2 SAMUEL 16 PURSUE GODS HEART BEFORE DEFENDING YOURSELF2018 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: 2 Samuel 16 Pursue Gods Heart Before Defending Yourself

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2018.

2 Samuel chapter 16. We've camped out here in chapter 16 for a few weeks now, and we don't normally take it at this pace, but the Lord has just continued to stir up some different things as we've been going through this. And so we'll look once again at chapter 16, and then Lord willing, we'll move on to chapter 17 next week. But we're going to look at chapter 16, and then we're going to look at chapter 17 next week.

Here in chapter 16, we're with David as he is fleeing out of Jerusalem. His son Absalom has revolted and swayed the hearts of the people of Israel and is headed to Jerusalem to take over and set himself up as king as he's already declared himself to be king. And now as David is on the way out,

All kinds of things are transpiring as he's running away into the wilderness to hide out, and there's going to be some conflict that happens. It's not that he's given up entirely, but he is removing himself to prepare for the battle that is at hand and the things that need to take place next. But as he's still on the way...

And literally, he's like just over the hill from Jerusalem. Like he's just gone in the valley. He's gone over the Mount of Olives. He's not even off the Mount of Olives yet. And we've been watching these encounters with all of these different people and seeing David's interaction with them and people's reaction to what's happening to David. And we're going to continue to look at that this evening here in chapter 16, looking at verses 5-7.

through 14 with a man named Shimei and his encounter with David or David's encounter with him. And so let's go ahead and read through 2 Samuel chapter 16 verses 5 through 14 and then we'll dig into what the Lord has portioned for us this evening. Verse 5 tells us this, now when King David came to Baharin there was a man from the family of the house of Saul whose name was Shimei the son of Gera coming from there.

He came out cursing continuously as he came. 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. Also Shimei said thus when he cursed, Come out, come out, you bloodthirsty man, you rogue. The Lord has brought upon you all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose place you have reigned. And the Lord has delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom your son.

So now you are caught in your own evil because you are a bloodthirsty man. Then Abishai, the son of Zeruah, said to the king, why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Please let me go over and take off his head. But the king said, what have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruah? So let him curse because the Lord has said to him, curse David, who then shall say, why have you done so?

And David said to Abishai and all his servants, "'See how my son who came from my own body seeks my life? How much more now may this Benjamite let him alone and let him curse, for so the Lord has ordered him.'" Verse 12, "'It may be that the Lord will look on my affliction and that the Lord will repay me with good for his cursing this day.' And as David and his men went along the road, Shimei went along the hillside opposite him and cursed as he went.'"

threw stones at him and kicked up dust. Now the king and all the people who were with him became weary, so they refreshed themselves there. Here in 2 Samuel chapter 16, as we watch David exiting Jerusalem, we're introduced to this guy named David.

And he comes at David pretty severely, pretty strongly with curses and rocks and dust and is really out to discourage and to celebrate what is happening there.

But this evening, as we look at this passage, I want to consider David's response to this as an example for us as we seek to be those who would pursue God's heart. Since David is referred to and called by the Lord as one who is after his heart, who pursued the heart of God, we look to him many times as an example. Sometimes he's not a great example. Sometimes he shows us what not to do. But here in this passage, the way that he responds to this conflict is

to this attack is really something for us to consider and models what the Lord would have for us in many ways. And so I've titled the message this evening, Pursue God's Heart Before Defending Yourself. Pursue God's heart before defending yourself. What happens when you are attacked? I know what it's like to be like David as he's walking and

rocks are being thrown. Sometimes Harvey gets really mad at my message. He crumbles it up and throws it at me while I'm walking up the aisle. I say, stop it, old gray-haired man. And he comes back and tells me, you're fat. And, you know, it's easy for us to get into that fighting back, that, you know, attacking those who are attacking us and to try to defend ourselves. It's a reflex in some ways. It's something that just happens automatically that can happen without us

thinking about it. And that's why I titled the message, Pursue God's Heart Before Defending Yourself. That is that we need to train ourselves to stop and ask God. And it can be challenging because it's so natural for us to react and respond and to fight back as soon as, you know, we are attacked. But to train ourselves to ask God first. And that can be a challenge. And it takes some effort and some diligence on our part to do that. But we have to rewire our thinking a bit. And

to stop and pursue God's heart? What does God want in the midst of this situation? I was thinking back to when I was young. My family had an ATC. You guys remember ATCs? They're not really around that much anymore. Now everybody's into quads. Well, I don't know about everybody, but you know, if you're going to ride something, it's probably a quad or a motorcycle. It's not an ATC. But

