II SAMUEL 16 Lesson # 18
CRITICISM IS SURE TO COME WHEN YOU ARE DOWN
I. Introduction:
Q How many of you have been in charge of a fairly large operation and in that position received unwarranted criticism?
Q Have people criticized you for things you never even had anything to do with? Have you been accused of things that you never did?
An = Get as many as will share there experiences as you can.
Q Why do people always get bad information or wind-up accusing leaders of things they never did?
An = People often have experienced bad leadership before, and they assume you are just as bad as the last person they encountered. Also, people will accuse you of things you would never do, but things they would do if they were in your position. They assume you are just like them! Get into leadership and criticism is sure to come.
Note: Today’s lesson will deal further with David’s flight from Jerusalem and the ensuing coup in place against him from his own flesh and blood. David is in terrible straights. His life, his children’s life, and his whole life is crashing down around him. At this point some additional painful experiences begin. David’s life can teach us how to deal with such moments. If we are in leadership, they will come.
II. Two More Interviews Before Leaving Home: II Samuel 16:1-14.
A. The Interview with Ziba: A Report of Seeming Disloyalty. II Samuel 16:1-4.
>>>> Have someone read II Samuel 16:1-4.
Q Is Ziba telling the truth?
An = Mephibosheth will latter deny these charges 19:24-30 in a fairly convincing fashion. Brueggemann reminds us that Ziba brought this gift to David off of Mephibosheth’s land.
Q Did David make a good judgment here? Why or why not?
An = It obviously concerned David where Mephibosheth’s loyalty was. Mephibosheth was not much military help to David, but it meant a lot to him that he was backed up.
David might have been smarting from such a revelation and without hearing Mephibosheth’s side made a judgment. David made a hasty judgment. He takes revenge. David, by kingly pronouncement, completely disinherits Mephibosheth’s estate in Ziba’s favor based solely on Ziba’s word.
Note: Now that David is on the run, he faces other reactions than those of the high priests, Ittai, or Hushai. He seemingly faces another betrayal (other than his own son) and it hurts. When it rains, it seemingly pours! We get frustrated and are tempted to seek revenge when this happens.
B. The Fifth Interview: Open Attack on David’s Character. II Samuel 16:4-14.
>>>> Have someone read II Samuel 16:5-8.
Q How angry is this man?
An = He is seemingly beside himself with rage. He is also an idiot; he throws stones at a king surrounded with his mighty warriors. He continually curses and throws stones. How much bitter anger must have been pent-up inside this man to totally lose control like this.
Q What does he accuse David of doing?
An = He accuses David of being a man of bloodshed against his kinsman. He could be referring to Abner (a Benjamite), Ishbosheth, or even guilty of Saul’s death. We know that Saul repeatedly tried to kill David and David righteously never took revenge when he could have. David had killed the man who reported to have killed Saul and executed the two men who killed Ishbosheth and was innocent of Abner’s murder. He graciously took care of Mephibosheth. If David was ever totally innocent in a situation it was here as far as Saul’s actual lineage. His only error was not executing Joab for Abner’s murder.
Q How do people come up with such ideas that have no foundation in fact?
An = The Bible does not tell us. Shimei might have resented David ever since his house supplanted Saul’s house. Perhaps he had enjoyed the special position being a member of Saul’s household, being a Benjamite, had brought him. Maybe David’s reign had taken that away (see I Samuel 22:7) (Matthew Henry, p. 349).
People might resent you because you were instrumental (without malice on your part or intention) in taking away some perk or position someone might have enjoyed. They might be simmering with anger for years waiting to explode when your fortunes change.
>>>> Have someone read II Samuel 16:9.
Q What is Abishai’s solution to the problem of Shimei?
An = Abishai proposes radical neck surgery! This is one of David’s options. When people attack us we can often find an Abishai close at hand. Jesus show us how to handle such suggestions.
>>>> Have someone read Luke 9:52-55.
Q How does Jesus respond to this same scenario?
An = Jesus says this is never the way to handle detractors. Open rebuke and insult will always come our way if we are in leadership. Brutal response is not the proper response. David, we will see, will handle this situation like his coming Lord.
Q Is David a totally sinless and innocent man?
An = No, he is not. We are not like Jesus. We may not be guilty of the one thing people accuse us of, but we have sinned just as bad as what they accuse us of. David is innocent of Saul’s blood but not of Uriah’s.
RQ So, how do we, sinful men like David, handle such unfair and abusive attacks?
>>>> Have someone read II Samuel 16:10-14.
Q What does David do with the curse?
An = He accepts it. Brueggemann, p. 308, tells us that the David lets the curse go unanswered not as an admission of guilt but as an act of faith. David knows he is innocent of guilt concerning Saul’s household, but he knows he is not completely innocent of blood guilt. He has Uriah’s blood on his hands.
Most of us do not like acknowledging our guilt and even less so when we are accused of something we have not done. However, David is willing to be submissive to God and willing to surrender to whatever the Lord brings.
Q What allows David to be willing to see his own fault so openly and submissively?
