The last words of David were recorded in Second Samuel, probably penned by the prophet Gad. Other historical books were listed as references for the life of David, including the Record of Nathan the Prophet and the Record of Gad the Seer. These books have not been recovered and are not thought to be sacred but rather historical accounts of David's reign.
Interestingly, David's final words involved several scores he wanted settled by his son. Remember that Joab had killed Abner, who had been Saul's military commander and foe of Joab, when he tried to switch alliances. And Joab had killed Amasa, his cousin, after he had been given his job as commander of the army. Twice he had felt threatened in his position and twice killed innocent men because of it. To shed blood in peacetime as if in battle was a criminal offense. And of course, he had also killed David's son Absalom.
Shimei was a relative of Saul's and had descended upon David at an all-time low. He was on the run from Absalom while his son was attempting to overthrow his kingship, and Shimei began to taunt him... probably after harboring years of resentment about the throne being taken from his family. After David returned to jerusalem as king, Shimei begged forgiveness and David vowed not to kill him. What he was saying to Solomon was basically "keep an eye on him and if he steps out of line, kill him without hesitation". A zero-tolerance policy was put into effect and it was just three years before Shimei did something to deserve execution.
Tomorrow's reading: here come the Psalms...12-17; 19-21
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Ahh Melissa, it will be interesting to go thru the Psalms with you since I know the book of poems is one of your favorite things to pour over! :-) But I do love the Psalms and now having the historical perspective for them, it will be neat to see how that impacts my interpretation of some of my favorites. Now that I'm FINALLY caught up, I'll hang in there with you through Psalms!
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