Tonight, as we turn to the book of 2 Samuel, in chapter 16, we're going to see an episode in the life of David where he patiently endures suffering. He patiently endures suffering, and that's the title of this evening's sermon. But he will patiently endure suffering, trusting the Lord. and his vindication and his faithfulness. So 2 Samuel chapter 16. And friends, as we're studying tonight, I pray that his story, his testimony may be an encouragement to you to persevere in hope, even as your Lord Jesus persevered in hope. 2 Samuel chapter 16, verse one. Friends, the word of God says, When David had passed a little beyond the summit, Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth met him with a couple of donkeys, sat up there, and 200 loaves of bread, 100 bunches of raisins, 100 of summer fruits, and a skin of wine. And 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 are faint in the wilderness to drink. The king said, and where is your master's son? Zippo said to the king, behold, he remains in Jerusalem. For he said, today, the house of Israel will give me back the kingdom of my father. And the king said to Zippo, behold, all that belonged to Mephibosheth is now yours. And Zippo said, I pay homage. Let me ever find favor in your son, my lord, the king. Verse five, when King David came to Bethlehem, there came out a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gerah. And as he came, he cursed, continually. And he threw stones at David and at 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 Shimei 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 in 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. You are a man of blood. And Ebishai, the son of Zeruiah, said to the king, why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over and take off his head. But the king said, what have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah, 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 Ebishai and to all his servants, behold, my own son seeks my life. How much more now may this Benjamite 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 done 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 Shimei went along on the hillside opposite him, and cursed as he went, and threw stones at him and flung dust. And the king and all the people who were with him arrived weary at the Jordan, and there he refreshed himself." Friends, this is the Word of God. Thanks be to God. Let's pray. Our Father, we ask your mercy now as we study your word. Lord, we pray, enlighten our minds, enlarge our hearts by the truth. We pray, sanctify us, oh Lord, for your word is true. And oh Lord, by this word, you have purposed that we should grow up and mature into the likeness of Jesus. Oh Lord Jesus, teach us to persevere in hope, enduring all manner of shame and slander. Lord, trusting in your vindication and in your faithfulness. Father, this we ask in Jesus' name, amen. Amen, well, friends, you remember in our study, The Life of David, we have seen Absalom's conspiracy come to fruition. Remember, Absalom has been plotting for some time. He was the crown prince. He had the expectation that he would take the throne on the death of David, but he was not content to wait. So he has prepared a coup. He has gotten together a whole group of supporters. He has built his conspiracy and they're at Hebron. He declared himself to be King of Israel. Now word has gotten back to King David, and David has decided to flee rather than risk a siege, rather than see the city of Jerusalem in ruins, because David understands that this is where the Lord has chosen to put his name. Among all the tribes of Israel, God has promised a permanent dwelling among his people there in Jerusalem. And so to spare the holy city from being turned into a battlefield, David has decided to flee. So he's taken his court, save for a handful of concubines. They are left to watch over the house, but he takes the rest of his household and his faithful mighty men and others, and they are retreating from Jerusalem, they're headed east. But in order to go east to the Jordan, they have to go north through the Mount of Olives, and then up through the land of Benjamin, and then come over and drop down into the Transjordan River Valley. So it's a little bit of a trek, friends. So remember in the Holy Land, in Palestine, it is the land of great, topographical distinctions. We have the lowest place on Earth, the Dense Sea, and all of that region. And it's almost a kilometer from Jerusalem down to the bottom of the Red Sea. So even though it's a small distance as far as the crow flies, it's not easy terrain to get around. And so the whole company is moving out of Jerusalem And we see that David's come out of Jerusalem, he's come up to the Mount of Olives, and he's come to the summit. Now remember, Hushai is agreed to go back and be a double agent for David, and try and defeat the council of Ahithophel, and to be David's inside man, to get word back to David. So Hushai is headed back to Jerusalem, and David is still going towards the Jordan, where we see in verse one, he meets a man named Zimba. Now remember, Zivas described to us as a servant of Mephibosheth, but he was the steward of the house of Saul, the son of Kish. So remember, Saul, the son of Kish, was king before David. And it was Saul and his family that was displaced by David. So this is the former royal family. And in the days of Saul, Saul's family and the Benjamites had a plumb place in the nation. It was Saul who gave vineyards and olive orchard. It was Saul who gave plump military assignments. And so Saul put a lot of favor on his own house and on the house and the clan of Benjamin. And we see that this Ziba has been the steward of this vast wealth that belonged to Saul. Now, after Saul died and Jonathan died, the inheritance fell to Mephibosheth. You remember Mephibosheth, he's the lame