TODAY’S SCRIPTURE 2 Samuel 9:1-13
Have you ever made a promise to a friend and suddenly remembered some time later that you never followed through with it? However, something stirred a memory and you later fulfilled the promise to the friend.
In the text, David remembers a promise (1 Samuel 20:14, 15, 17) made more than two decades earlier. Jonathan had fallen under the arrows of the Philistines on Mount Gilboa, but David could fulfill his promise to Jonathan’s household.
Finding a descendant of Jonathan is not an easy task (9:1-3). Ziba provides no details about the boy, except he is lame in the feet (crippled). However, we learn some sad details from 2 Samuel 4:4. Mephibosheth (know someone needing a name for a newborn?) is born the rightful heir to the throne, victimized by a fall and left with halting feet in a foreign land, and likely lives under the threat of death.
Yet, he is promoted from Lo-Debar, which means “without pasture” and was located far from David’s court, to the king’s table. Goodbye obscurity and hello royalty — all because of the kindness of David! David the king went the second mile in keeping a promise.
In this event, David is a walking parable of God’s kindness and loyalty. Interest- ingly, astronauts tell us from outer space a rainbow actually forms a complete circle. God’s promises are equally unbroken and unending.
Honestly, the story of Mephibosheth is our story. Have we not been left hobbling by sin? Who hasn’t meandered along the dry sands of Lo-Debar in life? But then, gratefully, comes the palace messenger, and the King of Kings has a place for you at His table; He wants you in His family.
Why? Is it because of your I.Q.? God needs no counsel. Is it because of your organizational skills? I’m sure the architect of orbits needs no advice. Sorry, the invitation has nothing to do with us, but everything to do with the kindness of God!
Today, I will…be more aware of the kindness of God and will strive to be an instrument of it to the lives of others!