Now this morning, we have a very
important lesson. Something that applies to every
one of us. A sinner begging for sovereign mercy. That applies
to all of us. That applies to the need that
each of us have. A sinner begging for sovereign
mercies. In the rest of this chapter, 2 Samuel 19, there are
three examples of sovereign mercy. We're going to look at the first
one this morning. Now we begin in verse 15. So the king returned
and came to Jordan, and Judah came to Gilgal to meet the king,
to conduct the king over Jordan. Now you remember David began
his journey into the wilderness. He's on the run from his son
Absalom, and he left Jerusalem by crossing the Brook Kidron,
and you remember that's the place where the sewage from the city
ran, the place where they disposed of the unclean parts of the burnt
offering. It was a place of shame and contempt. And we saw how that's a picture
of the Lord Jesus Christ being made sin for his people. How
the Lord Jesus put away the sin of his people through the sacrifice
of himself when by imputation he was made to be guilty. He
plunged himself into the guilt of his people and he was made
to be guilty of the sin of his people. And salvation was eternally
accomplished by the one sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now
you'll note David only crossed Chitron one time, just once. When he came back into the Promised
Land, he came back into Israel, he came back over Jordan. He
didn't cross Chitron again, he came back over Jordan. And that's
a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. He suffered for sin one time,
just once. That's all it took. He never
crossed that way of suffering and shame again. Look at 1 Peter
chapter 3. 1 Peter 3, verse 18. For Christ also hath once suffered
for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God,
being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit.
Now look over at Hebrews chapter 10. Our Lord suffered once, and
we dare not look to religion or religious ceremony or religious
activity to say we look to Christ alone. Hebrews 10 verse 1. For the law, having a shadow
of good things to come, and not the very image of the things,
can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year
continually make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they
not have ceased to be offered? Because if the worshipers once
purged should have had no more conscience of sins. But in those
sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. All those animal sacrifices did,
they offered day after day after day, year after year after year,
simply reminded the people that we're sinners. Our sin is not
purged because we have to do this again. Well, why isn't their
sin purged? Well, look at verse four. For
it's not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should
take away sins. Wherefore, when he cometh into the world, he
saith, Sacrifice and offering God wouldest not, but a body
hast thou prepared me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices
for sin, thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come, in the
volume of the book it is written of me, I come to do thy will,
O God. Above, when he said sacrifice
and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin, thou wouldst
not, neither has pleasure therein which are offered by the law.
Then he said, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away
the first, that he may establish the second. By the witch will,
we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus
Christ once. Those words for all don't really
hurt the text exactly, but they're added by the translators. They're
in italics. They're added by the translators. What the text
says is we're sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus
Christ once. Just one sacrifice. That's all
it took. And that's the difference between
an earthly high priest and Christ our high priest. Look at verse
11. And every priest standeth daily, ministering and offering
oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.
But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever,
sat down on the right hand of God, from henceforth expecting
to his enemies be made his footstool, for by one offering he hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified." One offering, that's all it took.
In the picture, that's why David, he crossed into the wilderness
over that shame-brook chitron, but he came back over Jordan.
The Lord Jesus crossed the way of sin and shame. He crossed
the way of the cross once. He came to this earth in the
humble form of a serpent once. No more. Now he's crossed into
glory. And every believer has the expectation
that we'll be with the Lord in glory. Because the Lord Jesus
already crossed that way. He opened the way for us that
all his people would follow him there and will follow him there
by crossing the River Jordan, crossing death into glory. At
this moment, there's a man in glory seated at the right hand
of God. And he is guaranteeing that there
are many more to follow. His substitutionary death for
those people guaranteed. They'll be with Him there. They'll
never die eternally. They will be with Him there.