We had an ATC, and I remember being a young kid, and boy, that was a lot of fun. You know, you go out in the desert or in some friend's big backyard and ride around on that. And I remember riding around on that, and I had to learn how to ride it because, well, I would take the turns, and it was so unnatural for me. When you're riding an ATC, if you ever get the opportunity, you're supposed to lean into the turn. But I had a really hard time

accepting that in my head. It just didn't make sense in my head. And so I would take the turns and I would be going either the opposite way or just try to remain upright because I

It felt like I was going to fall over if I leaned in, but actually, you're going to fall over if you stay upright or if you lean the opposite way, you know, then it starts to tip over. And there was several occasions I remember. I have, you know, the memory of my heart beating rapidly as, you know, the one wheel comes off the ground and I'm freaking out and I'm trying to like, you know, and to this day even, like, I just have such a hard time with that concept. Right?

I got used to it a little bit as I was a kid, but it wasn't too long ago, maybe just a couple years ago, my dad had a motorcycle and I was over there visiting him. It was just a little dirt bike and

I was like, oh, let's just ride it around the yard a little bit. He's got a little bit of a yard, and so I'm starting to ride it around, and cool, I do a little loop, and you know, it's a little bit fun. I didn't go faster. I mean, I didn't even like throttle. It was just idle, basically, you know, all around. But then I went around a couple times, and my dad says, okay, no, go around this way. And so I was like, okay, and I found out I can't turn the other direction. I can only turn left. I can't turn right. Every time I tried to turn right, I'd fall over. The motorcycle would drop to the ground, and you know, it was...

Yeah, all kinds of problems. But anyways, it just, like, just, like, I know mentally what needs to happen, and it makes sense, but in the midst of the moment, in the midst of the turn, I just can't get myself to,

to follow through and commit to what needs to be done. And I think for us, as we consider defending ourselves, we need to do that work and put in the effort to retrain ourselves, to handle these situations in a way that honors the Lord. And that's what we see David do here in this passage. David honors the Lord with his behavior in response to this attack that is going on. G. Campbell Morgan puts it this way.

As we thus follow David through these days of humiliation and shame, while with him we recognize the perfect justice of all the suffering that came to him, we nevertheless understand more perfectly that he was indeed a man after God's own heart. We see this character and nature of God not just in David when he's writing psalms and singing worship, but here in the midst of his humbling character.

And the experiencing of the chastening and the consequences of the sin that he committed with Bathsheba and Uriah in the previous chapters. As we see all of that unfold and how he is now walking through that, we see even more clearly David was a man who pursued the heart of God.

And so he gives us a good example to pursue God's heart before defending ourselves. We're going to look at four points here in David's example to help us, to help us to train ourselves with some new reflexes, to train ourselves to lean into the curve that we would be able to handle these things in a way that honors the Lord. And so the first thing we'll look at is we're going to look at verse 9 and 10. And point number one is you don't have to respond to every attack.

This is something, again, hard for us to really grasp hold of, although we might accept it intellectually. We might know that it's the truth, but in the midst of it, we need to remember you don't have to respond to every attack that comes your way. Verse 9 again, Then Abishai, the son of Zeruah, said to the king, Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Please let me go over and take off his head.

But the king said, what have I to do with you, sons of Zeruah? So let him curse, because the Lord has said to him, curse David. Who then shall say, why have you done so?

Here as they're walking along the way, and this guy, Shimei, comes on the scene. And I don't know about you, but he just is like a funny character in my head. You know, just the way that it's pictured. You know, he's like running around, throwing dirt in the air, and throwing rocks and cursing. It's like, you know, kind of like a crazy person. You know, kind of like someone who's gone over the edge. And I just see him like...

You know, just like freaking out. And it's just kind of the way I picture it and maybe not accurate to history. But here he is. He is clearly upset. He's throwing insults. He's throwing accusations. He's throwing out complete lies and falsehoods against David. And Abishai, David's friend...

one of David's, you know, commanders, one of the guys who's been with David since the very beginning in the wilderness, decades before. He's been with David for so long, and he just can't take it anymore. He's put up with this for a little bit, but he just can't take it anymore. And he says, David, why should this dead dog, why should this guy keep attacking you in this way? Let me go take off his head. Let me go put an end to this right now. Now, it's possible that

To make a case that what Abishai wanted to do, well, you have some biblical authority to do that. In the book of Exodus, chapter 22, verse 18, God declares, you shall not revile God nor curse a ruler of your people. And so God had specifically forbidden, you shall not, thou shall not curse a ruler of your people.

