David is Kind to Mephibosheth

An old promise. David’s kindness in chapter 9 goes back to 1 Samuel 20. There David and Jonathan promised each other that, whatever happened, they would look after each other’s families. Jonathan asked David, “you shall not cut off your kindness from my house forever” (1 Samuel 20:15). Everything had changed. Jonathan was dead. Saul was dead. Saul’s whole family had lost the kingdom, and David was king. Not one person alive had the power to hold David to that promise. Nobody would have thought less of him for letting it quietly go. David went looking. “Is there still anyone who is left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?” (9:1). Nobody asked him to. Nobody was watching. David even had to send for a servant just to find out if anyone was left. What a kept promise shows. What a person does about a promise when nobody can make them keep it shows what that promise really meant. David kept his word because he loved his friend and he feared God. What we learn. God is even more faithful than David. He has never broken a single promise to you, and He never will.

The covenant behind the kindness. To understand 2 Samuel 9, we go back to 1 Samuel 20. There David and Jonathan bound themselves by covenant, a binding promise made before God. Jonathan asked, “you shall not cut off your kindness from my house forever” (20:15). When they parted he said, “May the Lord be between you and me, and between your descendants and my descendants, forever” (20:42). The word for kindness. David’s words in 9:1 take up that covenant again. The word translated “kindness” is hesed (say: HEH-sed), steadfast, covenant-keeping love. In 9:3 he makes it even stronger: hesed elohim (say: HEH-sed eh-loh-HEEM), “the kindness of God.” This is more than generous treatment. It is the kind of faithfulness God Himself shows. David was keeping a covenant, not just acting on a kind feeling. A real danger. In the ancient Near East a new royal family usually wiped out the old one. 2 Samuel 21:1-9 shows how real that danger was for Saul’s family. A surviving male heir of Saul could claim the throne. David was not only being generous to a stranger; he was seating a possible rival at his own table. Nobody could make him. The covenant was with Jonathan, and Jonathan was dead. No one could force David to keep it. A promise shows its true worth when nobody can make you keep it. God’s hesed. David’s faithfulness is a small picture of God’s hesed, which never fails His people. Moses told Israel to know that the Lord is “the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments” (Deuteronomy 7:9). The God who kept His word to Abraham, Moses and David keeps His word to you.

Years earlier, David and Jonathan made each other a promise. They said they would always be kind to each other’s families. Since then, a lot had changed. Jonathan had died in a battle. Saul’s family had lost the kingdom. Nobody was left to remind David about the promise. Nobody would have known if he forgot it. But David went looking for someone to be kind to. That is what keeping your word looks like. God keeps His promises to us like that too. He has never broken even one.

David made his friend Jonathan a promise. Jonathan had died. Nobody would know if David forgot. David kept his promise anyway.

Three things help us understand how Mephibosheth felt when he came before David. Why he could not walk. 2 Samuel 4:4 tells us. He was five years old on the day the news came that Saul and Jonathan were dead. His nurse snatched him up to run, and in the panic she dropped him. After that he could not walk. It was not an illness or a punishment. It was an accident that happened when he was little. Why he was afraid. He was King Saul’s grandson. In that world a new king usually got rid of the old king’s family. When the king’s men arrived, Mephibosheth had every reason to think he would be killed. He had been living in Lo Debar, far from the palace. The name probably means no pasture, and it was a good place to stay out of sight. What he thought he was worth. “What is your servant, that you should look upon such a dead dog as I?” (9:8). Back then a dog was a scavenger, and a dead one was worth nothing at all. That is truly how he saw himself. David’s answer. David did not argue with him, and he did not agree with him either. He gave a reason that had nothing to do with Mephibosheth: “for Jonathan your father’s sake” (9:7). The kindness never depended on what Mephibosheth was worth. What we learn. God’s kindness to you does not depend on what you think you are worth either. He welcomes you because of Jesus.

The injury (4:4). When the news of Saul and Jonathan’s deaths came from Jezreel, Mephibosheth’s nurse fled with him. He fell and became lame. He was five years old, and he was still lame years later when David sent for him. The danger. In that time a new king often put to death the family of the king before him. In 2 Samuel 21:1-9, seven of Saul’s descendants are handed over to the Gibeonites, but the king spares Mephibosheth because of this same oath with Jonathan (21:7). A summons to the palace was not likely to be good news. Face down (9:6). He “fell on his face and prostrated himself.” David spoke one word, “Mephibosheth?” and he answered, “Here is your servant!” He was giving his name to a king he expected to kill him. How he saw himself (9:8). Kelev met (say: KEH-lev MET), “dead dog,” is the language of deep self-lowering. David used the same picture for himself when he spoke to Saul at the cave (1 Samuel 24:14). It describes someone worthless. The reason was in someone else. Compare that with David’s reason: “for Jonathan your father’s sake” (9:7). The reason for the kindness was not in Mephibosheth at all. It was in another person. For Jesus’ sake. The New Testament gives us the same picture: kindness given on account of another person. Paul writes that God forgave us “even as God in Christ forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32). God does not welcome us because we are worth it on our own. He welcomes us for Jesus’ sake.

