2 Samuel 9:7-13: a reflection

7David said to him, “Don’t be afraid, for I will surely show you kindness for Jonathan your father’s sake, and will restore to you all the land of Saul your father. You will eat bread at my table continually.” 8He bowed down, and said, “What is your servant, that you should look at such a dead dog as I am?” 9Then the king called to Ziba, Saul’s servant, and said to him, “All that belonged to Saul and to all his house I have given to your master’s son. 10Till the land for him—you, your sons, and your servants. Bring in the harvest, that your master’s son may have bread to eat; but Mephibosheth your master’s son will always eat bread at my table.” Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants. 11Then Ziba said to the king, “According to all that my lord the king commands his servant, so your servant will do.” So Mephibosheth ate at the king’s table like one of the king’s sons. 12Mephibosheth had a young son, whose name was Mica. All who lived in Ziba’s house were servants to Mephibosheth. 13So Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, for he ate continually at the king’s table. He was lame in both his feet.

Now that he is king, David asks whether anyone is left of the house of Saul to whom he might show kindness for the sake of his friend Jonathan. There is one: Mephibosheth, Jonathan's son, lame in both feet. David sends for him and says, Do not fear, for I will show you kindness for Jonathan your father's sake; I will restore to you all the land of Saul, and you shall eat at my table always. Mephibosheth, astonished, calls himself a dead dog, unworthy of such notice; yet he is seated at the king's table like one of the king's own sons.

Notice the ground of David's kindness: not anything in Mephibosheth, but the sake of Jonathan. Mephibosheth had done nothing to earn it; he was lame, powerless, from a fallen house that might have expected the new king's hostility rather than his kindness. Yet for the sake of another, David sought him out and lifted him to his table as a son. The kindness was undeserved, given freely, and for another's sake.

That is a moving picture of grace. We, too, are welcomed to the King's table not for anything in ourselves, not for our worthiness, but for the sake of another, Christ, in whom God shows us kindness. Like Mephibosheth, we may feel unworthy, powerless, undeserving of such notice; yet we are sought out and seated as children at the table of the King, for the sake of the one God loves. Receive that grace, undeserved and freely given, and let it humble and gladden you. And let it teach you to show kindness to others as it was shown to you, seeking out those who cannot repay you, and welcoming them for the sake of the love you have received.

Lord, David sought out Mephibosheth, lame and powerless, and for Jonathan's sake showed him kindness, seating him at the king's table as a son, though he had done nothing to earn it. Thank you for so clear a picture of grace. Like Mephibosheth, I am welcomed to the King's table not for anything in myself, not for my worthiness, but for the sake of another, Christ, in whom you show me kindness. I may feel unworthy, powerless, undeserving of such notice; yet you sought me out and seated me as your child, for the sake of the one you love. Help me receive that grace, undeserved and freely given, and let it humble and gladden me. And teach me to show such kindness to others as it was shown to me, seeking out those who cannot repay me, and welcoming them for the sake of the love I have received.