Mephibosheth (1)

[My brother recently experienced a debilitating stroke that totally, as he said, “shrank” his world. Unable to drive, unable to walk, unable to manage the most basic of human functions, he was forced to depend on assistance for nearly everything. He has since recovered almost all his functioning, but while he was experiencing his debilitation, he asked me who in Scripture had experienced such a thing, such a radical shift in his life experience. I thought of Mephibosheth.]

The death of a king leads to all kinds of efforts to fill in the power gap left by his death. In the case of Saul’s death at the hands of the Philistines, and his son’s death, Jonathan, who was the heir-apparent to the throne, Abner, the commander of Saul’s army, took the opportunity to put forward another son of Saul, Ish-bosheth, as king (2 Samuel 2:8,9). Most of the tribes of Israel accepted him as king. But David’s tribe, Judah, declared David king, at least over their tribe.

There had been some understanding among the people that Yahweh wanted David to be king after Saul. Yahweh had rejected Saul’s kingship because Saul had been disobedient to Yahweh and Yahweh’s representative, Samuel (1 Samuel 13-15). Yahweh had directed Samuel to anoint David king while Saul was still reigning (1 Samuel 16). Even Abner seems to understand this preference by God for David’s kingship. When he got angry with Ish-bosheth and deserted him to go over to David, he said:

⁹ “May God deal with Abner, be it ever so severely, if I do not do for David what Yahweh promised him on oath ¹⁰ and transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul and establish David’s throne over Israel and Judah from Dan to Beersheba.” (2 Samuel 3:9,10)

Abner lobbied for David’s kingship with the other tribes before being killed by David’s commander, Joab, in vengeance for Abner slaying Joab’s brother (2 Samuel 2:8-32; 3:22-39). Some of Ish-bosheth’s own leaders assassinated him (2 Samuel 4), setting the stage for all the tribes of Israel to make David their king, the tribes themselves acknowledging,

Yahweh said to you, “You will shepherd my people Israel, and you will become their ruler.” (2 Samuel 5:2)

It was common for a king to kill off all his rivals, which in this case would be all the sons of Saul. But David did not see his kingship as protected by his own efforts, but by God. And, in fact, David had made a covenant with Saul’s son, Jonathan, that he would not harm Jonathan’s family when he came to power. David covenanted to do good to Jonathan’s household, and he made good on that promise when he came to power.

David inquired of Ziba, former steward to king Saul and part of David’s court now, about Jonathan’s family (2 Samuel 9) and discovered a son of Jonathan was still alive, Mephibosheth, a young man who had become lame when dropped as a five year old by his nurse trying to flee those who killed Ish-bosheth, the young man’s uncle (2 Samuel 4:4). Mephibosheth was now old enough to have married and borne a son (2 Samuel 9:12). He had been hosted by a man named Makir, a man of means with loyalty to the house of Saul and who thus helped Mephibosheth.

David had Mephibosheth appear before him. As he comes into David’s presence he bows down “to pay [David] honor.” When David calls out Mephibosheth’s name, Mephibosheth responds, “At your service.” David senses his fear. After all, he, though lame, is still of the house of Saul and thus a potential rival for David’s kingship. Rivals are often disposed of by those in power. But David tells him, “Do not be afraid!” It is David’s intention to show kindness to Mephibosheth for his father Jonathan’s sake.

David decrees that the land which historically belonged to Saul, Mephibosheth’s grandfather, will be returned to Mephibosheth. This land will provide harvested crops to feed and support Mephibosheth’s household. And beyond that, Mephibosheth will become part of David’s court, sitting at table with him for the rest of his life. David gives him Ziba, along with Ziba’s 15 sons and 20 servants, to serve Mephibosheth, to work his land and make it productive. They will work this land, wherever it was, while Mephibosheth lives in Jerusalem with David. His life had greatly changed.

Mephibosheth had been born into privilege, the grandson of the king of Israel, whose father Jonathan was a mighty warrior in his father’s army and a devoted friend of the great David, son of Jesse. But his life took a turn for the worse when his father and grandfather were slain in battle and his uncle’s attempt to rule in Saul’s place was met with assassination by his own people. Mephibosheth’s injuries sustained while trying to flee his uncle’s assassins further changed his life, making him dependent on others to move about or to make a living. He was fortunate to come under the protection of a wealthy family loyal to his family, but this may have been a challenge to his manhood, since he could not fend for himself. He then came under the protection of King David, another great blessing, but at the same time a potential humiliation.

Was all this God’s provision for him? Undoubtedly. How did he wrestle with this? Did he see the hand of God in all that occurred to him? Could he see his own dignity? Could he confidently raise and teach his own son about life and manhood? Did he win over a wife or was that all arranged for him? Once married did he gain her respect? Could he keep his son’s respect, the respect of his family and friends? Did King David respect him or was David merely honoring a promise to Mephibosheth’s father, David’s friend Jonathan?

If God was taking care of Mephibosheth, could He not have prevented the accident from happening? Of course He could, but He didn’t. It was good for Mephibosheth to experience this. It was something God would use in Mephibosheth’s life as well as the life of others.