It's a privilege to come and open the Word of God with you this morning. We all know, of course, that the Bible has no contradictions. It's a sufficient and self-consistent book. However, there are some apparent contradictions, and I'd like to start this morning by examining one with you in the Bible. Luke 17.3, Jesus says this, If your brother sins, rebuke him. And if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times a day and returns to you seven times, saying, I repent, forgive him. Okay, that's simple enough to understand. Repentance in that verse is a Transaction, forgiveness is a transaction that requires the offending party to repent if he offends you, and then you must, as a Christian, forgive him. But in Mark 11.25, Jesus says this. He says, whenever you stand praying, forgive. if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions." Well, notice that's not the same thing. In the first verse that we read, you are to grant forgiveness if the offending party repents. But in the second verse, Jesus is calling you to exercise forgiveness unconditionally, while you're alone in your prayer time, whether they ask for it or not. So, which is it? Is forgiveness extended conditionally or unconditionally? Well, the way to resolve this apparent contradiction is to realize that it's talking about two different types of forgiveness. Heath Lambert, a well-known biblical counselor, describes forgiveness in this way, in quote, there are in fact two categories of forgiveness, the attitude of forgiveness and the action of forgiveness. I have some cartoons up here, because I teach kids Sunday school, and we haven't had a class in the summer, but you know, wanted to help keep them interested. So the action of forgiveness and the attitude of forgiveness. You see, the action of forgiveness is to actually extend forgiveness by saying something like, I forgive you. But this requires repentance because the purpose of saying I forgive you is to restore a relationship between two people. But in order to do this, in order to be able to do this in a genuine way, you must continually cultivate an attitude of forgiveness in your heart. And this is how Dr. Lambert describes the attitude of forgiveness. Quote, Jesus is talking about forgiveness as an attitude we cultivate in our soul, and to release that person from your anger, from your bitterness, from the penalty of your sin. Right there. whether or not they are sorry, whether or not they are repentant, whether or not they have asked, whether or not they have remained silent." So the idea is that although you cannot extend transactional forgiveness, because that requires two willing parties, far before your brother or sister repents, you must already have forgiven them in your heart. So the attitude and the action. But of the two, by far, it's the attitude of forgiveness that is more difficult for us. This is where the hard work is. This is where we wrestle with our hearts. This is where we root out the bitterness from our hearts. We excise the anger and the resentments and replace them with mercy and grace and love. And boy, is that hard. It's hard. As you saw from the verses we read, it is not optional for a Christian. A Christian must have this attitude of forgiveness. And it's this attitude of forgiveness I would like to spend some time this morning with you to unpack. And I'd like to do this in a rather unusual way. I'd like to introduce you to a somewhat obscure character in the Bible by the name of Shimei. Now, to understand Shimei's story, you must know a little bit about the story of King David, who was king over Israel about a thousand years before Christ walked on this earth. It's not an exaggeration at all to say that King David was the greatest king that Israel had ever seen or since. He reigned at the height of the golden age of Israel. It was under David that Israel's borders were expanded to its greatest extent. And furthermore, aside from one major blemish that we'll get to later, David is described in the Bible as a man of exemplary godly character. In fact, described as a man after God's own heart. And in fact it was because of David's exceptionally pure heart and his humble and his deep love for God that he was in fact handpicked by God when he was a boy to become the king of Israel. And of course this is the same David who slew the giant Goliath with a rock and a sling. A feat that was so unusual that it immediately catapulted him into fame and brought him into the courts of the king at the time, King Saul. But as these things go, eventually King Saul came to view David as a threat to his throne. And for 10 years, King Saul relentlessly pursued David through the wilderness, seeking to kill him. During this time, David actually had two perfect opportunities to end Saul's life. But because of David's godly character, both times he refused to do so. In one instance, in 1 Samuel 26.8, David and his close companion, Abishai, literally catch Saul asleep. And it says this in 1 Samuel 26, it says, Abishai, that is one of David's close companions, said to David, today, God has delivered your enemy into your hand. Now therefore, please let me strike him with the spear to the ground with one stroke. And I will not strike a second