’t have to.
Was Solomon right? Not getting into that- I cant control others- I can control myself
For me- 1 Peter 3:9 not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing.
I don’t want to return what I’m getting- I want to give back love care and mercy-
That’s the heart the Father wants for us- love- mercy- forgiveness- not revenge
Matthew 5:7 Blessed are the merciful, For they shall obtain mercy.
1 Thessalonians 5:15 See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all.
Are you pursuing what is good for others? Or are you so filled with anger, jealousy, envy, resentment and revenge that you want to see others destroyed?
Here’s what we should be doing-
- Heart to Remit-
- cancel or refrain from exacting or inflicting (a debt or punishment).
- David had a heart of forgiveness “You shall not die”
- He had every legal right to destroy Shimei and put him in the grave- but he chose not to-
- He wanted to forgive him- let him Go- same heart in ch 16 is the same heart here- let him live
- What creates a heart like that? A heart that experienced the forgiveness of God himself
- Ps 103:10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor punished us according to our iniquities.
- David had seen God’s forgiveness through the thing with Bathsheba- he knew he deserved death- but God gave him mercy- so I assume that is part of why he showed mercy- he had experienced it himself and it changed him
- Psalm 145:9 The Lord is good to all, And His tender mercies are over all His works.
- David knew this saw this- understood this-
- Can you imagine a person who had been forgiven who didn’t forgive?
- Ephesians 4:32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.
- That’s the standard of Scripture- its what God designed for us and what he wants from us-
- It’s a high standard- I know we talk about it a lot- but its God’s design for us
- Matt 6:15 But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
- We are supposed to be forgivers! That’s what we’re supposed to do!
- What does it mean to you?
- Would people who know you describe you as forgiving? A person who forgives others?
- It should be- for all of us- it should be how people describe us- as forgiving people.
- Colossians 3:13 bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.
- That’s the standard of scripture- not revenge- forgiveness
- Think of this- Jesus forgave the ones who crucified them- can you find it in your heart?
- Luke 23:34 Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” And they divided His garments and cast lots.
- People say WWJD and they want to be like Jesus- but they don’t want to actually live it
- Romans 4:8 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin.”
- We all deserve destruction- how can we hold anyone to a higher standard than ourselves?
- Ephesians 5:1 Therefore be imitators of God as dear children.
- God forgives us all from everything we ever do, think, say and believe- he still receives us-
- Its not because you’re good- its because HE is good because of what HE has done-
- 2 Corinthians 2:10 Now whom you forgive anything, I also forgive. For [a]if indeed I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven that one for your sakes in the presence of Christ,
- Matthew 6:12 And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors.
- There has been horrible stuff done to me- I don’t hold it against them- don’t remember it honestly- I just move on- got a life to live- F them and let it go.
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