2 Samuel 9:1–13
This story begins like this:
1 David asked, “Is there anyone still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?” (2 Samuel 9:1)
The Lord had already given David rest from all his enemies and had established him as king over Israel. Precisely at this moment, seemingly out of the blue, David decides to search out whether anyone is left of the house of Saul so that he might show him God’s kindness. He asks the question: “Is there anyone still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?”
The Covenant Between David and Jonathan
Why did David ask this question? Why did he want to do good to people from the family of Saul, who had hunted him for so long, longing to kill him? This was not something very natural, because any relative of Saul would be a threat to David’s throne. Just before this story we read how Abner, the commander of Israel’s army, had taken Ish-Bosheth and made him king over Israel, while David reigned over Judah in Hebron. This led to clashes between Abner and David’s commanders, until at last Abner grew disillusioned with Ish-Bosheth and turned all of Israel over to David — though he could not rejoice in his work, because in the meantime he was killed by Joab without King David’s knowledge. In spite of everything, David sought a survivor from the house of Saul, so that he might show him kindness. Why? Because he had made a covenant with Jonathan. In 1 Samuel 18:1–4 we read:
1 After David had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan became one in spirit with David, and he loved him as himself. 2 From that day Saul kept David with him and did not let him return home to his family. 3 And Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. 4 Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, and even his sword, his bow and his belt. (1 Samuel 18:1–4)
Jonathan had made a covenant with David. This was a covenant of friendship, resting on the love between them. As a token of the covenant, Jonathan took off his robe and clothed David with it, and gave him his sword, his bow, and his belt as well. By this gesture he was saying to him: “My authority is your authority, my strength is your strength, your enemies are my enemies. I am yours and you are mine.”
What is more, later in 1 Samuel 20:14–17 we read that David and Jonathan renewed their covenant, and it was no longer a covenant only between the two of them, but a covenant that also included their descendants. At that time David and Jonathan met secretly and spoke of the suspicions David had that King Saul, Jonathan’s father, had determined in his heart to kill David. Then David asked Jonathan to “show him kindness” and to test how his father would react if Jonathan told him that David had asked his permission to go to the annual family sacrifice of his father’s house in Bethlehem (1 Samuel 20:4–9). Saul, of course, reacted with fury and became so enraged at Jonathan and at his support for David that in his anger he hurled his spear at him. By this David and Jonathan understood that Saul had determined in his heart to kill David. But before that, while David was speaking with Jonathan, in exchange for the kindness David had asked of him, Jonathan asked David for something even greater:
14 But show me unfailing kindness like the Lord’s kindness as long as I live, so that I may not be killed, 15 and do not ever cut off your kindness from my family—not even when the Lord has cut off every one of David’s enemies from the face of the earth.” 16 So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “May the Lord call David’s enemies to account.” 17 And Jonathan had David reaffirm his oath out of love for him, because he loved him as he loved himself. (1 Samuel 20:14–17)
This is why David sought someone from the house of Saul to whom he might show kindness — because he had sworn before Jonathan that even after Jonathan died, he would “never” cease to show kindness to Jonathan’s house. So they found one of Saul’s servants who might know whether anyone from the house of Saul was still alive.
Lame in Both Feet
2 Now there was a servant of Saul’s household named Ziba. They summoned him to appear before David, and the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?” “At your service,” he replied. 3 The king asked, “Is there no one still alive from the house of Saul to whom I can show God’s kindness?” Ziba answered the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan; he is lame in both feet.” (2 Samuel 9:2–3)
It turned out that only one living man remained of Saul’s heirs, and he was crippled. What was the reason that Mephibosheth (for that was the name of this son of Jonathan) was “lame in both feet”? The reason was fear of death. In 2 Samuel 4:4 we read how he was crippled:
4 (Jonathan son of Saul had a son who was lame in both feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel. His nurse picked him up and fled, but as she hurried to leave, he fell and became disabled. His name was Mephibosheth.) (2 Samuel 4:4)
Mephibosheth was five years old when Saul and Jonathan fell in battle against the Philistines on Mount Gilboa (1 Samuel 31:1–6). The news of this tragedy was quickly spread by the Israelites fleeing from the battlefield. In her rush to flee headlong to a safer place, Mephibosheth’s nurse dropped him. When he fell, he struck the ground so hard that, as a result of the injury, he was crippled in both feet and remained disabled for the rest of his life.
What is more, it is quite possible that Mephibosheth’s nurse was fleeing not only from the Philistines, but because she feared that after Saul’s death David would ascend the throne and Saul’s heirs would be killed. In that panic and confusion she dropped Mephibosheth and crippled him. She moved with him to Lo Debar.
Imagine how Mephibosheth grew up — exiled, turned against David, as though David were to blame for his disability. Perhaps through all those years his nurse repeated to him: “The reason you live in this wretched place is David. The reason you are crippled is David. David did all this to you.” And so Mephibosheth grew up hating and fearing David and his house. It is also possible that he did not know about the covenant that had been made between David and his father Jonathan.
