Those Who Delight in the Misfortune of Others

As David fled from Absalom, two men came to meet him. Saul’s servant Ziba arrived with donkeys laden with provisions and won David over, then, by the lie that the lame Mephibosheth was rejoicing at his family’s restoration, took for himself everything Mephibosheth owned. Shimei, a kinsman of Saul, threw stones and hurled curses, taking pleasure in David’s misfortune.

Because Ziba lacked good character, he saw another man’s hardship not as a chance to share but as something to exploit, and David, blinded by a bribe, judged without checking the facts and fell into error. Shimei had not dared to say a word while David held power, yet once the king had fallen he followed after him with mockery; David accepted even that cursing as something God had permitted, and held Abishai back from taking revenge. The desire to make another’s misfortune a stepping stone springs from the same root as Cain’s hatred of Abel and Esau’s hatred of Jacob.

Ziba and Shimei alike later reaped what they had sown, while David entrusted the wrong done to him to God and rose again. Those who seek to profit from another’s misfortune will in the end suffer that misfortune themselves. Before God, who looks on people not by their circumstances or possessions but by their faith, the way of the faithful is to lay down their pride and not give way to anger, even when wronged.