OPEN: An older couple were on a trip across country and they stopped at a roadside restaurant for lunch. As they got up to leave, the woman forgot and left her glasses on the table. They were several miles down the road before she realized she didn’t have them and to make matters worse, her husband had to travel quite a distance down the road before they could find a place to turn around.
The old man fussed and complained all the way back to the restaurant. He berated for her foolishness and stupidity. How could she be so thoughtless!
When they finally arrived, as the old woman got out of the car to retrieve her glasses the old man said, "Well, as long as you’re going back in there, you may as well get my hat, too."
Now, I have a little quiz for you this morning:
Tell me what personality trait comes into your mind when you hear the following biblical names:
· Thomas (Doubt),
· Jezebel (adultery),
· Judas (betrayal),
· Shimei
Shimei? Yes Shimei. When you leave this worship service this morning I want you to remember his name. And I want you to remember what trait should be identified with him.
Shimei suffered from a spiritual illness that unfortunately strikes both Christian and non-Christian alike and can destroy the very spiritual fiber of the strongest man of faith.
Shimei suffered from a disease I call the DEAD DOG SYNDROME.
But, before I read our text this morning I want give you a little background
Several years before our story this morning, King Saul was the ruler of Israel. But he’d grown disobedient to God and God anointed David to eventually replace him.
The only problem was that Saul hadn’t died yet… and he hadn’t abdicated his throne. And he had NO INTENTION of giving up his throne to anybody just yet.
So once Saul realized that David was God’s next choice for the throne, he sought on several occasions to have David killed.
By contrast… David had several opportunities to kill Saul – but refused to do so. He repeatedly told his friends and relatives he would not lay a hand on the “Lord’s Anointed”. And he never did.
David remained a fugitive and an outcast from the land of his birth… until the day Saul took his own life on the field of battle.
Now, in time, David became king of all Israel, just as God had intended. But about 30 years into his reign, David’s own son Absalom attempted a coup and David was forced to flee Jerusalem.
Now that brings us to our text this morning: 2 Samuel 16:5-14 (read)
I. What would cause Shimei to behave like such a jerk?
Well… he had a disease. He suffered from Dead Dog syndrome.
What is this disease? The Dead Dog Syndrome is a critical spirit.
What are the symptoms of this disease?
People with a critical spirit…
· focus on the negative. They look for and dwell on the faults of others. And they’re very vocal in their unhappiness with how others live.
ILLUS: I recently spoke with a man (we’ll call him John) from another congregation who was very upset with his preacher. The preacher had been preaching in his congregation for as long as John and his family had attended. John told another man and myself that he initially had liked the preacher, but over time that preacher had developed some habits that deeply annoyed him. And then John began to list all of that preacher’s faults. One story ran into another until it was obvious we were going to hear all of that preacher’s faults over the next half hour or so.
About half way into John’s litany, I interrupted him. I explained that Jesus commanded us NOT to criticize our brothers (even if they were preachers) but instead we were to lovingly encourage, pray for and periodically confront them about needed changes in their lives.
No sooner had I finished my teaching of John, then the other man in the group basically told him the same thing. Over the next hour or so, John came to understand that a negative, critical spirit was not something he was allowed to indulge in and he committed to changing his attitude.
Critical people not only focus on the negative…
· their language and behavior is geared to belittle those around them.
· But the person they’re upset with usually hasn’t even intended to cause them any harm
· They are so obvious in their negative spirit that others know them to be critical individuals or complainers.
Now - notice how Shimei conducts himself
· He’s extremely negative toward David
· He’s VERY vocal in his dislike of David - curses at David…throws dirt and stones at him. Critical people (particularly Christians) often don’t engage in cursing, but they may as well do so for all the anger they unleash in their conversation about the people they are frustrated with.
· David had never done a thing to harm Shimei. But Shimei did everything in his power to belittle and embarrass David
· Lastly, Shimei’s negative spirit is so obvious that Abishai takes offense at how David is treated.
Now there are people who think of this attitude as if it were a good thing.
ILLUS: After a preacher had given a sermon on spiritual gifts, a woman from the congregation came up to him and said, "That was a great sermon… but I believe I only have one talent."
The preacher smiled and asked, "What’s your talent?
The man replied, "I have the gift of criticism."
To which the preacher wisely, "The Bible says that the guy who had only one talent went out and buried it. Maybe that’s what you ought to do with yours."
