2 Samuel 9:1-13
Donald Sunukjian
WHY DO I LIVE HERE?
(The speaker enters on crutches, looks around, and moves down the aisle, taking in the beautiful building he is standing in.)
I still can’t find my way around this palace. You should see all its rooms. And it’s a little hard for me to get around (glancing at his crippled leg).
This is the house of David, of King David. It’s the finest in all these lands. Imported timber (touching, running his hand over some of the objects in the hall). Silk curtains (looking around).
(The speaker sits down alone on the piano bench.)
My name is Mephibosheth. I like it here. My wife, my little son, and I have an apartment of several rooms on the second floor. We’ve been here about three months now.
Why do I live here? That’s a good question.
I’m no important person on a visit to the king; I’m not an ambassador sent to this country or anything like that. I’m not a court official; I have no administrative duties here. And I’m no relative either — though I admit that David treats me like a son and has become a grandfather to my son Mica.
Why do I live here? I’ll tell you, because it’s a moving story.
THE LOST BATTLE
My father was killed when I was very young. My memories are dim, because at the time I was only five years old. I remember playing in front of the house on my father’s estate when a horseman came galloping into the yard. I remember the furious pounding of the hooves, the foam at the horse’s mouth, and the rider’s cry to my nurse in the house: “Grab the boy and run. The Philistines are coming! The king and the prince are dead. Israel is defeated and everyone is fleeing!” After that he rode on to warn others.
I remember how my nurse, weeping, snatched up her shawl and a little bread and cheese, took me by the hand, and said: “We have to run! Hurry! Faster! We have to run!”
We left everything behind and fled. We ran all that afternoon and evening. When it grew dark, we slipped into a field to catch our breath, hoping we might get some sleep. But the Philistines kept on plundering through the night, and the terrible sounds of their looting drew near to us again. So we got up and ran once more.
THE GREAT FALL
We ran in the darkness — I don’t remember how long. We were trying to reach the river, to cross it and get into a remote northern region where we thought they wouldn’t follow us.
But I couldn’t go on — my side ached, my lungs were bursting. I remember falling to the ground.
My nurse said to me: “Come!”
“I can’t!”
“They’ll kill us!”
“I can’t!” — and I began to cry.
She lifted me up and started to run with me. But I was quite big. A five-year-old boy can be a heavy load to carry. For a while fear gave her strength, but as the night wore on I noticed how her eyes began to grow more and more lifeless and filled with exhaustion. Her steps became unsteady. She began to stagger. And then, without any warning, she collapsed to the ground.
I don’t remember it exactly, but I remember how she fell heavily forward with me in her arms. I remember how my legs were beneath me (bending forward) and how she came down on me with all her weight, and then I remember — (two snaps of the fingers to represent the breaking of his bones).
Something snapped! I screamed. I cried out to her to get off me, but she didn’t move. I wept and struggled, and at last I managed to pull myself out from under her. I remember calling for help in the night… and after that I remember nothing more.
IN MAKIR’S HOUSE IN LO DEBAR
A few days later I woke up in the house of a man named Makir. He lived far away, on the other side of the river we had been trying to reach. I learned that I had been found the next morning by other refugees. They had taken us with them over the next two days and carried us across the river to safety.
I must have gone into shock from the pain, because I don’t remember any of it. All I know is that when I woke up, my ankles and feet were crushed and stiff… and I knew… that I would never be able to walk again.
A ROYAL SON
Everything I’ve told you so far helps you understand why I limp the way I do. But it doesn’t tell you who I am.
My father, who was killed in that battle, was no ordinary soldier. He was Prince Jonathan. King Saul was my grandfather. In the course of time, if things had gone as they should, I would have become king over the land after my father Jonathan.
THE NEW REGIME
But after the battle, everything was in chaos. King Saul was dead. My father was dead. Two of my father’s brothers, my uncles, were dead. The Philistines controlled our land and had seized everything for themselves.
Several weeks passed before we could assess the situation, before the remnant of Israel’s government began to reassemble in exile. It gathered, but it was scattered in pieces, and it wasn’t much.