And because the Lord suffered the just for the unjust, because
He did that one time, sinners have, not only do we have every
right, we're commanded to come to God begging for mercy because
of that one sacrifice of Christ. When He suffered that one time,
He suffered for sinners. And that's why sinners are commanded
to come to God begging for mercy. Sinful men and women like you
and me can come to God begging for mercy, begging that God would
not charge me with my sin, that he would not impute my sin to
me, that he'd have mercy on me and charge my sin to my substitute. That's how God saves sinners,
and that's what we have pictured here in our text. Now, the next
character we meet in this story is Shimei, and he is a picture
of a sinner who's come begging for sovereign mercy. Sovereign
mercy from a sovereign king. Now, you remember Shimei. He
first met David when David was down. He's on the run. He's out
in the wilderness. He's on the run from his son,
his son seeking his life. And here's Shimei throwing rocks
at him and dust at him and cursing him. And that was a great sin. You reckon David remembered that?
You reckon he remembers Shimei throwing rocks at him and his
wife and his children and those men that were with him? You think
he remembered being cursed and having dust thrown on him? Well,
you know he did. And Shimei knew David remembered
too. And now David's not down anymore. Now he's returned to power. He's
come back to Israel as king and Shimei is in a world of hurt. David could have his head removed
in a moment with just a wave of his hand and he'd be executed. Now, what should Shimei do? Should
he just run and hide and hope for the best? Should he just
hope, well, he goes somewhere, David won't find him or maybe
David won't look for him? Now, this is an important question
because this is the same question every sinner faces. Look over
at Psalm 51, I've sinned against God, just like Shimei sinned
against David, I've sinned against God and I've got the same problem
Shimei did. What should I do? Psalm 51, verse 3. For I acknowledge my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me against thee. Thee only have
I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight, that thou mightest
be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.
Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive
me. I have sinned against God. Now
what am I going to do? Well, can I run? Can I hide from
God and hope He won't find me? Scripture says we can. Scripture
says 2 Corinthians 5.10, for we must all appear before the
judgment seat of Christ. You can't hide from Him. There's
coming a day we'll face Him in judgment. We can't hide from
God. Well, then, can I just do my best, even though I know my
best is sinful? Can I just do my best and hope
it'll somehow all turn out alright in the end? Can I just hope that
God will He'll forget my sin and he'll pass over me. He won't
look at my sin and he'll consider my good works. Why no? God never forgets anything. He
sees every sin. God's holy. He must punish sin. Look over Numbers 14 and he will
punish sin. That's what he tells us here
in Numbers. Because God is holy, he will
punish every sin. Numbers 14, verse 18. The Lord is long-suffering and
of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no
means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon
the children under the third and fourth generation. He doesn't
forgive to the third and fourth generation. He must punish sin. So I can't run from God. Can't
hide from it. Can't hope God will forget my
sin. My sin must be punished. Well, then what should I do?
What should I do? Do the same thing Shimei does. Here in our text, Shimei is going
to go beg David for sovereign mercy. And that's what sinners
like you and me should do. Go beg God for sovereign mercy.
Back in our text, verse 16. And Shimei, the son of Pira of
Benjamite, which was of Bahirim, Hasten came down with the men
of Judah to meet King David. And there were a thousand men
of Benjamin with him, and Ziba the servant of the house of Saul,
and his fifteen sons, and his twenty servants with him. And
they went over Jordan before the king. And they went over
a ferryboat to carry over the king's house, and to do what
he thought good. And Shimei the son of Gerah fell
down before the king, as he was come over Jordan, and said unto
the king, Let not my lord impute iniquity unto Neither do thou
remember that which thy servant did perversely the day that my
Lord the King went out of Jerusalem, that the King should not take
it to his heart. For thy servant doth know that I have sinned.
