David and Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth
9
📚And David said, “Is there still anyone left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake 📖?”2 📚And in the household of Saul there was a servant whose name was Ziba. And when they had called him to David, the king said to him, “Are you Ziba 📖?”
And he said, “Your servant”.
3 📚And the king said, “Is no one of the house of Saul still left, that I may show the kindness of God to him?”
And Ziba said to the king, “Jonathan still has a son, who is lame 📖 in his feet”.
4 📚And the king said to him, “Where is he?”
And Ziba said to the king, “See, he is in the house of Machir 📖, the son of Ammiel, in Lodebar 📖”.
5 Then King David sent men and had him brought from the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel, from Lodebar. 6 📚Now when Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, he went down on his face and prostrated himself.
And David said, “Mephibosheth!”
And he answered, “See your servant!”
7 📚And David said to him, “Do not be afraid 📖, for I will certainly show you kindness for your father Jonathan’s sake 📖, and will restore to you all the land of your grandfather Saul, and you will eat bread at my table permanently”.
8 📚And he bowed down and said, “What is your servant, that you should look on such a dead dog as I?”
9:8 The name Mephibosheth means “destroyer of shame”. He was not ashamed to accept the grace and kindness of a king. Nor should sinful men be ashamed to accept the grace of the heavenly king (Rom 1:16; 2 Tim 1:8). But because of pride many cannot endure the thought of being completely cast on the mercy and grace of God for salvation.⚜
9 📚Then the king called for Ziba, Saul’s servant, and said to him, “I have given all that belonged to Saul and to his whole household to your master’s grandson. 10 📚You, therefore, and your sons and your servants, shall till the land for him and bring in the harvests, so that your master’s grandson may have food to eat. However Mephibosheth, your master’s grandson, will always eat food at my table”. Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.
11 📚Then Ziba said to the king, “Your servant will act in accordance with all that my lord the king has commanded his servant to do”.
The king said, “As for Mephibosheth, he will eat at my table, like one of the king’s sons 📖”.
12 📚And Mephibosheth had a young son, whose name was Micha. And all who lived in the house of Ziba were servants of Mephibosheth.
13 📚So Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, for he regularly ate at the king’s table. And he was lame in both of his feet.