time, meaning it's gonna take one spear stroke to kill this guy. But David said to Abishai, do not destroy him. For who can stretch out his hand against the Lord's anointed and be without guilt? See, despite the wickedness of King Saul, despite all the wrongs that Saul had done to David, to David, the act of raising his hand against God's anointed king, the rightful king, was like raising his hand against God himself. And instead, what David did was that he trusted God to deal with Saul. David trusted God, and God honored David's trust and his faith. And eventually, Saul was mortally wounded by the Philistines in battle in 1 Samuel 31, and he killed himself by falling on his own sword. Not long after, David became the king of Israel without ever having to lay a finger on Saul. And this was David at his best, his most godly. But then there was that one incident. And it's a big one, and many of you know the story. David is installed as king over Israel. Things are going well. Blessed by God several years later, at the height of his power and his success and his comfort, he has six wives, probably concubines. David looks out from his palace. and sees a woman, Bathsheba, the wife of one of his most loyal and trusted men. And she's bathing on a rooftop, and Uriah, her husband, is on deployment, fighting a war for David. And as David gazed out at this woman, his heart was filled with lust. And so he sent for her, and the scriptures say he committed adultery with her, And this is all in 2 Samuel 11. But the short story is that Bathsheba got pregnant. And to cover up his affair, he had her husband, his trusted friend, his mighty warrior, murdered on the battlefield. Well, God was not pleased. And he confronted David through his prophet Nathan. And upon being confronted, David does genuinely repent of his sin. In fact, that's where he penned Psalm 51, which we read together this morning. A psalm of repentance and a pleading for the mercy of God. And did God forgive David? What do you think? Yes, God did forgive David, this ungrateful, this lustful man, this adulterer, this liar, this schemer, this murderer. God forgives David because that is who God is. God is a God who forgives any and all sin. But just because God forgave David in the ultimate sense does not mean that David was able to escape the worldly consequences of his sin. And that is the nature of sin. Sin destroys. Sin destroys, and sometimes even after being forgiven, the destruction of our sin cannot be undone. And indeed, David, although spared by and fully forgiven by God in the eternal sense, was given severe consequences on this side of eternity, one of which was in the prophet Nathan's words, the sword will never depart from your house. The sword will never depart from your house. That is, David's family would descend into chaos and turmoil and strife and even gruesome violence as a result of David's sinful actions. And that's so often what it is, right? The family is the one that pays the price for the parents' sin. We fast forward a few years later, and that's how it came to be, through a chain of events set off by David's sin, that David's own son, Absalom, turns much of the country against his father, declares himself king, and gathers an army to overthrow his father, David. It's a civil war from father and son. And this war was one of the lowest points of David's life. And we encounter this man Shimei in the pages of scripture at this time. The story of Shimei is told to us in three acts in the Bible. Act one is in 1 Samuel 16.5, and I would like you to turn there if you can. In your pew Bibles, it's on page 334. And there's gonna be a lot going on, the story's gonna move kind of fast, and I think you would get a lot more out of it if you're actually looking at the words of the scripture. Sometimes I get lazy too, and I don't always open the Bible, but if you can, please do that today. 2 Samuel 16, five to 13, act one. So before we get into it, here in our text we find David fleeing Jerusalem. This is the beginning of Absalom's rebellion. And Absalom has an army, and he's gathered, and he's coming to Jerusalem, and David needs to get out. He's not prepared to face Absalom at that time. And in order to get to where he needs to be, he needs to cross the Jordan River. And the Jordan River, if you want to get there, you have to go through a town called Baharim. And with David is his entourage of warriors. But in a hurry, he also gathers up the palace servants and civilians, and they've rushed out in a hurry. And at this point, David is tired. He's depressed. He's sorrowful. Everything that David has worked for is at risk. And in his heart of hearts, he knows that this suffering is a direct result of his own sin. And awaiting an ambush at Bahurim is our man, Shimei. Let's begin reading from 2 Samuel 16, 5. When David came to Bahurim, behold, there came out from there a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gerah. He came out cursing continually as he came. He threw stones at David and all the servants of King David and all the people and all the mighty men were at his right hand and at his left. Thus Shimei said when he cursed, get out, get out, you man of bloodshed and worthless fellow. Let's pause right