2 Sam 9:1-8 (KJV)
1 And David said, Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul, that I may shew him kindness for Jonathan’s sake? 2 And there was of the house of Saul a servant whose name was Ziba. And when they had called him unto David, the king said unto him, Art thou Ziba? And he said, Thy servant is he. 3 And the king said, Is there not yet any of the house of Saul, that I may shew the kindness of God unto him? And Ziba said unto the king, Jonathan hath yet a son, which is lame on his feet. 4 And the king said unto him, Where is he? And Ziba said unto the king, Behold, he is in the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel, in Lodebar. 5 Then king David sent, and fetched him out of the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel, from Lodebar. 6 Now when Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, was come unto David, he fell on his face, and did reverence. And David said, Mephibosheth. And he answered, Behold thy servant! 7 And David said unto him, Fear not: for I will surely shew thee kindness for Jonathan thy father’s sake, and will restore thee all the land of Saul thy father; and thou shalt eat bread at my table continually. 8 And he bowed himself, and said, What is thy servant, that thou shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I am?
David’s Kindness to Mephibosheth
1 Then David said, "Is there yet anyone left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?" 2 Now there was 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." 3 The king said, "Is there not yet anyone of the house of Saul to whom I may show the kindness of God?" And Ziba said to the king, "There is still a son of Jonathan who is crippled in both feet." 4 So the king said to him, "Where is he?" And Ziba said to the king, "Behold, he is in the house of Machir the son of Ammiel in Lo-debar." 5 Then King David sent and brought him from the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, from Lo-debar. 6 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!" 7 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." 8 Again he prostrated himself and said, "What is your servant, that you should regard a dead dog like me?
1 One day David asked, "Is there anyone left of Saul’s family? (MSG). David and King Saul had a love hate relationship for many years. When David defeated the giant Goliath, David was hailed a hero. However, as David’s popularity increased among the people, envy found its way into the heart of Saul and David lost favor with the King. All of a sudden David went from a hero to a zero in the eyes of the King and David found himself fleeing for his life. During the happier time under Saul, David made friends with the King’s son Jonathan. They became best friend like brothers, and made a covenant with each other.
1 Sam 18:1-5 (KJV: And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. 2 And Saul took him that day, and would let him go no more home to his father’s house. 3 Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul. 4 And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him, and gave it to David, and his garments, even to his sword, and to his bow, and to his girdle. 5 And David went out whithersoever Saul sent him, and behaved himself wisely: and Saul set him over the men of war, and he was accepted in the sight of all the people, and also in the sight of Saul’s servants.
Even after David fell out of favor with Saul, David and Jonathan honored their covenant and remained friends. Jonathan ultimately dies in battle, as do most of the Royal Family but David’s heart still morns for his beloved friend. Therefore, in remembrance of Jonathan, David makes inquiries as to if there are any surviving family members, Verse 1-3. “1 Then David said, "Is there yet anyone left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?"(NASB) 2 It happened that a servant from Saul’s household named Ziba (tsee-baw’) = statue) was there. They called him into David’s presence. The king asked him, "Are you Ziba?" "Yes sir," he replied. 3 The king asked, "Is there anyone left from the family of Saul to whom I can show some godly kindness?" Ziba told the king, "Yes, there is Jonathan’s son, lame in both feet."
Here is a former servant of King Saul just standing around waiting to be asked? No not at all, this is another example of how David had God’s Divine Favor. God knew David’s heart and his sincerity in his desire to “show kindness.” This verse could be translated as “godly kindness.” God knows when our motives are sincere as well as the words we say and our good deeds and our giving. He also knows a phony, a pretender, a user, and abuser, as they put on their fake smile, fake hugs and Judas kiss, God is neither fooled nor amused. The former mentioned are blessed people in their endeavors, while the latter are judged for their deceit. Not only was there a person from the former Kings Labor pool present he indeed knew of someone particular that would be of great interest to David. His name was “Mephibosheth” (mef-ee-bo’-sheth) = "exterminating the idol." Mephibosheth was the son of Jonathan, and grandson of Saul, see 2Sa 4:4 .” 4 Now Jonathan, Saul’s son, had a son crippled in his feet. He was five years old when the report of Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel, and his nurse took him up and fled. And it happened that in her hurry to flee, he fell and became lame. And his name was Mephibosheth. He was but five years old when his father and grandfather fell on Mount Gilboa (ghil-bo’-ah). = "swollen heap" a mountain-ridge at the southeastern end of the plain of Jezreel, site of the death of Saul and Jonathan.
The child’s nurse hearing of this calamity, fled with him from Gibeah (ghib-aw’) the royal residence, and stumbling in her haste, the child was thrown to the ground and maimed in both his feet, and from that point on was unable to walk. He was carried to the land of Gilead ghil-awd’, = "rocky region" where he found a refuge in the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel, at Lo-debar, by whom he was brought up.—(Easton’s Illustrated Dictionary) 4 "Where is he?" "He’s living at the home of Makir (maw-keer) = "sold" son of Ammiel (am-mee-ale’) = "my kinsman is God"; a powerful chief of one of the Transjordanic tribes who rendered essential services to Saul and to David.
in Lo Debar."( lo-deb-ar’) lo= no or not, debar= pasture, word, speaking, “No communication. 2 Sam 4:4 (NASB).
