2 Samuel 09: Reading #591 Good deeds and the judgment

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1 Reading #591 Good deeds and the judgment After what I wrote last week regarding the scarcity of records of the goodness of men in the Bible, it may be surprising to read this week about David s actions. But, as in all of God s plans, this witness has a greater meaning than just the man s erratic behaviour. Our Father wants all of us to be like Him and this means that we should seek to do the most good we can to those who are, or have been, our enemies, which is probably the reason we have this story. Where the men of the world would seek to exterminate or at least punish, our God does the opposite, and His children should do likewise. This should intrigue the people of the world and maybe get them to ask questions as to why. It is a great pity today that this message regarding God cannot easily be broadcast because of the great misunderstanding of His character which the devil has spread abroad. So, as time went by and David felt more secure on his throne, he remembered the promises he had made to Jonathan his friend, and began to seek out Saul s family members. Jonathan had asked David, And you shall not only while yet I live show me the kindness of the LORD, that I die not: but also you shall not cut off your kindness from my house for ever: no, not when the LORD has cut off the enemies of David every one from the face of the earth. So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, Let the LORD even require it at the hand of David's enemies. And Jonathan caused David to swear again, because he loved him: for he loved him as he loved his own soul. 1 Samuel 20: So it was a double promise! 1 And [one day] David said, Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake? 2 And there was of the house of Saul 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 is he. 3 And the king said, Is there not yet any of the house of Saul, that I may show the kindness of God to him? And Ziba said to the king, Jonathan has yet a son, which is lame on his feet. 4 And the king said to him, Where is he? And Ziba said to the king, Behold, he is in the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel, in Lodebar. 5 Then king David sent, and fetched him out of the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel, from Lodebar. 1

2 We read in another place; And Jonathan, Saul's son, had a son that was lame of his feet. He was five years old when the tidings came of [the deaths of] Saul and Jonathan out of Jezreel, and his nurse took him up, and fled: and it came to pass, as she made haste to flee, that he fell, and became lame. And his name was Mephibosheth. 2 Samuel 4:4. At the time of Saul's defeat by the Philistines at Jezreel, the nurse of this child, attempting to flee with him, had somehow let him fall, thus making him a lifelong cripple. In those days that meant a continual struggle to survive, and in many cases learning the necessity of relying on others to help. When David summoned the young man to court the command was regarded as dangerous, and so the survivor was terrified. (It was much like the feeling some have when they hear of God s call to His kingdom and they think of the judgment!) 6 Now when Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, was come to David, he fell on his face, and did reverence. And David said, Mephibosheth. And he answered, Behold your servant! 7 And David said to him, Fear not: for I will surely show you kindness for Jonathan your father's sake, and will restore you all the land of Saul your father; and you shall eat bread at my table continually. 8 And he bowed himself, and said, What is your servant, that you should look upon such a dead dog [a worthless being] as I am? However, the private possessions of Saul were restored to him for the support of his household. Through reports from the enemies of David, Mephibosheth had been led to cherish a strong prejudice against him as a usurper; but now the monarch's generous and courteous reception of him and his continued kindness won the heart of the young man. He became strongly attached to David, and, like his father Jonathan, he felt that his interest was one with that of the king whom God had chosen. 9 Then the king called to Ziba, Saul's servant, and said to him, I have given to your master's son all that pertained to Saul and to all his house. 10 You therefore, and your sons, and your servants, shall till the land for him, and you shall bring in the fruits, that your master's son [and his servants] may have 2

