The kindness of Christ (2 Samuel 9)

We are looking at the life of David, but we are doing so to learn about Jesus.  David was Jesus’ ancestor, in fact Jesus is called the Son of David.  David lived a thousand years before Jesus was born in Bethlehem.  He was anointed as king over God’s people.  The word messiah or christ means anointed one.  So, when David acts like he should we are given a picture of what the Christ, Jesus, is like.  But when David acts wickedly, as we will see in a couple of chapters, we realise that we need a better christ than David.  We need Jesus Christ.

In this chapter we see David acting with extra-ordinary kindness.  His actions point ahead to the Son of David.  Jesus was a man of unique kindness.  In fact, the good news we call the gospel is rooted in God’s kindness.  As the Apostle Paul wrote to Titus, ‘But when the kindness and love of God our Saviour appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy’ (Titus 3:4-5a).

David’s kindness 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).  Saul was the previous king.  Jonathan, Saul’s son, had been David’s best friend.  Saul and Jonathan are both dead.  David had promised not to destroy Saul’s descendants and that there would remain a bond of kindness between Jonathan’s people and his own.  This was unusual because 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.  Any descendants of Saul might have expected David to treat them as an enemy.  In light of the promises David had made to Saul and Jonathan, he asks, ‘Is there anyone left in the house of Saul, that I may show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?’

The word translated ‘kindness’ is a very significant Old Testament word.  Khesed describes extraordinary acts of love meeting an extreme need, that are above and beyond what might be expected.  Khesed arises from affection and goodness.  Khesed is often used in the Old Testament of God and is translated in our Bible with words like ‘steadfast love.’

‘Is there anyone still left in the house of Saul to whom I can show khesed for Jonathan’s sake?’ (1).  David longs to show kindness. His kindness is a reflection the kindness he has experienced from God.  ‘Is there on one still alive from the household of Saul that I might show God’s khesed? (3).  Could the same be said of us?  Are we kind people?  Having experienced the kindness of God, does that same kindness flow out of us?    

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 khesed towards those who fear him … as a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion to those who fear him’ (Psalm 103:8-13).

God’s kindness moves from fear to faith

Ziba, who had been a servant in Saul’s household, 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 king.

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 is the hound of heaven who seeks to pour his love on people who are running away from him.

The last thing Mephibosheth wants is a knock on the door saying, ‘the king wants to see you.’  He has plenty of reasons to think that king David will have him killed.  He can’t fight and he can’t run.  It must have been terrifying to be taken to David.  His grandfather, Saul, had spent years trying to kill David.  What can he expect from David?  When he arrives before David he falls at David’s feet and cries out, ‘Behold, I am your servant’ (6).

Imagine the relief as David replies, ‘Do not fear, for I will show khesed 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).  As he lay there on the ground, 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!’  He wants us to understand his, ‘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 before the Son of David have nothing to be frightened of.  Jesus has taken the punishment for our guilt upon the cross and we are no longer condemned.

Conclusion

Let’s wrap up by reminding ourselves of how this story points to the good news we call the gospel.

Firstly, this story reminds us of our inability.  You see, to be crippled in that culture rendered you helpless.  Now days there are plenty of jobs that someone like Mephibosheth could do.  However, in that basic agricultural society a man like Miphiboseth was helpless.  He came helplessly to the king.  Similarly, we are brought before the Son of David helpless.  We can not purchase his kindness.  Even our righteous deeds are stained with selfish motives and are compared to worthless filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6).  We live in a world where everyone is trying to justify themselves.  When you tell them about what God considers to be right and wrong, they cry, ‘stop judging me.’  But we draw near to God by acknowledging that we are spiritual and moral ruins.  Stop trying to earn God’s acceptance but rejoice in his khesed.

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 his best friend Jonathan.  Similarly, God shows kindness to us for the sake of his son, Jesus.  It is out of love for his Son, the Son who has taken the punishment for our guilt, that the Father delights to lavish his love on us.

Finally, God delights in those he has restored.  ‘Mephibosheth ate at David’s table, like one of the king’s sons’ (11c).  Eating together was significant in the ancient world.  Jesus showed his acceptance of broken people by eating with them.  The early Christians did a lot of eating together.  It is good to eat together.  We will eat at the king’s table not just ‘like’ sons but actually as sons.  ‘God sent forth his Son, to redeem us, that we might receive adoption as sons’ (Galatians 4:5).

Mephibosheth was amazed by David’s khesed.  He had nothing to offer David.  He was the grandson of a man who hated David with all his might.  Now he asks, ‘What is your servant, that you should show regard for a dead dog such as I?’ (8).  Jesus has shown us infinitely more kindness than David did to Miphiboseth.  So we sing ‘Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.’