Some people seek to defend or expand their position. David saw that his position as king gave him the opportunity to show kindness to others. He remembered his covenant with Jonathan and wanted to show kindness to his enemy. Learning the fate of Mephibosheth, David sent for him.

We should consider Mephibosheth’s situation. When Saul and Jonathan died, five-year-old Mephibosheth’s life was turned upside down as he fled in terror, leaving him permanently disabled (4:4). He had spent his life hiding in the small town of Lo Debar. Now David, whose conflict with Saul’s family left them devastated, was calling on Mephibosheth. How hard it must have been to leave Lo Debar, the place of comfortable despair.

But David greeted him, calling him by name, and told him, “Don’t be afraid!” David restored this crippled man, blessed him beyond his dreams, and kept him close to him the rest of his life. At all David’s banquets, every day, there was crippled Mephibosheth, receiving David’s kindness, and not for anything Mephibosheth did or would do in the future; simply because of David’s covenant and faithfulness to his dead father Jonathan. So too in Jesus does God welcome and bless us.
Application: Father, you have shown such kindness to me in Jesus. Grant me faith to leave my Lo Debar and join you at your table of blessing in the church.
One Word: God’s kindness leads us to repentance