2Sa 16:5-8, 5 Now when King David came to Bahurim, there was a man from the family of the house of Saul, whose name was Shimei the son of Gera, coming from there. He came out, cursing continuously as he came. 6 And he threw stones at David…
This period may have been the lowest points of David’s life. He as the king was on the run after his son Absolom organized a take over of the kingdom, and David in order to avoid conflict that could be catastrophic flee. That fleeing was met with other challenges. David had to deal with a manipulative Ziba who tried to take advantage of his hours of distress. This was followed by Shimei.
Shimei from the house of Saul ran along the ridge, cursing and throwing stones at the king and his companions. He upbraided David as an ambitious usurper, and charged him as bloodthirsty, as one whose misdeeds were coming back to bite him. His language was that of a man incensed by the wrongs that he conceived had been done to his house. David was guiltless of the crime of which Shimei accused him; but his conscience from the encounter with Nathan the prophet reminded him of other flagrant iniquities. Sinful men will by all means try and attempt things to harm others, the one on the receiving end may be cursed and accused unjustly for all the wrongs. A good counsel for us all is to at least take a step back and think of our shortcomings before we act, Jas 1:19-20, “19 So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; 20 for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.”