Commentary - 2 Samuel 9:1-13

Bird's-eye view

In 2 Samuel 9, David, now secure upon his throne, turns his attention from consolidating his kingdom through war to establishing his kingdom in righteousness. But this is not the world's righteousness, which would have involved exterminating any potential rivals from the previous dynasty. Instead, David actively seeks out an opportunity to display covenant faithfulness. He does this for the sake of his beloved friend Jonathan, with whom he had sworn an oath. This leads him to Mephibosheth, the lame son of Jonathan, who is living in obscurity and fear. The chapter unfolds as a beautiful, living parable of God's grace. David seeks the unworthy, brings him out of a barren land, quiets his fears, restores his inheritance, and grants him a permanent place of honor and fellowship at the royal table. This entire account is a magnificent type, a shadow, of the grace that our King, the Lord Jesus, shows to us.

We, like Mephibosheth, are members of a rival house, the house of Adam. We are spiritually crippled, unable to approach the King on our own merit. We are hiding in our own Lo-debar, a place of no pasture. But the King, for the sake of another, for the sake of His beloved Son, has sought us out, called us by name, restored to us an inheritance we did not earn, and seated us at His table as sons. This is the gospel in narrative form.

Outline

Context In 2 Samuel

This chapter is strategically placed. It comes directly after chapter 8, which summarizes David's military victories and the establishment of his kingdom's security. A worldly king, having subdued all his external enemies, would then turn to eliminating internal threats. The most obvious threat would be any surviving male from the previous royal line. But David is a king after God's own heart, and so his next move is not one of paranoid self-preservation, but rather one of covenant-keeping grace. This chapter serves to define the character of David's kingdom. It is a kingdom founded not on brute force, but on hesed, on covenantal love and faithfulness. This episode stands in stark contrast to the tragic events that will soon unfold, beginning in chapter 11 with David's sin with Bathsheba. This chapter shows us the ideal of David's kingship, the righteous standard from which he will fall, and it provides a glorious picture of the kingdom of his greater Son, Jesus.

Key Issues

Beginning: The Lovingkindness of God

The central engine of this entire narrative is found in David's explicit desire to "show the lovingkindness of God" (v. 3). The Hebrew word here is hesed. It is crucial to understand that this is not simply a feeling of niceness or a random act of benevolence. Hesed is a covenant word. It means loyalty, steadfast love, mercy that is promised, faithfulness that is sworn in an oath. David is not acting out of sentimentality for his long-dead friend Jonathan. He is acting out of fidelity to a covenant he made before God (1 Sam. 20:14-17).

And notice, he calls it the lovingkindness of God. David understands that when he keeps his covenant promises, he is reflecting the very character of Yahweh, the great covenant-keeping God. God's own hesed is the pattern for our own. David's actions are therefore a participation in and a demonstration of God's own character. This is why the story is such a powerful illustration of the gospel. The grace shown to Mephibosheth is not David's invention; it is a copy, a type, of the grace of God that is shown to us for the sake of the covenant mediator, Jesus Christ.

A Grace That Seeks

The first thing to notice about this grace is that it is an active, seeking, pursuing grace. David initiates the entire affair. "Is there yet anyone left of the house of Saul?" (v. 1). Mephibosheth is not petitioning the throne for a handout. He is in hiding, in a place called Lo-debar, which means "no pasture" or "no word." He is in a barren and forgotten place, content to remain unknown, likely for fear of his life. He is not seeking David; David is seeking him.

This is a perfect illustration of God's grace toward us. The Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost. We were not looking for God. We were, Scripture says, hiding from Him, enemies in our minds, spiritually crippled and content in our own land of no pasture. But the King initiated. He sent His servants, the prophets, and ultimately His own Son, to find us. When David learns where Mephibosheth is, he doesn't send an invitation. He sends an escort. "Then King David sent and took him" (v. 5). This is the effectual call of the gospel. God does not just invite; He sovereignly brings us out of our Lo-debar and into His presence.

The Dead Dog at the King's Table

When Mephibosheth arrives, his posture is one of abject terror. He "fell on his face and prostrated himself" (v. 6). He knows the rules of the game. As a grandson of Saul, the former king, he should be executed. David's first words to him are the first words of the gospel: "Do not fear" (v. 7). David's grace is not only a seeking grace, but a calming grace.