And here is Shimei cursing a ruler of God's people. And so you could make a case. Perhaps Abishai could make a case. David could make a case. Yeah, if I want this to end, look at this guy. He's breaking the command of God. Go ahead, Abishai. And he could have a biblical support for that. But even though that's the case, we need to consider that just because God allows for something or provides for something doesn't

doesn't mean that it has to be or that it should be. You know, there's the instruction for the eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. And God never meant that to be a law in the sense that you have to. There is still room for mercy to be shown. There was still room for there to be some discretion and say, hey, you know, that's okay. There's going to be forgiveness. There's going to be mercy in this situation. And there was room for that to take place. And

God reserves room for that to take place in his judgments as well. Sometimes he allows himself room to just show mercy and to not allow us to experience the consequences that we deserve. And

And so although Shimei, yes, it could be said he could, you know, be put to death in that way, he could, you know, be dealt with in that way and be justified. That doesn't necessarily mean that that's what God desired in the situation. That doesn't necessarily mean that that's what was the best for the circumstances at hand. And so David says, I don't think that's right. He says, what do I have to do with you?

You sons of Zeruah. Now, Abishai was Joab's brother and they tended to be a bit aggressive in defending David. And they were loyal to David and would, you know, had no problem taking people out to defend David and to fight for his honor. And so, you know, that was their tendency. And he says, look, you guys are all like that. All you brothers, you know, you're fighting too hard. No, no, this is not, we're not on the same page here. This isn't what the Lord would have for me today.

The apostle Peter called us to consider Jesus in similar circumstances. In 1 Peter 2, verse 23, talking about Jesus, Peter says, Peter says, think about Jesus when he was attacked.

He was attacked by the religious leaders. He was attacked, you know, in the Roman court, in the religious court. He was attacked. He was, false witnesses came forward. They reviled him. They threw out these curses at him. They threw out these false accusations at him. But he did not revile in return. He didn't attack back. He didn't respond to every attack. Now for Jesus, of course, all of what Jesus experienced was false accusations and unjust accusations.

actions and activity. Now for David, the specific things that Shimei accuses him of, being a bloodthirsty man and taking the kingdom of Saul, David actually was innocent of those charges that Shimei was laying against David. But we also acknowledge that part of this though is David experiencing the consequences of his sin with Bathsheba. So there was

Not the truth in the specifics that Shimei was saying, but the overall experience was, well, it was part of the results. And so he was experiencing these things. They were false accusations. And for Jesus, they were all false accusations. And I point that out because as hard as it is to not just automatically respond to an attack, when it's a false accusation, it can be extra hard, particularly hard, right? Because

oh man, how could you say that about me? That is not true. You know that, well, you know, it's one thing if you say something about me and it's true, then I still might want to fight back. But, you know, it doesn't provoke me quite as much as when you say, you know, hey, you're always doing this or you're always that way or this is, you know, and it's like, oh man, that bugs me so much because it's not true. You know, that's a false accusation. It's particularly hard, but we need to train ourselves to teach ourselves. You don't have to respond.

to every attack. That attack could be an insult. It could be an attack that happens in the midst of some type of conflict, perhaps an argument, perhaps, you know, in a heated discussion at home or in the workplace or, you know, some other thing. It might be, you know, someone that

You would classify as an enemy, or it might just be, you know, someone that's a friend or someone that you love, but you're in the heated exchange. And there are these attacks, these insults, these accusations, perhaps exaggerations, perhaps flat out lies. And these attacks are coming, and there is a great temptation to just respond and react, especially when there are false accusations. But Peter says, consider Jesus. This evening, we consider David.

You don't have to respond to every attack. You don't have to react. You don't have to attack back. Now, I worded it this way on purpose. You don't have to respond to every attack because it's not that God never wants us to respond to an attack. I think it's an interesting contrast to consider that the Apostle Paul, in similar circumstances to Jesus, falsely accused before Roman authorities. Paul defended himself, right?

And he, you know, used those opportunities to preach the gospel. And when that continued to, you know, fail as far as getting him freed, he appealed to Caesar and, you know, even took hold of his rights as a Roman citizen to defend himself and call, you know, the emperor to give a decision in his case. And so there is the occasion, there is the opportunity for God to say, hey, it's time to respond to that attack and to bring a defense against

But it's not always one way or the other. It's not that we never are called to defend ourselves or to defend others around us. It's not that we're never called to defend ourselves or that we're always called to defend ourselves. There are times to do one and times to do the other. And so how do we know which is which? Well, that's why we need to come back to this idea of pursuing God's heart.

Before we just engage in the defense, before we engage in the, you know, attacking back and retaliating, we need to stop and consider, Lord, what do you want in this situation? And I would suggest to you as you're, you know, kind of working through that and processing that in your mind, let the default be as you're, you know, training yourself and thinking about these things, let the default be don't defend yourself.