ILLUS: Catherine Marshall (considered by many to be one of the more godly women of the last century) noticed this trait in herself. So she decided to go on a “fast” from being critical. She noted: “For the first half of the day, I simply felt a void, almost as if I had been wiped out as a person. This was especially true at lunch...I listened to the others and kept silent... In our talkative family no one seemed to notice. Bemused, I noticed that my comments were not missed. The federal government, the judicial system, and the institutional church could apparently get along fine without my penetrating observations.” In short, stripped of being able to make any negative comments… she found she had nothing to say!
That was the nature of Shimei. He was a man given over to a negative, critical spirit.
II. Now, by contrast, I want you to take a close look at David here.
He had reason to be infected with this disease.
He had reason to become infected with a critical spirit
Stripped of his security, betrayed by his son, rejected by his people, no longer a young man capable of handling life on the run... this was one of his darkest hours.
And THEN – along comes this mean spirited, insignificant excuse for a man throwing dirt and rocks at him.
Now, I don’t know about you… but, I know how it is with me. You catch me on a day when everything is going wrong. A day when I’m tired… a little grouchy… and then someone says just the wrong thing... I might be inclined to take his head off too.
So… I can understand Abishai’s anger… And I can imagine (if I were David) telling Abishai: "Here… go ahead. Use my sword! But don’t kill him ...too quickly."
Now, my point is this:
Sometimes the only thing that’s necessary for us to become infected with the Dead Dog Syndrome is for life to become REALLY unfair. At times like that it’s almost like someone has lit a match in a closet full of fireworks. When that happens, you better stand back… because that baby’s gonna blow!
But that didn’t happen to David. David could have responded to Shimei in anger and frustration… but he didn’t.
How come?
How did David avoid falling prey to The Dead Dog Syndrome?
1st, David REMEMBERED his own sin
Look with me to 2 Samuel 16:10-11
But the king said, ‘What do you and I have in common, you sons of Zeruiah? If he is cursing because the LORD said to him, ‘Curse David,’ who can ask, ‘Why do you do this?’” David then said to Abishai and all his officials, "My son, who is of my own flesh, is trying to take my life. How much more, then, this Benjamite! Leave him alone; let him curse, for the LORD has told him to.
God had told Shimei to curse David? Why would David think such a thing?
Well, just a few months before this incident with Shimei, David had committed a grave sin. Do you remember what it was? That’s right, he had slept with his best friend’s wife, got her pregnant and then arranged to have his friend killed on the field of battle. As a result of sins, God had told David that life was going to get really hard for him.
Now here is Shimei making David’s life miserable as he flees from the armies of Absalom and David REMEMBERS his sin and he acknowledges that Shimei may very well be the messenger of God to punish him.
The key to a humble, uncritical spirit is to remember that you’ve sinned. To remember that I have sinned.
ILLUS: A man told of the time his Aunt Varie had a woman friend over. The two women had spent a good deal of the afternoon trying to impress each other with how religious they were. Finally, the other woman left, and my Aunt Varie smugly turned to Uncle Will and remarked, "You know, Mrs. Sills is a good Christian, but I just believe I live closer to the Lord."
Uncle Will thought a moment, and then replied, "Ain’t either of you crowding Him any."
Jesus told a parable about this in the Gospels. He told of a Pharisee and a Tax Collector who happened to be worshipping in the Temple. The Pharisee could only see the sinfulness of the man beside him. The Tax Collector could only see his own sin. Who had the critical spirit? The Pharisee. Jesus tells us that the humble tax collector (rather than the proud Pharisee) “went home justified before God.” (Luke 18:14)
Then there was the incident in the Gospel of John where a woman who was brought before Jesus. The crowd had a “critical spirit”. They were critical not only of the woman… but of Jesus. They really didn’t care about the woman…they were seeking to destroy Jesus. Hoping in His answer to find something to criticize Him about.
So… how did Jesus diffuse their critical spirit? He wrote something in the dirt and then said “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” John 8:7
In I John 1:8-9 "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
2ndly, David REMEMBERED God’s faithfulness.
Psalm 3 was written by David while he was fleeing Absalom.
"A psalm of David. When he fled from his son Absalom. O LORD, how many are my foes! How many rise up against me! Many are saying of me, "God will not deliver him." But you are a shield around me, O LORD; you bestow glory on me and lift up my head. To the LORD I cry aloud, and he answers me from his holy hill." (Psalm 3:1-4)
A favorite hymn recalls this Biblical concept:
Count your blessings, name them one by one.
