Scripture Daily

Context No. 1665 of 4322 · 2 Samuel

Context · Reflection

2 Samuel 9:1-6: in context

1David said, “Is there yet any who is left of Saul’s house, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?” 2There was of Saul’s house a servant whose name was Ziba, and they called him to David; and the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?” He said, “I am your servant.” 3The king said, “Is there not yet any of Saul’s house, that I may show the kindness of God to him?” Ziba said to the king, “Jonathan still has a son, who is lame in his feet.” 4The king said to him, “Where is he?” Ziba said to the king, “Behold, he is in the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, in Lo Debar.” 5Then King David sent and brought him out of the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, from Lo Debar. 6Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, fell on his face, and showed respect. David said, “Mephibosheth?” He answered, “Behold, your servant!”

Now settled as king, David asks a question that could only come from a generous heart: is there anyone left of the house of Saul, to whom I may show kindness for Jonathan's sake? Saul's house had been David's rival and enemy; yet for the sake of his beloved friend Jonathan, David seeks out any survivor to bless. A servant tells him that Jonathan has a son, Mephibosheth, lame in both feet, living in obscurity at Lo-debar. David sends and brings him, and the frightened man falls on his face before the king.

David's kindness to Mephibosheth is a picture of grace. Mephibosheth had nothing to commend him to the king: he was of the house of Saul, the rival dynasty; he was lame, unable to serve; he lived in obscurity, forgotten. By every ordinary measure he had no claim on David, and reason to fear him, since kings often destroyed the remnants of a rival house. Yet David sought him out, not for anything in Mephibosheth, but for Jonathan's sake, out of love for the friend to whom he had sworn faithfulness. The kindness Mephibosheth received was real, but its ground lay entirely outside him, in another. This is a window onto the grace shown to us. We come to God with no claim of our own, unable to earn his favor, with reason to fear rather than expect his kindness; and yet he seeks us out and shows us kindness, not for anything in us, but for the sake of another, for Christ's sake, out of his love for the Son. The kindness is real, and its ground is wholly outside us, in Christ. To grasp this is to be freed both from pride, since the kindness was never owed to our merit, and from despair, since it never depended on our merit either. And there is a call in it too: David sought out the forgotten man in Lo-debar to bless him. Those who have received such kindness are the ones ready to go seeking the overlooked and the lame, to show them, for another's sake, a kindness they could not claim.

Can I receive the kindness of God as Mephibosheth received David's, knowing it rests not on anything in me but on Christ, for whose sake I am shown a grace I could not claim, and, having received it, will I go seeking out the overlooked and the forgotten to show them a kindness they cannot earn?

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