Mephibosheth's assessment of himself is stark. "What is your servant, that you should regard a dead dog like me?" (v. 8). This is not false humility. In the economy of the world, he is less than nothing. A dog was an unclean animal, and a dead dog was the most worthless thing imaginable. This is precisely our condition before the holy King of heaven. We are spiritually dead, unclean, and have no merit whatsoever to commend ourselves to Him. We bring nothing to the table but our sin, our lameness, and our unworthiness. Mephibosheth's honest self-appraisal is the necessary precursor to receiving grace. You cannot receive a gift if your hands are full of your own imagined merits. He understood his position, which is why the grace he received was so astounding to him.

Restoration and Adoption

The grace David shows is not a mere pardon. It is a complete reversal of Mephibosheth's condition. First, David restores his inheritance. "I will restore to you all the land of your grandfather Saul" (v. 7). This is justification. Everything that was lost under the headship of Saul (a picture of Adam) is restored. Second, and even more gloriously, David brings him into intimate fellowship. "You shall eat at my table continually" (v. 7). This is not a one-time state dinner. This is a permanent position of honor and communion.

The text makes the meaning of this explicit. "So Mephibosheth ate at David's table as one of the king's sons" (v. 11). This is the doctrine of adoption. The one who was an enemy, a dead dog, is now treated as a son. He is brought into the royal family. This is what God does for us in Christ. He not only forgives our sins and declares us righteous, but He adopts us as sons, gives us a permanent place at His table, and calls us His own children. The final verse reminds us of the ground of this grace. "Now he was lame in both feet" (v. 13). His lameness did not go away. He sat at the king's table as a lame man. His unworthiness was a constant backdrop to the glory of the king's grace. So it is with us. We are brought into God's family, but we remain creatures who were once broken, a constant reminder that our position is due to His grace alone.

Key Words

Hesed, "Lovingkindness"

Hesed is one of the most important words in the Old Testament. It cannot be translated with a single English word. It denotes a steadfast, loyal, covenantal love. It is a love that is promised and therefore dependable. When David seeks to show hesed, he is keeping a promise he made to Jonathan. When God shows us hesed, He is being faithful to the covenant He established in the blood of His Son. It is a love that is undeserved by the recipient but is faithful to the promise of the giver.

Lo-debar, "No Pasture"

The name of the town where Mephibosheth was found is significant. Lo-debar means "no word" or "no pasture." It is a picture of spiritual barrenness, obscurity, and futility. It is the far country where lost sons end up. Grace does not wait for us to make our way out of such a place. Grace comes into our Lo-debar, finds us there, and brings us to the king's palace in Jerusalem.

Dead Dog

This was a term of extreme contempt in the ancient world. It represented something that was not only worthless but also unclean and detestable. For Mephibosheth to call himself a dead dog was to acknowledge his absolute lack of any claim on the king's favor. It is the language of a broken and contrite heart, which God will not despise. It is the recognition of our true state apart from grace that opens the door to receiving that grace.

Context: Royal Succession in the Ancient Near East

To fully appreciate the radical nature of David's actions, we must understand the standard political practice of his day. When a new dynasty took power, it was customary for the new king to systematically hunt down and execute every male heir of the previous king. This was seen as a prudent, necessary measure to prevent future rebellions and secure the throne for one's own descendants. This is what Baasha did to the house of Jeroboam (1 Kings 15:29) and what Jehu did to the house of Ahab (2 Kings 10:11).

David's behavior is the polar opposite. Instead of hunting Mephibosheth down to kill him, he hunts him down to show him kindness. This demonstrates that David's kingdom operates on a different principle. It is not governed by the paranoid, self-serving pragmatism of the world, but by the covenant-keeping faithfulness of God. David is establishing a kingdom of grace, a faint shadow of the true kingdom of grace that his greater Son would one day inaugurate.

Application

The application of this story is as profound as it is simple. You are Mephibosheth. By birth, you are of the house of the usurper, Adam. By nature, you are spiritually crippled, unable to walk in the ways of God. You are hiding in Lo-debar, a place of spiritual famine, and you are rightly fearful of judgment from the true King. You have nothing to offer, nothing to commend yourself. You are, in your own standing, a dead dog.

But the good news is that the King, the Lord Jesus, has sought you out. He has done so not because of anything in you, but for the sake of another, His beloved Son, our true Jonathan, with whom the Father has a covenant of grace. The King has sent for you. He has spoken peace to your fearful heart. He has restored to you an inheritance in the heavens that you could never earn. And He has seated you at His table, not as a guest, but as a son, forever. Your lameness, the remnant of your fallen nature, is not hidden, but it is covered by the tablecloth of His grace. It serves as a constant reminder, not of your shame, but of the magnificent, unmerited, and covenantal love of the King.