From war to peace, David had time to consider others, even those who had treated him badly. No-one more so than Saul. However, he still mourned for Saul’s son Jonathan, and he asked if there was anyone left of Saul’s household to whom he could show favour for Jonathan’s sake (v1). He had made a covenant with Jonathan (1 Samuel 20) and, even though Jonathan was dead, he still wanted to keep it.
All was going well, and David seems to have set up a strong but caring leadership. In this chapter, this is exemplified, and we have an insight to David away from fighting battles, which shows his compassion and high regard for Saul, who had done him much harm and hounded him to death, and particularly Saul’s son Jonathan with whom he had had a great friendship. Even though David had become so great he had never forgotten nor forsaken his friendship with Jonathan.
It is a clear picture of God’s kindness to us. David had promised (1 Samuel 18:9 and 20:14-16) that he would not exterminate Saul and Jonathan’s descendants and here we see his words in action. He is made aware of Ziba who had been one of Saul’s servants, who told him about Mephibosheth who was mentioned in chapter 4. You will recall that he was lame in both feet after being dropped by his nurse when fleeing on hearing of the death of Saul and Jonathan. It was understandable that his nurse tried to get him away because it was normal that any new ruler would destroy the previous royal household.
The events here are sometime after that because v12 tells us that Mephibosheth now had a son of his own named Micah. David sought to bless Mephibosheth for Jonathan’s sake. It is clear that David’s motivation was to show someone else the same kindness God showed to him. Once again this is very reminiscent of the way The LORD has blessed us, not because of any merit of ours but for His sake. In that we see the mercy and grace of God to undeserving people.
It appears that someone searched for and found Ziba (v2-4) who had been one of Saul’s servants and he knew about Mephibosheth. He told David that he was in Lo-debar in the house Machir, who was thought to be very wealthy and out of love for Saul had taken Mephibosheth in, and I assume his family seeing that he had a son. One must assume that Mephibosheth was in hiding from the new king for fear that he would seek to wipe out Saul’s family which was normally the case. Being a son of Jonathan, he could have been seen as a rival for the crown, thus any new king would have sought to destroy him.
Machir was the son of Ammiel who appears to be the father of Bathsheba (1 Chronicles 3:5) who will come on the scene in a sad episode of David’s life in chapter 11. We will also come across Machir later (2 Samuel 17). According to 1 Chronicles 8:34 Mephibosheth’s real name was Meribbaal. You may recall that Gideon was also called Jerubbaal, meaning ‘Fighter of Baal’ which he showed to be. (Judges 6:32) and Meribbaal was thought to mean ‘Scattering/destroying Baal’.
Imagine Mephibosheth as he saw the entourage from the king arriving on his doorstep or more correctly, Machir’s doorstep? Has he come to kill me because I am Saul’s descendant? Is he going to punish me? He needn’t have worried. I’m sure he was surprised to hear the summons from the king. His cover was blown but what a request?
I recall from children’s meetings many years ago with Stan Ford telling the story of Mephibosheth that Lo-debar meant ‘no bread’ and that Mephibosheth was FALLEN, FOUND and FEASTED. Amazing what we can remember, and yet, I’m so grateful for those meetings because I learned much. At the time one wondered if it would ever come in useful, but it did!
One commentator says that the definition of Lo-debar is ‘no pasture’. It was a place of forgotten people. They were there usually through no fault of their own. We are always quick to assume that people who are in situations worse than our own have done something wrong to get that way. Not necessarily, they usually simply need help. Consider the transformation for Mephibosheth when he is summoned by the king!
When Mephibosheth came in to David he fell on his face out of respect to him (v6). He was probably in a state of confusion. No doubt he was in fear of what David might do to him, but David spoke to reassure him and told him not to fear. David said, “Do not fear, for I will surely show kindness for Jonathan your father’s sake, and I will restore to you all the land of Saul your grandfather; and you shall eat bread at my table continually.” (Reminds me of David’s words in Psalm 23 “Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies; and I shall dwell in the house of The LORD forever.”)
What a transformation from a place of ‘no pasture, no bread’ to feasting at the king’s table. Showing such generosity to previous king’s family was unheard of. Mephibosheth’s response was utter amazement. He paid homage to the king and said, “What is your servant, that you should look upon a dead dog such as I?” He felt worthless and undeserving of such generosity.
David used similar language referring to himself when he said to Saul, “After whom has the king of Israel come out? After whom do you pursue? After a dead dog! After a flea!” (1 Samuel 24:14) This was common self-derogatory terminology used in that era.
Isn’t that what The LORD does for us when He brings us out of the ‘pit and the miry clay’ and sets our feet on the rock. We are brought out of our sinful state and are placed into the family of God. Jesus told the disciples that they would eat and drink at His table in heaven (Luke 22:30). From lost sinners, we become children of God. Saved for eternity. What a transformation is that? We too are totally unworthy of the salvation which The LORD Jesus came to obtain for us. We could not earn it; it is freely given by God’s amazing grace. We deserve the anger of God because we have sinned against Him, but He doesn’t deal with us like that. David’s grace to Mephibosheth is a wonderful picture of God’s grace to us. We are recipients of God’s favour, totally unmerited. It does require a response from us – Mephibosheth fell on his face and said, “Here is your servant”. We too must submit to our LORD and Master and give Him the honour due to Him and His rightful place in our lives. Mephibosheth would lack nothing just as we lack nothing from God’s hand.
David told Ziba that he would restore all that belonged to Saul to Mephibosheth, and Ziba and his fifteen sons and twenty servants were to till the land and bring in the produce so that Mephibosheth’s family would have food to eat, but Mephibosheth was to eat at the king’s table (v9,10).
Ziba said that he would do as the king said (v11) and all who lived in his house became Mephibosheth’s servants. Mephibosheth ate at the king’s table like one of the king’s sons (v11,12,13). Mephibosheth was made as “one of the King’s sons” (v11). We are children of The King of Kings – children of God. What a blessing, what a responsibility! A lame man fed continually at the king’s table – what a picture of us? We are sinners, but must come like Mephibosheth in humility, recognizing our worthlessness and God’s saving grace.
Ziba’s response was what we need to show to God – However, despite his fine words we shall see later that Ziba was not honourable (2 Samuel 16).
It is interesting that even though Mephibosheth was so privileged, we are reminded again that he was lame in both his feet. Those who teach prosperity gospel, and that Christians shouldn’t be ill, can’t get around this one. One commentator (David Guzik) says, “The King’s honour does not immediately take away all our weakness and lameness, but it gives us a favour and standing that overcomes its sting and changes the way we think about ourselves.” “David’s grace to Mephibosheth is also a pattern for us in serving and ministering to others.”
