Surrendering to the King's Kindness
How the Gospel Defies What We Expect from Religion
For the past several decades, my family has spent two weeks every summer at my uncle's mountain cottage in Monteagle, TN. Totally for free. He won't even let me pay the cleaning fee. It's a kindness for which I am perpetually grateful.
2 Samuel 9 is a true story about a man named Mephibosheth who receives a far greater kindness. And let's be sure to emphasize this: he receives. He does not earn or deserve the kindness he is shown. And neither do we.
This is important because what we discover in this passage is something about the heart of God that some of us have never known and some of us need to remember.
It may be helpful to have a bit of background before we dive in.
Saul became the first king of Israel in 1050 B.C. Forty years later, Saul and his son Jonathan were killed in a battle with the Philistines. David, a former shepherd who gained fame by defeating Goliath, was made King of the southern tribes of Israel, while, Saul's other son, Ish-Bosheth, claimed kingship over the northern tribes, resulting in a long and costly civil war. By the time of 2 Samuel 9, Ish-Bosheth is dead and the civil war is over. David is the uncontested king over all Israel.
Now, as an uncontested king, David does something simply extraordinary.
A King's DESIRE
3 And the king said, "Is there not still someone of the house of Saul, that I may show the kindness of God to him?"
David's desire to show kindness to someone in Saul's family would have been considered shocking because it was not uncommon for a new king to eliminate potential threats by executing the descendants of the previous ruler.
In the case of David, even with his friendship with Jonathan, he had every reason to view Saul's family as a threat. Before his death, King Saul had relentlessly sought to kill David out of jealousy. Then, Saul's other son, Ish-bosheth, challenged David for the throne with a bloody civil war.
Despite this, David expressed a deep desire to show kindness to Saul's family, a radical act of compassion compared to what would have been expected.
The Hebrew word for kindness is hesed, one of the most theologically substantive concepts in the Bible. In various English Bible translations, hesed is rendered as kindness, unfailing love, covenant faithfulness, and mercy.
However we translate it, the hesed of God is always undeserved and overwhelming.
It certainly would be both for Mephibosheth.
A Traitor's FEAR
6 And Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, son of Saul, came to David and fell on his face and paid homage. David said, “Mephibosheth!” And he answered, “Behold, I am your servant.”
While the term traitor may be a bit strong, I think it fits. As the grandson of Saul, and nephew to Ish-bosheth, Mephibosheth had been second in line to the throne. Likely to hide the young prince upon Saul's death, he had been taken as a child to a small outpost far from the capital on the northern outskirts of the kingdom.
In the panic to leave Jerusalem for Lo-debar, Mephibosheth's nanny dropped him, breaking his feet so badly they didn't heal correctly. Consequently, he was "lame in both feet" and unable to walk.
When the king's guards show up in Lo-debar to carry him back to Jerusalem at the order of the king, Mephibosheth isn't second in line, but next in line to Saul's throne, having been on Ish-bosheth's side during the civil war. On the journey, he probably wasn't thinking whether he would die, but how?
And can you imagine his shame upon being presented to the king? Mephibosheth is the grandson of a warrior. Son of a warrior. Nephew of a warrior. And he can't even stand on his own feet.
What happens next is shocking.
A Sovereign DECREE
7 David said to him, “Do not fear, for I will show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan, and I will restore to you all the land of Saul your father, and you shall eat at my table always.”
In a society where physical strength was valued, it would be unusual for someone in Mephibosheth's condition to receive special treatment from a powerful king. Typically, kings would bestow gifts upon the worthy those who are doing a great deed or could serve the king in some capacity.
Add to that his familial association with Saul and we see how David goes beyond any expectation of mercy Mephibosheth could have expected to receive.
For Mephibosheth, having his life spared and being sent back to exile in Lo-debar would have been worthy of celebration.
But David not only spares his life. He covers the full cost to restore Mephibosheth's position in the royal family by returning Saul's land, providing thirty-six personal servants to care for his physical needs, and making sure Mephibosheth always ate at the king's own table, effectively treating Mephibosheth as one of the king's own sons.
Mephibosheth is stunned, responding, “8 What is your servant, that you should show regard for a dead dog such as I?”
What else could a dead dog do but surrender to the king's kindness?
A Total SURRENDER
11 So Mephibosheth ate at David’s table, like one of the king’s sons.
Normally, we think of surrender as succumbing to an opponent or an oppressor. We think of surrender as a loss. But here, surrender is just the opposite. It's the greatest gain possible!
Upon David's promise not to kill Mephibosheth but to bless him, he must have looked up to see the king smiling with delight at the opportunity to show the kindness of God to his best friend's son.
Whatever doubts he may have had, I think the look on David's face convinced Mephibosheth to cast off his shame and fear and surrender to the king's promise of total restoration.
Oh, if we could do the same, looking not into the eyes of David but into the heart of the greater king, Jesus. Looking into his heart, we would see a deep, deep desire to show an even greater kindness of unfailing love, covenant faithfulness, and mercy to lame, traitorous, sinners like us.
And yet for many of us, the shame and fear of our moral lameness is so deep, we've never really looked up. We, too, Like Mephibosheth, feel like dead dogs. We may be able to walk physically, but morally, we have fallen over and over and over again.
But what if we had the courage to look up?
We'd see the heart of Jesus on display, having not just his hands but both of his feet nailed to a cross, where Jesus literally became a lame sinner -- a dead dog -- in our place, paying the penalty of death our moral treason deserved.
He became lame so we can stand.
He was condemned so we could be forgiven.
He took our shame so we could be covered in his righteousness.
He gave up his place at the table so we could be included.
This is the kindness to which we surrender.
How? By simply confessing our morally lame condition and trusting God's gracious declaration to remove our shame and reconcile us to himself as beloved sons and daughters.
All as a gift. The grace of the extravagant and costly, but unearned and undeserved kindness of the king.
What you’ll discover is that, as you stand firmly and securely upon the promises of grace, you'll be strangely empowered to walk in newness of life by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Because when the lame are loved and set free, they leap for joy and walk by grace in honor of the king.
Beautiful. Inspiring. Thank you sir.