Day 86, or March 27. Respectable or not respectable?
Our thoughts today are from 2 Samuel chapter 16, verses 5 and 6. As King David approached
Bahurim, a man from the same clan as Saul's family came out from there. His name was Shimei,
son of Gerah, and he cursed as he came out, he pelted David and all the king's officials
with stones.
And now the big picture surrounding these verses. David's son Absalom does his best
to take the crown from his father David, and for a while it looked as if he might succeed.
For a short time he takes his father's advisers and rules from Jerusalem. He is a very charismatic
ruler, and David appears to have lost his throne forever. Only God can reestablish David's
monarchy now.
Now today's action step. Today we meet a foul-mouthed man called Shimei, son of Gerah, a Benjamite.
Not at all like another son of Gerah in Judges chapter 3, verse 15, he was a judge called
Ehud, and the son of Gerah, a Benjamite too.
When the Bible says someone is son of, it often means descendant of, as with Jesus,
son of David. In any event, these two men were almost certainly related. It seems good
families have bad members and bad families have good ones. All too often we judge people
by their relatives or where they live. In the town where we have lived since 1982 there
is a level crossing which was automated some years ago, much to the annoyance of the residents,
but that's another tale. Anyway, this rail crossing splits the town in two, and if you
live on the seaside of the track you are classed as inside the gates, and superior to those
who live outside. I clearly remember asking a shop assistant if I could take some wallpaper
samples home. He asked if I lived inside or outside. I told him inside, and he said, take
as many as you need, no problem. He was judging me by where I lived. We love to pigeonhole
people, don't we? Try to concentrate today on treating everyone as an individual, just
as God does.