Does not all of this remind you of our relationship with God? Just as Mephibosheth is “lame in both feet,” so we too are crippled by sin. Indeed, the devil often uses the misfortunes in our lives to tell us: “God did all this to you. God is to blame that you cannot get up off the ground. God is to blame that your family is falling apart. God is to blame for the poverty in which you live. God is to blame for the wars and natural disasters in the world.” And not knowing the truth, we can believe the devil’s lies, if we do not know about the covenant that the Son made with God the Father even before we were born.
Even so, just as David had compassion on Mephibosheth for the sake of his covenant with Jonathan and desired “to show him kindness,” so God receives us by grace and invites us to his table for the sake of the New Covenant, whose mediator is Christ.
4 “Where is he?” the king asked. Ziba answered, “He is at the house of Makir son of Ammiel in Lo Debar.” (2 Samuel 9:4)
Happily, Mephibosheth did not remain in darkness and ignorance forever. David asked Saul’s servant Ziba: “Where is Mephibosheth?” The initiative to find Mephibosheth was his. In the same way, God seeks us as well. We are sinners, driven into exile, and the first step in finding us was taken by God.
Lo Debar is a town in Gilead, east of the Jordan, not far from Mahanaim, the former headquarters of Ish-Bosheth (2 Samuel 2:8–9). The name “Lo Debar” means “no pasture.” Its exact location is unknown, but it is thought to have stood on the site of the modern Umm ed-Dabar, about 16 km southeast of the Sea of Galilee. In Lo Debar Mephibosheth had evidently married, for by the time David summoned him he already had a son named Mika (2 Samuel 9:12).
5 So King David had him brought from Lo Debar, from the house of Makir son of Ammiel. (2 Samuel 9:5)
Can you imagine how Mephibosheth felt when David’s servants came to take him from Lo Debar? Perhaps at first he feared for his life and thought that surely David was seeking him out in order to kill him and so destroy the last possible claimant to his throne. So it is also with the ignorant sinner. At first he does not realize that when Jesus comes and finds him, it is in order to take him out of the darkness of this world and escort him into the glorious light of God’s kingdom.
Do Not Be Afraid, for I Will Surely Show You Kindness!
David’s servants take Mephibosheth and lead him before the king:
6 When Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, he bowed down to pay him honor. David said, “Mephibosheth!” “At your service,” he replied. (2 Samuel 9:6)
Notice that in this verse Mephibosheth is called “Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul.” Though he was crippled, Mephibosheth was the grandson of the first king of Israel. In ancient times, when one royal dynasty replaced another, it was a common practice for the king of the new dynasty immediately to slaughter all the members of the old dynasty. Without doubt Mephibosheth knew what had happened to his uncle Ish-Bosheth (2 Samuel 4:5–8). He was killed and beheaded by two of his officers, named Rekab and Baanah. They brought the head of their king to David, but David was appalled at their treachery and violence and commanded that they be put to death (2 Samuel 4:6–12). It was natural for Mephibosheth to fear for his life. When he entered David’s presence, he fell on his face in homage before him. Perhaps he looked downcast and frightened. That is why David called him by name: “Mephibosheth?!” Are you not glad that David called him by name? In this way he wanted to reassure him and put him at ease. In the same way our heavenly Shepherd “calls his own sheep by name and leads them out” (John 10:3). Mephibosheth answered humbly, confirming his submission to David: “At your service.”
7 “Don’t be afraid,” David said to him, “for I will surely show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will restore to you all the land that belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will always eat at my table.” (2 Samuel 9:7)
This sentence is the key to the whole chapter. David assures Mephibosheth of his good intentions toward him. He promises him:
- “kindness” — for the sake of his covenant with his father Jonathan;
- restoration — the return of ownership of the former inherited lands of his grandfather Saul;
- and fellowship — the right always to eat at David’s table.
All of this is because of the covenant. For after Jonathan’s death, the covenant between David and Jonathan passed into a covenant between David and Jonathan’s son, Mephibosheth.
What an unexpected blessing! Mephibosheth receives all the lands of Saul, and they were by no means small. And in addition he is raised to the position of a courtier who has the right to eat at the king’s table and to have free access to the king. Does not God do the same for us? For the sake of Jesus he shows us his kindness. He restores to us everything our forefather Adam lost through his sin, and gives us eternal life and abundant fellowship at his table, for the sake of his Covenant with Jesus Christ.
David knew that Mephibosheth could not repay him in any way. Mephibosheth was poor and could offer the king nothing. He could not even be a good servant to him, since both his feet were damaged. Mephibosheth is exactly like us when we come to Jesus. What can we offer him? Nothing. All our righteousness before him is like filthy rags. Yet, for the sake of Christ’s sacrifice, God shows us mercy.