One of my uncles had survived — Ish-Bosheth (shaking his head). Out of all the strength and greatness of the house of Saul, out of the glorious manhood of Jonathan and my uncles, who had to be the one to survive — Ish-Bosheth — the most incompetent of them all. He had neither the heart nor the head to reign. On his own he was fine, but in a position where he was expected to lead, he couldn’t manage.
Fortunately Abner also survived and made it across the river. Abner was the commander of the army, a solid man — strong, decisive, muscular, and a leader — with a quick mind and a strong will, a man who could give orders and demand that they be carried out.
For practical reasons Abner took over the leadership while we were in exile. Ish-Bosheth was a figurehead. Abner was loyal to him and served him, just as he had served my grandfather. But in fact Abner held the power; he was the one who made things happen.
Those were hard days, but I had almost no part in them. I was a boy. I was crippled. And it was obvious that whatever course the kingdom took, it would take it without me. I was set aside. I was not meant to have any part in the government.
Well, soon none of it mattered anyway, because it wasn’t long before the kingdom was taken away from our family. For after seven years, when I was twelve, the whole land turned away from us and followed David.
And that’s how things have stood ever since, for fifteen years now — David is in power.
WHAT KIND OF MAN WAS DAVID?
How did David and I meet?
I had never met David until three months ago, when we moved here.
My early opinion of him was bitter. From what I had been told, he and my father Jonathan had known each other once. When they were young, they had been the best of friends. They had fought side by side. But something must have happened, because by the time I was born, David had been declared an outlaw and was regarded as a traitor.
There were two explanations for this. Some said that my grandfather Saul harbored a sick jealousy toward David and tried to kill him — that he hated David without cause, and that David had to flee to protect himself.
Others said that my grandfather saw through David’s outward appearance and knew that beneath the surface he was hatching treasonous plans to seize the kingdom for himself and take it away from my father Jonathan.
I was inclined to believe the second explanation — that David was a scheming traitor — for two reasons. First, at the time of the battle in which my father was killed, David was living with the enemy in Philistia. According to the reports we received, he had even volunteered to fight for the Philistines in the battle, but they had turned him down. Second, soon after the battle and Israel’s defeat, while we were trying to regroup in the north, David returned to the southern part of our land and had himself crowned king over the southern tribes.
So my early opinion of him was negative. And it was confirmed seven years later, when I was twelve. At that time Abner, our leader, had gone south to negotiate a merger between our northern part of the kingdom and the southern part led by David. While he was there, he was lured into a secret meeting and killed by one of David’s generals. A few days later Ish-Bosheth was killed in the north. I heard that the murderers were executed by David, but who knows whether that was real justice or David simply shutting the mouths of his followers once they had done his dirty work. “Dead men tell no tales.”…
In any case, with the deaths of Abner and Ish-Bosheth, David became king over the whole land, and that’s how things have stood for the last fifteen years.
But I have to admit that, whatever I thought of David, the kingdom was doing well. There was a great expansion of territory, an unbroken string of victories, stability, prosperity. There was even talk of a dynasty — a dynasty founded by David. It was said that David had dreamed a dream in which God promised him sons who would reign after him — a dynasty. There was also a promise of some Great future Son of David.
Through all these events I was left in that far northern province — evidently forgotten. Makir was kind — I married his daughter, and we have a little son. I did everything within my power to be of use both to myself and to others — a little bookkeeping for Makir, a little carpentry. I’m not good at it, but I have a high regard for quality timber (looking around the palace).
“THE KING WANTS TO SEE YOU…”
And that brings me back to about three months ago, when it happened. One day Ziba appeared with the message: “David wants to see you.”
I hadn’t seen Ziba in about ten years. Ziba was in charge of managing my father’s and grandfather’s estate. He too had fled across the river, but he had come back when things stabilized under David’s rule. He lived near our old home region, and from what I had heard, he was living well.
