Peter Barnes | 2 Samuel 16:1-14
SERMON NOTES
OPPORTUNISTS AND TURNCOATS
2 Samuel 16:1-14
Rebellions are an ideal time for political vultures.
1. Watch out for deceivers.
– 16:1-4. Ziba was a liar out to look after himself. We have met him earlier, in 2 Sam.9:9-10.
– see 2 Sam.19:24-27; Prov.25:18.
– David is suckered in – 16:4; Prov.18:17. You can be too trusting for your own good.
2. Suffer rebukes.
– 16:5-14. Shimei must have been half-crazy to throw stones at a man who is surrounded by well-armed troops.
– there are two possible responses to such a situation: (a) 16:9; see Prov.16:32; 19:11; (b) 16:10-13. That was not automatic on David’s part – recall 1 Sam.25:2-13, 32-34, 39.
– 1 Pet.2:23; 4:19; Charles Simeon: ‘My enemy, whatever evil he says of me, does not reduce me so low as he would if he knew all concerning me that God knows.’
3. ‘The best of men are men at best.’
– when we are at our best, we are never far from being at our worst; Romans 7.
David is naïve, longsuffering, and inconsistent but he is God’s.