A Year Of Kindness (IX): David And Mephibosheth

Of all the stories of kindness that may exist in the Old Testament, the one that comes most clearly to my own mind is the story of David and Mephibosheth.

The story itself is in 2 Samuel 9.  We find David at the height of his kingship.  The kingdom of Israel has been unified after a civil war.  His enemies abroad have been defeated.  God has made a covenant with him that man of his lineage will sit on the throne of Israel forever. This is prior to his series of sins that results in adultery, murder, civil war, and the death of some of his children.  He was, as the saying goes, at the top of his game.

At this moment, he calls for a former servant of Saul, a man named Ziba.  "Is there not still someone of the house of Saul to whom I may show the kindness of God?"

It is likely (although not recorded) that at this moment David is remembering his friend Jonathan, the son of King Saul, who at great personal risk to himself supported David against his father.  He likely remembers Jonathan telling him during the time when King Saul was pursuing him to kill him "You shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you.  Even my father Saul knows that." (1st Samuel 23:17).  David is now king over Israel but Jonathan is long gone, killed by the Philistines and his bones buried.

One wonders if Ziba hesitated for a moment - after all, ancient dynasties were not kind to potential heirs or even those that sheltered him.  Perhaps with a trace of nervousness in his voice, he replies "Well, there is one.  He is lame in his feet though." - as if to suggest that he represented no threat into the king.

The king asks further "Where is he?"  Again, perhaps a bit of nervousness in his voice as Ziba replies gives him a location (in the house of Machir the son of Ammiel).  In Lo Debar, which literally translates as "nowhere".  

David commands him to be brought.

One can only imagine what was going through the mind of Mephibosheth as he slowly walked his way in the presence of the king.  A crippled son of a defeated dynasty, it was likely drummed into his head from his early youth that he was to hide everything about his heritage.  He would have known the fate of defeated dynasties (everyone did).  It is likely that he lived in some level of fear of discovery, hoping that he could simply disappear in the location of Nowhere.

And now, the king calls him.

One can imagine the scene:  King David on his throne, his guards and advisors around him, appearing every inch the chosen of the Lord.  A slow cadence of clicks from a cane or walking stick comes through as Mephibosheth enters the hall with Ziba.  Mephibosheth slowly gets down (he is lame, after all), prostrates himself in front of David, and waits.

"Mephibosheth" says the king.

"Here is your servant" replies Mephibosheth.

What was going through David's mind at this moment?  How much of his friend Jonathan does he see in his friend?  Does he remember the good times in Saul's court, Jonathan saving his life, Jonathan seeking him out in his distress and reassuring him?

The next words out of David's mouth were likely not at all anticipated by Mephibosheth - or any one else.

"Do not fear, for I will surely show you kindness for Jonathan your father's sake, and will restore to you all the land of Saul your grandfather; and you shall eat bread at my table continually." (2 Samuel 9:7)  Later on, David re-emphasizes the fact:  "As for Mephibosheth,", said the king, "he shall eat at my table like one of the king's sons". (2 Samuel 9:11b).

This was not the response anyone expected.  No-one in their right mind kept defeated dynasties alive as the chances were that they still had supporters.  At best, Mephibosheth might have expected exile from Israel. Instead, he is offered wealth and privilege and recognition and a home in the capital of the kingdom.

And so it was that Mephibosheth, the lame son of a defeated dynasty, came to eat at the king's table like any other of his sons while the estates of his grandfather Saul were farmed in his name (that part did not last of course; David was a pretty bad judge of character overall and took the false word of Ziba in his retreat from Jerusalem.  Mephibosheth remained faithful though, not eating or caring for himself until David was restored to power.  See 2 Samuel 16: 1-4 and 19:  24-29 for more details).  

Every day, effectively for the rest of his life, Mephibosheth was a living example of the kindness of David to everyone who sat at that table.

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The lessons are, I trust, not too hard to glean from this.  Replace the name of David with "God" and the name of Mephibosheth with "Your Name Here", and this becomes reflective of the grace that God grants to all of the saved every day:  we, the failed children of rebels, marred by sin and scars often of our own making, living in our own version of Lo Debar (Nowhere), are invited to eat at the table of the King along with His own Son.

An extreme kindness, one might think.  

Grace.  Rather amazing.