An = Two powerful reasons that can be represented by two powerful words: repentance and grace. David has repented in chapter 12, and he meant it. He was willing to square with reality (II Samuel 12:13). When you face reality, it alters future reality. It also changes you and what you can be in the future. David knows what it is like to face real guilt in a righteous way with open and honest repentance. David then experienced the second powerful truth: God’s grace. David has seen what the Lord will do with those who face the music with Him. To be sure, David has experienced judgment, but he has also experience the love of God and His grace. He is willing to be in the hands of God. God may have mercy.
RQ Are we willing to admit error, even when our detractors have missed the real errors we have committed?
Q Why are most Christians so different than David and so unwilling to admit their mistakes?
An = We do not really believe in God’s grace in a practical fashion. Our theology needs to come down into our daily lives more consistently. It is easy to get out of the habit of regularly repenting. We can lose the truth of the fundamentals of our salvation in practical, daily ways if we are not mindful.
I think the Lord wants us to ponder and realize just who He is. We can afford to be guilty and afford to be open to the truth, because God loves us. The cross is our proof of that.
Perhaps the daily test for our belief system is our daily willingness to be like David and be willing to lose our defensiveness in critique, because we place ourselves in His hands:
>> Re-read to them II Samuel 15:25-26. This crisis in David’s life has brought him to a fuller realization that he can trust God even in judgment. The apostle Paul knew this….
>>>> Have someone read I Timothy 1:15-16. Paul knew himself to be the worst of sinners and yet he had hope too. In a strange sense, Paul had good self-esteem. Paul knew he could be used of God and that produced in him both courage and praise of God.
>> Read to them I Timothy 1:17.
********************************************************************************* Read this if time allows.
Note:
This does not make sense until we fully encounter in our own experience real repentance. Oswald Chambers says (My Utmost For His Highest, December 7).
“Conviction of sin is one of the rarest things that ever strikes a man. It is the threshold of an understanding of God. Jesus Christ said that when the Holy Spirit came He would convict of sin, and when the Holy Spirit rouses a man’s conscience and brings him into the presence of God, it is not his relationship with men that bothers him, but his relationship with God—`against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Thy sight.’ The marvels of conviction of sin, forgiveness, and holiness are so interwoven that it is only the forgiven man who is the holy man, he proves he is forgiven by being the opposite to what he was, by God’s grace. Repentance always brings a man to this point: I have sinned. The surest sign that God is at work is when a man says that and means it. Anything less than this is remorse for having made blunders, the reflex action of disgust at himself.”
********************************************************************************* Note: We forget our basic truths sometimes and we need to ask God to help us experience all over again the profound and underlining truths.
Note: When we remember these truths we climb back into His hands, His secure hands, totally free of the horrible desire to justify ourselves. Even in judgment and in sorrow we can boldly and contentedly accept the blows of our detractors however misguided their blows may be.
When such uninformed attacks come, we should not be surprised but let them be guides to our accepting once again our true guilt.
Jesus reminds us that He was unjustly attacked in His ministry and we, as His followers, should accept the same treatment (Matthew 10:24-25). He then gives us a word of encouragement.
>>>> Have someone read Matthew 10:26.
Note: All will be made known someday as it was in David’s time. We do not need to destroy our detractors because with the use of Abishai’s but accept our real guilt knowing God will properly sort out the true from the false. In addition, He may add even more to the equation: His grace and mercy.
III. Life Goes On: The Hand of the Lord Is Slowly Revealed. II Samuel 16:15-23.
>>>> Have someone read II Samuel 16:15-19.
Note: Absalom’s greatest acquisition of aid so far in the coup has been enlisting the advise of Ahithophel, and David knows it. His hope is that Hushai, secretly loyal to him, will compromise Ahithophel’s advice. The first hurdle was to get Hushai on to Ahithophel’s war counsel. The first steps are laid in this encounter. Almost every thing Hushai says could be taken with a double meaning. Hushai is loyal to the king, just not the one Absalom things he is talking about.
>>>> Have someone read II Samuel 16:20-23.
Q Why is this immoral advice given by Ahithophel?
An = To ensure those involved in the rebellion are committed. Absalom will not be reconciled with David after publicly debasing his concubines. Ahithophel is wise, immoral, but exceeding wise.
However, the wisdom of the world is indeed often wise, but nothing is outside the sovereignty of God. Ahithophel thinks he is insuring the hands of this rebellion with his immoral advice, while we know that Ahithophel is merely helping to fulfill prophesy (c.f. Brueggemann, p. 310).
>>>> Have someone read II Samuel 12:11.
Note: Ahithophel probably does not know of this private prophesy given to David and though Ahithophel believes he is amazingly talented, he is never outside the guiding sovereign hand of God. God is bringing justice and judgment on behalf of Uriah, though his name is never mentioned in the narrative.
Q Are smart people like Jonadab and Ahithophel truly wise?
An = Intelligence and grace are not always the same thing. Giftedness does not always equal godliness! Neither of these men operate in grace, despite their uncanny understanding of human beings.