Mephibosheth

2 Samuel 9:1-7New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

David asked, “Is there still anyone left of the house of Saul to whom I may show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?” Now there was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was Ziba, and he was summoned to David. The king said to him, “Are you Ziba?” And he said, “At your service!” The king said, “Is there anyone remaining of the house of Saul to whom I may show the kindness of God?” Ziba said to the king, “There remains a son of Jonathan; he is crippled in his feet.” The king said to him, “Where is he?” Ziba said to the king, “He is in the house of Machir son of Ammiel, at Lo-debar.” Then King David sent and brought him from the house of Machir son of Ammiel, at Lo-debar. Mephibosheth son of Jonathan son of Saul came to David, and fell on his face and did obeisance. David said, “Mephibosheth!” He answered, “I am your servant.” David said to him, “Do not be afraid, for I will show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan; I will restore to you all the land of your grandfather Saul, and you yourself shall eat at my table always.”

It would be really easy to go through all of 1 & 2 Samuel and repeat some of the same characters, but I told myself I wasn't going to do that (and to be honest, I kind of don't really want to!) :-)

So instead I am skipping ahead to 2 Samuel and Mephibosheth (try saying that 3 times fast!).

The story of Mephibosheth is one of those stories where Scripture definitely deviates from Shakespeare.  If this were Shakespeare, the prince (son of Jonathan and grandson of Saul) would have been dead.  In good tragedy and royal drama, the new king never lets the heir of the old king live!

And Mephibosheth's nurse certainly thought that's where things were headed when he was a child.  As soon as she heard Jonathan and Saul were dead, she fled with the boy, fearing that David would have him killed.  In her haste, she dropped him and he was crippled.

So when David asked to have Mephibosheth brought to him, there must have been all kinds of panic.

And yet David did something completely unexpected.  He not only let the young man live, but he also set him up for life, returning property that he was due.

Was their drama later?  Yes.  But surprisingly Mephibosheth seems to have made it out OK.

David had a wonderful capacity for friendship.  And a capacity for honoring his promises.  For all his failings - failings he generally owns up to and laments - his ability to surprise makes it easy to see how he became a king after God's own heart.

None of us live up to our callings.  But like David, I'll bet we are capable of surprise.  We certainly have a God of surprises, and I'm guessing that makes us people after God's own heart as well!

God of surprise and friendship, thank you.  Thank you for your forgiveness and love and mercy.  Help us to show the same to those in our lives and those in your world.  Amen.