God’s
Kindness
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[a] table like
one of the king’s sons.
2
Samuel 9:3-11
Boarding a
plane alone with her children, a young mom tried desperately to calm her
three-year-old daughter who began kicking and crying. Then her hungry
four-month-old son also began to wail.
A traveler
seated next to her quickly offered to hold the baby while Jessica got her
daughter buckled in. Then the traveler—recalling his own days as a young
dad—began coloring with the toddler while Jessica fed her infant. And on the
next connecting flight, the same man offered to assist again if needed.
Jessica recalled,
“I [was] blown away by God’s hand in this. [We] could have been placed next to
anyone, but we were seated next to one of the nicest men I have ever met.”
In 2 Samuel
9, we read of another example of what I call intentional kindness. After
King Saul and his son Jonathan had been killed, some expected David to kill off
any competition to his claim for the throne. Instead, he asked, “Is there no
one still alive from the house of Saul to whom I can show God’s kindness?” (v.
3). Mephibosheth, Jonathan’s son, was then brought to David who restored his
inheritance and warmly invited him to share his table from then on—just as if
he were his own son (v. 11).
As
beneficiaries of the immense kindness of God, may we look for opportunities to
show intentional kindness toward others (Galatians 6:10).
Who
can you show God’s kindness to? What specific act of kindness can you
demonstrate to someone who is hurting or discouraged?
Heavenly Father, I thank You for the
kindness You’ve shown me. Help me to lavish it on others.
Our Daily Bread – December 5, 2019