Probably most of the time, our default is defend yourself. But in the case of these kinds of things where there's false accusations or insults or lies or those kinds of things, let the default be don't defend yourself and then let God lead you to do otherwise. Give God an opportunity to direct you and seek the Lord. But consider that most of the time, probably God is

He wants you to handle that differently than you might naturally respond to it. Think about what Jesus said in Matthew 5, verse 39. He says, I tell you not to resist an evil person, but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. Now, this is not talking about actual physical abuse. Jesus here is talking about insults. A slap on the cheek, it's an insult. Jesus is saying, someone insults you, take it.

No big deal. This is horrifying to our flesh, of course. Our pride, our sinful nature, this is not something that we want to consider. But insults, false accusations, lies, exaggerations, just take it. Offer your other cheek also. A few verses later, Jesus is going to go on to say, love your enemies. One of the characteristics of love is that it's not easily provoked. And so here we are, many times, easily provoked because...

of the attacks that we're experiencing. And Jesus is saying, no, love people. Don't be easily provoked. They insult you. They slap you on the cheek. Don't let it provoke you. Don't let that cause you to turn around and pay them back for what they've done to you. The apostle Paul talked about this quite a bit in Romans chapter 12. He tells us to repay no one evil for evil.

He tells us if it's possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. He tells us to not be overcome by evil, but to overcome evil with good. And so not to retaliate evil for evil, but to respond to evil with goodness. And again, this is so opposite, but it is in line with who God is and the way that God operates. You don't have to respond to every attack.

whether that be insults, accusations, exaggerations, or complete lies against you. Stop and let God give you some insight into what he desires in the midst of the situation. Charles Spurgeon puts it this way. If you can revenge yourself, don't. If you could do it as easily as open your hand, keep it shut. If one bitter word could end the argument, ask for grace to spare yourself.

that bitter word. Sometimes we just want the argument to be over. And we know, oh man, if I just say this, I could win this argument. I could win this battle. And Spurgeon says, if it's just right there, all you got to do is just open your hand, keep it shut. If it's just one word, just ask for grace, Lord, help me not to bring forth that bitter word. Oh yeah, you don't have to respond that way. You don't have to give in

to that tendency and that desire. Well, moving on to verses 10 and 11, we get point number two, and that is accept that God has allowed this. This is a challenging one, but in the midst of attack, when Shimei is there and throwing rocks and cursing at you and throwing up dust in the air, and there's all this pressure as everybody's watching to see how are you gonna respond to this guy coming at you in such a way? David's response is interesting. Looking again at verse 10, it says, but the king said,

David here in these verses says something that's really interesting and quite challenging to

If you're looking to consider the theology, there's some difficult concepts to wrap your mind around in these things that David says. David says, okay, we're not going to take off his head. We're not going to fight back. But why? What's his reasoning? What's the foundation that he's making that decision from? He says, because God told him to curse David.

He says in verse 10, because the Lord had said to him, curse David. Here you get this picture. David is saying, look, God gave him instruction. God commanded Shimei, hey, Shimei, wake up. David's on his way out of Jerusalem. You know, you need to go curse him. That's kind of the picture that is being painted there as David is saying that. In verse 11, he widens the instruction, not just to Abishai. He said, hey, I want everybody to know, all of my servants, everybody, you're all experiencing this with me.

Could it be that God commanded Shimei to do this? Could it be that God put it on Shimei's heart to treat David this way? Could it be that God commanded this? There's a difference. And again, it is a challenging concept for our minds and for us to consider.

There is a difference between God commanding something and God allowing something. And sometimes that difference is, it's hard to discern as we're looking at various passages. There's a common one that will happen later in David's life where he numbers the people. And in one passage, it says that the enemy stirred it up. And there's a question like, did God command

want this to happen? And so he's the one who stirred up David to number the people. And there's this challenge that can be there. And so here we have one of those cases where David says, God told him to do this. The commentator Adam Clark talks about this a little bit. He says, this is a peculiarity of the Hebrew language, which does not always distinguish between permission and commandment.

He goes on to say, David considers all this as being permitted of God for his chastisement and humiliation. It is difficult sometimes to clearly see, is this directly done by God or is it worded that way, but meant to describe, meant to say that it's allowed by the Lord.

Is that really the meaning? That God permitted, God allowed. He didn't prevent this. And so therefore, David says, God ordered him to do this. God gave him the opportunity. God let him go forward like this. And so let him alone. Don't take off his head because God allowed this. God has permitted this. And that makes a lot of sense. It's probably...

What we're looking at here as we look at this example of David, it's probably not that God gave Shimei a direct order and a commandment and the Holy Spirit told him, you know, it's not like that. But God did allow this. He did permit this to take place. Everything that happens in our lives, we have to wrestle with this a little bit. It's hard for us to grasp hold of this concept. But everything that happens in our lives, God specifically has a hand in either allowing it or not allowing it.

