Digging Deeper: The Promise Keeper
8 Mephibosheth bowed respectfully and exclaimed, “Who is your servant, that you should show such kindness to a dead dog like me?” 9 Then the king summoned Saul’s servant Ziba and said, “I have given your master’s grandson everything that belonged to Saul and his family. 10 You and your sons and servants are to farm the land for him to produce food for your master’s household. But Mephibosheth, your master’s grandson, will eat here at my table.” (Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.) 11 Ziba replied, “Yes, my lord the king; I am your servant, and I will do all that you have commanded.” And from that time on, Mephibosheth ate regularly at David’s table, like one of the king’s own sons. 12 Mephibosheth had a young son named Mica. From then on, all the members of Ziba’s household were Mephibosheth’s servants. 13 And Mephibosheth, who was crippled in both feet, lived in Jerusalem and ate regularly at the king’s table.
2 Samuel 9:8-13 (NLT)
THE PROMISE KEEPER
This past Sunday we examined the topic of kindness, looking at it through the lens of David’s kindness to Mephibosheth. We defined kindness as “an act of love spurred on by genuine care for another person,” and what David did certainly embodied that.
David was the former enemy of Mephibosheth’s grandfather, Saul. To say Mephibosheth was astounded when the King decided to not only show him kindness, but to treat him as one of his own, would be an understatement. David was not just surface-level nice to Mephibosheth; he showed genuine care for him.
Why did David show this kindness? For the sake of his friend, Jonathan (Mephibosheth’s father). David was grieved to learn that his dear friend had perished in battle and lamented the event (2 Samuel 1). When he learned of the last living relative of Jonathan, he wanted to show him love and kindness.
As we learn, Mephibosheth was crippled, and when he and King David met, he was scared for his life and uncertain what the future may hold for him. It would have been reasonable for him to be prepared for execution given the tense relationship of Saul and David.
Given this tension, he fell to his feet and “paid homage” (2 Samuel 9:6) to the King, prompting David to shock him with the blessings he had planned when he said, “Do not fear, for I will restore to you all the land of Saul your father, and you shall eat at my table always. (2 Samuel 9:7)”
In response to this kindness in verse 8, Mephibosheth says, “What is your servant that you should show regard for a dead dog such as I?” For he could provide no real value to the King given his crippled state.
There are remarkable parallels between this relationship and our own relationship with God. For in Christ, we are shown ultimate kindness and love in spite of our rebellious history. In spite of this, Romans 5:8 tells us that “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (ESV)”
Just as David fulfills his promise to Mephibosheth to care for him in the honor of his father, Jesus fulfills his promises to us in the honor of his father. So what kind of promises does God make to his followers?
He promises that all things will work to the good for those who Love him (Romans 8:28), he promises to comfort us in affliction (2 Cor 1:3-4), he promises to give us strength (Isaiah 41:10), he promises us freedom from sin (1 John 1:9), he promises that nothing can separate us from his love (Romans 8:38-39) and literally thousands more.
Scripture also tells us that God will keep the promises that he makes to his people. Hebrews 10:23 says to “hold to the confession of your hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.”
What wonderful hope and assurance we can take from these words! God loves us, keeps us and is faithful to us. As a believer in Christ, this is a crucial part of our daily walk, according to Billy Graham:
“God has never promised to remove all our troubles, problems and difficulties…but God has promised, in the midst of trouble and conflict, a genuine peace, a sense of assurance and security that the worldly person never knows.”
Just as Mephibosheth did, we can count on our King to keep his promises and give us a seat at his table.
Lee Wilson and his wife, Deanna, have been NorthStar Church members since 2010. They are parents to Everett, Henry and Roselyn. Lee is passionate about sports (Go Braves, Go Dawgs) and has the pleasure to serve on the worship team as a bassist.