126. Why should a living man complain, a man, about the punishment of his sins?

2 Samuel 16:5   When King David came to Bahurim, there came out a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera, 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, for you are a man of blood.”

Then Abishai 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 Abishai and to all his servants, “Behold, my own son seeks my life; how much more now may this Benjaminite! 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.

Genesis 50:20     As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.

1 Kings 22:21-23    Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD, saying, ‘I will entice him.’  And the LORD said to him, ‘By what means?’ And he said, ‘I will go out, and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ And he said, ‘You are to entice him, and you shall succeed; go out and do so.’  Now therefore behold, the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets; the LORD has declared disaster for you.”

Lamentations 3:38-39     Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that good and bad come?  Why should a living man complain, a man, about the punishment of his sins?

John 18:11    So Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?”

Job 9:12     Behold, he snatches away; who can turn him back? Who will say to him, ‘What are you doing?’

Matthew Henry Commentary; – David bore Shimei’s curses much better than Ziba’s flatteries; by these, he was brought to pass a wrong judgment on another, by those to pass a right judgment on himself: the world’s smiles are more dangerous than its frowns. Once and again David spared Saul’s life, while Saul sought his. But innocence is no defense against malice and falsehood; nor are we to think it strange, if we are charged with that which we have been most careful to keep ourselves from. It is well for us, that men are not to be our judges, but He whose judgment is according to truth. See how patient David was under this abuse. Let this remind us of Christ, who prayed for those who reviled and crucified him. A humble spirit will turn reproaches into reproofs, and get good from them, instead of being provoked by them. David the hand of God in it, and comforts himself that God would bring good out of his affliction. We may depend upon God to repay, not only our services but our sufferings.

jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary;  Shimei, … a man of the family of Saul—The misfortune of his family, and the occupation by David of what they considered their rightful possessions, afforded a natural, if not a justifiable cause for this ebullition of rude insults and violence. He upbraided David as an ambitious usurper, and charged him, as one whose misdeeds had recoiled upon his own head, to surrender a throne to which he was not entitled. His language was that of a man incensed by the wrongs that he conceived had been done to his house. David was guiltless of the crime of which Shimei accused him, but his conscience reminded him of other flagrant iniquities; and he, therefore, regarded the cursing of this man as a chastisement from heaven. His answer to Abishai’s proposal evinced the spirit of deep and humble resignation—the spirit of a man who watched the course of Providence and acknowledged Shimei as the instrument of God’s chastening hand. One thing is remarkable, that he acted more independently of the sons of Zeruiah in this season of great distress than he could often muster courage to do in the days of his prosperity and power.

You meant it for harm

Proverbs 19:21     Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand.

Psalms 105:16-17     When he summoned a famine on the land and broke all supply of bread,  he had sent a man ahead of them, Joseph, who was sold as a slave.

Genesis 45:4   So Joseph said to his brothers, “Come near to me, please.” And they came near. And he said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt. Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, ‘Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; do not tarry. You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children’s children, and your flocks, your herds, and all that you have.

Genesis 50:20    As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.

Acts 2:24     this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God,

 Acts 4:28   to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.

Isaiah 46:9  remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’ calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it. “Listen to me, you stubborn of heart, you who are far from righteousness:

Bad things happen, trouble visits us, and trials drop in on our lives.  How do we know what seems bad, God will use for good?  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” Sometimes it seems as though we think our life will be different and trouble will not find us. Other times we roll with the punch and disregard it or give it little thought. But, then there are those times that find us and we get punched so hard we are left to wonder, what did I do to deserve this.  We wonder if it was a consequence of our doing or that of another – who can we blame.

Look at it from Jacob’s view and the reported loss of his son Joseph, the loss of Rachel during the birth of Benjamin, the famine on the land.  Look at it from Joseph’s view and being hated by his brothers, sold into slavery, wrongly accused, time in prison and forgotten by those he helped. You have to know they felt the weight of these trials and troubles.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

My brothers and sisters, consider it nothing but joy when you fall into all sorts of trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance.  And let endurance have its perfect effect, so that you will be perfect and complete, not deficient in anything.”

Knowing this does not make it easier or take the weight of the burden we are bearing and trying to put into the hands of God.

We can more easily bear burdens that individually affect us but find it hard to bear those troubles that fall on our family and children where we are powerless and lost for means of making it go away (fixing it).  What can lay harder on the heart of a parent than harm to their child from someone trusted.

In troubling times, waiting, trusting and relying on God is hard and requires daily reliance building faith to continue. “Joy comes in the morning” comes to mind and the night of darkness ends in the light of Him who is able to wipe away our tears, lift us up out of our troubles, and gives us refuge in chaos.

Faith  – in God’s everlasting promises

Reliance  – on God’s almighty sovereignty

Trust  – in God’s plans and purposes

Hope  – to God’s steadfast love

These seem only to be words but in the faith heart of His children they are  courage, strength, power and comfort to face the trials and troubles that come their way.