Retro One Thing 02/19/2012

2 Samuel 9 David’s Kindness to Mephibosheth

1 Then David said, “Is there yet anyone left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?” 2 Now there was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was Ziba, and they called him to David; and the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?” And he said, “I am your servant.” 3 The king said, “Is there not yet anyone of the house of Saul to whom I may show the kindness of God?” And Ziba said to the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan who is crippled in both feet.” 4 So the king said to him, “Where is he?” And Ziba said to the king, “Behold, he is in the house of Machir the son of Ammiel in Lo-debar.” 5 Then King David sent and brought him from the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, from Lo-debar. 6 Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan the son of Saul, came to David and fell on his face and prostrated himself. And David said, “Mephibosheth.” And he said, “Here is your servant!” 7 David said to him, “Do not fear, for I will surely show kindness to you for the sake of your father Jonathan, and will restore to you all the land of your [c]grandfather Saul; and you shall [d]eat at my table regularly.” 8 Again he prostrated himself and said, “What is your servant, that you should regard a dead dog like me?”

I thought we would take a number of days and take a look at this story about David and Mephibosheth. One of the great stories in scripture. We will look at this chapter metaphorically. We will see David as a type of God the Father, Jonathan as a type of Jesus, and Mephibosheth as us, played out in this chapter. Let’s start by getting a little background. David and Jonathan were best friends and they had entered into covenant with each other. Simplified, Covenant means what belongs to me belongs to you, and your friends are my friends, and your enemies are my enemies. This is also true about our offspring for they are In You, and I will treat them as you. They made these pledges to each other. The only condition was that each kept covenant with each other by staying loyal and faithful to each other in their love and friendship.

1Samuel 20:14-17,42; 14 If I am still alive, will you not show me the lovingkindness of the LORD, that I may not die? 15 You shall not cut off your lovingkindness from my house forever, not even when the LORD cuts off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth.” 16 So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “May the LORD require it at the hands of David’s enemies.” 17 Jonathan made David vow again because of his love for him, because he loved him as he loved his own life, 42 Jonathan said to David, “Go in safety, inasmuch as we have sworn to each other in the name of the LORD, saying, ‘The LORD will be between me and you, and between my descendants and your descendants forever.’” Then he rose and departed, while Jonathan went into the city.The scripture says about the friendship between the two was that they were “one soul” with each other.

This story picks up many years after the covenant was made. Jonathan died at the hands of the Philistines when Mephibosheth was only 5 years old, and in 2 Samuel 9, Mephipbosheth is old enough to have a young son. At this point David remembers the covenant and asks the question, “Is there anyone left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake.” David initiates the pursuit. He wants to bless any descendant of Jonathan’s, for Jonathan’s sake. He wants to bless them because Jonathan earned it, not anything they earned. He wants to give them what Jonathan deserved, what belongs to Jonathan, only because by being Jonathan’s descendant they were In Jonathan.

That’s the way of the grace of God. He longs to bless us. He initiates favor. As a matter of fact, we will see that David didn’t just inquire, he pursued the one he wanted to bless. Just think, not only is God not reluctant to bless you, He is pursuing you to show you kindness, all because Jesus earned it. Wow.

More tomorrow. Have a great Lord’s day In Christ.

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