2 Samuel 19:23 And the King said to Shimei, “You shall not die.” And the King gave him his oath.
Perhaps one of the greatest lessons to be learnt from David is his gentleness towards his enemies. He showed great restraint and mercy towards men who would have killed him had they but had the kind of opportunities David had had with them; he spared Saul’s life twice when Saul had been hunting him down to kill him, he instructed his commanders not to harm his son Absalom despite Absalom himself meaning to kill him, and in Shimei’s case, he refused Abishai permission to execute Shimei for his previous cursing. Shimei pleaded for forgiveness, and though one cannot be sure whether it was sincere or if it was the sort of thing one said to save his skin, David forgave him still and promised him his life with an oath. Mephibosheth too had acted shamefully in that he had not faithfully followed David but had stayed back in Israel presuming that the Kingdom of his father would be restored to him. When, however, after Absalom’s death and David’s return, Mephibosheth defends himself before him, David gladly restores his lands which he’d given to Mephibosheth’s servant Ziba– though now he shared the lands equally between them.
We, on the other hand, in this business of leadership, usually are trained, even if just tacitly, to be firm, domineering, and ruthless. Treason isn’t to be forgiven; impertinence and disrespect are to be punished on the spot. To be a leader ends up translating to be the law yourself. King David, and our Lord Jesus Christ, have given us a wholly different template to read from, a radical example that we are to strive to emulate and exemplify; David showed mercy and gentleness, Jesus has shown humility and servanthood. He made it very clear to his disciples that none of them could be masters without first being slaves themselves. In Micah, we read how that he has shown us mortals what he requires of us: “to love mercy, to act justly, and to walk humbly with our God.” Justice. Mercy. Humility.
Kings worthy of their crowns are unfazed by the brunt of the little impertinences they have to bear from worthless men. It is no little wonder that we with no crowns whatsoever, or no worthy crowns for that matter, are often so disturbed by the least of the negative comments people make about us, even when those comments are in fact true. David shows us that it is kingly to be kind and gentle. Jesus Christ has shown the greatest humility we will ever know, in that he did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but he humbled himself by taking the form of a servant and being born in the likeness of men. Though we could never be half the man David was, God still requires and enjoins it, just as Paul urges us to have the mindset of Christ in our relationship with others, not merely looking just to our own interests, but caring too for the interests of others.
Most of us will not have particularly prestigious positions of leadership or honorable titles, nor could we all be kings and queens, yet we certainly will hold leadership of and in some capacity, for instance as fathers and husbands, or as mothers and wives, or as the ward rep, or as the school prefect. Then, when we are tempted to be domineering, impatient, hard, and harsh, we must remember how Christ deals with us, how he has dealt with us. We must remember that kings don’t shout, just as Paul writes to Philemon, that though he could command him to do what is right, instead he chooses to plead with him (Philemon 1:8)-9. We must not forget that with the merciful God shows himself merciful, and that judgement is without partiality to him who has shown no partiality. My question: are you king enough to be kind? As David was. As Christ is.
Prayer:
Dear Lord, thank you for your mercy, gentleness, and lovingkindness. You have dealt compassionately with me when I deserved wrath. Thank you for the example of King Jesus and King David. Now that I have learnt that it is kingly to be kind, merciful, and gentle, teach and help me to deal likewise with my fellow men. In Jesus Name. Amen.