there for a second. We meet Shimei here. He is a man who is angry, isn't he? He's an angry man and he has a foul mouth. And the scripture says he's cursing continually. I've known a few people like that. These people don't tend to be very pleasant to be around and they have anger problems and they're not very stable. But why is this man so angry? Well, it tells us. Shimei belonged to the house of Saul. And when David took over, Shimei lost out. His fortunes declined. He perhaps lost political power. He perhaps lost clout, opportunities. And Shimei is looking for somebody to blame. And of course, he blames David. Now, at this time, David himself is faced with the possibility of losing his power. And Shimei's sheer hatred causes him to come out, and for no other reason than to rub salt in David's wounds. Remember that David did nothing to Shimei personally. This is the same type of foaming, irrational, partisan hatred that people have for some of our politicians today. And I imagine, in fact, that if Shimei was alive today, he would have fit right in to these protests that we see. He would have thrived on social media. might have made a career out of it. And this man is calling names, and he's insulting David, and you're a man of bloodshed, and you're a worthy, worthless fellow. A violent, good-for-nothing thug. And this should remind you of Jesus' words in Matthew 5, verse 22, where Jesus says, And perhaps Jesus had Shimei in mind when he uttered those words. But we find that not only is Shimei cursing, he's also posing an actual physical threat. In fact, he's throwing stones at David, and as we know, stones can do some real damage. In fact, it was a single stone that David himself used to kill the giant Goliath. Even today, if you try to throw rocks at a head of state, you would be sure to be in deep trouble. And just like David understood, that to raise his hand against King Saul would have been to raise his hand against God himself, Shimei's cursing and his rock-throwing is by extension an attack on God himself. Even, in fact, just an insult to the king at the time would have been worthy of capital punishment in every nation at the time, maybe even in some countries today. But then Shimei compounds his sin. We see in verse eight, look at verse eight. The Lord has returned upon you all the bloodshed 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. And behold, you are taken in your own evil, for you are a man of bloodshed. This verse, these words that Shimei utters is a clear example of breaking God's third commandment. which is that you shall not take the name of your Lord, your God, what? In vain. You see, Shimei is not a prophet, but he is presuming to speak for God's will, and he is wrong about all of it. In fact, every word that Shimei has uttered in this passage is wrong. Shimei, I mean, David did not, in fact, kill Saul. His blood is not on David's hands. Instead, he explicitly refused to do so twice when he could have. And what's more, the Lord had not given the throne to Absalom and eventually would not end up doing so. So this is fake news. Shimei is carelessly using God's name for no other purpose than to twist his knife, than to sling more rocks at David. And I think this is a clear example of using the Lord's name in vain, and Christians today can be far too flippant to throw the name of God around ourselves. But when David's companion, Abishai, pops up in verse nine, I'm honestly a bit sympathetic to Abishai. Verse nine, let's take a look. Then Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, said to the king, why should this dead dog curse the Lord the king? my Lord the King, let me go over now and cut off his head. And funnily enough, this is the same Abishai that offered to stab King Saul so many years ago. I imagine Abishai in my mind as a tough guy enforcer that follows David around saying, hey boss, you want me to kill this guy? But David, despite Shimei's accusations, is in fact not a man of bloodshed. And David responds in a godly way here, as he did all the days of his life, except in the case of Uriah the Hittite. That's a direct quote from 1 Kings 15, 5. So let's watch how David responds in verse 10. The king said, What have I to do with you, O sons of Uriah? If he curses, and if the Lord has told him, curse David, then who shall say, why have you done so? Then David said to Abishai and to all his servants, behold, my son who came out from me seeks my life. How much more of this Benjamite? What a godly response. As we go through the rest of the story, I'd like to point out to you, just to give some structure, four characteristics of David's attitude of forgiveness. We'll see in the rest of our story four characteristics of David's attitude of forgiveness. First thing we see here is that David refuses to retaliate. David refuses to retaliate. Again, David has all the rights by, at this time, he could have taken Abishai's advice, but David refuses to fight back. Or in the words of the Apostle Peter in 1 Peter 3, 9, he does not return evil for evil. And instead, David demonstrates for us the act of turning the other cheek, as in fact our Lord Jesus himself did when he was cursed at on the day of his crucifixion. The Bible tells us that on that