David:God's own heart Chapter 1: Mephishobeth

Our topics will cover these characters so we know him more and why God chose David as a man after His own heart.

Mepibosheth

Ishobeth

Abigail

Samuel

Saul

Goliath

Solomon

Bathsheba

Absalom

Jonathan

Rizpah

Michal

📷 dedi5un

 Dispeller of Shame 

This is David in the face of his enemies and this is why God loved him more than any King and set David as a man after God's own heart.

A king would not spare any more time in dealing with a crippled man yet this is not the case for David. David haunted Mephishobeth like he was hunting a dead dog on the outskirts of the House of Mackir, the son of Ammiel in Lo Debar. It is also interesting to know that Lo-debar means without posture or order; disorderly; no leader; not governed; rebellious; no shepherd; without pasture; no issue; barren; without speech; dumb; not the word or oracle; false; untrue. A city of Gilead to the east of the Jordan; it was the home of Machir the son of Ammiel. Yet David paid attention to this place and unearthed the impossible and most kept secret story of a lost disabled grandson prince named Mephishobeth. 

Mephishobeth childhood story is not all rosy and sunny. When his grandfather King Saul and father Prince Jonathan died in a bloody battle at Mount Gilboa, he was taken by his nurse and carried away from their Royal palace. The five-year-old boy who fled was accidentally thrown, permanently crippilng his feet. Because of this unfortunate event, the boy in his disfigured posture, unable to walk and disabled for life did not pose any threat when David took over the Kingship in Israel.

When it was time to meet the nightmare of his dreams, Mephishobeth bowed to King David. He humbled himself and even compared himself to a dead dog. His fears, curiosity, and feelings of inadequacy most likely left him trembling in front of the King of Israel. Yet David changed its destiny into a very different, strange, and unpopular act of treating the enemy, a direct heir to Israel's throne. 

David was already established King and there was no need to raise another trouble or find a burden to carry when He found Mephishobeth. The King should have passed a decree to kill the boy since it is an easy target with no need to raise an army or face a fierce battle. This is David capturing the direct heir of the enemy of his Throne, who would have killed instantly... Instead, David showed him the opposite. David uttered these words in 2 Samuel 9:7

Part 2. Dispeller of Shame

2 Samuel 9:7

 

7 “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.”

While many have expected David to kill the boy, the king did not. Although David was the archenemy of Mephishobeth royal bloodline, David remembered his father, Prince Jonathan. Jonathan's act of favor and kindness when David was still the harpist and a humble servant in King Saul's private quarters moved David's heart to bless the last descendant and only royal blood left alive. A memory of his best friend who also saved David's life from his Father King Saul's multiple attempts of murder.

Restoring is an unlikely and extravagant act to an enemy. But in this case, David did not think twice about giving back all the lands King Saul owned while he was still the King. Repeat that again "all". It's not partial not some parts to be distributed but as the bible shouts out loud: "David gave it all" All that belonged to your grandfather... David sets an example in the record of men who acknowledged Mephishobeth's royalty, his grandfather as king. To me, David sounds like a fool because honoring your enemy in front of Israel is really something that needs to be considered as political and a threat... 

But David is confident in showing God his heart that even in the face of its enemy, it can forgive and love them like there is no record of wrong, did not think twice, or set any conditions to be met for the disabled boy to qualify to eat at his table. David loved Mephishobeth so that all he asked was to join the king, to all the days of their life together, to eat and drink whether in joy and sadness, in abundance or lack. It doesn't matter. What David all knows is, that the king can love an enemy, restore back what the enemy lost and treat him as a family. Truly David made Mephishobeth's name real... He was David's dispeller of shame. It became the healing balm to end all forms of violence to his enemy while God sits on his Throne looking through one man smiling, hatred and shame are possible to expel.

Part 3. Dispeller of shame

I wish I could end it there but the book of 2 Samuel describes vividly that it did not end there as we hope a happy story has to be.

To David, a promise of helping another is always a promise. What can we learn here? God did not stop where Mephishobeth settled in the King's table and David achieved the dispeller of shame and brought peace to Israel. When the oppotunity strikes, David is away for a while, and the kingdom is left with no King. His absence made his kingdom vulnerable to reclaim Mephishobeth's position to take over.

Yet God is confident that the two shall be able to do the right things when this hard pass testing comes in between. The love and support that David had sown in kindness was about to be tested and handed over to the dead dog as explicitly in the bible mentioned by Mephoshibeth described himself in front of David.

David learned and he did not feel good about it. Instead of ordering for the head to be cut down, David maintained his stance and loving character towards his enemy. He summons the dispeller of shame presence instead and this Ziba his servant says:

2 Samuel 16:3

3 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.’ ”

Imagine how furious David would be. So much to say yet, David left himself a space to trust in God's hand knowing it's much easier to hate or kill an enemy than love them. Given the kingdom is almost being threatened to be torn apart in his absence, God did not stop or spare David this test. David being the champion of God's own heart exercised justice as a king divided Mephishobeth's lands but kept his promise to let him live, eat, and dine with the King and share the royal table even though a plot against David's rule was placed in test and damaged to the people of Israel was done.

David had to teach Mephishobeth the hard ways of loyalty and pure kindness that even though we can’t help who we are related to, we can make the choice not to follow in the bad decisions of our loved ones and take the stand to do what is right instead.

AC

#DavidandMephishosheth

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