Some things are directly done by the Lord. Some things are not initiated by the Lord, but he allows them. And so there is some part that God has to play in the events that take place and the things that we go through. God allows things like attacks, like shimmy eyes in our lives. We see the classic example of this, of course, in Job, right? Where Satan comes before the Lord. It's not

that God struck Job, but God did give the enemy permission. Go ahead. Yes, you can take his stuff. You can harm his body. You can't take his life. Set the parameters, set the boundaries, but he allowed, he permitted these events to take place in Job's life. And you know what Job said about that? Well, you know what his wife said about it, right? Why don't you just curse God and die already?

It's too hard. It's too difficult. But Job responded in Job chapter 2 verse 10. And he said to her, you speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God? And shall we not accept adversity? And notice what it says about Job in that. In all this, Job did not sin with his lips. I don't think any of us would wrestle with accepting good from God. But accepting adversity from God is a little bit more challenging for us. But it's just as important.

We need to come to a place where we acknowledge the authority, the sovereignty of God, and accept that he has allowed this. The most difficult things of our lives. God could have stopped it. He could have prevented it. He could also just, you know, catch us up and rapture us right now. He could also just wipe out Satan at this moment. But

For his reasons, his own reasons, he only, he has the wisdom to know, you know, why the reasons are for all of this, but we don't have to figure all that out, all the whys and, you know, what God's doing through it. We don't, we can't figure all that out, but we do have to come to the point where we accept God allowed this to take place in my life. God has permitted this.

God has purposes that we can't fathom and understand. He has plans that we can't even see, you know, two feet down the road and he sees 10,000 years down the road. He has promises that we know, but we often forget. And yet he has not forgotten them and he will keep those promises. And at the end, it is guaranteed to be worth it. Whatever God allows in our lives will be worth it.

But we need to come to the point right now where we don't have the fulfillment of everything yet and accept God has allowed this in my life. F.B. Meyer says this about Jesus. He says, when through the treachery of Judas, the bitter cup came to the lips of our Lord, he said, it is the cup that my father has given me to drink. In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus was praying, I'm distressed. I don't want to go through with this, but what am I going to say? Take this cup away from me. It's for this reason I came.

The betrayal of Judas, the crucifixion that followed. He says, this is the cup that the Father has given to me. The Father has allowed this, Jesus, accepted that. This is what God has for me. I don't always see the purposes. I don't always see the plans. I don't always know the what's and the why's and the how's and the when's, but I know that it will be worth it. God allows it,

And so he has a purpose. He has reasons. He has plans and promises that he will work out through it. Because this is a difficult concept for us to consider, I have one more quote for you to consider, this time from the commentator John Trapp. He says,

If a man meet a prince and know him not, he will not give him due reverence. So if we see not God in our sufferings, we shall not so well submit to him. He says, look, seeing God in our crosses, that's talking about our afflictions, our difficulties, our attacks, you know, when we're being attacked, seeing God as the one who has allowed and permitted this, it's helpful for us to be able to handle it in a way that

honors the Lord and represents his heart. And he gives this example. If you meet someone who is a prince, but you don't know he's a prince, well, you're not going to honor him as a prince. You're not going to give him the honor, the reverence that should be given, the respect that should be given. In a similar way, if you don't recognize that God's hand is at work and involved in the things that you're going through, you're not going to give God

the honor and the reverence. You're not going to submit to him very well. You're going to fight against that circumstance much more because you don't recognize God has allowed this. David here has acknowledged God. Perhaps God sent Shimei. At the very least, God has allowed Shimei to come and to bring this attack and this affliction. And so no, we're not going to fight back. We're not going to take off his head. David has accepted Shimei.

that God has allowed this. Again, he has purposes. He has plans and promises. We don't know all of the details and how that's going to work out, but it's guaranteed in the end to be worth it. That's why God has allowed it. Everything comes to us through the filter of God's love. The filter, so that the only things that get through are what's best for us. And boy, it's hard for us to see the

that attack, that insult, that injury, that false accusation. It's hard for us to see that that could be what's best for us. It is hard for us to accept. And again, as I said, this is challenging theology for us to grasp hold of, but it is essential for us to pursue God's heart before defending ourselves. We have to be comfortable. We have to come to terms with the reality. God is on the throne to learn to accept that

God has allowed this in my life. I don't have to respond to every attack. Perhaps God has something different in store. Moving on to verse 12 and 13, we get point number three, and that is trust God to repay good and evil. In verse 12, David continuing to talk to his men, he says, it may be that the Lord will look on my affliction and that the Lord will repay me with good for his cursing this day. David says, hey guys,

Don't kill him, okay? I know you want to. I know he's annoying and irritating and offensive, but don't do it because it might be that God will look on my affliction and will repay me with good for his cursing. God is, well, he's the ultimate judge. And we see throughout the scriptures, him declare over and over again, he will reward you.