Therefore, behold, I am come the first this day of all the
house of Judah to go down to meet my Lord the King." Now here
Shimei is begging for mercy, and he is an example to us of
a sinner begging for sovereign mercy. And this is the first
thing we learn about begging for mercy from Shimei. Make haste. Don't wait. Make haste. Beg for mercy now, today. You'll notice Shimei didn't wait
for David to come looking for him. Shimei went to David. Shimei didn't wait until, you
know, he kind of cleaned up his act. He was a better day. You
know, he had some time to work on his public image. No, he came
immediately to David as he was. Shimei didn't even wait for David
to come back to Jerusalem, sit on the throne and then come to
him. Shimei went to meet David at Jordan's bank. He didn't waste
a moment. He came begging for mercy. And
that's the way a sinner begs for mercy from God. Right now,
go to Him in begging for mercy. Don't wait until you start acting
better. Don't wait until you clean up your act and start acting
better because if you do that, you'll never come. Come right
now. Go beg for mercy right now as
you are. And don't wait for someone to
invite you or call you. preachers, so-called, that beg
men to come down. Don't wait for somebody to beg
you to come down the aisle. Go now. Go to Him and beg for
mercy now. Look over at Isaiah 55. Right
now. In verse 6. Seek ye the Lord while I may
be found. Call ye upon him while he is
near. Now is he near? Right now is
he near? He said, were two or three gathered
together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. He said
he is near. Then call on him, begging for
mercy. Let the wicked forsake his way,
and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord,
and he will have mercy upon him. And to our God, for he will abundantly
pardon. Look over to Hebrews chapter
3. Call upon him now while he's
near. Today's the day of salvation. Hebrews 3, verse 7. Wherefore, as the Holy Ghost
saith, today, today, if you will hear his voice, harden not your
hearts as in the provocation. in the day of temptation in the
wilderness, when your fathers tempted me and proved me and
saw my works forty years. Beg God for mercy today. Don't
be like those rebels that died out there in the wilderness.
God says, call on him today. Then do it. Call on him today,
begging for mercy. And learn this from Shimei. Shimei
is the first person to ask David for forgiveness. When David returns
to Jerusalem, returns to Israel as king, he's the first. See,
I thought like Peter, didn't I? Remember, after the Lord was
crucified, Peter said, I'm going fishing. He led those disciples.
He left the ministry and went fishing. And they saw the Lord
on the river. After they fished all night,
caught nothing, they saw the Lord on the riverbank. What did
Peter do? He jumped in and swam to shore. He wanted to be the first. to
go ask for forgiveness. That's what Shimei is doing.
Now here he comes begging for mercy. What's David going to
do? If he executes Shimei, if he
acts in justice and not mercy, then everyone else is going to
be afraid to come ask David for forgiveness. Everybody that was
left in Israel rebelled against David's throne. They all need
to ask David's forgiveness. Well, if David executes the first
one that comes to him asking for forgiveness, everybody else
is going to be afraid to come ask David for forgiveness. And
David, in his wisdom, shows mercy to Shimei so that everyone else
will see it's good, it's wise to come beg for forgiveness.
And that's what I say to you this morning, someone who does
not know the Lord. Now, this is what I say to you.
You've seen so many people that you know. Go to the Lord, seeking
forgiveness. You should, too. You should,
too. David said in Psalm 34, this
poor man cried. The Lord heard him. Saved him
of all his troubles. Maybe God will hear you, too.
David is an example. He cried to the Lord. The Lord
heard him. Maybe he'll hear you, too. Could
be he will if you cry to him for mercy. The first thing we
learn about seeking mercy is this. Make haste. Come today. Second, we learn from Shimei
to beg for mercy, humbly confessing our sin. Shimei fell down in
the dust before David, begging for mercy, and he confessed his
sins. He said, I know I'm a sinner. Everybody knows I'm a sinner,
especially me. I know that I've sinned against
you. I did perverse things, but I've come begging for mercy.
I'm seeking mercy. Shimei sounds a lot like David,
doesn't he? In Psalm 51, David said, My sins
ever before me, against thee, thee only have I sinned. Same
thing Shimei is saying. And Shimei confesses that he
is a sinner. Of course he does. The only people
who need mercy are sinners. If you're not a sinner, you don't
need mercy. If you're holy, you're righteous, you don't need mercy.