day when Jesus was reviled, he did not what? He did not revile in return. And that's the lesson for us. Sometimes when somebody offends us, the best thing we can do is simply to ignore it, to let it go. Likewise, as Christians, we ought not to freak out over every slight, over perceived injustice or aggression. And I've seen married couples that act this way with each other. And that's a way to have a non-harmonious marriage. So that's the first thing, simply refusing to retaliate. But of course, there's something greater at work here than just grinning and bearing it. And if you look down at verse 11 again, we'll see why he's able to do this. Verse 11, let him alone, from the middle, let him alone and let him curse. Now that's a funny statement from David. You have to think about it a little bit because, I mean, what does David mean? Is he saying that he believes in karma? No, this is just an expression of David's belief in the sovereignty of God. David is, of course, a good Calvinist. And this is where David's theology affects his behavior. See, David understands that God is sovereign over literally every single thing in the world. Everything that happens, including Shimei, in that situation and in that time. And although David doesn't think that God is literally or verbally commanding Shimei to come and say false things and harass David, David understands that ultimately all things are under God's control. And ultimately nothing happens unless God wills. And that is the truth for all of us too. No misfortune can befall you unless God allows it. And so in David's case, rather than getting angry at Shimei, David is looking at the big picture. And he looks beneath the surface. And in David's reckoning, Shimei, in fact, is not the main actor in the story, despite it being called Shimei's story. God is the main actor. And because David knows God, David knows something else about God, and that God is good. God is sovereign, but also God is good. And that brings us to that second characteristic in David's attitude, is that David trusts in God's sovereign plan and goodness. David trusts in God's sovereignty and His goodness. See, while being sinned against, David asks himself, what is God's greater plan? He steps back and he asks himself, what is God's purpose in this situation? He talks to himself and maybe he says, perhaps this is a test. Perhaps this is to teach me something. Or perhaps this is an opportunity for me to showcase my faith. But whatever God's purpose is, David knows in his bones that God is good. God is a good God. God is a God that David writes in the Psalms as abounding in loving kindness. He's a God of tender mercies. And because God is good, David also knows that God will not allow his suffering to go on one more second than absolutely necessary. And I think David is thinking to himself, you know, if this is a test, and I pass this test, then perhaps God will deem that further suffering is not necessary, and we can get to the good part. I don't think we talk about this enough that God is always, in a sense, watching you and keeping score. We don't like to talk in that way, but, you know, God is always watching us and he's observing and noticing your good works. In fact, Hebrews 6.10 tells us this, that God is not unjust as to forget your work and the love which you have shown towards his name. God is not ignoring your good works. But he notices them. And it's David's belief in God's sovereignty and his goodness that motivates him to have this forgiving attitude. Because he wants to please God. Because he knows that God is good. And he knows that the sad times will not last forever. Well, did this godly response of David cause this man Shimei to repent? Well, let's see. Verse 13. So David and his men went on the way, and Shimei went along on the hillside parallel with him, and as he went, he cursed and cast stones and threw dust at him. Well, this worked out exactly as I thought. Far from stopping his insults, Shimei is emboldened. He ramps up the abuse. Just picture this. Here's David. He's a weary, worried, frightened procession of soldiers, maybe even servants, maybe even children. They got out of that palace in a hurry. And as they walk, as they make their way to the Jordan River, they have to go through this road and it cuts through a valley. And this man, Shimei, is on the hillside above them. raining down, verbal abuse, throwing down rocks and kicking up dust. And if you're in the procession, maybe what you observe is that there's now so much dust that it's difficult to see in front of you. It's hard to breathe. They didn't have face masks. But even as the abuse intensifies and escalates, David still does not retaliate. And that is how Act 1 of our story closes. Now let's look at Act 2. For this, Act 2, let's turn to 2 Samuel 19, verse 18. So this is on page 338 of your Pew Bible. 