Shimei was convinced that David engineered the overthrow of the house of Saul. He might be the best example in Scripture of being accusing and being wrong. The sermon discusses three reasons to avoid being accusing and two ways we can avoid being accusing.

Table of contentsFamily Worship GuideSermon NotesLesson One: Avoid being accusing like Shimei because (part one) it angers us at the wrong people.Lesson One: Avoid being accusing because like Shimei (part two) it resembles the devil.Lesson One: Avoid being accusing because like Shimei (part three) we could be wrong.Lesson Two: Avoid being accusing by (part one) listening to the other side.Lesson Two: Avoid being accusing by (part two) ensuring there are adequate witnesses.

https://youtu.be/QKDfyXaTGWM

Family Worship Guide

Directions: Read the following verses and then answer the questions:

Day 1: 2 Samuel 16:5-8, Proverbs 3:30—Why did Shimei think David overthrew the house of Saul? Can you think of any other reasons that were not mentioned in the sermon? What accounts can you think of that demonstrate David’s loyalty to Saul instead?

Day 2: Job 1-2, Zechariah 3:3, Revelation 12:10—What was happening in David’s life when Shimei cursed and threw rocks at him and his men? Why is being accusing so dangerous? Can you think of any other reasons besides those mentioned in the sermon that it is so dangerous to be accusing?

Day 3: John 7:51, Proverbs 18:13, 17, Numbers 35:30, Deuteronomy 17:6, 19:15—How can we avoid being accusing? Can you think of ways to avoid being accusing that were not mentioned in the sermon? Can you think of some accounts in Scripture of individuals who refused to be accusing and instead thought the best?

Sermon Notes

The title of this morning’s sermon is, “Shimei Teaches Us to Avoid Being Accusing.”

On Sunday mornings we have been working our way through Luke’s gospel verse by verse.

If you have sat under my preaching very long, you know that I like to look at the Old Testament to illustrate New Testament truths we are learning. Romans 15 and 1 Corinthians 10 both tell us this is one of the primary purposes of the Old Testament. Last week we finished a section on forgiveness. I didn’t want to talk about forgiveness for weeks without looking at an example in the Old Testament.

The account I’ve had on my heart, that I’ve been taking notes on for weeks, is David and Shimei. But let me briefly explain why this first sermon won’t deal with forgiveness…

The longer I preach the more I would compare it with sculpting. Every passage feels like clay that you hope God is forming into a sermon as you strive to be faithful to the text. We want the text to provide the sermon (this is known as exegesis), versus coming up with a sermon and then finding text to support it (eisegesis).

As I began working on this passage I saw that the second half deals with forgiveness, which we will talk about next week. But the first half deals with Shimei being accusing and I wanted to be faithful to cover this as well. I think it has lots of application for us and I hope it encourages you hearing it as much as it encouraged me studying it.

For this account to make sense, we are going to have to back up and look at passages that reveal why Shimei hated David so much.

We are going to be jumping around a lot, but I want to let you know I have done my best to be precise and only look at those verses that will give us the background we need. Every single verse I’m going to read lays the foundation.

Let’s start with 1 Samuel 22.

Here’s the context…

David faithfully served King Saul. He was willing to go out to fight Goliath when Saul was unwilling to do so. David continued to excel so much that the people sang, “Saul has killed his thousands, but David his ten thousands.”

This made Saul insanely jealous and he started trying to murder David.

Afraid for his life, and under the encouragement of his close friend, Jonathan,