U2 sing a song called ‘Grace’ in which they say,
‘It’s a name for a girl. It’s also an
idea that changed the world. Grace finds
beauty in everything.’ Charles Swindoll
defines grace as kindness to someone who has not earned it and can never repay
it. He suggests that the story of
Miphiboseth is the greatest illustration of grace in the Old Testament.
David’s
offer of grace reflects God’s heart
It was during a peaceful time in King David’s reign
when he started to look back on his past.
He remembers promises he made to King Saul (1 Samuel 20:42) and his son
Jonathan (1 Samuel 24:21-22). He had
promised that not to destroy Saul’s descendants and that there would remain a
bond of kindness between Jonathan’s people and his own. In that culture when a dynasty changes the
new king might have wiped out the whole family of the old king in case one of
the old king’s family made a claim for the throne.
In light of these promises David asks, ‘Is there
anyone left in the house of Saul, that I may show kindness for Jonathan’s
sake?’ Apparently the word translated kindness can also be rendered
‘grace’. ‘Is there anyone … that I might
show grace for Jonathan’s sake?’ Grace
is a demonstration of love that is unearned, undeserved and unrepayable. King David longs to show grace!
When a servant of Saul, called Ziba, is brought to
David, the king puts the question to him in a slightly different way. ‘Is there not still someone in the house of
Saul, that I might show the kindness of God to him?’ At that moment in time David wants to act in
a manner that reflects the heart of the God he loves.
In one of the Psalms, David explains that, ‘The Lord
is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and steadfast in love … he does not
deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our
iniquities. For as high as the heavens
are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love towards those who fear him
… as a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion to
those who fear him.’
Grace
enables us to move from fear to faith
Ziba tells David about a son of Jonathan who is
crippled in both feet.
Now there is backstory here. In the panic that had followed the death of
Saul and Jonathan—as they fought the Philistines—a tragedy befell one of
Jonathan’s children. ‘Jonathan, the son
of Saul, has a son who was crippled in both feet. He was five years old when the news about
Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel, and his nurse took him and fled, and as
she fled in her haste, he fell and became lame.
And his name was Mephibosheth’ (4:4).
The nurse was running, presumably because she feared that a new king
would want to kill the family of the old.
Now, Mephibosheth is an adult with a family of his
own. He is not looking for King
David. In fact he has kept his existence
hidden from the king. It is the king who
is seeking him, in order to bless him. I
am reminded of words from Isaiah where God declares that, ‘I revealed myself to
those who did not ask for me, I was found by those who did not seek me’
(65:1a). God truly is the hound of
heaven who seeks to pour his love on people.
The last thing Mephibosheth wants is a lock on the
door saying, ‘the king wants to see you.’
He would have assumed that this was a summons to his death. When he arrives before David he falls at his
feet and pays homage. He cries out,
‘Behold, I am your servant’ (6).
Imagine the relief as David replies, ‘Do not fear,
for I will show kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan, and I will
restore to you all the land of Saul your father, and you will eat at my table
always’ (8). Mephibosheth may have
expected a sword to fall on his head.
Instead he hears words of amazing kindness. He is moved from a place of fear to a place
of favour.
The one who is called ‘Son of David’, King Jesus,
says to those who draw close to him, ‘Do not fear!’ In fact that apostle John writes, ‘perfect
love casts out fear because fear has to do with punishment’ (1 John 4:18). Those who have fallen on their face in
submission to him have nothing to be frightened of. He has taken our punishment and is determined
to show kindness to us.
Conclusion
On Monday morning, when I sat down to work on this
text, I asked myself, ‘how does this story help us think about what Jesus has
done for us?’ I came up with three
suggestions (you may be able to come up with a few more).
Firstly, this story reminds us of our
inability. You see, to be crippled in
that culture rendered you helpless.
Mephibosheth came helplessly to the king. Similarly, we are brought to God dead in
transgressions and sin (Ephesians 2:1).
We were running from God. Christ
came running to us. We could not
purchase God’s favour. All we can offer
are self-righteous deeds that are stained like filthy rags. Christ lived and died to clothe us in
righteousness.
Secondly, this story reminds us that we have been
shown kindness for the sake of another.
David wanted to show kindness for the sake of Jonathan. Similarly, God shows kindness to us for the
sake of Jesus. God the Father, out of
love for his Son, and because of the penalty his Son paid for our guilt,
delights to show infinite kindness to us.
Finally, we have been given a place of
privilege. David says, ‘I will restore
to you all the land of Saul your father’ (7).
I love the ‘restore’. In our sin
we have forfeited what we were designed to be.
We were hiding from God and had no real purpose in life. Our world had become small—rotating upon the
axis of self. However, God restores us
to a life that is full of purpose and pleasure as we live in a large
hearted-world that rotates upon the axis of divine love.
‘Mephibosheth ate at David’s table, like one of the
king’s sons’ (11c). God goes further
with us. We are not seated at the king’s
table ‘like’ one of the king’s sons, but actually as one of his sons. ‘God sent forth his Son, to redeem us, that
we might receive adoption as sons’ (Galatians 4:5).
God has shown us infinitely more grace that David
poured out upon Mephibosheth. Like him
we should be amazed. ‘What is your
servant, that you should show regard for a dead dog such as I?’ (8).
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