The Good Eye – King David and Mephibosheth
The Good Eye – King David and Mephibosheth.
“The David story anticipates the Jesus story. The Jesus story presupposes the David story… The David story is a gospel story. It’s a story that gets completed in the Jesus story.” (Eugene Peterson, Leap Over A Wall).
DAVID was totally unique in Scripture. Raised a shepherd boy, the youngest of eight sons, the one everyone seemed to overlook, he became a renowned musician, a legendary poet, a fierce warrior, and the most beloved King in the history of Israel. He was a faithful worshiper of Yahweh, and, the highest accolade one could receive, he was “a man after God’s own heart.” (1 Samuel 13:14). Was he a prophet? Yes. His psalms prove that, and St. Peter called him a prophet in his first sermon after Pentecost (Acts 2:30). Was he a priest? Well, he led worship and offered sacrifices when the ark was brought to Jerusalem, wearing a priestly garment at the time. Was he a king? Unquestionably, the greatest king of Israel. David’s life certainly hinted at his distant relative, the Messiah Jesus, who was the ultimate Prophet, Priest and King.
Soon after David established his kingdom, he asked a question that would delight his descendant Jesus… “Is there anyone in Saul’s family around here, so that I can show him mercy for Jonathan’s sake?” (2 Samuel 9:1). David was eager to show kindness to the family of someone who was once his enemy! David and Jonathan had long ago promised a covenant of loyal love to each other, a promise that would extend to their descendants. Jonathan was David’s dearest friend in the world, his bosom buddy, and David wasted no time to show some of that loyal love to any descendant of Saul. It turned out that a disabled outcast, an exile, was actually a son of Jonathan. David’s quest was rewarded by locating this son of Jonathon who went by the name of Mephibosheth. This man was lame in both feet because of an accident when he was five years old in which his ankles never healed properly. David’s generous, unexpected love was unbounded. His integrity in honoring his promise to Jonathon was straight from the heart of God. Rather than clean house and ridding himself of anyone connected to his arch enemy Saul, David turned the tables and embraced Mephibosheth as one of his own. David restored to him all the lands of his grandfather Saul, and David assigned a worthy servant to manage the estate, assuring the farmland of providing support. David enabled Mephibosheth to thrive at a time when he was floundering without any means of support for a living. Then, David treated him like a prince, including him at the king’s table for all his meals, providing his daily bread. This event in David’s life was the gospel story in miniature, good news for the broken and rejected and undeserving. And Jesus expects us to be like David here. Through the Holy Spirit, Jesus has poured love into our hearts to enable us to wake up each morning and ask David’s question, “Is there anyone around to whom I can show kindness for Jesus’ sake? Like David, we can keep our eyes peeled for anyone who needs the generous love of Christ. The Spirit of Christ earnestly wants to develop in each of the good eye of God’s mercy.