Mephibosheth. Week 12 Devotions. Day 1. Introduction

Transcription

1 Week 12 Devotions Day 1 Introduction is the son of Jonathan and grandson of King Saul. In order to get a complete picture of s story, we will have to understand both Jonathan and King Saul s relationship with David because this story is mainly about s relationship with King David. After David had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan became one in spirit with David, and he loved him as himself. 2 From that day Saul kept David with him and did not let him return home to his family. 3 And Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. 4 Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, and even his sword, his bow and his belt. 5 Whatever mission Saul sent him on, David was so successful that Saul gave him a high rank in the army. This pleased all the troops and Saul s officers as well. 6 When the men were returning home after David had killed the Philistine, the women came out from all the towns of Israel to meet King Saul with singing and dancing, with joyful songs and with timbrels and lyres. 7 As they danced, they sang Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands. 8 Saul was very angry; this refrain displeased him greatly. They have credited David with tens of thousands, he thought, but me with only thousands. What more can he get but the kingdom? 9 And from that time on Saul kept a close eye on David. 10 The next day an evil spirit from God came forcefully on Saul. He was prophesying in his house, while David was playing the lyre, as he usually did. Saul had a spear in his hand 11 and he hurled it, saying to himself, I ll pin David to the wall. But David eluded him twice. 12 Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with David but had departed from Saul. 13 So he sent David away from him and gave him command over a thousand men, and David led the troops in their campaigns. 14 In everything he did he had great success, because the LORD was with him. 15 When Saul saw how successful he was, he was afraid of him. 16 But all Israel and Judah loved David, because he led them in their campaigns. 1 Sam. 18: 1-16 Why did King Saul s attitude towards David change from the first few verses of 1Sam.18 to the rest of chapter 18 (Also see chapter 17 - David & Goliath s story)?

2 Day 1 Week 12 Devotions How would you describe Jonathan and David s relationship? What is the repeated phrase about Jonathan s love towards David? How would you describe Saul and David s relationship? What is the covenant made between David and Jonathan (see 1 Sam 20:13 and 1 Sam 20: 42) For more in depth study about Saul & David and Jonathan & David: 1 Sam. chapters 19, 23 & 24

3 Week 12 Devotions Day 2 By now, both Saul and Jonathan died in the war. 2 Sam. 4:4 4 (Jonathan son of Saul had a son who was lame in both feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel. His nurse picked him up and fled, but as she hurried to leave, he fell and became disabled. His name was.) 2 Sam. 5: 9, 10 9 David then took up residence in the fortress and called it the City of David. He built up the area around it, from the terraces inward. 10 And he became more and more powerful, because the LORD God Almighty was with him. In the course of time, David defeated many nations. 2 Sam. 9 David asked, Is there anyone still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan s sake? 2 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. 3 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. 4 Where is he? the king asked. Ziba answered, He is at the house of Makir son of Ammiel in Lo Debar. 5 So King David had him brought from Lo Debar, from the house of Makir son of Ammiel. 6 When son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, he bowed down to pay him honor. David said,! At your service, he replied.

4 Day 2 Week 12 Devotions 7 Don t be afraid, David said to him, 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. 8 bowed down and said, What is your servant, that you should notice a dead dog like me? 9 Then the king summoned Ziba, Saul s steward, and said to him, I have given your master s grandson everything that belonged to Saul and his family. 10 You and your sons and your servants are to farm the land for him and bring in the crops, so that your master s grandson may be provided for. And, grandson of your master, will always eat at my table. (Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.) 11 Then Ziba said to the king, Your servant will do whatever my lord the king commands his servant to do. So ate at David s table like one of the king s sons. 12 had a young son named Mika, and all the members of Ziba s household were servants of. 13 And lived in Jerusalem, because he always ate at the king s table; he was lame in both feet. From 2 Sam 4:4 what do you know about? According to 2 Sam 5: 9; how was King David s rule? How many times was the sentence The LORD gave David victory wherever he went. repeated in 2 Sam 8? Did King David look for or he approached the king? What was the assurance King David give to? For whose sake did the king promise him to show kindness? What is the ultimate privilege that was given in the King s palace?