Count your blessings, see what God has done…."
ILLUS: One article I read said this: I AM THANKFUL FOR.........
The taxes I pay ....because it means I’m employed.
The clothes that fit a little too snug ....because it means I have enough to eat.
My shadow who watches me work ....because it means I am out in the sunshine.
A lawn that needs mowing, windows that need cleaning and gutters that need fixing ....because it means I have a home.
The spot I find at the far end of the parking lot ....because it means I am capable of walking.
My huge heating bill ....because it means I am warm.
All the complaining I hear about our government ....because it means we have freedom of speech.
The lady behind me in church who sings off key ....because it means that I can hear.
The piles of laundry and ironing ....because it means my loved ones are nearby.
The alarm that goes off in the early morning hours ....because it means that I’m alive.
Weariness and aching muscles at the end of the day ....because it means I have been productive.
If we focus on God’s faithfulness then you and I can inoculate ourselves against the ungratefulness that is often the source of a critical spirit.
3rd, David REMEMBERED God’s promises
Psalm 3:5-8 continues:
"I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the LORD sustains me. I will not fear the tens of thousands drawn up against me on every side. Arise, O LORD! Deliver me, O my God! Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked. From the LORD comes deliverance. May your blessing be on your people."
Somehow it doesn’t seem quite right to ask God punch out our enemies… but David could do that because he was relying on the promises God had made to protect him. David was the Lord’s Anointed. He had been chosen by God and had received specific promises based upon that special relationship. So all David was doing was calling upon God to make good on those promises. He was confident of the outcome of that situation because God had made promises to him.
Now…we are the Lord’s anointed. If we belong to Jesus, we have a special relationship with God. A Relationship based upon promises that God has made to us. Promises God has made that He would protect us:
"I will never leave you or forsake you…"
"No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man.."
"All things will work together for good..."
"Where 2 or 3 are gathered together..."
And perhaps the most important promise I know of is in Romans 8:1
“there is now NO CONDEMNATION for those who are in Christ Jesus”
There are always going to be Shimei’s in this life. People whose sole objective in life is to drag us down so that they can lift themselves higher in their own estimation. But when we recognize the truth of Romans 8:1, the Shimei’s that try to hurt us and humiliate us have no ground to stand upon. They can’t gain any traction in their accusations… because there is NO CONDEMNATION for those of us who are in Christ Jesus.
When we recognize and REMEMBER this truth, we are protected from the spiritual illness of a negative and critical heart.
CLOSE: There’s a story about a crazy old woman who was known to be crazy because she would walk down the streets talking to herself. One of her best known pastimes was talk to Jesus... and Jesus would talk back. One day a new preacher came to town and thought that perhaps he might be able to cure her of this odd activity. So one day, he spied her on the street and went over to talk to her:
"I hear that you often talk to Jesus?" he remarked.
"Oh yes," she replied. "Jesus and I often have long talks together."
"Would you do me favor?" he inquired. "The next time you talk to Jesus, could you ask him what the last sin I confessed to Him was?"
She agreed, and the next day as he was walking down the sidewalk, he saw here again and went to her.
"Did you ask Jesus the question?" he asked.
"Oh yes," she exclaimed. "Jesus and I talked about it for a long time."
"Oh." he said thoughtfully. "Well, what did He say my last confessed sin was?"
"He said He didn’t remember."
SERMONS IN THIS SERIES (A Man After God’s Own Heart)
Measuring Up - 1 Samuel 16:1-16:13
Be Prepared/ Scout Sunday - 1 Samuel 17:1-17:53
A Friend After Your Own Heart - 1 Samuel 18:1-18:5
A Heart To Honor Authority - 1 Samuel 24:1-24:22
An Obedient Heart - 2 Samuel 6:1-6:15
A Heart To Worship - 2 Samuel 6:12-6:23
The Heart Of A Shepherd - Psalms 23:1-23:6
The Over-exposed Heart - 2 Samuel 11:1-11:5
The Undeserving Heart - Psalms 51:1-51:1
The Weakened Heart - 2 Samuel 3:17-3:39
The Heart Of A Father - 2 Samuel 13:1-13:39
A Heart to Build - 2 Samuel 7:1-7:17
The Dead Dog Syndrome - 2 Samuel 16:5-16:14
