The life of David is a life of contrasts.  He is perhaps the most famous penitent in the Bible – remember Nathan’s confrontation and David’s response in Psalm 51? – but he is also Old Testament Israel’s greatest king.  God makes an enduring covenant with David, promising him a son to sit on the throne forever, and yet David spends much of the second half of his life fleeing because his life is threatened by his own children.

The book of 2 Samuel portrays these high and lows vividly.  If you were to trace the life of David from 2 Samuel 1-10 it would be a steady upward trajectory.  Things get better and better, with David seeming to achieve ever greater heights of success and blessing as the chapters progress.  The turning point, of course, is 2 Samuel 11, when David sins with Bathsheba. From that point on, his trajectory goes steadily downward.  David faces greater persecution, failure, and judgment. The author’s point couldn’t be clearer: David’s sin with Bathsheba is the turning point of his life.  While God protects him, the consequences of his sin spread and grow.

But if we turn our attention to the moment just before David’s great sin, we see one of his greatest triumphs.  In 2 Samuel 9, David is coming off a series of military victories. But more than that, he has encountered God, and has just been promised an everlasting descendant and an eternal covenant (2 Sam 7).    

As a result of the grace that David has been shown, he decides to become a dispenser of grace himself.  In 2 Samuel 9, he asks, “Is there anyone left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?” (2 Sam 9:1b).  Later, he restates the question, asking, “Is there not still someone of the house of Saul, that I may show the kindness of God to him?” (2 Sam 9:3b).  God had shown covenant kindness to David, and so had Jonathan.  David’s desire was to show that same covenant kindness to someone from the household of his enemy, Saul.

In response to this request, David is told of a man named Mephibosheth, who is crippled in both his feet (2 Sam 9:3).  This helpless descendant of Saul is given all of Saul’s land, which was now rightfully David’s. In addition, he is welcomed into David’s household, and he even ate at David’s table, as one of the sons of the king (2 Sam 9:11).

What can we learn from this great moment in David’s life, before his descent into sin with Bathsheba?  First, we can see in it a wonderful example of grace-fueled love toward others. David knew that he had been shown great covenant kindness – by God and by Jonathan – and he could do no less than show that love to others.  Is this how you see the grace of God in your life? Is this how it compels you to serve and to love?

More than the example of David, though, this chapter shows us something of the love of God for us.  We were helpless and lame. By birth, we were God’s enemies. But God, out of His immense and deep covenant love, made us sons of the King, sitting at his table, co-heirs of the eternal inheritance of Jesus Christ.  

– Written by Jonathan Master