2 Samuel 19, verse 18. Very different atmosphere. Shimei's worst nightmare has, in fact, come true. David has won, and he has successfully defeated Absalom's army, and now he is the undisputed king of Israel, coming back to Jerusalem, and he is returning down the same path that he came, in the other direction, but now he is coming down in victory. And the atmosphere, instead of being somber and dejected the first time around, now it's celebration and jubilation, because God has given David the victory. And suddenly, Shimei is not talking so big anymore. In fact, he knows he's in deep, deep trouble. But to Shimei, he appears to be a smooth talker, And he knows he has one chance to get ahead of this. So when he sees King David marching back, Shimei rushes to meet him. And we see what happens in the middle of verse 18. Let's pick up in verse 18. So he went all the way to the Jordan River, which is actually fairly far if you look at the map. So he says to the king, Let not my Lord consider me guilty, nor remember what your servant did wrong on the day when my Lord the King came out of Jerusalem, so that the King would take it to heart. For your servant knows that I have sinned. Therefore, behold, I have come today, the first of all the house of Joseph, to go down and meet my Lord the King. And remember, Shimei crossed the Jordan River to get to the king first. He throws himself at David's feet. And no longer is it, you worthless, bloodthirsty animal. Now it's all, behold your servant, my lord the king. Now, let's just pause there and let me ask you, let's poll the congregation. Do you think that Shimei's repentance is genuine, yes or no? What do you guys think? Yes, genuine? Raise your hand if you think it's genuine. All right. A couple. Well, honestly, this is a pretty good speech as far as repentance speeches go, right? It's pretty good. He's asking for forgiveness. He admits he sinned. He's calling David Lord, attempting to demonstrate his sincerity by rushing out and traveling a long distance to be the first to greet David as king. And, you know, in fact, it might Be an example for us when we ask for repentance. We might do well ourselves to model our requests for repentance on this template. But doesn't the timing seem a little convenient? And ask yourself that if the outcome was different and it was Absalom coming across that river, would Shimei be singing a different tune? In any case, our friend Abishai isn't fooled. And here he goes again in verse 21. But Abishai the son of Zeruiah said, should not Shimei be put to death for this because he cursed the Lord's anointed? Don't you love Abishai? But David in verse 22, David then said, what have I to do with you, O son of Zeruiah? He said that a lot. That you should be this day an adversary to me. Should this day be an adversary to me. Should any man be put to death in Israel today? For do I not know that I am king over Israel today? The king said to Shimei, you shall not die. Thus the king swore to him. Well, we see that David indeed had mercy on Shimei again. In fact, he goes so far as to swear that he will not die by his hand. Did not have to do that. And is this because David believed that Abishai was genuine? I'm sorry, that Shimei was genuine? I don't think he did. In fact, notably, David does not address Shimei's confession at all, if you notice. He seems to mostly ignore it. And David's justification for having mercy on Shimei was simply what? That God gave him the victory that day. That God was merciful to David that day. And it was a day for David to show mercy because God had shown David mercy. And that's our third characteristic of David's attitude of forgiveness that I want to point out to you that David shows mercy because he had been shown mercy by God. God had given him the victory despite the fact that victory was definitely not a foregone conclusion. How could David, who had just experienced such mercy and goodness from God, turn around and refuse to show mercy and goodness to another? So I think David here strongly suspects that this confession is phony, yet spares Abishai anyways, and even swearing an oath that he would not kill him, which is far farther than David had to go. Far beyond what Shimei expected or deserved, also what Abishai expected. And just pause here and think to yourself, when you are wronged, do you remember the mercy that God had for you? And that should really be in your hearts all the time, that if we have been shown such mercy, why would we not have mercy for another? Well, many commentators at this point of the story will note that this would have been a very convenient place for a shimmy-eyed story to end, because Act Three kind of throws you for a loop a little bit. So there's a twist to this story, and I love stories with twists, so let's look at what this one's like. In Act Three, we're gonna go to 1 Kings now, chapter two, verse eight. And this is on page 349, if you're following along in your pew Bible. 