Ziba was a fountain of information. He not only told David Mephibosheth location “current position” but went onto tell the King of his ” condition” as well “lame in both feet." It is ironic how some people are more than willing to give more information than we asked for or really need? Verse 5. King David did not waste any more time asking questions, nor even ask the name, he gave an order, “get him from the home of Makir son of Ammiel in Lo Debar.” “Then King David sent and brought him from the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, from Lo-debar. Don’t miss this; David tell the servant to go get Mephibosheth the man that can’t walk from Lo-debar a baron mountainous area with no pasture for raising livestock, and a land of no word no speaking, and bring him to be introduce to the King. Can you imagine what went through the mind of Mephibosheth when saw Ziba the savant to his grandfather, and heard that David the King had sent for him? Remember he was only 5 years of age when he and his nurse fled for their lives, but now he is an adult with a child of his own; 2 Sam 9:12 (KJV); And Mephibosheth had a young son, whose name was Micha. And all that dwelt in the house of Ziba were servants unto Mephibosheth. I an sure nevertheless that Mephibosheth may have remembered that terrifying day, or most likely was told about his families rise to the Throne as well as their fall. Upon hearing that King David the one who succeeded his Grandfather Saul, the transition of power being drenched in bloodshed, and revenge, he must have felt that this was not and invitation to dinner but and attempt to exterminate the remaining seeds of the “house of Saul,” as this was the custom of those days. More than likely fleeing to Lo Debar was in fact an attempt to escape David’s wrath.
It is reasonable to consider the Mephibosheth spent all these years in hiding fearing of his life and his son’s that sooner or later his past would surely catch up with him and be his un-doing. Mephibosheth was a man with a condition located or positioned in the land of “no pasture, and no speaking.” Imagine him saying “This is it it’s over no use running might as well face it I am tired of hiding let’s get it over with it’s over.” “This is not a dinner invitation.” Nevertheless, in fact it was just that, a dinner invitation and more. All Mephibosheth could see was his present condition remembering his past position “Grandson of the King”, and thinking what his life may have been if it had not been for a series of unfortunate event that caused him to fall and be cripple in “both feet.” “Here I am no longer living in the Royal Palace can’t walk, living in a land of no talk. "What if, things had of been different, I might have been King, ruling as I pleased, or a mighty warrior defeating all that stood in my path." But hear I am, about to be carried to the King, unsure of my fait, and that of my son’s.”
Mephibosheth is brought before David the King. “Verse 6; “Now when Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, was come unto David, he fell on his face, and did reverence And David said, Mephibosheth. And he answered, Behold thy servant! (KVJ). NASB translates “prostrated himself”, while others use the word “obeisance.” All these words mean the same basically, “to bow down, fall down before one in fear or worship in homage.” The word “obeisance” however brings an additional context from Greek word that translates “to kiss, like a dog licking his master’s hand” which seems to be most applicable in our text as we will see later in the Scripture. At the end of verse 6: David calls him by name “Mephibosheth”, and he replies “Behold thy Servant” look at verse 7-8. 7 And David said unto him, Fear not: for I will surely shew thee kindness for Jonathan thy father’s sake, and will restore thee all the land of Saul thy father; and thou shalt eat bread at my table continually. 8 And he bowed himself, and said, what is thy servant, that thou shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I am?
Here we have a picture of a man that has been brought out of a place of no green pasture, no words, no speaking, terrified, broken, no self esteem, believing he is about to loose his life as he lies prostrate before the king. At this time when fear is mounting by the second finally after what seemed to Mephibosheth to be an eternity David the King opens his mouth to speak and says, “Fear not.” Now he has really messed up. In our imagination, we can see David looking down upon this man, son of his friend Jonathan, and grandson of his enemy Saul. It had to be obvious to David that the person lying prostrate before him was afraid. Before David could go any further, his had to reassure him that no harm was going to befall him. I can see David reaching down with his hand lifting his head up off the ground looking him face to face speaking calmly as he tells Mephibosheth that he has no reason to fear. “Fear not: for I will surely shew thee kindness”, kindness was the last thing Mephibosheth was expecting given all the events of the past. David go on to tell him the reason he about to be blessed, “for Jonathan thy father’s sake.” “We often harvest fruit that was sown by someone else.” It is very possible that he had no knowledge of the love that existed between his father and David, but only the animosity between David and his grandfather Saul. Now David tells him the extent of his blessing, “, and will restore thee all the land of Saul thy father; and thou shalt eat bread at my table continually.” Mephibosheth cannot believe his own ears. Instead of being killed his life is speared, instead of losing what little he had left he is restored thing he never possessed, he once ate whet ever could be extracted out of the barren land that he once dwelt, but now he will eat at the Kings table for the rest of his life. Can you see the emotions building inside, wondering how and why he is being blessed, “What is thy servant, that thou shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I am?”
What are the lessons that learned, and what is the moral of this story? Is it about David’s kind heart, devoted unwavering friendship, or compassion? Yes, but let us focus on a frighten little boy with a condition that placed him in a position, by no fault of his own had been drooped and broken. Not able to walk having to be carried to a place where it’s meaning signifies that all communication in his life has been reduce to that which is necessary. Now with a son of his own to support he is crippled doing the best he can. With his very life hanging in the balance, he is brought before the King. The very one that has the power to speak a word and men can die or live. He does not come before the King with his chest stuck out with pride as if to say, “Bring it on”, no he falls down with his head face down on the ground humble in a position of complete surrender.
“In Position.”
The word position has various meanings depending on its context. It can be use to describe a; particular portion of space occupied by a physical object; a way of regarding situations or topics; a job in an organization; a condition or position in which you find yourself, the list is long. However, here is one that best conveys our position; position or arrangement of the body and its limbs as in; "he assumed an attitude of surrender." This speaks of ones posture, or attitude. Posture; a position of the body or of body parts. An Attitude; a position of the body or manner of carrying oneself or a state of mind or a feeling; disposition.
Mephibosheth came to the King with the right attitude, and in the right position. Moreover, for that cause he was restored, refreshed, and redeemed. All his past forgotten in fellowship, right relationship with the King.
“Do not let you condition keep you from your Ultimate Position.”