righteousness. He will reward faithfulness. He will reward those who walk with him. We also see him say throughout the scriptures, he will deal with sin. He will deal with evil. And here David shows a good example for us, a good heart that is God's heart. He restrains himself. He restrains his men. Now it doesn't mean that the trouble ended immediately because as they continued on, it

Shimei just keeps on going, just, you know, throwing up dust and throwing stones and cursing and freaking out. It's clearly upset, clearly bitter, clearly celebrating the tragedy that is happening to David. But David's source of strength in this, his comfort and his hope is not, this is going to end immediately, but looking ahead, God will repay. He will repay. Good. Good.

So if I endure this well, if I respond to this well, if I walk with the Lord in the way that he calls me to in the midst of this, there's reward for that. And this guy, if he's doing absolute evil, well, God's gonna deal with that. I don't have to deal with that. It's not my job to pay him back and make sure he suffers. That's not my job. God hasn't given me that responsibility. The Lord will deal with the sin personally.

He will deal with those who hurt. He will deal with that attack. That's not my responsibility. My responsibility is to endure it well, to respond to it well. I thought this verse was pretty interesting. I don't recall ever actually reading this verse, although I know I've read it, right? But James chapter five, verse 10 and 11, James says, "'My brethren, take the prophets who spoke "'in the name of the Lord as an example "'of suffering and patience.'"

Indeed, we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord, that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful. Since you guys are suffering, you're hurting, you're going through affliction, James says. So think about the prophets and think about them as an example of suffering and patience. They suffered and they endured well and we count them blessed.

He gives the example of Job, which I just gave a few minutes earlier, right? We often refer to Job and, oh, wow, you know, what a work that God did. And we all pray that, you know, God wouldn't do that same work in our lives. But we count him blessed who endured. And we see the end result. And we see that God has a work and he is compassionate and merciful. Consider, but recognize then to follow in their example. Think about Joseph, right?

attacked by his brothers, treated wrongfully, falsely accused. Oh, you're telling us those dreams because, you know, it's gone to your head and you want to rule over us and you want to take charge and falsely accused, thrown in a pit, sold into slavery, then falsely accused by Potiphar's wife, his master's wife. He tried to take advantage of me. Not true, but falsely accused. And you see Joseph

go through affliction after affliction after affliction, years in prison, until finally the Lord springs him and puts him in charge over Egypt and gives him, you know, power over Egypt, second to Pharaoh. An incredible story of how God used all of that affliction to bring about something great. And as you read through that account, oh, we always take note. Look at

Joseph's in prison, but it says the Lord was with Joseph. Joseph's in the pit, but it says the Lord was with Joseph. He sold into slavery, but the Lord was with Joseph. And we look at that and we go, oh, wow, look, God is with him. Even though he's going through all this, God is with him. Guess what? The Lord is with you. The Lord is with you. He's with, just as he was with Joseph, he's with you. Trust God to repay good and evil.

Do good because the Lord's with you. He's going to take care of you. He's going to reward you for handling those insults, those attacks, those accusations. Well, he's going to reward you for dealing with that in a way that honors him. He will reward you. And if on the other side, their attacks are evil and sinful and wrong, guess what? God's going to reward them accordingly as well.

God makes it very clear. Paul tells us in Romans chapter 12, vengeance is mine, I will repay. So Paul says, do not avenge yourselves, but give place to wrath. Give place to wrath. Pastor Chuck used to always say, look, if you want to defend yourself, God will step aside and let you. Go ahead, yeah, go ahead, defend yourself. But if you'll let God defend you, you'll be much better off. Give place to wrath. Let God deal with that person. Let God deal with that situation. Now again, going back to point number one, you don't have to respond to every attack, but

Sometimes God does want you to respond to an attack. And so in that case, God is going to use you as the instrument of bringing wrath, perhaps. But again, I would say this is probably not the default. It's not typically the way that God is going to ask you to operate. There's room for that. And so we need to pursue God's heart. And in the midst of affliction, in the midst of attack, in the midst of hurt and heartache and things that come against us, trust that God will repay. He'll repay you with good.

If you do good, if you honor him in the midst of that, and he'll deal with those who have come against you wrongly and hurt you severely. Trust God to repay good and evil because the Lord is with you.

