II Samuel 9:1-13 - Mephibosheth
The Living Word With Chuck Davis
II Samuel 9:1-13 - Mephibosheth
"Welcome to the Living Word with Chuck Davis." 2 Samuel 9, 1 to 13, Mephibosheth, and David said, "Is there anyone left of the house of Saul that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake?" In other words, 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." King said, "Is there not still someone of the house of Saul that I may show kindness of God to him?" Ziba said to the king, "There is still a son of Jonathan. He is crippled in his feet." The king said to him, "Where is he?" And Ziba said to the king, "He is in the house of Makar, the son of Amil, at Lodubar." Then King David sent and brought him from the house of Makar, and the son of Amil, at Lodubar. Mephibosheth, "The son of Jonathan, son of Saul, came to David and fell in his face and paid homage." David said, "Mephibosheth," and he answered, "Behold, I am your servant." David said to him, "Do not fear, for I will show you kindness for the sake of your father, Jonathan, and I will restore to you all the land of Saul your father. And you shall eat at my table always." And as he paid homage to him, Mephibosheth responded, "What is your servant that you should show regard for a dead dog such as I?" Then the king called Ziba, Saul's servant, and said to him, "All that belong to Saul, and to all his house I have given to your master's grandson. And you and your sons and your servants shall tell the land for him, and she will bring in the produce that your master's grandson may have bread to eat. But Mephibosheth, your master's grandson, shall always eat at my table." Now Ziba had 15 sons and 20 servants. Then Ziba said to the king, "According to all that my Lord the king commands his servant, so will your servant do." So Mephibosheth ate at David's table, like one of the king's sons. Mephibosheth had a young son whose name was Micah. And all who lived in Ziba's house became Mephibosheth's servants. So Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, for he ate always at the king's table. Now he was lame in both his feet. We were introduced to Mephibosheth a few chapters back. Some servants were carrying him at a time of trouble. They fell, he was dropped, and he's been lame since childhood. This story is one of the most profound passages that showed David as a man after God's own heart. We see that as God is generous, hilarious in his generosity, David exemplifies that same kind of generosity in a time that it would not be expected. Remember, in ancient days when you took over for a king, you wiped out his family because you were the thought one of them was going to try to take back the throne. Not David. Three times in this passage, the word has said as you's kindness to the house of Saul. Just was not the custom of the day. David is not kind to everyone, but he's loyal to everyone. In the same way, God is loyal to his promises and declarations. He welcomes Mephibosheth to his table, and this phrase, "I am just a dog, a dead dog before you," and at the end of the passage, a reminder that he was lame in his feet. You see, people with disabilities were not welcome at the king's table. They were impure from the local custom, and David will not have any of it. His loyalty to Jonathan is greater than any local custom. Sad thing in this story is we're going to eventually see that Mephibosheth does not show the same type of loyalty to David. Once he has a chance to get a leg up, he's going to act unjustly towards David, but that doesn't matter to David. The soul wanted this passage if we're going to err on any side of anything, we should be err on the side of generosity. I have a friend, Steve Brown, who used to be the president of Aero Leadership, and he talked about how he tried to get his committees that he leads to think of three principles when they make a decision. Is it kingdom-oriented? Does it bless, and is it generous? I like those principles. That's how I want to live out on the world, living from a kingdom perspective to constantly be blessing and to live generously. The now what of this passage is a reminder to myself to ask the question, who are the "dead dogs" in my life? Who are the people that the rest of the world might reject, or who might be perceived in relation to me because of things they have done to not be welcome at my table? I want to be like David and show generosity and humility in all of my relationships. So Lord, help us to take this perspective to be people that bless and people that don't curse. We pray this in Jesus' name.