2 Samuel 19:16-30--David Pardons His Enemies

2 Samuel 19:16-30
English Standard Version

David Pardons His Enemies
16 And Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjaminite, from Bahurim, hurried to come down with the men of Judah to meet King David. 17 And with him were a thousand men from Benjamin. And Ziba the servant of the house of Saul, with his fifteen sons and his twenty servants, rushed down to the Jordan before the king, 18 and they crossed the ford to bring over the king's household and to do his pleasure. And Shimei the son of Gera fell down before the king, as he was about to cross the Jordan, 19 and said to the king, “Let not my lord hold me guilty or remember how your servant did wrong on the day my lord the king left Jerusalem. Do not let the king take it to heart. 20 For your servant knows that I have sinned. Therefore, behold, I have come this day, the first of all the house of Joseph to come down to meet my lord the king.” 21 Abishai the son of Zeruiah answered, “Shall not Shimei be put to death for this, because he cursed the LORD's anointed?” 22 But David said, “What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah, that you should this day be as an adversary to me? Shall anyone be put to death in Israel this day? For do I not know that I am this day king over Israel?” 23 And the king said to Shimei, “You shall not die.” And the king gave him his oath.

24 And Mephibosheth the son of Saul came down to meet the king. He had neither taken care of his feet nor trimmed his beard nor washed his clothes, from the day the king departed until the day he came back in safety. 25 And when he came to Jerusalem to meet the king, the king said to him, “Why did you not go with me, Mephibosheth?” 26 He answered, “My lord, O king, my servant deceived me, for your servant said to him, ‘I will saddle a donkey for myself, that I may ride on it and go with the king.’ For your servant is lame. 27 He has slandered your servant to my lord the king. But my lord the king is like the angel of God; do therefore what seems good to you. 28 For all my father's house were but men doomed to death before my lord the king, but you set your servant among those who eat at your table. What further right have I, then, to cry to the king?” 29 And the king said to him, “Why speak any more of your affairs? I have decided: you and Ziba shall divide the land.” 30 And Mephibosheth said to the king, “Oh, let him take it all, since my lord the king has come safely home.”

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David is now in the aftermath of a civil war and faces a hard decision on how to respond to the people who have just rebelled against him.  Shimei, the one from Saul's family that was cursing David and pelting David with dirt and rocks when he was on his way out of the city, declaring this was payback for what David had done to Saul, came to David quickly along with the tribe of Judah, Ziba the servant of Saul and Mephibosheth, and 1,000 men of the tribe of Benjamin, along with Saul's fifteen sons and twenty servants that still remained.  They all rushed down to the Jordan River to meet David and his household in order to help them cross over and Shimei in particular wants to plead for forgiveness for the sin that he committed.

​Abishai, the brother of Joab, argued that Shimei should be put to death for his crimes, but David tells Abishai that he no longer seeks the council of any of Joab's family or anyone else, for he himself is the king and when he wants advice, he will ask for it, and he had decided that there would be no more bloodshed.  No one from that group that came to meet him and seek peace would die, including Shimei.

Then Mephibosheth, the relative of King Saul who was crippled and whom David had raised as one of his own children, but who had abandoned David hoping that perhaps it was his time to have the throne given to him, came to David.  Mephibosheth was in no state to come before the king having not had anyone to help care for him the entire time that David and his household were gone.  This is a picture of us when we leave Christ for anything we think will be better for He is the one who takes care of us to feed us, clean us up, and take care of even the unseemly things like taking care of our feet when we are essentially crippled and can't care for ourselves.  Like David here, Jesus would simply ask us, "Why didn't you come with me?" for we are to follow Him wherever He goes.  Mephibosheth says that it was his intent to leave with David but his servant, though not referring to Ziba, had left him behind.  David tells Mephibosheth that he need not explain any more and that David wanted to give half of Mephibosheth's property back to him but wanted the other half to stay with Ziba because of how he had cared for David and his men as they were escaping.  Mephibosheth says that Ziba can keep all the property that had once been in Mephibosheth's name because Mephibosheth is just happy that David has returned to him safely.

​That seems like a good stopping point for today.  We'll pick up in verse 31 next time, but these were the two people that stood in the greatest need of forgiveness and show us the picture of how Jesus extends unconditional forgiveness to those of us who were his enemies whether we were intentionally hostile towards him or whether we were deceived an unable to do anything to save ourselves from the circumstances.  In either case, He will forgive completely and remember our sin no more, restore us to right standing, and in the case of Mephibosheth, He places us once again at the King's table takes care of all of our uncleanness and meets our every need so that we have no more need to own everything because if we have Him, we have everything we could ever want.