The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Samuel — Section 397

III. THEY ARF. ESPECIALLY DEVELOPED IN THE DAY 01!' ADVERSITY. The slumber- ing aver,,ion of Shimei found expression in form of outrageous insult when David's fortunes began t.o wane. Malice is associated with cowardice, and it is only when foar of punishment {)llllses away that the me.lice puts forth its vigour. Me.lice is cruel and therefore it adds wound t.o wound. The history of Christian persecution illustrates this. The very sorrows which ordinarily would draw forth sympathy only induce the feeling expressed in "There is no help for him in God." The nature.I tendency of tho multitude to adhere t.o the prosperous and stand aloof from the failing cause, becomes intensified int.o active opposition when e. lurking aversion t.o the individual and his cause has been cherished (Ps. xxxv. 15; xli:t. 18). Even the patience and sorrow displayed in tbe season of providential trie.l a.re turned age.inst the sufferer by the keenness of an evil ingenuity. So much freedom does the evil spirit find in the day of calamity that the whole life is charged with the faults that belong only to a portion of it. No consideration is given to repentance and amendment. 'l'o crush and ruin are the Role aim of the reproach. IV. THEY ABE 0H.ABACTERIZED BY THE DARING ENCOURAGED BY A BENSE OF SECURITY. Shimei knew his victim well enough to believe that he would not have the heart to allow the sword t.o smite him down; for all the antecedents of David's life were in the direction of leniency and gentleness t.owards those who sought his hurt, though he spared not the man who sought or professed to take away the life of Saul. He was shrewd enough to notice that the grief of the king was so intense, as bare- footed and in silence he passed out of the city, as not t.o allow of his finding room for thoughts of vengeance, and thlL~, being secure, the reproaches poured forth. The same conclusion was arrived at by the vindictive Pharisees, who loaded the Saviour with reproach. They knew, from all they had seen and heard, that he would not use force against them, and would not avail himself of the Roman authority in self-defence, and hence, secure in these directions, they were very darinJ?, and spared not words and clceds to crush still further the spirit of the illustrious Man of sorrows. In daily life young Christiane are often loaded with reproaches by wicked young men, with a bold- ness that gains strength from the fact that there is no one present to rebuke them, and that the assailed youth is prohibited by the principles he professes from using reproach and violence in return (Matt. v. 39, 43, 44). GD,"'ERAL LESSONS. 1. In the providential discipline of life, we may look for a combination of sorrows from independent sources, but yet all subservient to good for the children of God. 2. We should be so careful of onr life every day that we give no apparent occasion for any one to bring charges against us when the failure of our earthly prosperity arouses attention. 3. The freedom exercised by wicked men in pouring forth their hatred against the good is of short duration, and cannot really hurt those who bear their reproaches in a right spirit. 4. We onght to discount largely the accusa- tions brought age.inst good men by those whose life and conduct reveal an absence of sympathy with the kingdom of God. Tl<R- WOIIH!B and billows of God. , The events narrated in vers. 5-13 have an aspect towards man and towards God. The scene of a rejected monarch leaving his seat of government, and, while so doing, assailed by an enemy, is a vicissitude in human affairs which, though special in its colouring, is frequent in the annals of the world. It is a case of human ingratitude and violence on the one side, and human suffering on the other. But t.o the mind of David the sufferer, and to the sacred historian, the vicissitude is seen to stand in direct relation to the government of God, and is invested with its deepest interest in that aspect. The expression of the psalmist here finds exemplifica- tion : " .All thy waves and thy billows are gone over me" (Ps. xiii. 7). 'l'he troubles are earthly ; they roll on according to fixed laws, and are raised by agencies. that seem to act by virtue of their own nat'f.e; and yet they are God's. The Hebrew discernment of the Divine element in the li1tterest trials is clear and sure. We learn here the following tl"Dths. I. THERE A.RE GRADATIONS OF TBOtJBLB IN THE EXPERIENCE 011' THE GODLY. There are distinct trouble11 in David's experience as here described, and they are graduated in weight. It W1U1 something to leave the city and worship he loved; it was more to break up a home; it wu worse to lose regal authority ; it wu worse still to pass out en. XVI, 1-23.J THE SECOND BOOK OF SAMUEL. 403