II Samuel 16:12 It may be that the LORD will look on mine affliction, and that the LORD will requite me good for his cursing this day.
If you have ever been falsely accused, how did you feel? You may have felt angry, disappointed, frightened, and probably you felt a bit indignant like, “How dare you!” It is not just that you are innocent or that they have mistaken you, you are now morally superior to your accuser because they were wrong and you were innocent.
That is natural and is certainly the way I have felt on occasion, but being indignant never improves oneself. So when I become indignant, I almost never improve anything. If anyone ever overlooks your generosity or kindness or has forgotten to give you a thank you for something you have done, that is certainly true. I can remember every time I did something for which I did not receive a thank you, but I have forgotten every time that I have received a benefit for which I have failed to give a thank you. That is the kind of the point. I remember everything good about myself and I have an excuse for everything bad about myself, which is to say, there is only one side to this leger. I am my biggest fan.
The truth is that when someone unjustly accuses me, they don’t know the half of it. They may have accused me of something for which I am not guilty, but they may have left unsaid five things for which I am guilty.
David was a man unjustly accused. He was fleeing Absalom, a family problem had become a national crisis, and the kingdom had fallen around his ankles. He was without protection, alone, and on the run. As David is escaping with the people who stayed faithful to him, a man named Shimei cursed David and said, “Come out, come out, thou bloody man, and thou man of Belial.” He calls David a worthless man and a man with blood on his hands. Then he tells us why. He says, “The LORD hath returned upon thee all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose stead thou hast reigned.”
Nothing could have been further from the truth. David had not betrayed Saul. David had been patient with Saul. In fact, David had severely responded to those who claimed to have killed Saul. So, David had done right about that, yet when one of his lieutenants offered to kill this malcontent who was of the tribe of Benjamin and who cursed David when David was down, David said, “What have I to do with you…? so let him curse, because the LORD hath said unto him, Curse David. Who shall then say, Wherefore has thou done so?” David is saying, “Look, if God has caused him to curse me, then who am I to say anything about it?” I will quickly add that it is easy to invoke God and no one can verify it. I can say, “God is leading me to do thus and so.” Who can know if you are telling the truth or not?
Then David goes on to say, “Behold, my son, which came forth of my bowels, seeketh my life: how much more now may this Benjamite do it? let him alone, and let him curse; for the LORD hath bidden him.” He seemed to say, “My own son is doing wrong by me so how can I say anything about this Benjamite? David continues, “It may be that the LORD will look on mine affliction, and that the LORD will requite me good for his cursing this day.” Maybe God would do David good for this man’s bad to him.
Perspective gives peace. We don’t know the whole story. We don’t know the whole picture. The fact is, we may be innocent of something in particular, but we are not innocent of everything. David had a peace that came from perspective and he left what he could not see and could not know with God. Was this man acting on God’s orders? David did not know, but David left it with God.
There are two things that comprise this perspective. First, there is humility. In verse 11 David says, “Look, my son is doing the same thing to me. What can I say?” Who had a closer reason to hate David, this man of the tribe of Benjamin or David’s own son? The truth is that David was innocent of the blood of Saul but he was guilty of the blood of Uriah. Then why didn’t Uriah say anything? It was because he was dead. Absalom had been raised by a perhaps distant father and maybe even around the harem, but David had the humility to realize that although he was innocent of that particular crime, he was not innocent in the absolute sense.
Humility led to hope. Verse 12 says, “It may be that the LORD will look on mine affliction, and that the LORD will requite me good for his cursing this day.” Grace is more powerful than your perceived innocence. I’m not saying that it doesn’t matter if you do right or wrong. I am saying that what is most powerful in your life today is not the innocence you think you have, but the grace that God provides for those who have the humility to know they need it.