Looking for Someone to Bless: David, Mephibosheth, and the Grace of the King’s Table

Part Six of a series on the life of David — The Woodlands First Baptist Church

Have you ever noticed how some drivers will actually speed up in order to honk at someone? The person they are honking at would never have slowed them down, except that they accelerated just to deliver the honk.

Dr. Bruce Webb opened this message at The Woodlands First Baptist Church in The Woodlands, TX with that observation and a story from his own driveway, so to speak. His wife Nancy recently sent him a picture of a note someone had left on her car. The note was not handwritten; it was professionally printed. It read, “Nice job, smart person!” except it did not really say person, so you get the idea. Nancy’s car was parked slightly crooked, no doubt. However, the note was foul and mean, and somebody was actually carrying those notes around, just waiting for the opportunity to curse a stranger. Dr. Webb consoled his wife the only way he could: “Well, you can feel good, because you made someone’s day. They have obviously been wanting to do that, and you gave them their opportunity.”

The examples multiply quickly and grow far darker. Every time Dr. Webb talks with Viktor, the pastor of the church’s partnership congregation in Lviv, Ukraine, more missiles have fallen on Ukrainian citizens; Viktor’s own son-in-law was killed in that senseless war. On a much lighter but still telling note, when news broke that Harry and Meghan were returning to the UK, Dr. Webb winced, knowing social media would gleefully tear them apart, children included, and people would justify it. It is our sinful human nature to look for someone to curse rather than bless, and it is sad. Life is hard enough without people hunting for an excuse to hurt somebody.

So here is the question this message hangs on: what if, instead of looking for someone to curse, we looked for someone to bless? What if, instead of giving people what they deserve, we decided to give grace? That is exactly what King David does in 2 Samuel 9, in one of the most beautiful stories in the entire Old Testament.

A King Searching for Someone to Bless

Second Samuel 9 opens with David asking in verse 1: “Is there anyone still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?” The word translated kindness, Dr. Webb notes, should probably be translated grace.

The question is startling when you remember the history. Saul had spent years hunting David to kill him, and any surviving descendant of Saul represented a potential rallying point for overthrowing David’s throne. Ancient kings eliminated rival bloodlines as a matter of course. So why was David intentionally searching for one of Saul’s descendants to bless?

The Toll of a Violent Season

Dr. Webb offers a candid possibility: maybe the emotional toll of fighting and killing was doing David in. The whole of 2 Samuel 8 is a description of David at war, and there are horrible things in that chapter. After defeating the Moabites, David had them lie on the ground, measured them with a cord, and executed two lengths out of every three. He killed 22,000 Arameans and 18,000 Edomites, becoming famous to his people and infamous to his enemies.

Here is an honest tension worth naming: although Scripture says God gave David those victories, it never says God told him to kill so many people, or in the manner he killed the Moabites. In fact, according to 1 Chronicles 22:8–10, the bloodshed is one of the reasons God did not let David build the temple. As an old man, David recalled: “But this word of the Lord came to me: ‘You have shed much blood and have fought many wars. You are not to build a house for my Name, because you have shed much blood on the earth in my sight. But you will have a son who will be a man of peace and rest. He is the one who will build a house for my Name.’” God’s giving victory did not mean God approved of everything David did in winning it. Playing spiritual psychologist for a moment, Dr. Webb wonders whether a man after God’s own heart had simply grown tired of hurting people and was ready to bless someone, even someone considered an enemy.

Two Old Promises

What we know for certain is that David was acting on covenant. Jonathan, Saul’s son, had been David’s closest friend, swearing to protect him at his lowest moment. In 1 Samuel 20:14–17, Jonathan asked: “But show me unfailing kindness like the Lord’s kindness as long as I live, so that I may not be killed, and do not ever cut off your kindness from my family, not even when the Lord has cut off every one of David’s enemies from the face of the earth. So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, ‘May the Lord call David’s enemies to account.’ And Jonathan had David reaffirm his oath out of love for him, because he loved him as he loved himself.”