Why could Mephibosheth not walk? It happened when he was five years old. Sad news came that his dad and grandpa had died. His nurse picked him up and ran to keep him safe. But she dropped him, and his feet were badly hurt. He never walked again after that day. It was not his fault at all. So when the king’s men came, he was very afraid. He was sure the new king would hurt him. He called himself a dead dog. He thought he was worth nothing. But the king did not think so.

Mephibosheth could not walk. He thought the king would hurt him. He thought he was worth nothing. But the king wanted him!

The last line. 2 Samuel 9 ends with these words: “So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem, for he ate continually at the king’s table. And he was lame in both his feet” (9:13). Both things were true. We already knew about his feet from verse 3, and the Bible tells us again at the very end. Mephibosheth had a seat at the king’s table, and he was still lame. Not healed. He came into the palace unable to walk, and he stayed that way for the rest of his life. Every day he came to dinner the same way he had first arrived. A new place. What changed was not his body. It was where he belonged. He went from hiding in a far-off town, expecting to die, to a seat at the king’s own table that was his for good. Grace in weakness. Paul asked God three times to take away a hard thing in his life. God said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). What we learn. God does not always take away our hard things in this life, but He always gives His children a place with Him. One day He will make everything new: “there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying” (Revelation 21:4).

The final words (9:13). “For he ate continually at the king’s table. And he was lame in both his feet.” Mephibosheth’s lameness was already named in 9:3, and verse 13 names it again at the end. God did not heal his feet. Mephibosheth sat at the king’s table every day, and he still could not walk. A place, not a cure. What David gave him was a place. David speaks of his table again and again (9:7, 10, 11, 13). In 9:11 he says it plainly: ke’ahad mibbenei hammelek (say: keh-ah-KHAHD mib-beh-NAY ham-MEH-lek), “like one of the king’s sons.” From Lo Debar to Jerusalem. Mephibosheth moved from Lo Debar to Jerusalem, from hiding to the royal household, from calling himself a dead dog to a seat among the princes. None of that was physical healing, and all of it was real. Weakness and grace. This truth matters for anyone who lives with a disability or loves someone who does. God’s favor is not measured by whether our bodies are fixed in this life. Paul learned the same thing in 2 Corinthians 12:7-9. His thorn was not removed, but God told him, “My grace is sufficient for you.” Healing is coming. Full healing is truly promised: “There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:4). It is promised in the new creation, and it is not always given here. Until then, Jesus gives His people a place at His table, just as they are.

The last verse tells us two things. Mephibosheth always ate at the king’s table. And he was still crippled in both feet. The table did not fix his feet. What changed was where he belonged. He went from hiding far away to eating with the king. Some hard things may not get better in this life. But God always gives His children a place with Him. One day Jesus will make everything new. Then there will be no more pain.

The table did not fix his feet. He still could not walk. But he had a seat with the king every day!

We are Mephibosheth. This story is about us too, because every one of us is in Mephibosheth’s place before God. Nothing to offer. He was the grandson of the losing king. He was hiding in a far-off town, unable to walk, and by his own account worth about as much as a dead dog. He did not find David. David came looking for him. He did not earn the seat, and he could never pay for it. Jesus’ guest list. Jesus is a far greater King than David ever was. He told His host to invite the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind to his dinners. He said the host would be blessed, because those guests could never repay him (Luke 14:13-14). That describes Mephibosheth exactly, a thousand years before Jesus said it. More than a dinner. Jesus was not only talking about parties. At the Last Supper He said, “I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God” (Luke 22:16). The last invitation in the whole Bible is to a supper: “Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!” (Revelation 19:9). A seat for you. Every one of us comes to God the way Mephibosheth came to David. We come with nothing to trade, from a long way off, unable to fix ourselves. The highest King there is does not just put up with us at the edge of the room. He seats us at His table like one of His own. If you belong to Jesus, that seat is yours.

Kindness that reaches out. 2 Samuel 9 points forward to Jesus. David’s kindness reaches Mephibosheth because of someone else, and it brings him into a permanent place. Both are pictures of what God does for us in Christ. Luke 14:12-14. At a dinner, Jesus told His host not to invite friends and rich neighbors who could invite him back. He should invite the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind, and he would be blessed because they cannot repay. Mephibosheth fits that list on both counts: he was lame, and he could never repay a king. The great supper (Luke 14:16-24). In the parable that follows, the invited guests make excuses and refuse. The master sends his servant into the streets to bring in the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind until his house is full. God’s kingdom is filled with people who were brought in, not people who earned their way in. Two more tables. At the Last Supper Jesus said, “I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God” (Luke 22:16). Revelation 19:9 names the final feast: “Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!” The heart of the picture. Unearned favor, given because of another, brings a person into a permanent place. That is what God gives us in Jesus. He does not bring us in because we are useful to Him, and He does not send us away when we are weak. Jesus promised, “the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out” (John 6:37).

Mephibosheth was not a prince anymore. He lived far away, and he could not walk. He thought he was worth nothing at all. But the king gave him a seat at his own table. Jesus is a much greater King than David. He does the very same thing. One day Jesus talked about giving a big dinner. He said not to invite only rich friends. He said to invite poor people and people who cannot walk. They are people just like Mephibosheth. They can never pay you back. That is who Jesus invites to His table. Do you ever feel like you do not belong? The greatest King of all is saving you a seat.

Jesus is the greatest King of all. He invites people to His table. He wants people who feel left out. You can come too!