5 Week 12 Devotions Day 3 In 2 Samuel chapter 15, there is a rebellion started by Absalom, King David s son. King David was rejected and so he flees from Jerusalem. 2 Sam While Absalom was offering sacrifices, he also sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David s counselor, to come from Giloh, his hometown. And so the conspiracy gained strength, and Absalom s following kept on increasing. 13 A messenger came and told David, The hearts of the people of Israel are with Absalom. 14 Then David said to all his officials who were with him in Jerusalem, Come! We must flee, or none of us will escape from Absalom. We must leave immediately, or he will move quickly to overtake us and bring ruin on us and put the city to the sword. 17 So the king set out, with all the people following him, and they halted at the edge of the city. 30 But David continued up the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went; his head was covered and he was barefoot. All the people with him covered their heads too and were weeping as they went up. 32 When David arrived at the summit, where people used to worship God, Hushai the Arkite was there to meet him, his robe torn and dust on his head. 2 Sam. 16 When David had gone a short distance beyond the summit, there was Ziba, the steward of, waiting to meet him. He had a string of donkeys saddled and loaded with two hundred loaves of bread, a hundred cakes of raisins, a hundred cakes of figs and a skin of wine. 2 The king asked Ziba, Why have you brought these? Ziba answered, The donkeys are for the king s household to ride on, the bread and fruit are for the men to eat, and the wine is to refresh those who become exhausted in the wilderness. 3 The king then asked, Where is your master s grandson? Ziba said to him, He is staying in Jerusalem, because he thinks, Today the Israelites will restore to me my grandfather s kingdom. 4 Then the king said to Ziba, All that belonged to is now yours. I humbly bow, Ziba said. May I find favor in your eyes, my lord the king.

6 Day 3 Week 12 Devotions As per this account, where did Ziba meet David? Do you think Ziba was part of the crowd that followed David to the outskirts of the city? Are Ziba s motives honest? According to Ziba, where is and what was he hoping for? How did King David reward Ziba for his faithfulness towards him?

7 The day of the return of the rejected King David came at last. 2 Sam. 19 Week 12 Devotions 9 Throughout the tribes of Israel, all the people were arguing among themselves, saying, The king delivered us from the hand of our enemies; he is the one who rescued us from the hand of the Philistines. But now he has fled the country to escape from Absalom; 10 and Absalom, whom we anointed to rule over us, has died in battle. So why do you say nothing about bringing the king back? 14 He won over the hearts of the men of Judah so that they were all of one mind. They sent word to the king, Return, you and all your men. 15 Then the king returned and went as far as the Jordan. 24, Saul s grandson, also went down to meet the king. He had not taken care of his feet or trimmed his mustache or washed his clothes from the day the king left until the day he returned safely. 25 When he came from Jerusalem to meet the king, the king asked him, Why didn t you go with me,? 26 He said, My lord the king, since I your servant am lame, I said, I will have my donkey saddled and will ride on it, so I can go with the king. But Ziba my servant betrayed me. 27 And he has slandered your servant to my lord the king. My lord the king is like an angel of God; so do whatever you wish. 28 All my grandfather s descendants deserved nothing but death from my lord the king, but you gave your servant a place among those who eat at your table. So what right do I have to make any more appeals to the king? 29 The king said to him, Why say more? I order you and Ziba to divide the land. Day 4 30 said to the king, Let him take everything, now that my lord the king has returned home safely. In your opinion, what is the significance of s appearance when he went to meet King David? According to this account, where was when the king left Jerusalem? What was his attitude towards the King in verses 27 &28? What was important to according to verse 30?

8 Week 12 Devotions Day 5 2 Sam 21 During the reign of David, there was a famine for three successive years; so David sought the face of the LORD. The LORD said, It is on account of Saul and his bloodstained house; it is because he put the Gibeonites to death. 2 The king summoned the Gibeonites and spoke to them. (Now the Gibeonites were not a part of Israel but were survivors of the Amorites; the Israelites had sworn to spare them, but Saul in his zeal for Israel and Judah had tried to annihilate them.) 3 David asked the Gibeonites, What shall I do for you? How shall I make atonement so that you will bless the LORD s inheritance? 4 The Gibeonites answered him, We have no right to demand silver or gold from Saul or his family, nor do we have the right to put anyone in Israel to death. What do you want me to do for you? David asked. 5 They answered the king, As for the man who destroyed us and plotted against us so that we have been decimated and have no place anywhere in Israel, 6 let seven of his male descendants be given to us to be killed and their bodies exposed before the LORD at Gibeah of Saul the LORD s chosen one. So the king said, I will give them to you. 7 The king spared son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, because of the oath before the LORD between David and Jonathan son of Saul. 8 But the king took Armoni and, the two sons of Aiah s daughter Rizpah, whom she had borne to Saul, together with the five sons of Saul s daughter Merab, [a] whom she had borne to Adriel son of Barzillai the Meholathite. 9 He handed them over to the Gibeonites, who killed them and exposed their bodies on a hill before the LORD. All seven of them fell together; they were put to death during the first days of the harvest, just as the barley harvest was beginning. 13 David brought the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from there, and the bones of those who had been killed and exposed were gathered up. 14 They buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in the tomb of Saul s father Kish, at Zela in Benjamin, and did everything the king commanded. After that, God answered prayer in behalf of the land. How did David keep his side of the covenant that he made with Jonathan? Note: in verse 7 is Jonathan s son and Saul s grandson while in verse 8 is Saul s son.