2 Samuel 9:1 - Meaning and Application

Here is David’s inquiry after what remained of Saul’s ruined family (2 Samuel 9:1). This came a long time after he became king, for Mephibosheth, who was only five when Saul died, had by then grown up and had a son of his own (2 Samuel 9:12). David had too long forgotten his duty to Jonathan, but now that promise came back to mind. It is wise to stop now and then and ask whether we have failed to keep any promise or duty, because it is better to make it right late than never.

Paul sums up David’s life by saying that he served his own generation according to God’s will (Acts 13:36). In other words, he made it his business to do good. We see that here. David did not wait passively for someone from Saul’s family to ask for help. He looked for an opportunity to do good, and when he found someone who could tell him more, he asked carefully, “Is there anyone still left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness?” (2 Samuel 9:3). He was not only asking where he might do justice (Numbers 5:8), but where he might show kindness.

Good people should look for chances to do good. Generous minds plan generous deeds (Isaiah 32:8). Those who need help are often the least likely to call attention to themselves, so they are not always found without inquiry. David asked about the remaining members of Saul’s house, whom he wanted to bless for Jonathan’s sake. Saul once had a large family (1 Chronicles 8:33), but now it had been almost wiped out. That is a reminder of how God can empty a full house, and how human sin can do the same.

Saul’s family had been a violent house, so it is no surprise that it was brought low (2 Samuel 21:1). Yet although God sometimes punishes children for a father’s guilt, David would not do that. Saul had been David’s enemy, and still David wanted to show his family kindness with all his heart. He was not looking for Saul’s descendants in order to remove a threat, as Abimelech and Athaliah did in their unlawful rule (Judges 9:5; 2 Chronicles 22:10-11). David’s throne did not need such cruel support. He wanted to show kindness because he trusted God, had no fear of Saul’s descendants, and had a forgiving spirit.

This is how we prove that we truly forgive people who have treated us unfairly. We should be ready, when we have the chance, to show kindness to them and to their family. We should not only avoid revenge, we should also love them and do them good (Matthew 5:44). We should not be slow to show acts of love and goodwill to those who have hurt us many times (1 Peter 3:9). That is how evil is overcome, and it is also a way for us and our children to receive mercy when we need it.

Jonathan was David’s sworn friend, so David also wanted to show kindness to Jonathan’s house. This teaches us to remember our promises and to keep them even when no one is pressing us to do so. God is faithful to us, so we should not be unfaithful to one another. It also teaches us to remember old friendships. Kindness to our friends and to their families is part of our holy faith. “A friend loves at all times” (Proverbs 17:17). If God has lifted us up while our friends and their families have fallen on hard times, that should not make us forget them. It should make us more ready to help them, because then they need us most and we are best able to help.

Even if friendship does not bind us by a formal contract, there is still a sacred duty of friendship. A true friend should show pity to a friend in trouble (Job 6:14). A brother is born for adversity. Friendship also calls us to care about the families and surviving relatives of those we have loved, because when they are gone, they leave behind bodies, names, and children, and we should be kind to them.

The kindness David planned to show is called “the kindness of God.” That means more than ordinary kindness. It was kindness given in line with the covenant between David and Jonathan, before God as witness (1 Samuel 20:42). It was also kindness that followed God’s own example, because we should be merciful as he is merciful. Jonathan had asked David to show him “the kindness of the Lord,” so that he and his seed would not die (1 Samuel 20:14-15). The kindness of God is a greater kindness than people usually expect from one another. It was also kindness done with God in view, for his honor and favor.

Mephibosheth came to David with all the respect his position called for. Though he was lame, he fell on his face and bowed before him (2 Samuel 9:6). David had once shown the same honor to Mephibosheth’s father, Jonathan, when Jonathan was next in line to the throne (1 Samuel 20:41). Now the situation was completely reversed, and Mephibosheth showed that same respect to David.

Those who show honor when they are in a lower position will often receive honor when their own time comes. David received Mephibosheth with great kindness. He spoke to him as one who was surprised, but glad, to see him. “Mephibosheth! Is there really such a man alive?” He remembered his name, likely because Mephibosheth had been born around the time of his close friendship with Jonathan.

David also told him not to be afraid: “Do not fear” (2 Samuel 9:7). Seeing the king may have made Mephibosheth nervous, and David wanted to remove that fear. He made clear that he had not called him out of jealousy or to harm him, but to show him kindness. Great people should not enjoy making those below them tremble, because God does not do that either. They should encourage them.

Then David gave him, as a royal grant, all the land that had belonged to Saul, Mephibosheth’s grandfather. This was the family estate, which had been lost through Ishbosheth’s rebellion and had come into David’s control. This was a real gift, much more than kind words. True friendship is generous.

Even after giving him a secure income, David went further for Jonathan’s sake. He would have Mephibosheth eat at his own table as a regular guest. There he would not only be fed well, but would also receive the honor and care fit for his birth and family line. Though Mephibosheth was lame, unattractive, and likely not suited for public work, David welcomed him into his household for the sake of his good father, Jonathan.

Mephibosheth accepted this kindness with deep humility and self-humbling. He was not the kind of man who treats every favor as a debt and thinks nothing is ever enough. Instead, he was amazed at what David had done (2 Samuel 9:8): “What is your servant, that you should look at such a dead dog as I am?” He spoke very low of himself. Though he was the son of a prince and the grandson of a king, he saw his family as under guilt and judgment, and he himself as poor and crippled. So he called himself a dead dog before David.

It is good to keep a humble heart when life has already brought us low. If God lowers our condition, and grace lowers our spirits with it, we will have peace. Those who humble themselves in this way will be lifted up. Mephibosheth also magnified David’s kindness. He could have tried to weaken it if he wanted. David had given him his father’s estate, but Mephibosheth did not treat it as a small thing. David’s invitation to the table could have been dismissed as politics, but Mephibosheth received it as true kindness, and he counted himself as less than the least of all David’s favors (1 Samuel 18:18).