But a sinner needs mercy. And a sinner should come before
the throne of grace humbly. We don't have anything to be
proud of. We're dead and trespasses in sins. We have nothing to be
proud of. There's no use in a sinner trying to hide his sin, trying
to pretend like he doesn't have any sin. Come before God and
confess your sin, begging him for mercy. Self-confessed sinners
will never be condemned. Self-confessed sinners do not
perish. Look over in 1 John 8 and I'll
show you that. Self-convicted, self-confessed sinners do not
perish. 1 John 1. Verse 8. If we say we have no sin, and
what he means there, if we have no sin nature, if we say we have
no sin in Adam, we don't have his sin nature, we deceive ourselves
and the truth's not in us. If we confess our sins, both
in Adam and in myself, if we confess our sins, he is faithful
and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
If we say we've not sinned, we make him a liar and his word's
not in us. But if we confess our sins, He's faithful and just
to forgive us. Self-confessed sinners do not
perish. We come begging for mercy, humbly
confessing our sin. Third, we learn from Shimei this,
that the key to begging for mercy is found in two words that he
uses in verse 19, impute and remember. Impute and remember. The first word is impute. Let
not my Lord impute iniquity unto me, Shimei said. Now what Shimei
is hoping for is David would just overlook his sin and not
put him to death. And David is going to spare Shimei's
life because David has learned in his experience to be merciful
because God was merciful to David. Shimei's plea sounds a whole
lot like David's plea for mercy in Psalm 51. And those who've
been forgiven should be forgiving to others, shouldn't they? Someone
who's experienced sovereign mercy should be merciful to others,
and David will be. But what Shimei is really saying,
he's just hoping David will ignore his sin. That's not how God shows
mercy to sinners. God doesn't overlook our sin.
The key word here is impute, impute. A sinner always begs
for mercy. for Christ's sake, don't impute
my sin to me. Please, impute my sin to my substitute
and impute his righteousness to me. David said in Psalm 32,
blessed is the man unto whom the Lord will not impute iniquity. Well, how is that possible? How
can a holy God not impute iniquity to a guilty sinner? How is that
possible? How is it possible that a holy
God cannot charge a guilty sinner with sin? He's guilty. How is
that possible? Look over 2 Corinthians 5. This
is the message of the gospel. The answer to that question,
how can God not impute sin to a guilty sinner, is the message
of the gospel. 2 Corinthians 5, verse 18. All things are of God. who hath
reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and given to us the ministry
of reconciliation. This is our message, namely,
to wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself,
not imputing their trespasses unto them. And he has committed
unto us this word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors
for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us. We pray you,
in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. That's what I'm doing
this morning. I pray you in Christ's stead. Come beg God for mercy
today, right now. Come beg him for mercy on this
ground, verse 21. For he hath made him to be sin
for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. This is why a sinner always begs
for mercy for Christ's sake. God treats his people. as holy
and righteous and has fellowship with them for Christ's sake because
God has imputed the sin of his people to the Lord Jesus Christ
and Christ our Savior has put those sins away with his sin-atoning
blood. The first word is impute. We
beg for mercy for Christ's sake that our sin would be imputed
to the Savior and his righteousness would be imputed to us. And the
second word is remember. He asked David, don't remember
the perverse things that I did to you. And remembering is closely
tied to imputation. Now Shimei knows in reality David's
never going to truly forget what he did to David when David was
out there in the wilderness. He's never going to forget. Shimei
cursed him and thrown rocks at him. But he's hoping David will
just ignore what he did to David. That's not how God saves sinners.
God actually does not remember the sin of his people. Their
sins and iniquities will I remember no more. If God hadn't said that,
we couldn't believe that he wouldn't remember our sins. But he said,
their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now, there's
only one way that's possible, and it's through the sacrifice
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Look back at Psalm 51 again. When David cried for mercy, this
is the ground on which he cried for mercy. Psalm 51, verse 1. Have mercy upon me, O God, according
to thy lovingkindness, according to the multitude of thy tender
mercies. Blot out my transgressions. Blot
them out. Look at verse 7. Purge me with
hyssop. And I'll be clean. Wash me, and
I shall be whiter than snow. Verse 9, hide thy face from my
sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Now, what's David talking about
here? Blot out, blot out, blot out. Cleanse me. Well, the only
way God cannot remember sin and iniquity is if those sins have
been imputed to the Lord Jesus Christ. And those sins are blotted
out. under the blood of the sacrifice
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And those sins are blotted out. It's not like they're still there,
but they're covered up like you put a piece of tape over it,
but it's still there. No, they're gone. The only way
a sinner, David said, make me clean. Well, the only way a sinner
can be made clean and righteous and without sin is if they're
washed in the blood of the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. In
verse 7, he says, purge me with hyssop. What he's talking about
there is the law of the leper. Hyssop is used in the scriptures
to apply blood. You know, when a leper was cleansed,
the priest took the blood of the sacrifice, he dipped the
hyssop in it, and he sprinkled the leper with that blood and
pronounced him clean. He says, purge me, apply the
blood of Christ to me and make me clean. The only way my sin
could not be remembered by God is if my sins have been washed
away under the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And God does not
remember those sins. Because those sins, it's not
like they don't exist. Brethren, they do not exist.