son of Jonathan. the beggar that was welcomed as a son at the table of the King. We saw how Mephibosheth was a beautiful portrait of us as beggars at the table of Christ. We are those who have no right to eat at the table of the King or to have communion with the Lord of Glory, yet God graciously adopts and welcomes us to sit with Him as His royal children, because in Christ Jesus, we receive the full inheritance that is his own son. So Mephibosheth is treated as a son of David. He eats at the table of the king nightly, but it's Ziba that goes out to meet David. Now we're going to see that a little bit later on. Ziba is deceived from Mephibosheth this whole time, but now Ziba comes and he brings a bunch of gifts. He has two donkeys, and they're loaded down with provisions of bread and raisins, summer fruits, and skin of wine. And verse two, we see that David the king asks Ziba, what are you doing here? What do all these provisions mean? And Ziba says, well, these donkeys are for the household, for the ladies to ride. The provisions are for you as you're making your journey. This is my tribute. This is my gift. This is a show Ziba is making of his loyal love for David. So do you see what this is? This gift of provisions is designed by Ziba to showcase his loyalty. Ziba's saying, I'm loyal to you, David, not to Absalom. But Ziba is deceitful. Ziba is using this opportunity in order to diminish Mephibosheth in the eyes of David, and in so doing, perhaps regain the control of the fortune. that he had. And so we see that David questions Ziba and says, why are you here and not your master's son? And we see that Ziba makes up a lie and says, well, Mephibosheth, he decided that he was going to stay in Jerusalem because he thinks that in the midst of all the chaos and confusion of Absalom's coup, that there will be an opportunity for him to regain the throne. Ziba says, Mephibosheth believes that all of this turmoil in Judah and the house of David will leave Israel to say, you know, it really was better before David and his house were established in Israel. Don't you remember the good old days of Saul and his family? You know, we still have a few of Saul's heirs around. Look, there's one here in Jerusalem, a grandson of Saul, the son of the noble Jonathan. Mephibosheth. Now, in all likelihood, that was a pretty slim possibility. Mephibosheth was not ready to be king. Remember, he's a cripple. He's unable to move without assistance. He is completely dependent on Ziba and his house to take care of him. But still, David believes this slanderous lie that Ziba speaks. He believes it. And in a rash and unwise decision, David basically writes Mephibosheth off and says, Ziba, behold, all that belonged to Mephibosheth is now yours. This was not a wise move on David's part, but it does show us our vulnerability in the midst of trial. Friends, in the midst of trial and adversity, sometimes we fall prey to the lies. We believe the slander and we heed the gospel instead of seeking for the truth. Because friends, again, here Ziba has played Mephibosheth and has sought to slander him to David. And we see that David unwisely doesn't verify the report. doesn't seek for another opinion, but just immediately at the stroke of a pen, at the decree of the king, the Fibisheth is now written out, and Ziba is now the owner of all the property of Saul. And of course, Ziba's happy about it, and he says that he will honor the king, and may he ever find favor in his son. Friends, trial is a pressure cooker. When we endure trial and suffering, tends to work and to move us to where we don't think clearly, we don't think faithfully according to the truth of God's word, according to the wisdom. We tend to make rash decisions. And so friends, David here serves as a negative example in his dealing with Ziba and Mephibosheth. David was rash and unwise. And let us pray that God, the Holy Spirit would help us that in the midst of our own trial, when we hear of accusations and slander, when gossip is presented to us, that God the Holy Spirit would help us and lead us to have a calm spirit, not to rush to a hasty decision, but to seek for the truth, to give the benefit of the doubt, and to be those that are seeking to walk in charity and love and faithfulness. Because friends, here we see that David, in the midst of his trial, makes an unwise decision in believing slander. Well, in verse five, we see that now David, just like Mephibosheth, was the victim of slander and the victim of deceit. Now we see that David himself is going to be the object of abuse. So in verse five, we see that King David came to Baharim. We're reminded that that's a city of Benjamin, just a little ways north of Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives. And out of this city of Baharim, there comes a man identified as one of the family of the house of Saul. and his name is Shammai, and he is the son of Gerah. So remember Saul's family is quite extensive. So this is a relative of Saul. This is someone who's actually not just the steward of the house, but actually a relative. And this man comes out and he begins to curse continually. Now friends, this is more than simply, you know, just, vile speech. It's not just cussing that he's doing. What he's doing, Shimea is calling down the wrath, the condemnation, the judgment of God upon David. He is invoking the Lord of glory and calling upon him to bring the full vent of his fury and wrath upon David, and he cursed him continually. Now friends, just to understand for a little bit what the idea of blessing and cursing is. Friends, you know in the book of Numbers, I read to you very often, Numbers chapter six, the Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord causes his face to shine upon you and be merciful unto you. The Lord lift up the light of his countenance upon you. and give you peace. So friends, this is the blessing, the