Bible Tuesday - David Part 24

When David had gone a short distance beyond the summit, there was Ziba, the steward of Mephibosheth, waiting to meet him. He had a string of donkeys saddled and loaded with two hundred loaves of bread, a hundred cakes of raisins, a hundred cakes of figs and a skin of wine.
The king asked Ziba, “Why have you brought these?”
Ziba answered, “The donkeys are for the king’s household to ride on, the bread and fruit are for the men to eat, and the wine is to refresh those who become exhausted in the wilderness.”
The king then asked, “Where is your master’s grandson?”
Ziba said to him, “He is staying in Jerusalem, because he thinks, ‘Today the Israelites will restore to me my grandfather’s kingdom.’”
Then the king said to Ziba, “All that belonged to Mephibosheth is now yours.”
2 Samuel 16:1-4

Remember Mephibosheth?

David asked, “Is there anyone still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?”  Now there was a servant of Saul’s household named Ziba. They summoned him to appear before David, and the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?”
“At your service,” he replied. The king asked, “Is there no one still alive from the house of Saul to whom I can show God’s kindness?”  Ziba answered the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan; he is lame in both feet.”  “Where is he?” the king asked.
Ziba answered, “He is at the house of Makir son of Ammiel in Lo Debar.”  So King David had him brought from Lo Debar, from the house of Makir son of Ammiel.  When Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, he bowed down to pay him honor.  David said, “Mephibosheth!”  “At your service,” he replied.  “Don’t be afraid,” David said to him, “for I will surely show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will restore to you all the land that belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will always eat at my table.”   Mephibosheth bowed down and said, “What is your servant, that you should notice a dead dog like me?”   Then the king summoned Ziba, Saul’s steward, and said to him, “I have given your master’s grandson everything that belonged to Saul and his family. You and your sons and your servants are to farm the land for him and bring in the crops, so that your master’s grandson may be provided for. And Mephibosheth, grandson of your master, will always eat at my table.” (Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.)  Then Ziba said to the king, “Your servant will do whatever my lord the king commands his servant to do.” So Mephibosheth ate at David’s table like one of the king’s sons. Mephibosheth had a young son named Mika, and all the members of Ziba’s household were servants of Mephibosheth. And Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, because he always ate at the king’s table; he was lame in both feet.
2 Samuel 9: 1-13

I know this is a long passage...but it's important.  Mephibosheth was King Saul's grandson.  He was handicapped.  When Saul and his father Johnathan died, he had nothing.  King David honored him as way to honor his covenant with Jonathan.  At the time, Mephibosheth was humbled by that honor.

But things change.  And when David showed a sign of weakness by being outwitted by his son Absalom, well Mephibosheth thought it might be his turn to rule and reign. 

Can you identify at all with David here?  He has been betrayed by his son and by people he has been VERY good to.  He is really having a very bad time of it.  David wrote two Psalms during this period.  Look how he responds to these betrayals.

Lord, how many are my foes!
How many rise up against me!
 Many are saying of me,
“God will not deliver him.”

 But you, Lord, are a shield around me,
my glory, the One who lifts my head high.

Psalm 3:1-3

 

 

You, God, are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
I thirst for you,
my whole being longs for you,
in a dry and parched land
where there is no water

I have seen you in the sanctuary
and beheld your power and your glory.
Because your love is better than life,
my lips will glorify you.
I will praise you as long as I live,
and in your name I will lift up my hands.
I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods;
with singing lips my mouth will praise you.

On my bed I remember you;
I think of you through the watches of the night.
Because you are my help,
I sing in the shadow of your wings.
I cling to you;
your right hand upholds me.

Those who want to kill me will be destroyed;
they will go down to the depths of the earth.
They will be given over to the sword
and become food for jackals.

 But the king will rejoice in God;
all who swear by God will glory in him,
while the mouths of liars will be silenced.

Psalm 63

 

Look at where David's focus is.  He has been driven out of his palace.  His life is in grave danger.  And David knows that God has not forsaken him.  His focus is not on his situation.  It's on the God who can rescue and save and protect.