1 Kings two. Verse eight. Several years pass, perhaps even a decade, and David we find now on his deathbed. David is dying. And David calls over his successor, his son Solomon, to give him his last wishes and to hand off some unfinished business. And David picks up in verse eight. Behold, there is with you Shimei, the son of Gerah, the Benjamite of Bahurim. And now it was he who cursed me with a violent curse on the day I went to Manahem. But when he came down to me at the Jordan, I swore to him by the Lord, saying, I will not put you to death with the sword. Now therefore, do not let him go unpunished, for you are a wise man, and you will know what you ought to do to him, and you will bring his gray hair down to shield with blood. Well, it's an unexpected twist. This is years later, maybe a decade, and David has not forgotten Shimei. And what's even more astounding is that these are literally David's last words, spoken with his dying breath. I mean, the next verse, look at verse 10. Then David slept with his fathers. He died after he said this. His last words on earth appeared to have been an instruction to execute Shimei. This is wild. What is going on? Some commentators suggest that this is David's second sin, that he's exercising unforgiveness here. Is that true? Did Shimei live rent-free in David's head for 10 years? Is this David settling some personal grudge? On the contrary, I think it's just the opposite. And if you think about it, if David really wanted to have Shimei executed as Shimei richly deserved, then David would simply have not sworn any vow, and he could have come back and executed Shimei the next day or any other time within the 10 years of intervening. And so what is going on? Remember what Abishai said in the last passage. He said this. Should not Shimei be put to death for this because he cursed the Lord's anointed? The answer to Abishai's question was yes. Because his sin, his offense, was ultimately not against David. It was against the Lord. It was against God himself. And like all of us, think of it, Shimei answers not to David, but he answers to God. And I think that David purposely waited until his dying breath to give his judgment to Shimei so that it would be clear to everyone that this is not about a personal grudge, but this is about the judgment of God. And that brings us to the fourth and final and maybe a bit surprising characteristic of David's attitude of forgiveness. And that is that David entrusted justice to God. Instead of taking vengeance on his own hands, David entrusted justice to God. Because we know here on the pages of scripture that God is a just judge who will always demand the punishment for sin. He does not let sin go unpunished. And David, for all of his kingly power, could only ultimately delay and not cancel Shimei's just punishment. And notice that David himself will never see the day that Shimei is punished. He will never see that justice be done. But that's okay, because he trusted in the justice of God. And I also think that David waited those 10 years, and in any of those 10 years, Shimei had the chance to fall on his face and repent before God. And if he did that, I personally think Shimei may have been spared. And why do I think that? Because I know God. I know that God loves to forgive. And I know that God is even more forgiving and merciful than David is. In fact, Psalm 130, which was written around the time of David, perhaps by David himself, reads this. If you, Lord, should mark iniquities, I mean sin, if you mark sin, oh Lord, who could stand? But there is what? Forgiveness with you. You see, the willingness of God to forgive is well known to David. And in fact, David greatly benefited from it himself. But it seems that Shimei never did get right before God. And the time for mercy passed away with King David. There's one final arc in our story in verse 36. Let's see how Solomon handles the situation. Now the king sent and called for Shimei and said to him, build for yourself a house in Jerusalem and live there and do not go out from there to any place. For on the day you go out and cross over the brook Kidron, the border of Jerusalem, you will know for certain that you shall surely die. Your blood shall be on your own head. Shimei then said to the king, the word is good. As my lord the king has said, so your servant will do. So Shimei lived in Jerusalem many days. It seems even Solomon, in response to David's instruction to execute Shimei, even Solomon had mercy. Solomon would have been in his rights to summarily execute Shimei. That's what he deserved. But instead, he does something different. He confines Shimei to the city, which is far more generous terms than even minor convicted criminals of today would enjoy. And Shimei, you can tell from the text that he knows he's getting off easy. And all he has to do is stay in the city. It's not hard. And he agrees wholeheartedly before, of course, Solomon has a chance to change his mind. And later we find out that he actually swore by the Lord to honor the agreement. So he swears by the Lord. And had Shimei honored his oath, he would have found yet more mercy, and he would have lived the rest of his life out in peace in the city. But it seems that Shimei in all those years had not changed much. So if you look in verse 39, But it came about at the end of three years that two of the servants of Shimei ran away to Achish, son of Macha, king of Gath. And they told Shimei, saying, behold, your servants are in Gath. Then Shimei arose and saddled his donkey, went to Gath, to Achish, to look for his servants. And Shimei went and brought his servants from Gath. So it seems here that Shimei lasted for about three years. But then, notice, of course, Shimei is well off enough to have servants and a donkey. And that means he's not suffering, he's not starving. But his servants ran away. They don't know why they ran away, but they ran