Finding Grace: 2 Samuel 9:1-8
God desires to elevate us and give us an inheritance because of who we are in Christ. We are saved because of who God is, not because of who we are. God calls us into relationship because of what Jesus did for us, not because we deserve it.
David wants to honor Saul’s household. Anyone other than David would have let Saul’s household fall into disrepair, considering how much Saul unrighteously persecuted him. David, however, respected Saul solely because God called him to be king. David wants to honor Saul’s household because Saul’s was the first household to have a king of the land. I’m sure it didn’t displease David to know he was remembering Jonathan, but this is not a story about David lifting Jonathan’s house. This is a story of David elevating Saul’s house.
It is interesting, however, that David had a means of remembering Saul’s household in his own family. David could have honored Saul by being a good husband to his wife Michal. He could have produced offspring with her, although such a solution wouldn’t have settled the question regarding the inheritance of the land. Because David’s dancing caused a rift in his relationship with Michal which never got stitched back together, the heir never came. David looks elsewhere in Saul’s family.
As David searches, he finds Ziba, who managed Saul’s estate. Ziba tells him Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth remained alive and living in the house of Machir. Imagine how David’s heart swelled at realizing his desire to elevate Saul’s house would also elevate Jonathan’s household!
The fact that Mephibosheth is living with one person while Ziba manages Saul’s estate shows how much Mephibosheth was handicapped in life. His crippling legs caused him to be dependent upon other people to get through his daily routine. He was accustomed to seeing himself as a person with little value. Instead of being a provider, he was a drain on a family’s resources.
When Mephibosheth comes to David, David talks to him about how he wants to restore Saul’s land to him. David makes sure Mephibosheth knows this is about his inheritance from Saul and not because he is having pity on a cripple. This is an issue of righteousness, not hospitality.
Mephibosheth, however, has difficulty seeing David’s point. Mephibosheth calls himself a dead dog. He does not see himself as a valuable part of Saul’s lineage. Mephibosheth sees himself as something to be buried away and discarded.
This is a great snapshot of how God comes to us. He loves us not because our sinfulness cripples us into uselessness. God’s love for us is not pity. God grants us His love because of our place in His family made possible through Christ. Compared to God, we are dead dogs. Yet God desires to elevate us and give us an inheritance because of who we are in Christ.
