“And the king said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah? so let him curse, because the LORD hath said unto him, Curse David. Who shall then say, Wherefore hast thou done so?”
My Notes
What Does 2 Samuel 16:10 Mean?
Abishai wants to kill Shimei for cursing David. David's response is stunning: let him curse. Because the LORD told him to curse David. If God said it, who can question it? David doesn't just tolerate Shimei's abuse. He considers it divinely authorized.
The theology is radical: David attributes the cursing to God's instruction. "The LORD hath said unto him, Curse David" — David isn't saying Shimei is a prophet. He's saying that God's sovereignty extends even to the curses of enemies. If God permitted this man to curse, the cursing serves God's purpose. And interfering with it would be interfering with God.
"What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah?" — David pushes back against Abishai's impulse to violence. The warrior's instinct is to silence the curser. David's instinct is to listen for God's voice even in the cursing.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Can you hear God's voice in an enemy's curses — or does hostility automatically disqualify the message?
- 2.Does David's radical submission (the LORD told him to curse) model a level of sovereignty-trust you haven't reached yet?
- 3.Where is your 'Abishai' instinct (defend, silence, shut it down) preventing you from receiving what God might be doing through a hostile voice?
- 4.Have you ever discovered — after the fact — that an enemy's hostile words carried something you needed to hear?
Devotional
Let him curse. The LORD told him to. And who am I to argue?
Abishai's solution is simple: kill him. That's what warriors do with people who curse the king. But David's solution is the opposite: let him keep cursing. Because if God is behind this, killing Shimei would be fighting against God's purpose.
The theology is staggering: David considers the possibility that God is using an enemy's cursing as a divine instrument. Not that Shimei is righteous. Not that the curses are justified on Shimei's terms. But that God's sovereignty extends even to the hostile words of a hostile man. And if God has a purpose in the cursing, shutting it down would be shutting down what God is doing.
This requires a level of spiritual maturity that most people never reach. The ability to hear God's voice in an enemy's curses. The willingness to consider that the person attacking you might be serving a divine purpose you can't see. The humility to say: maybe this is for me. Maybe I need to hear something inside the hostility.
"What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah?" — David rebukes the protectors more sharply than the curser. The instinct to defend, to silence, to shut down the hostile voice is natural. But David won't let his defenders interfere with what might be God's discipline.
The next time someone curses you — when the words are hostile, when the stones are flying, when every instinct says shut it down — consider David's possibility. Maybe God is in it. Maybe the curse carries something you need. Maybe the worst messenger is delivering the truest message.
Let him curse. And listen for God inside the noise.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
And the king said, what have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah?.... It seems as if Joab, the brother of Abishai,…
What have I to do ... - See the marginal references compare Mat 8:29; Joh 2:4, and a similar complaint about the sons of…
Because the Lord hath said - The particle וכי vechi should be translated for if, not because. For If the Lord hath said…
We here find how David bore Shimei's curses much better than he had borne Ziba's flatteries. By the latter he was…
What have I to do with you -What have we in common? leave me alone." The phrase is used to repel an unwelcome…
Cross References
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