Mephibosheth and The Rest of the Story
Tags: Grace, Lodebar, David, Mephibosheth, Gratitude (add tag)
2 Samuel 16:1-4
David and Jonathan’s vow: 1 Samuel 20:14-17 - Jonathan said: 14 "And you shall not only show me the kindness of the LORD while I still live, that I may not die; 15 "but you shall not cut off your kindness from my house forever, no, not when the LORD has cut off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth."
16 So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, "Let the LORD require it at the hand of David’s enemies." 17Now Jonathan again caused David to vow, because he loved him; for he loved him as he loved his own soul.
Jonathan is killed: 1 Samuel 31:1-2 - 1Now the Philistines fought against Israel; and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell slain on Mount Gilboa. 2 Then the Philistines followed hard after Saul and his sons. And the Philistines killed Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua, Saul’s sons.
Jonathan’s son introduced: 2 Samuel 4:4 - 4Jonathan, Saul’s son, had a son who was lame in his feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel; and his nurse took him up and fled. And it happened, as she made haste to flee, that he fell and became lame. His name was Mephibosheth.
Mephibosheth remembered: 2 Samuel 9:1 – 1 Now David said, "Is there still anyone who is left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?"
2 Samuel 9:5-13 - 5Then King David sent and brought him out of the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, from Lo Debar.
6 Now when Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, had come to David, he fell on his face and prostrated himself. Then David said, "Mephibosheth?"
And he answered, "Here is your servant!"
7 So David said to him, "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."
8 Then he bowed himself, and said, "What is your servant, that you should look upon such a dead dog as I?"
9 And the king called to Ziba, Saul’s servant, and said to him, "I have given to your master’s son all that belonged to Saul and to all his house.
10 "You therefore, and your sons and your servants, shall work the land for him, and you shall bring in the harvest, that your master’s son may have food to eat. But Mephibosheth your master’s son shall eat bread at my table always." Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.
11 Then Ziba said to the king, "According to all that my lord the king has commanded his servant, so will your servant do."
"As for Mephibosheth," said the king, "he shall eat at my tablealike one of the king’s sons."
12 Mephibosheth had a young son whose name was Micha. And all who dwelt in the house of Ziba were servants of Mephibosheth. 13 So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem, for he ate continually at the king’s table. And he was lame in both his feet.
* Here is a beautiful story of David’s love for Jonathan, his keeping of his covenant, and his care for Mephibosheth.
* It is often used as a picture of the unworthy, incapable unbeliever finding grace in the eyes of our covenant-keeping God.
* However, that is not the end of the story. Today we look at 2 Samuel 16.
Betrayal is in the air.
* David has fled from Jerusalem with his family and friends. He is on the run from his son.
* Absalom has moved into Jerusalem and has taken possession of the throne.
2 Samuel 16:1-4 2 Samuel 16:1-4New Living Translation (NLT)
David and Ziba
16 When David had gone a little beyond the summit of the Mount of Olives, Ziba, the servant of Mephibosheth,[a] was waiting there for him. He had two donkeys loaded with 200 loaves of bread, 100 clusters of raisins, 100 bunches of summer fruit, and a wineskin full of wine.
2 “What are these for?” the king asked Ziba.
Ziba replied, “The donkeys are for the king’s people to ride on, and the bread and summer fruit are for the young men to eat. The wine is for those who become exhausted in the wilderness.”
3 “And where is Mephibosheth, Saul’s grandson?” the king asked him.
“He stayed in Jerusalem,” Ziba replied. “He said, ‘Today I will get back the kingdom of my grandfather Saul.’”
4 “In that case,” the king told Ziba, “I give you everything Mephibosheth owns.”
“I bow before you,” Ziba replied. “May I always be pleasing to you, my lord the king.”
2 Samuel 19:24-30 - 24Now Mephibosheth the son of Saul came down to meet the king. And he had not cared for his feet, nor trimmed his mustache, nor washed his clothes, from the day the king departed until the day he returned in peace.
* This does not sound to me like one who is plotting a rebellion to me.
* From the day David left, to the day he returned, Mephibosheth was in mourning.
25 So it was, when he had come to Jerusalem to meet the king, that the king said to him, "Why did you not go with me, Mephibosheth?"
* Mephibosheth was one of the first to go see David when he returns.
* But the question is begged, why didn’t he go with David?
* You can sense some anger in David’s question.
26 And he answered, "My lord, O king, my servant deceived me. For your servant said, ’I will saddle a donkey for myself, that I may ride on it and go to the king,’ because your servant is lame. 27 "And he has slandered your servant to my lord the king, but my lord the king is like the angel of God. Therefore do what is good in your eyes. 28 "For all my father’s house were but dead men before my lord the king. Yet you set your servant among those who eat at your own table. Therefore what right have I still to cry out anymore to the king?"
* Basically, Ziba told him, "I will take supplies for David on your behalf. You stay here."
* But it is Mephibosheth’s word against Ziba’s.
* But look at the evidence. I want to
believe Mephibosheth.
29 So the king said to him, "Why do you speak anymore of your matters? I have said, ’You and Ziba divide the land.’ "
* I think David is confused, so he says, "I will just split the land between you and Ziba."
30 Then Mephibosheth said to the king, "Rather, let him take it all, inasmuch as my lord the king has come back in peace to his own house."
* Here we see the love Mephibosheth had for David.
* He was in mourning when David was gone, not taking care of his feet or even keeping up with grooming.
* When offered the land and riches of this world, he responds, "No, it is enough just to have you back home."
* No better picture of the New Testament believer is there than this.