3 food to eat: but Mephibosheth your master's son shall eat bread always at my table. David even made the arrangements which meant that Mephibosheth could have a regular income, and a staff to keep up his estate, but requested that Mephibosheth should regard himself as one of the royal family and come to eat with them often. This was a very great honour and one which was much appreciated by Mephibosheth. It is of course, a picture of what God would like to do with each one us, and one which He will indeed fulfil to some. It is written: Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me. To him that overcomes [himself] will I grant to sit with Me in My throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with My Father in His throne. He that has a [spiritual] ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Revelation 3: And I say to you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. But the [original] children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness [at their own request as we have seen]: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Matthew 8: In another place and time He explained more fully of what He meant, by repeating the instruction He had given to Israel through Moses. At their sacred feasts He had directed that the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, which are within your gates, shall come, and shall eat, and be satisfied. Deuteronomy 14:29. These gatherings were to be object lessons to Israel. Being thus taught the joy of true hospitality, the people were throughout the year to care for the bereaved and the poor. And these feasts had a wider lesson. The spiritual blessings given to Israel were not for themselves alone. God had given the bread of life to them, that they might break it to the world. This work they had not fulfilled, and Christ's words were a rebuke to their selfishness. Thus to the Pharisees His words were often distasteful. Hoping to turn the conversation into another channel, one day one of them, with a sanctimonious air, exclaimed, Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God. This man spoke with great assurance, as if he himself were certain of a place in the kingdom. His attitude was similar to the attitude of those who rejoice that they are saved by Christ, when they do not comply with the conditions upon which salvation is 3

4 promised. His spirit was like that of Balaam when he prayed, Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his. Numbers 23:10. Luke 14: 12 Then said He also to him that bade Him [to a dinner], When you make a dinner or a supper, call not your friends, nor your brothers [and sisters], neither your kinsmen, nor your rich neighbours; lest they also bid you again, and a recompense be made you. 13 But when you make a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: 14 and you shall be blessed; for they cannot recompense you: for you shall be recompensed at the resurrection of the just [the righteous]. 15 And when one of them that sat at meat with Him heard these things, he said to Him, Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God. The Pharisee was not thinking of his own fitness for heaven but of what he hoped to enjoy in heaven. As an agent of Satan his remark was designed to turn away the minds of the guests at the feast from the subject of their practical duty. He thought to carry them past the present life to the remote time of the resurrection of the just. Christ read the heart of the pretender, and fastening His eyes upon him He opened before the company the character and value of their present privileges. He showed them that they had a part to act at that very time, in order to share in the blessedness of the future. Then Jesus showed him how hard it is to get people to come! Luke 14: 16 Then said He to him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many: 17 and sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready. 18 And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said to him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray you have me excused. 19 And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray you have me excused. 20 And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come. 21 So that servant came, and showed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and 4

5 lanes of the city [in the church], and bring in here the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind [those whom the others considered as unsaved]. 22 And the servant said, Lord, it is done as you have commanded, and yet there is room. 23 And the LORD said to the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges [outside the city], and compel them to come in [by showing them love that they cannot refuse], that my house may be filled. 24 For I say to you, That none of those men which were bidden [in the beginning] shall taste of my supper. None of the excuses were founded on a real necessity. The man who must needs go and see his piece of ground, had already purchased it. His haste to go and see it was due to the fact that his interest was absorbed in his purchase. The oxen, too, had been bought. The proving of them was only to satisfy the interest of the buyer. The third excuse had no more semblance of reason. The fact that the intended guest had married a wife need not have prevented his presence at the feast. His wife also would have been made welcome. But he had his own plans for enjoyment, and these seemed to him more desirable than the feast he had promised to attend. He had learned to find pleasure in other society than that of the host. He did not ask to be excused, made not even a pretence of courtesy in his refusal. The I cannot was only a veil for the truth I do not care to come. All the excuses betray a preoccupied mind. To these intended guests other interests had become all-absorbing. The invitation they had pledged themselves to accept was put aside, and the generous friend was insulted by their indifference. However, let s return to our story: Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants. 11 Then said Ziba to the king, According to all that my lord the king has commanded his servant, so shall your servant do. As for Mephibosheth, said the king, he shall eat at my table, as one of the king's sons. Ziba had a large family and this new job gave him the security that he needed to bring them up, so he too was very happy. 5

