“And the king said, Is there not yet any of the house of Saul,, that I may show the kindness of God unto him? And Ziba said unto the king, Jonathan hath yet a son, which is lame on his feet. Where is he? And Ziba said unto the king, behold he is in the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel, in Lodebar. Then King David sent, and fetched him out of the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel, from Lodebar” (2 Samuel 9:3-5).
The last week of our study is entitled, “God Restores the Palace.” I found an interesting article on the link www.enduringword.com helpful in writing this week’s devotionals.
King David is speaking with a servant of the former King Saul. He asks him a question that we might think puzzling unless we understand the culture of that day. “It was customary in those days for the king of a new dynasty to completely massacre anyone connected with the prior dynasty. David goes against the principle of revenge and against the principle of self-preservation and asks what he can do for the family of his enemy.” His mortal enemy Saul and his son Jonathan, David’s best friend, had been killed in battle. As far as David knew, probably any other members of Saul’s family had died. However, there was at least one member not accounted for and Ziba, a former servant of Saul knew him. He was an orphan named Mephibosheth. He was Jonathan’s son who was about five years old when his father and grandfather were killed. It was believed he became lame in his feet when he heard of their death. Out of fear, his nurse fled with him to protect him from what she thought would be certain death.
Mephibosheth lived a lowly life in the house of Machir, a man who was possibly part of Mephibosheth’s mother’s family. David sent messengers to bring Mephibosheth to him. David wanted to show him kindness for his friend Jonathan’s sake. More importantly he wanted to show the kindness of God. This story reveals God’s restorative care upon a crippled orphan. He was going to be taken from a life of obscurity and poverty to one of prominence and wealth. Tomorrow we will share more of the crippled orphan’s story.
Sue Winchester
Missouri
PRAY TOGETHER: Pray for workers Mick and Rachel, leaving for a short term assignment this week. Pray also that they would soon receive visas enabling them to begin a long-term assignment in a European country.