Remarkably, David swore the same to Saul himself. After David spared Saul’s life in the cave, Saul said in 1 Samuel 24:20–22: “I know that you will surely be king and that the kingdom of Israel will be established in your hands. Now swear to me by the Lord that you will not kill off my descendants or wipe out my name from my father’s family. So David gave his oath to Saul.” When David finally ascended to the throne and became powerful, he did not forget. He went looking for someone from that family to bless.

Who Was Mephibosheth?

The search unfolds in 2 Samuel 9:2–4: “Now there was a servant of Saul’s household named Ziba. They summoned him to appear before David, and the king said to him, ‘Are you Ziba?’ ‘At your service,’ he replied. The king asked, ‘Is there no one still alive from the house of Saul to whom I can show God’s kindness?’ Ziba answered the king, ‘There is still a son of Jonathan; he is lame in both feet.’ ‘Where is he?’ the king asked. Ziba answered, ‘He is at the house of Makir son of Ammiel in Lo Debar.’”

Lo Debar means “no pasture” or “no word,” suggesting a remote place of no significance, which is exactly where you would expect a descendant of Saul to be hiding. The detail about his feet deepens the tragedy. Second Samuel 4:4 tells us that when Mephibosheth was five years old, word came that his father Jonathan and grandfather Saul had been killed in battle. In a panic to save the boy from being murdered, his nurse scooped him up and fled, and in the process he was dropped, leaving him lame in both feet for life. Life had been hard for Mephibosheth from childhood: orphaned, disabled, dispossessed, and hiding in the middle of nowhere.

Grace at the King’s Table

Verses 5 through 7 continue: “So King David had him brought from Lo Debar, from the house of Makir son of Ammiel. When Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, he bowed down to pay him honor. David said, ‘Mephibosheth!’ ‘At your service,’ he replied. ‘Don’t be afraid,’ David said to him.”

It was far too late for that. As Dr. Webb put it, Mephibosheth was thinking: you can stick a fork in me, because I’m done. He knew David’s reputation from the perspective of David’s enemies, and he fully expected to die. History shows how reasonable that fear was. When Caesar Augustus defeated Cleopatra in Egypt, she took her own life because she knew what was coming; Caesar captured her children, marched them in chains through Rome in his victory parade, and then had them killed, unwilling to risk an heir causing problems later. That is how kings handled rival bloodlines.

Shockingly, that is not what happens here. David continues in verse 7: “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.” Sparing his life alone would have been incredibly kind. David went far beyond it: full restoration of the family estate and a permanent seat at the king’s own table. Mephibosheth could hardly process it, bowing and asking in verse 8: “What is your servant, that you should notice a dead dog like me?”

David then summoned Ziba and gave the arrangements teeth: Ziba, his fifteen sons, and his twenty servants were to farm the restored land and bring in the crops so that Mephibosheth would be provided for. And verse 11 closes the scene with a line worth reading slowly: “So Mephibosheth ate at David’s table like one of the king’s sons.” The story is beautiful for one reason: David was looking for someone to bless rather than curse.

We Are Mephibosheth

As God’s people, we know we are called to live the same way. The harder question is where to find the motivation, and Dr. Webb offers two answers.

The first is recognizing what a cursing posture does to us. A life that is always eager to give people what they deserve is destructive, not only to others but to ourselves. If we find ourselves speeding up to honk, quick to share the social media post that curses and insults, always ready to leave the mean note or give somebody a piece of our mind, we need to recognize what that is doing to our own souls and decide it is time to look for someone to bless instead.

The second motivation is deeper: recognizing that the character in 2 Samuel 9 we most resemble is not David. It is Mephibosheth. He was broken physically and emotionally, unable to help himself. Because of our sin, you and I are broken and unable to save ourselves; the Bible says we were dead in our transgressions and sins, and dead people are helpless. Mephibosheth was hiding in Lo Debar, hopeless in the middle of nowhere, when the king came looking for him. The whole initiative rested on David and a commitment he had made; it had nothing to do with anything Mephibosheth did or earned. In the same way, God in his grace pursued us and found us when we were not even looking for him. Romans 5:8 says God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. And Ephesians 2:8–9 says: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast.”

