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Coping With a Burst of AngerAwake!—1978 | September 8
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“Thus let him call down evil, because Jehovah himself has said to him, ‘Call down evil upon David!’ So who should say, ‘Why did you do that way?’ . . . Let him alone . . . Perhaps Jehovah will see with his eye, and Jehovah will actually restore to me goodness instead of his malediction this day.”—2 Sam. 16:10-12.
David refused to respond with a verbal outburst, but uttered a mild reply.
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Coping With a Burst of AngerAwake!—1978 | September 8
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By saying “Jehovah himself has said to him, ‘Call down evil,’” David acknowledged that he had sinned and was worthy of such chastening. However, he was not guilty of Shimei’s false charge (bloodguilt in connection with the house of Saul), for David had gone out of his way to avoid killing Saul. (1 Sam. 24:1-7; 26:7-11) Nonetheless, David had committed a sin with consequences such as this and was cognizant of his own guilt before God. (2 Sam. 12:10, 11) As one Bible commentator put it: “A humble, tender spirit will turn reproaches into reproofs, and so get good by them, instead of being provoked by them.”
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