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“Shimei, the son of Gera…cursed….Come out, come out, thou bloody man, and thou man of Belial” (2 Samuel 16:5, 7).
“And Shimei the son of Gera…came down… to meet king David….And said unto the king….thy servant doth know that I have sinned” (2 Samuel 19:16,19-20).
When David was fleeing from his son Absalom, a man named Shimei, who did not like David, cursed him and threw stones at him. Shimei thought that Absalom would surely win the battle and become king. But when David won the battle and was brought back as king, Shimei apologized for his bad conduct, and David forgave him. This is a good example for us, if someone wrongs us. If they confess their sin, our place is to forgive them, and accept their apology.
However, we find that many years later, when David was dying, having carefully considered the matter, he told his son Solomon about Shimei’s cursing, and left Solomon to deal with the matter. Evidently Shimei had not really repented as he should, for he failed the test Solomon gave him, and came to a sad end. See if you can find out what happened to Shimei when Solomon became king. It is in the next book — the book of 1st Kings.
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