For the fourth point this evening, I'm going to have you turn to Psalm chapter 7, and point number four is be willing to receive instruction. And this maybe is the most difficult point of all, but be willing to receive instruction. Would you turn with me to Psalm chapter 7? In Psalm chapter 7, we find that, well, many believe that it was written as a result of this situation with Shimei. There's room for discussion about it, but you'll notice the introduction to Psalm chapter

Chapter 7 tells us it's a meditation of David, which he's saying to the Lord concerning the words of Cush, a Benjamite. Now, what were these words of Cush? It could be that Cush is another name for Shimei. We see that often throughout the scriptures, right? It could be that he's talking about the words of Shimei, because Shimei was a Benjamite, a relative of Saul. Now, it also could be that this is in response to something that Saul has been saying about David. Either way,

It fits with the context of what we're looking at this evening. Pursuing God's heart before defending yourself. You don't have to respond to every attack. You need to come to terms with and accept the fact that God has allowed this attack in your life and trust God to repay both good and evil and now be willing to receive instruction even in the midst of

of the attack. We're just going to look at the first few verses here, but starting in verse one, it says, "'O Lord, my God, in you I put my trust. Save me from all those who persecute me and deliver me, lest they tear me like a lion, rending me in pieces while there is none to deliver. O Lord, my God, if I have done this, if there is iniquity in my hands, if I have repaid evil to him who is at peace with me, or I've plundered my enemy without cause,

Let the enemy pursue me and overtake me. Yes, let him trample my life to the earth and lay my honor in the dust. Selah. Stop and think about that. David says, Lord, I'm trusting in you. In the midst of this attack, in the midst of this persecution, in the midst of this situation where these people are against me and they're threatening to tear me apart like a lion and rend me to pieces,

In the midst of that, God, I'm trusting you. But verse 3 is very interesting. He gives God opportunity to correct him. Oh, Lord, my God, if I have done this, if these things that they're accusing me of are true, if these things are accurate, if there is a message for me from you in the midst of these things that the enemies are bringing against me, if there's iniquity in my hands,

then Lord, I invite you to deal with that iniquity that's in me. Let me ask you, are you humble enough to consider that your enemy might be right about you? Are you humble enough to consider that your attacker might be right about you? That insult thrown at you, that it might be accurate? It might be true? No.

Now, I'm hesitant to teach things like this because, well, frankly, it might embolden you to rebuke me and then I'd have to be humble enough to pray about it. Are you humble enough to stop and think that that thing that you find so insulting and so irritating and so hurtful, oh, and it just causes your blood to boil that they would see that about you, that they would see that to you. But would you stop to consider, oh, Lord, if I have done this,

If this is an accurate assessment of my heart, of my actions, of my activity, are you humble enough to accept correction from an enemy? Oh man, it's hard, right? Sometimes it's hard to accept correction from people that you love. You know, hey, it's easier for me to receive from Harvey than it is from my wife sometimes, right? But then to receive from an enemy, to receive from someone who is purposely out to hurt and to harm, to consider that

Perhaps God would use that to bring some instruction to me. That's hard, but it's the heart that we need to have. We need to be willing to receive instruction, even from an attacker, from an insult, from a slander, from a gossip. We need to be humble enough to accept that instruction, but also correction. David says, look, if this is true, if this report is accurate, verse five, let the enemy pursue me and overtake me.

Yeah, Lord, let the enemy correct me. Let this attack bring forth your discipline in my life. Man, if we don't want anything, we don't want that one who offends us so greatly to be the instrument that God uses to correct us, right? It's like, oh no, anybody but that person. No, anybody but, no, it can't be. I can't accept that. It's so hurtful and harmful to our pride, which is necessary because we need to put that to death. David here says,

Models for us a really great example. Models for us the hearts that God would have us to take on, to be willing to receive instruction. Pastor David Guzik says, David didn't try to shut up Shimei. He didn't close his ears to unpleasant or critical words. David was willing to hear what God might say to him through a cursing critic. Are you willing? Are you willing to receive instruction?

from someone who comes against you in a way that is not pleasant, in a way that they don't even intend it to be something that's beneficial for you. But are you willing to take it before the Lord and say, Lord, is there something you want to show me through this? Is there something you want to speak to me about in the midst of this attack? Consider this quote from Kenneth Chafin. He says, the willingness to listen to one's critics and even to one's enemies may be the only way to discover the truth of God.

This opens the possibility that we may do well at times to listen to people who wish us harm, but tell us the truth. There are people who wish us harm, but tell us the truth. They're not out for our good, but what they're saying is true. They're not seeking our welfare, but they're accurately declaring something that God wants us to hear. And there needs to be a willingness to listen. Not that we have to accept everything that everybody says, but that we take it to the Lord.

