Down In The Valley
Life is never simple nor runs smoothly. Not for anyone, anywhere. Particularly when it comes to our past. We all have acquaintances that we don’t really care to keep in touch with. Or we have had jobs that we never really enjoyed and would never really go back there again. There will have been places that we didn’t enjoy being at and we purposely decide not to visit those places again no matter what the circumstance. We all have our various experiences, places, people and scenarios that we would be glad if they stayed in our past.
King David, in his later years found himself in a situation that he had been in before. In his youth, David had confidently walked into the Valley of Elah and fought the giant, Goliath.
1st Samuel 17v43 And the Philistine (Goliath) said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods…
v50 So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. There was no sword in the hand of David.
But now, many years later, David found himself and his men fleeing along the side of a small valley on the eastern side of the recently conquered city of Jerusalem. The valley is known today as The Valley of Jehosophat and it separates Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives. Absalom and his army were threatening to over-run Jerusalem so David gathered his men and fled east long the valley and toward the River Jordan.
The valley would have been less populated in the days of King David. However, there was a kinsman of King Saul who lived on the far side of the valley, his name was Shimei, and he hated King David. Scripture tells us that Shimei shouted, challenged and berated David as they rode parallel to each other on opposite sides of the small steep valley.
2nd Samuel 16v5 Now when King David came to Bahurim (just at the northern exit of the valley), there was a man from the family of the house of Saul, whose name was Shimei the son of Gera, coming from there. He came out, cursing continuously as he came…
v13 So David and his men went on the road, while Shimei went along on the hillside opposite him and cursed as he went and threw stones at him and flung dust.
But David was not the same man as he was in his younger days. David had seen his own failure. He had seen his King, Saul, try to kill him. He had seen his greatest friend, and Saul’s son, Jonathan be attacked by his own father. David had waited while one of his most loyal captains, Uriah, go into battle and be killed on David’s orders. David has known adultery, murder, lying and treachery. And now he is watching his own son, Absalom, try to take the kingdom from him.
David has known death and betrayal and had a strong sense of his own shortcomings. And on this day David has decided that he just wanted to escape and carry on his journey along the sides of the valley and eastward toward the River Jordan.
But Shimei was having none of it. Shimei provoked and assaulted King David’s travelling party by calling out names and throwing stones at them. But David just rode on. David could have had Shimei captured and executed. But he didn’t. He just travelled on
2nd Samuel 16v14 And the king, and all the people who were with him, arrived weary at the Jordan. And there he refreshed himself.
God will often times bring us back full circle to revisit certain old experiences. We may face old temptations again. We may visit old hurts that were painful to us in days gone by. We may meet people from our past that only ever meant harm to us. But God has brought us to these places for a reason. He wants to show us that we are not the same people we used to be. We are stronger now. We have hindsight, wisdom and a strength borne of experience on our side now.
And God wants us to learn this. He has brought us through our trials to make us into better people. And He wants us to learn our new skills and characteristics so that we can more mature christians for Him. David had learned the sorrow of needless deaths. He had learned that not all challenges from his enemies need to be addressed. Some can be let go. David had learned to just look at the enemy and ride on by without reacting. And he allowed Shimei to go unchallenged and live.
Not every accusation needs to be answered. Not every challenge needs to be lifted up. Does the moon stop to lecture every dog that howls at it?
When God delivers you from a painful past, stop talking about it as if you’re still a victim. Stop playing the loser. Now is the time for us to learn to speak of God's mercy and blessings.
1st Peter 5v10 But the God of all Grace, who has called us unto His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that you have suffered a while, make you perfect, establish, strengthen, settle you.
God has been teaching us that there are bigger things in life for us. And they all involve Him.
Amen.
They were my dreams at the start.
And hope for life's best were the hopes that I harboured
Deep down in my heart.
But my dreams turned to ashes, my castles all crumbled,
My fortune turned to loss.
So I wrapped it all in the rags of my life
And laid it at the cross.
Something beautiful, something good.
All my confusion He understood.
All I had to offer Him was brokenness and strife.
But he made something beautiful of my life.
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