face of God set upon us in mercy. The blessing of the presence of God to be brought near to him, to be reconciled to him, to enjoy communion with him. Well friends, the curse is the opposite of that. May the Lord curse you and turn his back to you. May He give you nothing but His wrath and His anger and His fury. Friends, to be accursed of God is to be one upon whom God has set His just judgment and His righteous fury. Friends, the most graphic depiction of the curse is the cross of Christ. We've talked many times about this, but friends, When Jesus hung upon the tree, He was a curse for us. The curse of the wrath of God, the curse of the just judgment of God, the venting of His fury and anger against sin and transgression, all of the evil of His people, the full vent of that curse was aimed at Christ. He was seed on Calvary, the fury of the wrath of God. And in the moment of being accursed, friends, in his humanity, where he had always enjoyed the Father's face, where he had heard the voice of the Father say, this is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased. Touching his humanity, Jesus always felt the warmth of his Father's embrace, the strength of his unending love and faithfulness for a moment, for a time, for a period on the cross, Jesus could feel nothing but the wrath of God. And your friends, he felt hell upon that cross and he screamed out, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? I say that, friends, because in biblical categories, to be accursed of God is the most soul-wrenching, gut-splitting terror that any human being could ever endure. And so, friends, this is not simply verbal abuse. What is being hurled at David is nothing but an accusation that what David deserves is the wrath of God and an eternity in hell. He throws stones at David. adding physical assaults to his verbal curses. He hurls them at David and his servants and all the people, his mighty men. So here's this Shimei and he's hurling these stones and he's uttering these curses against David and his company. And notice what he says in verse seven. The content, get out, get out, you man of blood. David, you are a man of blood. You're a murderer. You're a violent, evil man, and God is bringing upon you, David, what you deserve. You are a worthless man. The Lord is avenging on you the blood of the house of Saul in whose place you reign. So what's Shimei accusing David of doing? God is avenging himself against you for slaying the blood of Saul and his family. You remember Abner, the uncle of of Saul. It was under David coming to have a treaty with David that Abner was murdered by Joab. Remember Ish-bosheth, the pretender to the throne? That son of Saul that was trying to hold the nation together? He was murdered and the head was brought to David. Friends, on the one hand, you can see Shema probably has a grudge against David. for all of the blood that's been shed and for all of the denigration they have received being kicked out of the royal place of honor. But again, friends, can you see how these words would cut to the heart of David? Because friends, even though he's not guilty personally of killing Ish-bosheth, he's not himself personally guilty of killing Abner or even Saul or Jonathan, he's guilty. of killing Uriah. He is a man of blood in that respect. And the other men that assaulted the city of Rabbah, that company of men that was with Uriah when the archers shot them all down, David is guilty of shedding innocent blood. David can't escape the fact he's a murderer. Friends, when we see ourselves for what we are, when we see the gravity of our sin and our guilt, it can be destructive. I mean, it can completely rip us apart. Friends, the way that you distinguish the accusations of Satan versus the rebuke and the correction of God, the Holy Spirit, is that the condemnation and accusation of the devil, he will raise your sin before you and say, look what a worthless servant you are to Jesus Christ. Look at how evil you are. You are so bad that God would never have anything to do with you. You ought to just give up on the Lord because he's given up on you. In short, friends, the devil drives us by our sin back into the darkness, further away from God. leading us to hide and conceal our transgressions rather than confessing them and turning from them. But the rebuke of the Holy Spirit is different because the Holy Spirit brings us to repentance. They're calling the same sins to mind, but it's the Holy Spirit who leads us to see that where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more. It is the Holy Spirit who reminds David, yes, you are a man of blood, And yes, you are guilty of killing Uriah and taking his wife to yourself. But God has promised you, David, that that sin has been put away. He's promised an atonement for you. He's promised you, David, that there's a son of promise coming who will bear your sin and his body upon the tree. There is the forgiveness of sins for you, David. And so, yes, the crime has been committed. but your God and His grace has cast it as far as the east is from the west. But David's processing all these things, right? David, you're a man of blood, Shimei says. The Lord is avenging on you all of the evil, and it's for this reason that your son Absalom is on the throne. Now David is reminded again of the words of Nathan. What did Nathan say? David's own house, trouble would arise. David's understanding this is part of the discipline of God. God is fulfilling the word that he spoke to me by his servant, Nathan. Even as Shimea says, see, your evil is on you, for you are a man of blood. So friends, in one respect, Shimea is slandering David, accusing him of being a violent tyrant who destroyed the house of Saul and then took the reins of power. But David knows that even though Shammai is wrong in that regard, David still has his sin. And so we see his response in verse