2 Samuel 8-10; Psalm 78
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David is certainly not perfect, as we will soon see in the
upcoming chapters, but in today’s reading we get a glimpse of why he’s known as
the man after God’s own heart.
Mephibosheth was Jonathan’s son and Saul’s grandson. Back in 2 Samuel 4:4 we got some
background information about Mephibosheth: “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 crippled. His name was Mephibosheth.”
In other kingdoms of that time Mephibosheth would probably have
been put to death after Saul and Jonathan were killed. Not to mention that those who were
crippled in that time period had a very hard life and were treated as less than
everyone. Instead, David reaches
out to him and shows him kindness.
He gave him everything that had belonged to Saul and invited him to always
eat at his table. “So Mephibosheth
ate at David’s table like one of the king’s sons.” (2 Samuel 9:11)
There is a verse from Leviticus that keeps coming back to me ever
since my pastor used it when talking about compassion and serving others. It is Leviticus 26:13 and in it God
says, “I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk with heads held
high.” David enabled Mephibosheth
to once again hold his head high.
And do you see Jesus in this story as well? The King who lifts us up and invites us
to sit at His table as one of his own.
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