But my mouth would encourage you; comfort from my lips would bring you relief.
Job 16:5 (NIV)
Adding Insult to Injury by Cathy Vinson |
We may one day be walking a life's crisis
only to find someone adding another hardship. Nothing could seem more untimely! "Is
this some sort of mistake, God? This was already all I could bear." Such was the case
with David (2 Sam 16). Can you imagine, he is barefoot and weeping leaving his throne
because of Absalom's conspiracy, and what's this? "A man from the same clan as Saul's
family came out" (vs 5). A tirade of words followed...calling him a man of blood, a
scoundrel, that he was getting what he deserved and that he had merely been reigning in
the rightful throne of Saul. David was also getting hit by his thrown stones and flying
dirt. What miserable moments in an already distressful time! These were moments that in their duration left David and his people "exhausted" (vs 14). So how did David respond with this insult being added to his injury? He "received" it (vs 12). It was his hour of "distress." Why would he allow himself to be struck down lower than his already lowest? He saw that God "told" Shimei to curse him. God was behind it. If he received this, God might look upon him favorably. God might "repay me with good" (vs 12) by receiving this extra destruction upon his heartsick soul. Such grave lowness is rare, the worst having even some extra leaking in upon it. David knew his God. In his godly heart towards a faithful God, he saw that perhaps God was allowing this extra distress to pull Him into "debt" to David. This misfuortune in light of the God he loved was an opportunity for good to come his way, for God to "repay." May we remember this. It may help us know how to respond to a very untimely happening, when our Shimei "comes out cursing" at the very worst moment of our life. |
|
"cursing (him) as he went by and throwing stones at him and showering him with dirt" (2 Sam 16:13) |
||
|
Send a note to Cathy Vinson , the writer of this devotion.
Other Whispers from the Wilderness Devotions are found HERE
Return to the Daily Miscellany