By valley’s length marches David the King And leads his courtiers on foot, in troop. Let all who have ears to hear, hear. [i] ~ ~ ~ Atop the hills, Shimei keeps pace, cursing, throwing stones: “Man of Blood, Scoundrel, Yaweh has paid you back now for all spilled blood – your wickedness has reached you.” ~ ~ ~ Upon the road, servant-soldier Abishai leaves the escort to defend, “Why should this dead dog curse you, O Lord, my King? Let me go up beyond, cutting his head off.” ~ ~ ~ Atop the hills, see Book of Wisdom’s Queen, [ii] “overlooking the road, she takes her stand, ‘I am calling to you, all people, simpletons, learn to behave, come to your senses, my words are right.’ ” ~ ~ ~ On the road, the harpist and writer of hymns, student of scripture and King, tells servant Abishai, [iii] “What concern is my business to you? If Yaweh has said, ‘Curse David,’ let this man then curse, while Yaweh sees my heart.” ~ ~ ~ Between the hillsides goes David the King and Shimei on the mountain throws stones. Let all who have ears to hear, hear. (2010s) [i] Mark 4:9 Jesus added, “Whoever has ears to hear ought to hear.” [ii] Proverbs Ch 8: 1-11: “The Discourse of Wisdom” "Does not Wisdom call, and Understanding raise her voice? On the top of the heights along the road, at the crossroads she takes her stand; By the gates at the approaches of the city, in the entryways she cries aloud: “To you, O people, I call; my appeal is to you mortals. You naive ones, gain prudence, you fools, gain sense. Listen! for noble things I speak; my lips proclaim honest words. Indeed, my mouth utters truth, and my lips abhor wickedness. All the words of my mouth are sincere, none of them wily or crooked; All of them are straightforward to the intelligent, and right to those who attain knowledge. Take my instruction instead of silver, and knowledge rather than choice gold. For Wisdom is better than corals, and no treasures can compare with her." [iii] 2 Samuel 16:5–13 – “5 As King David was approaching Bahurim, there was a man coming out; he was of the same clan as the house of Saul, and his name was Shimei, son of Gera. He kept cursing as he came out, 6 and throwing stones at David and at all King David’s officers, even though all the soldiers, including the royal guard, were on David’s right and on his left. 7 Shimei was saying as he cursed: ‘Get out! Get out! You man of blood, you scoundrel! 8 The LORD has paid you back for all the blood shed from the family of Saul, whom you replaced as king, and the LORD has handed over the kingdom to your son Absalom. And now look at you: you suffer ruin because you are a man of blood.’ 9 Abishai, son of Zeruiah, said to the king: ‘Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over and take off his head.’ 10 But the king replied: ‘What business is it of mine or of yours, sons of Zeruiah, that he curses? Suppose the LORD has told him to curse David; who then will dare to say, ‘Why are you doing this?’ 11 Then David said to Abishai and to all his servants: ‘If my own son, who came forth from my loins, is seeking my life, how much more might this Benjaminite do so! Let him alone and let him curse, for the Lord has told him to. 12 Perhaps the Lord will look upon my affliction and repay me with good for the curses he is uttering this day.’ 13 David and his men continued on the road, while Shimei kept up with them on the hillside, all the while cursing and throwing stones and dirt as he went.” Comments are closed.
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Poems by Janet
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von Gumppenberg | Meet me at the Passage |
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