nine. Abishai is just ready to go over there and be done with Shimei. He says to David, why should we let this man continue to taunt you? Give me the word and I will take off his head. Verse 10, we see that David again is put off by the bloodthirstiness of Abishai and Joab. What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah? Remember, they're David's nephews. by David's older sister, Zeruiah. And David is, in a sense, sort of putting some distance between them. He's saying, look, you sons of Zeruiah, you are love-thirsty, vengeful men. May I not have that same character that belongs to you. May I not be like you are in your vendettas. Here we see David, led by the Holy Spirit, trusting his God in the midst of the slander and abuse. He says to them, it may be that the Lord has commanded him to curse David. And who am I to say to him, why have you done so? David doesn't understand why Shimea is cursing him. But the fact of the matter is, is that it's been ordained by God that he should do it. Friends, that's something we understand when we study the Scriptures, that God is sovereign, that there's nothing that happens in this world outside of his control. God decrees whatsoever comes to pass, but he decrees it in such a way that neither is God the author of sin, nor is any violence done to the will of the creature, nor is the contingency of secondary causes removed, but rather established. What that means, friends, is Shemaiah is doing exactly what he wants to do. Shemaiah wants to curse David out of the malice and hatred in his heart. He's venting his spleen against the son of Jesse. And God has ordained that it should be so. And that's what David rests in. David rests in that it is under the sovereign providence of God that even this abuse would come. David says, it may be that the Lord has commanded him to do so, And if that's true, who am I to say, God, what have you done? But on the other hand, if he is just slandering me to slander me, David says, I can trust that my God is faithful. He says in verse 11, I mean, if this Benjamite, my own son is seeking my life, how much more this Benjamite? And he says to Abishai, leave him alone, let him curse, for the Lord has told him to. It may be that the Lord will look on the wrong done to me, and the Lord will repay me with good for his cursing today. David patiently endures suffering. He patiently endures slander. In here, friends, we see David as the man of faith. We see David as the godly man. We see through David something of Christ and him patiently enduring all manner of abuse at the hands of sinners. Friends, we're not to be surprised when the world utters lies about us. We ought not to be caught off guard when our reputation might be destroyed because of some falsehood that's laid. We trust that our God is sovereign in the midst of it, that this isn't happening outside of his control or his design. There is meaning, there is purpose, there is good, that God is working through even this slander and abuse that we are enduring. And though we don't know all the good ends that God may be using this present slander for, we can trust Just like our Lord Jesus received his vindication, we too will receive a vindication from the Lord. We're reminded that there's going to be a day where God will make every wrong right. As he has said, vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. So for as it is, today he teaches us how to patiently endure suffering, trust in the sovereignty of God. We remember Christ and his vindication and we wait. We wait upon the Lord to act for us. We trust that though men may fail us and though men may despise us, we can trust that our God is faithful to be loyal in his love to us. Well, in verse 13, we see that David goes on down the road and all of the curses of Shimei are following him. The stones are being flung at him, and the dust is being hurled at him. And so by the end of their journey, they arrive at the Jordan exhausted. Physically, it's a difficult trip, but even mentally, emotionally, spiritually, David's worn out, and there at the Jordan, he refreshes himself. You know, He went past Shimei, but he eventually got to Jordan. He eventually got to a place to rest. He was refreshed there at his camp. And so friends, slander has a term in this day. Abuse and the spleen of men has an expiration date. It will not last forever for the people of God. And so friends, I pray that that encourages you today and in the days to come. That when all of this arises, that you and I aren't caught off guard by it. but that like David, we are trusting our God to vindicate. And we know that he will, friends. In a few short chapters, we'll see that Absalom is destroyed and David is restored, and Shimei comes with his tail tucked between his legs, and he begs for the king's mercy, which David graciously gives. But right now, the slander hurts. And friend, if it hurts you, I pray that you're finding refuge in the Lord. I pray that you are putting it at his feet, trusting in his sovereignty, hoping in his faithfulness, depending upon his mercy, because we know that our God is faithful to vindicate. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for Jesus and his vindication. We ask the Spirit that you would enable us to think wisely and carefully in the midst of our own trials and tribulations. Father, we pray that you would help us as a church to love and to serve one another. In whatever seasons, Father, you have ordained for us. Father, we do pray for our brothers and sisters who, even presently, might be enduring all manner of false accusations and abuse and slander. Lord, we pray that you would comfort them and care for them. We pray, O Lord, that you would help us to seek for the truth, Lord, to be men and women who seek to honor you and the truth above all else. Father, we pray, help us in these things. For we ask you for Christ's sake,