Daily Devotional

“As David and his men went along the road, Shimei went along the hillside opposite him and cursed as he went, threw stones at him and kicked up dust” (2 Samuel 16:13). 

A powerful thunderstorm raged as a battalion of French soldiers crossed the Angers Bridge over the Maine River in France on April 16, 1850. The suspension bridge spanned 335 feet with two wire cables holding a twenty-four-foot-wide deck. Two eighteen-foot-tall cast iron columns held up the strong cables that sank into large cement anchors on both sides of the bank. 

As 483 soldiers marched in cadence across the bridge, the wind caused the structure to oscillate. Suddenly, cables snapped from their concrete moorings, causing the right side of the deck to drop sharply and throwing the soldiers into the river. Many men were saved, but 226 died, thus making it one of the worst bridge disasters in history. Afterward, an investigation revealed that the dynamic load and corroded anchors for the main cables caused the failure. 

When David marched out of Jerusalem after Absalom declared himself king, he passed north of the Mount of Olives where Shimei, a relative of Saul, came out and hurled insults at the dejected king. He threw stones at David and his troops, cursing the son of Jesse and blaming him for the deaths of Abner and Saul’s son Ishbosheth. 

During David’s reign, when all was going well, Shimei appeared to be a loyal subject of the king. But when the problems of life were pressing down hard on David, Shimei’s true colours were revealed. He was quick to honour the monarch when sitting on his throne, but when David suffered humiliation, cruel words spewed out of his mouth. 

It is the devil that inspires people to glory in the failings of others. While David certainly made mistakes and suffered the consequences for his wrong choices, Absalom’s rebellion drove him to anchor his life more deeply in the Lord. But for Shimei, the stormy events showed the corrosion in his own character. 

O Jesus, You are a safe bridge on which I may cross over the troubled waters of sin.