He came to me and told me that David wanted to see me… It sounded ominous. Why would David want to see me? (The lights dim.) He’s going to kill me! Establishing a dynasty requires eliminating all potential rivals. And I am the last surviving member of Saul’s family. With Jonathan, my uncles, and Ish-Bosheth dead, I am the last one who could lay any claim to the throne and restore the lost inheritance. By getting rid of me, the last potential enemy, David would secure the future of his dynasty.
I did not want to see David, but the cart was waiting there for me. I had no choice. I could have asked Makir for help, but that would only have brought punishment down on him for meddling in the king’s affairs. I kissed my wife goodbye. Neither of us thought we would see each other again.
On the way, there in the cart, I asked Ziba: “How did David find out about me?”
“One day he sent word for me to come to him at the palace. When I got there, he asked me whether any of Jonathan’s heirs was still alive. I told him about you.”
“Why? Why didn’t you keep your mouth shut?”
“Because I was afraid that one way or another he would find out, and then he would punish me for not telling him. Besides, he said his intentions toward you were good.”
“Fool! What possible reason could he have to do me good? He can only gain from my death… I’m going to my execution.”
THE MIRACLE OF COVENANT MERCY
For the rest of the way we rode in silence until we reached Jerusalem. (A pause of amazement.) I had heard about the new capital David had built, but this was incredible. What impregnable fortresses! And the palace — I had never seen such a palace!
I was led inside and told to “wait here” in a kind of anteroom, while Ziba went in through several doors. He came back after only a few minutes and directed me through the doors. Through them I entered a large room. At the far end of it someone was seated. This was obviously David. As I limped toward him, he watched me in silence with a piercing gaze.
I thought to myself: “He’s going to kill me. I am a threat to his kingdom, to the stability of his dynasty. But if he’s going to kill me, I’ll make it as hard for him as I can. I won’t give him the satisfaction of looking like a rebel who deserves to be eliminated.”
So with enormous difficulty (kneeling) I bent my knees before him and bowed down to him, to show by that gesture that he was my King.
I heard a thundering voice: “Mephibosheth!”
With my head still bowed I said: “I am your humble servant!”
Then I heard: “Don’t be afraid!”
I looked up… his eyes were smiling and his face looked kind.
He said to me: “Get up and sit beside me on the throne.”
“Your father,” he went on, “was my greatest friend. When we were young, we both knew that the kingdom would be taken away from the house of Saul and that I would be the one to reign. At that time your father made me swear that when it happened, I would never harm him. He made me promise that when God blessed me and I was established as king, I would never raise a hand against any of his descendants.
Thirty years ago I made a covenant with your father, a solemn promise, that when that time came, I would deal mercifully with every one of his heirs.
I sought you out and brought you here to keep that promise. I am returning to you all the land and property of your father and your grandfather. The fields, the livestock, the orchards, the buildings — all of them are yours. All the income the properties produce is yours. You may manage them however you wish. Ziba will return to service as your servant, just as he was servant to your father and your grandfather. His sons and servants will work the land and give you its fruit and its income.
You will be completely free. You will be able to come and go whenever you wish, for whatever your work requires. But I want you to bring your wife and the boy here to the palace and to be part of my family.”
That was three months ago. Today I am a rich man and a member of David’s family.
He is a king who owed me nothing. But he chose to seek me out and lift me up.
What was I to him? I could offer him nothing. In fact, in his eyes I was a potential enemy. I was hostile to his rule.
But he brought me into his palace, restored the inheritance I had lost, and made me part of his family. Ever since then I have shared in the laughter and the love of his house.
AWAITING THE COMING SON OF DAVID
(He rises and exits, stopping every few steps to speak one more of the following sentences.)
Do you remember that dream David dreamed — that the sons of his sons would rule until a “Great Son of David” came? I wonder whether there will ever be such a Son of David who is even a little like his father? (Steps)
Do you think there will ever be a Son of David who will seek out his enemy and lift him up, who will restore the inheritance he had lost? (Steps)
Will he take a lame man and make him a son of the king?
If he does, then I wish for you, too, that you might meet him.
(The End)