away from Shimei to take refuge in this Gentile city of Gath. and furious at their desertion, he leaves Jerusalem and breaks the terms of his agreement with Solomon to find his servants and drag them back. What a foolish man. It was his anger initially that caused him to sin by cursing David to begin with. And it's likely again his anger here that causes him to break the terms of his release agreement to get his runaway servants. There's so much sad irony here because unlike David who had been shown mercy, Shimei, having been shown mercy, so much mercy, did not see fit to extend mercy to his own servants in return. This is not how someone who truly repents and tasted of the mercy of God should act. And as you may guess, Solomon quickly found out. In verse 41, we can end our story. A sad ending to the story of Shimei. It was told Solomon that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and had returned. So the king sent and called for Shimei and said to him, did I not make you swear by the Lord and solemnly warn you saying, you will know for certain on the day you depart and go anywhere, you shall surely die. And you said to me, the word which I have heard is good. Why then have you not kept the oath of the Lord and the command which I have laid on you? The king also said to Shimei, you know all the evil which you acknowledge in your heart, which you did to my father David. Therefore, the Lord shall return your evil on your own head. But King Solomon shall be blessed and the throne of David shall be established before the Lord forever. So the king commanded Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, and he went out and fell upon him, so he died. Thus the kingdom was established in the hands of Solomon. And as you see, the last line is telling because it shows us that dealing with Shimei was really about Solomon establishing his kingdom. It was not about a personal vendetta of David's, but the fact that Solomon's rule would not have been properly established had he not dealt wisely and decisively with this very public traitor who brought shame to his nation and sinned against God in such a public way. And for 10 years, Shimei escaped judgment because of David's mercy. But in the end, justice had to be done for Solomon to establish him as a just king, establish himself as a just king. So today we saw how an attitude of forgiveness manifested in David. And I think the points can go up there again. We first saw that David refused to retaliate. Second, David trusted in God's sovereign purpose and goodness. Third, David showed mercy because he himself received mercy. And finally, David entrusted himself, entrusted justice to God. And if you are a believer in this morning, it's up there, I would pray that you would check your hearts to see if you can find this attitude of forgiveness in your own heart when you are offended in your own life. And I have just one last thing to say before we close. The title of the sermon today was Shimei's Story. But if you are not a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ this morning, it might as well be your story. Because you see, what did Shimei do? He committed a capital offense by refusing to honor God, by dishonoring the anointed King of God. And similarly, really everyone in this room, everyone in the world, we have committed capital offenses by breaking the commandment of God and by failing to honor his son, Jesus Christ. And just like Shimei's punishment was delayed but not canceled, so all of us have been granted a temporary stay of execution. But if you have not believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, You should not mistake God's patience for forgetfulness, because eventually the time for mercy will run out, and God's justice will come for you as surely as it did for Shimei. But the good news is that Jesus Christ stands even more ready to forgive than King David did. And Jesus is always ready and willing to extend the action of forgiveness to you for all of your sins if you would come to Him. So if you would acknowledge that you have sinned before God and committed offenses worthy of capital punishment, don't let Shimei's story be your story. Run to Jesus. Fall on your knees. Confess your sins with a humble heart. Repent, but mean it, unlike what Shimei did. Believe that Jesus, the Son of God, the true anointed King of God, the greater David, has bore the penalty for your sins in his own body on that cross, and acknowledge Jesus as your Lord and your King. And then instead of your head going down to Sheol, as Shimei's gray head did, according to God's amazing mercy, God will instead put on your head the crown of eternal life. Amen? Let's pray. Father, we are so thankful that you are merciful to us, that you have not seen fit to have us suffer the punishment of our sin that we deserve. And thank you for this cautionary story of Shimei, seeing that he had so many chances and opportunities to repent, but that the time of mercy ran out. I pray, Lord, for all the people in this room who have not believed in the gospel, that you would grant them repentance, that they would fall on their knees and repent and have new life, and you would grant them the crown of eternal life. In Christ's name we pray.