“David asked, “‘Is there anyone still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?”
– 2 Samuel 9:1
Hi James and Ellen,
Do you do kindness? What does it mean to you to do kindness? What does it mean to you to receive kindness? Do you make friends? What does it mean to you to do make friends? What does it mean to you to be another kid’s friend? Kindness is when a guy, gal or kid takes the initiative to do something supportive for another guy, gal or kid without any kind of nefarious thought having driven him or her to do whatever it was that he or she did. A friend is a guy, gal or kid who will without a hint of thought of being reciprocated do whatever it is that he or she can do to empathetically come alongside another guy, gal or kid. David modeled kindness. David’s spirit of kindness was driven by a friendship relationship that was initiated by Jonathan. Jonathan was Saul’s oldest kid. Jonathan did not stop being David’s loyal friend even after David became more popular than his dad within his people group of guys and gals which was the Israelite people group nation of guys and gals or God’s specially chosen guys and gals. Fast forward to years later – after Samual recounted the short period of uncertainty after Jonathan and his dad died in the same battle while fighting a Philistine people group armed force and after he scribed about how David had settled into the role of being the rightfully positioned king over the Israelite people group guys and gals, Samuel detailed a series of historical narratives that are known as the ‘Court History of David’. 2 Samuel 9 is the first of these stories. The personal intimacy that is implicated in these David specific accounts along with the preciseness of the details that are mentioned in these true anecdotes communicate that Samuel had to have been an eyewitness to what took place. Samuel’s visual remembering of what happened during a specific moment of time is considered to be one of the finest examples ever produced by anyone in the ancient world of an unfolding saga. Your grandpaa believes that Samuel had an ongoing, very influential role in David’s life in David’s initial years as king over God’s specially chosen guys and gals – the Israelite people group guys and gals.
Samuel uses a question that David asked to set up how David exemplified kindness. Verse 1 is the question that Samuel quotes David asking, “David asked, “‘Is there anyone still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?”’ David’s request was specific. Whoever he or she was who he would help if . . . had to be from Jonathan’s extended family versus being from Saul’s extended family. David knew that Saul had living survivors living among the Israelite people group guys and gals but . . . David really wanted to honor the unbridled friendship that Jonathan had demonstrated over and over to him – even when Jonathan’s dad was spending all of his time looking for David to kill him. David’s question led to his palace minions finding Ziba. Ziba who was one of Saul’s old servants. After David told Ziba that he wanted to show kindness to someone from Jonathan’s extended family, Ziba told David that one of Jonathan’s kids – Mephibosheth, was still alive – but that the kid’s feet had been badly crippled when he was five years old. After David asked Ziba where Mephibosheth was living, Ziba told David that Mephibosheth could be found in Lo Debar – in the of house of Makir. David sent some guys to Lo Debar to get Mephibosheth. When Mephibosheth arrived at David’s palace, Mephibosheth asked David why David would want to have anything to do with a ‘dead dog’ like him. Have you ever felt like you were a ‘dead dog’? By Mephibosheth calling himself a ‘dead dog’, Mephibosheth was doing deep self-abasement. Even though by this time Mephibosheth had a kid – whose name was Mica, Mephibosheth did not think of himself as being important to anyone – let alone to Israel’s king. Because of his dad’s deliberate kindness towards David when being David’s friend meant Jonathan possibly becoming alienated from his dad, Mephibosheth along with Ziba – who had been Saul’s servant, and Ziba’s 15 sons and 20 servants, would reap the rewards of the friendship that Jonathan had built with David. Mephibosheth would always get to eat at David’s table while Ziba and his family would always live on Saul’s property to farm.
When your grandpaa hears a guy, gal or kid say that he or she has been kind to another guy, gal or kid, your grandpaa thinks that he or she is simply bragging. When your grandpaa hears a guy, gal or kid say that another guy, gal or kid deliberately demonstrated a kindness to him or her, your grandpaa knows that the guy, gal or kid has been the beneficiary of a kind act of friendship from another guy, gal or kid. Family members, friends, acquaintances and churches since about 1977 have been giving money gifts to your grandmaa and grandpaa to help with the facilitating of the ministry efforts of your grandmaa and grandpaa during their missionary tenure. Your grandpaa has never tried to calculate the average amount of support that he and your grandmaa receive in a year but if the average amount is around $40,000, this means that your grandmaa and grandpaa have received well over a million dollars in money gifts over the past 33 years. Your grandpaa believes that the majority of the money gifts that he and your grandmaa have received over the years were donations that had absolutely no strings attached to them by who gave the gifts or where the gifts came from. Your grandpaa thinks that God is rewarding and will reward every gift that is donated candidly and every friendship initiated unconditionally. Do not ever hesitate in giving to and in befriending others.
2 Samuel 9 (1076)