A Dead Dog or a Son of God?
8 Mephibosheth bowed down and said, “What is your servant, that you should notice a dead dog like me?” (2 Samuel 9:8)
Do you not think that when Mephibosheth heard David’s plans for him, he simply gaped in astonishment? Perhaps he kept thinking: “This cannot be true. It is too good to be happening to me. Everything I had heard about David was that he kills everyone and is seeking to kill me too. And now he is restoring to me everything I had lost and inviting me to be a constant guest at the royal table.” Surely Mephibosheth was overwhelmed by David’s goodness and generosity.
Notice that David completely ignored the words Mephibosheth spoke about himself, namely that he was a “dead dog.” There is nothing wrong in realizing that before God we are nothing. But if we constantly go around repeating that we are miserable, sinful worms wallowing in the mire, this would hardly please God. If we endlessly repeat that we do not deserve what he gives us, God would turn his ears away from us. To be like Mephibosheth and to regard ourselves as “dead dogs” when we have been redeemed by God’s mercy and are God’s children — that is ingratitude, that is unbelief. For we may indeed have been nothing before we were adopted by God, but from the moment we pass through the door of his kingdom, we become God’s righteous ones, a kingdom of priests and saints.
Not Only an Inheritance, but Servants Too
9 Then the king summoned Ziba, Saul’s steward, and said to him, “I have given your master’s grandson everything that belonged to Saul and his family. 10 You and your sons and your servants are to farm the land for him and bring in the crops, so that your master’s grandson may be provided for. And Mephibosheth, grandson of your master, will always eat at my table.” (Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.) 11 Then Ziba said to the king, “Your servant will do whatever my lord the king commands his servant to do.” (2 Samuel 9:9–11)
Not only did David restore Saul’s lands to Mephibosheth, but he also arranged things so that Mephibosheth would not even have to work them himself. He gave him not only land, but also thirty-six servants to work it for him — Ziba, his fifteen sons, and twenty additional helpers. Ziba had been the steward over Saul’s property. Now he would care for the restored property of his former master’s grandson. So Mephibosheth had to do nothing except be a good steward of the harvest.
When we came to believe in God, he not only restored to us everything that Satan had stolen from Adam through sin. He also gave us the angels to serve us. In Hebrews 1:14 it is said of them:
14 Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation? (Hebrews 1:14)
The angels may be greater, stronger, and more intelligent than we are; they may have existed far longer; but we are sons of God, heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17). This is why God has arranged that the angels serve us and help us in accomplishing God’s purposes.
At the King’s Table
11 So Mephibosheth ate at David’s table like one of the king’s sons. 12 Mephibosheth had a young son named Mika, and all the members of Ziba’s household were servants of Mephibosheth. 13 And Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, because he always ate at the king’s table; he was lame in both feet. (2 Samuel 9:11–13)
From the first mention of Mephibosheth to the last, it is said of him that he was lame in both feet. This, of course, is not a symbol of divine healing. Rather, this detail underscores the fact that Mephibosheth did not reach the palace by his own feet or by his own strength. He was “taken” and brought from the house of Makir son of Ammiel in Lo Debar because of the covenant made between David and Jonathan.
Just as Mephibosheth stumbled and fell, so we all stumbled and fell into sin. And yet, despite our fall, a place is reserved for us at God’s table. Have you noticed that when a person sits at the table, he cannot see his feet? So too God’s table hides all our flaws, failures, and defeats. The blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, unceasingly cleanses us from every sin (1 John 1:7).
Sometimes we may break off our fellowship with God for a week, a month, or even years. And because we then fall away, we begin to listen to the devil, who slips us his lies, telling us: “You will never again have the fellowship with God that you once had. You can no longer benefit from the covenant you made with God.” In this way the devil sends us back into spiritual exile. But I want to tell you that God’s table remains set, and our place at it is still being kept. The only thing we must do in order to sit down at it is to enter through the door of 1 John 1:9:
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)
After that we can sit down at the table right beside Jesus, since it is not because of our works that we have access to it. We enter God’s presence only because of the Covenant between the Lord Jesus Christ and God the Father. The New Covenant is made precisely between Them, and that is why it is eternal and indestructible.
Covenants are only as strong as the strength of the weakest party in them. Since, because of sin, we have “lame feet,” God could not make a covenant with us. He had to find someone who is perfect and without flaw. That is why he entered into a covenant with the Lord Jesus Christ. They are both unchanging and unalterable. That is why the New Covenant is unshakeable. Just as Mephibosheth entered into a covenant that had already been made between David and Jonathan, so we too enter into a covenant that has already been made between the Father and the Son. And we can be encouraged, because this covenant is irrevocable. Therefore, let us be thankful and always come to the table that God has set before us. There is nothing sweeter than fellowship with our Heavenly Father.