They've been put away under the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, God doesn't remember our sin. I do. I remember my sin. moment come that we don't remember
our sin, the law is always there reminding us of our sin, always
whispering in our ear we're guilty, trying to bring us back into
captivity to the law. Back in our text in verse 21,
that's what happens to old Shimei. In verse 21, Ben Abishai, the
son of Zerui, answered and said, Shall not Shimei be put to death
for this, because he cursed the Lord's And David said, What have
I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah, that you should this
day be adversaries unto me? Shall there any man be put to
death this day in Israel? For do not I know that I am this
day king over Israel. Therefore the king said unto
Shimei, Thou shalt not die. And the king sware unto him."
Abishai is always wanting to cut off. shimmy out of his head,
always. He did back there in chapter
16 when he was throwing rocks and cursing David. He stabbed
and shakes, let me go up there and take off his head. David
said, no, leave him alone. Now here, he's come begging for
mercy. He's in the dust begging for mercy. You know he's got
his hand on a sword. Shimmy out of his head, let me
take off his head. David said, no, no. And this is what the
law does. The law always has said we deserve
death because we've broken the law. Before we converted, the
law cried out, put him to death. He's guilty, broken God's law. Well, it was right. So why didn't
God act in justice and destroy every one of us? Because God
already saw his people in his Son, the Lamb slain from the
foundation of the world. He saw his people justified in
his Son. And we're justified if we're
in Christ, but the law still whispers to us, you're guilty.
Look at your sin. The soul that sinneth must surely
die. And we can say with David, what do I got to do with you?
David says, what do I have to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah?
And that's when we say the law. What have I got to do with you?
My substitute fulfilled your every demand. The less I have
to do with you, the better. And that's what David's telling
Shimei or Abishai here. The less I've got to do with
you, the better off I'll be. And the only reason the law cannot
touch any of God's elect is because Christ satisfied the law and
he satisfied justice. He kept the law for his people
as a representative and imputed his perfect obedience to our
account. And he satisfied justice by taking
our sins and dying in our place as our substitute. He bore our
sin, he bore our shame, and he put it away. under his precious
blood, and the law could never demand the death of anyone for
whom Christ died. Justice is satisfied. So the
fourth thing, the last thing here we learn from Shimei is
that a sinner's only hope is in sovereign mercy. It's in sovereign
mercy. David said, nobody can be put
to death this day because I'm king, because the king has spoken. And nobody would have thought
a thing was wrong if David ordered Shimei to be put to death. Everybody
said he got what he deserved. But David is king and he showed
sovereign mercy and did not give Shimei what he deserved. David's
victory in battle over Absalom enables him to do as he will
and nobody can question him. He showed sovereign mercy. That
was his will. The Lord Jesus Christ's victory
over sin enables him to do as he will. And his will is to show
sovereign mercy. Sovereign mercy to whom he will. And none of God's elect are put
to death for this reason. It's sovereign mercy. Sovereign
mercy because the King has spoken and decreed it to be so. Real
mercy. The only kind of mercy they can
save only comes from the throne of God that cannot be refuted,
that can't be reversed. So we should beg for mercy, shouldn't
we? We should make haste and beg
for mercy today. We should beg humbly, confessing
our sin. We beg for mercy for Christ's
sake. But always, always, always, always, we are dependent on this. We don't get mercy because I
came and begged for mercy in all the appropriate ways. It's
sovereign mercy. Sovereign mercy. Because He will. And the rest of this chapter,
that's what we're going to see. We're always dependent upon sovereign
mercy. And I'm glad it's so. That's
the mercy that saves. All right. Well, I hope the Lord
will bless that to your heart.