Furthermore, the parallel extends past forgiveness. Mephibosheth was not merely pardoned; he was received into the family, his inheritance was restored, and he ate at the king’s table for the rest of his life. When we entrust our lives to Jesus, we become God’s children, members of his family, joint heirs with Christ, seated at the Lord’s table, with an eternal inheritance promised in heaven. When we understand that we are Mephibosheth, offered the undeserved grace of God, it motivates us to extend that same grace to others.

Corrie ten Boom and the Guard

Several years ago, Dr. Webb had the opportunity to visit Corrie ten Boom’s house in Haarlem, near Amsterdam. During World War II, Corrie and her family were arrested by the Nazis for hiding Jewish people in their home. Corrie and her sister Betsie were sent to Ravensbrück, a concentration camp where they endured terrible cruelty and where Betsie eventually died.

Years after the war, Corrie was speaking in Germany about the forgiveness of God, telling her audience that when God forgives our sins, he removes them completely. When the service ended, a man began walking toward her, and Corrie recognized him. He had been a guard at Ravensbrück. The memories came rushing back: the humiliation, the cruelty, the suffering, her sister’s death. The man explained that he had become a Christian since the war and knew God had forgiven him. Then he held out his hand and asked whether Corrie would forgive him too.

Corrie later admitted she did not want to do it. She felt no forgiveness. She stood there knowing what Christ commanded, and knowing she could not manufacture the feeling she thought she needed. Then she remembered something: she herself was a forgiven sinner. God had not forgiven her because she deserved it, but because of his grace, and if she had received that grace, how could she refuse to extend it? So Corrie prayed silently for God’s help and, as an act of obedience, reached out and took the man’s hand. In that moment, she described an overwhelming sense of God’s love and forgiveness washing over her. Extending grace did not just bless the man in front of her. It blessed her too.

That is one of the beautiful things about grace: grace received has a way of becoming grace given, and when grace is given, it does not just bless the person who receives it. It frees the person who gives it.

What People Who Understand Grace Do

We see the same dynamic in 2 Samuel 9. David was on top of the world, but he never forgot when he was not. He remembered being an insignificant shepherd. He remembered God protecting him from a lion, a bear, a giant, and an evil king. God had lifted him up and been kind to him, and because of it, David asked: “Is there anyone to whom I can show God’s kindness?” That is what people who understand God’s grace do.

So the invitation is twofold. Have you received the salvation God offers because of his grace and kindness? David acted because God is kind, and the same grace that found Mephibosheth in Lo Debar is looking for you. Would you receive God’s grace and forgiveness today?

And if you are already a follower of Jesus, isn’t it time you stopped looking for a reason to curse and started looking for a reason, and a way, to bless?

If you are searching for a church near me in The Woodlands, TX where grace is taught and lived, we would love for you to join us at The Woodlands First Baptist Church as the series on the life of David continues.

Learn More about The Woodlands First

► Watch the full sermon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZWqwOhStgs

► Plan your visit this Sunday: https://thewoodlandsfirst.org/new/

► Learn about our church: https://thewoodlandsfirst.org/beliefs/

► First Kids (Children’s Ministry): https://thewoodlandsfirst.org/ministries/first-kids/

Visit The Woodlands First Baptist Church

We offer worship services in traditional, modern, and Spanish-language styles across two campuses in The Woodlands, TX, along with Bible study classes and small groups for all ages.

South Campus: 11801 Grogan’s Mill Rd, The Woodlands, TX 77380

North Campus: 5148 FM 1488, The Woodlands, TX 77354

Phone: (281) 367-4317

Website: thewoodlandsfirst.org

Looking for churches near me in The Woodlands, TX? The Woodlands First Baptist Church has served this community since 1979. Come discover a community that takes Scripture seriously and welcomes everyone who is searching.