Thought from today’s Bible reading from 2 Samuel 8-9; 1 Chronicles 18.
When David determined to find who remained from the house of Saul so that he could show kindness to him, he was told of Jonathan’s son, Mephibosheth, one whose feet were crippled (2 Samuel 9:3). When David found out about him, he had Mephibosheth brought to him.
“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!’ 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 grandfather Saul; and you shall eat at my table regularly.’ Again he prostrated himself and said, ‘What is your servant, that you should regard a dead dog like me?’” (2 Samuel 9:6-8).
David’s response to Mephibosheth, telling him not to fear, suggests that Mephibosheth did fear the king initially. Why would he have reason to fear?
- The king had the power to kill him. The previous chapter mentions David and his army killing thousands of enemy soldiers (2 Samuel 8:5,13). It would be no difficulty for him to kill one lame man.
- The king had reason to kill him. If David was a wicked king like so many others, he could have justified in his mind the killing of Mephibosheth. Mephibosheth was of the house of Saul, the one who tried to kill him; therefore, all of his descendants must be destroyed. Though David did not think this way, others have killed the family members of their rivals in an attempt to solidify their power.
- Mephibosheth had nothing to offer the king to convince him to spare his life. When David defeated Moab, he killed two thirds of them and spared the rest to become his servants (2 Samuel 8:2). Mephibosheth could not offer the same service that the Moabites could. From this perspective, he would not have been worth very much to David.
The grace that David showed to Mephibosheth ought to remind us of the grace which God shows to us. He can destroy us (Matthew 10:28); He has a just reason to do so (Romans 3:23; 6:23); and there is nothing we can do to earn His favor (Titus 3:5). We must still do as Mephibosheth did and humbly offer our lives in service to Him (Romans 12:1). But without His grace, we would have no hope.
Tomorrow’s reading: Psalm 50, 53, 60, 75
[I’m using the Chronological reading plan on the Bible Gateway website if you’d like to follow along, too.]
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