6 12 And Mephibosheth had a young son, whose name was Micha. And all that dwelt in the house of Ziba were servants to Mephibosheth. 13 So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem: for he did eat continually at the king's table; and was lame on both his feet. As we have seen before, Mephibosheth s birth name had been Merrib-baal, but this had been changed as the religious influences altered in the land. We have been given a list of the family names and here are some of them. And Ner begat Kish, and Kish begat Saul, and Saul begat Jonathan, and Malchishua, and Abinadab, and Eshbaal. And the son of Jonathan was Meribbaal [Mephibosheth]; and Meribbaal begat Micah. And the sons of Micah were, Pithon, and Melech, and Tarea, and Ahaz. 1 Chronicles 8: The family increased in strength and eventually became a strong unit of archers in the fighting forces of Israel in their own right. How important it is to do these things of righteousness is shown by the statements to be made in the great judgment. Matthew 25: When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory: And before Him shall be gathered all nations: and He shall separate them one from another [on the basis of their works], as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say to them on His right hand, Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred [a hungry person], and you gave Me meat [food]: I was thirsty, and you gave Me drink: I was a stranger, and you took Me in: naked, and you clothed Me: I was sick, and you visited Me: I was in prison, and you came to Me. Then shall the righteous answer Him, saying, LORD, when saw we You a hungry [person], and fed You? Or thirsty, and gave You drink? When saw we You a stranger, and took You in? Or naked [poorly dressed], and clothed You? Or when saw we You sick, or in prison, and came to You? And the King shall answer and say to them, Verily I say to you, Inasmuch as you have done it to one of the least of these my brothers [and sisters], you have done it to Me. 6

7 Then shall He say also to them on the left hand, Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was an hungred, and you gave Me no meat: I was thirsty, and you gave Me no drink: I was a stranger, and you took Me not in: naked, and you clothed Me not: sick, and in prison, and you visited Me not. Then shall they also answer Him, saying, LORD, when saw we You an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister to you? Then shall He answer them, saying, Verily I say to you, Inasmuch as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to Me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal. *************(End Quote) The righteous will not be given their position in heaven at Christ s right hand because they are the saved, but because they have shown their disposition to be His heavenly helpers by what they have done on earth. It will be in their character to do these things and it will be their delight to be able to do them even more fully after the resurrection. The goats on the other hand, have shunned these actions on earth and would find it intensely irritating to be expected to do them in heaven. There is another reason why we are asked to do good to others. Those who, so far as it is possible, engage in the work of humanitarian righteousness correctly, by giving practical demonstration of their interest in the needy, are not only relieving the ills of life in helping them to bear burdens, but are at the same time contributing largely to their own health of soul and body. Doing good is a work that benefits both giver and receiver. If you forget self in your interest for others, you gain a victory over your own infirmities. The pleasure of doing good animates the mind, and vibrates through the whole body. It imparts a glow to the feelings which flashes through the nerves, quickens the circulation of the blood, and induces mental and physical health. There are some who think that fasting and praying and ritual is what God delights in, but He tells us that doing good to others is what He really likes to do, and so should His children. It s called righteousness. He says: Isaiah 58: 6 Is not this the fast that I have chosen? To loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens [by preaching the gospel of freedom from the slavery of sin], and to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke? 7

8 7 [After that] Is it not to deal your bread to the hungry, and that you bring the poor that are cast out to your house? When you see the naked [the poorly clothed], that you cover him; and that you hide not yourself from your own flesh? 8 Then shall your light break forth as the morning [sunrise], and your health shall spring forth speedily: and your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the LORD shall be your rereward [at your back]. 9 Then shall you call, and the LORD shall answer; you shall cry, and He shall say, Here I am. If you take away from the midst of you the yoke [of laying burdens on others], the putting forth of the finger [in criticism], and speaking vanity [vain and idle words]; 10 and if you draw out your soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall your light rise in obscurity, and your darkness be as the noon day: 11 and the LORD shall guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and make fat your bones: and you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. 12 And they that shall be of you shall build the old waste places: you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; and you shall be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in. [ He who brings the way of righteousness back.] Bye for now, RonP In this reading the old-fashioned words of the KJV have been modernised, and in some instances, the man-made punctuation has been altered for greater understanding. Some of the comments are adapted from books in my library. No recognition is given because they are not intended as authorities, but are used because they express my understanding clearly. All the ideas expressed in these readings, right or wrong, are my own. Some of these readings are available at Past books will be available from time to time. 8