And say, Lord, is there something in this? That's what David did. If I have done this, Lord, if this is accurate, if this is true, rather than just throw out the whole thing, there's great value in the humility to give God the opportunity to speak to us in the midst of the hardest, the most hurtful, the most exaggerated, off-the-wall crazy things that might be brought to us. The same commentator goes on to say, our natural tendency is to surround ourselves with friends who

are reluctant to tell us the things that we need to know. And so often, it's our enemies who tell us the truth and our friends don't tell us because, oh, it's so hard to tell each other the truth. And so we hear it from our enemies instead. The author of Proverbs tells us, open rebuke is better than hidden love. It's better for us to hear it from a friend, but boy, is it hard for us as friends to tell each other the truth, right? And so sometimes we're going to hear that, not from our friends, not from our family, not from those who love us. They

they hide the truth from us because, oh, it's hard for them to hurt us. But the enemy who's not afraid to hurt us, who doesn't mind, you know, causing us pain, that might be the one who actually is telling us the truth and actually giving us the word that we need to hear and to take before the Lord and allow God to speak to us about. Proverbs chapter 15, verse 32 says, "'He who disdains instruction despises his own soul, but he who heeds rebuke gets understanding.'"

To disdain instruction, you despise your own soul. Now, that's one thing to accept that in the, okay, well, I read the Bible and I receive instruction from God, you know, and that's great. And to not do that, well, yeah, you despise your own soul. But to automatically reject, to not allow the Lord to speak to you through enemies, right?

through those who would attack, to not give God an opportunity. And again, not that we have to accept and you say that's what I'm doing and you say that's my heart. Well, that's not necessarily the truth and I don't have to accept that as the truth, but I do need to take that before the Lord and say, Lord, is this true? Is this something you want to speak to me through this? Is this something you want to talk to me about? If it's true, Lord, if you need to deal with my heart in this area, I need to be open to receiving that correction and allowing you to do the work that you want to do in my life.

requires great humility, a death to our pride, a death to our self, but that's what it takes to pursue God's heart. Before defending yourself, before mounting up arms when that offense comes, before, you know, attacking back at that insult or that false accusation that comes, remember you don't have to respond to every attack. You don't have to fight back. God hasn't called you to do that. Maybe he has called you to in some occasions, and so he can tell you, but

Don't just automatically let it be your reflex. Let it be your reaction to fight back and attack back. Sometimes you just need to let it go. Let the accusations just keep on going. Let the rocks just keep on being thrown. Just keep on walking. Just keep on going. You don't have to respond to every attack, whether it be insults or accusations or complete lies or exaggerations or whatever it might be. I'm not talking about physical. And again, we're not dealing with physical abuse. That's a different subject entirely. But

these attacks on our character, these attacks and these insults against us. We don't have to respond to all of them. And we need to learn to accept that God has allowed this. Those things that offend us so terribly and hurt us so deeply, God's allowed that. He has purposes. He has plans. He has things that we can't understand quite yet. Promises that we've forgotten about, but he hasn't and he will fulfill them. And it's guaranteed to be worth it. Accept that God has allowed this.

He's on the throne. He's working it out. And so you can trust him to repay good and evil. You honor the Lord. That's what you need to be focused on in the midst of it. Not making sure that person pays or suffers or, you know, that's not your job. Your job is to watch your heart. Keep your soul with all diligence. Trust God to repay you for good, for handling that situation well, for honoring him in the

And also trust God to deal with the evil that is being done. He's not overlooking that. It will be accounted for. It will be dealt with. Trust God to repay both good and evil. But in the midst of it, be willing to receive instruction and say, Lord, do you want to speak to me through these words? They're hurtful. The person doesn't mean them for good. There's not a, you know, hey, I'm just looking out for your soul kind of attitude here. But Lord, you're looking out for my soul.

And have you allowed this in my life so that I would hear the words that nobody else will tell me, so that I will hear the things that I need to hear to come before you and allow you to speak to my heart? Lord, is there a word for me in this? Is there instruction that you want me to receive? Help me not to disdain that. Oh man, it's easy to disdain it because of the source, but I need correction. I need instruction. And if this is the source that you've chosen, I'll take it. I'll accept it.

receive the instruction that God has for you. Kim's gonna come up and close us in a time of worship. And I would encourage you during this time to just meditate and consider, to present perhaps some of the recent attacks and insults and hurts and things that you've been experiencing and walk through these points a little bit. Maybe take it before the Lord and like David in verse three of Psalm seven, oh Lord, my God, if I have done this, if there's iniquity in my hands, Lord, if there's something you need to speak to me,

I don't like the source. I'm not a fan of the method you've chosen, but I'm willing to receive from you if that's something you want to speak to me about. Let's take this time to let the Lord speak to us, to meet with him, to help train ourselves, to pursue his heart before we just mount up and start defending ourselves. As always, we want to give opportunity as well to minister to one another. So if you need to pray with one another, maybe you need to ask forgiveness for insulting one another, whatever the case may be.

We can do that. We can seek the Lord together as we worship Him. So let's take this time to pursue God's heart.