2015-01-09
Good Morning Dear Ones,
While I’ve mentioned the story of Saul’s grandson and Jonathan’s son, Mephibotsheth, from 2 SAM 9: 1-13 before, it bears some retelling and discussion in the context of how the families of Jonathan and David were bonded by their covenant of friendship made before the Lord God [1 SAM 18: 1-4]. This covenant was not nullified by Jonathan’s and his father, Saul’s, untimely deaths at the battle of Gilboa [1 SAM 31: 1-6]. Afterward, David asked one of the servants of Saul’s household, Ziba, if any members of Saul’s family were still alive. Ziba replied that Jonathan’s son, Mephibotsheth, was. He was a young man who had been crippled in both his feet at the age of 5, when his nurse totally forgot the covenant between the two families and dropped him. This was in response to her fear when David’s troops were coming to their area [2 SAM 4: 4]. David’s taking the responsibilities of his covenant relationship was as serious as it gets. He invited Mephibosheth to his kingly residence and made him welcome to share his meals there (including Ziba in the invitation). He always treated Mephibosheth with the courtesy and kindness as he would a son [2 SAM 9: 11-13].
There were some compelling reasons why God called David “a man after My own heart” [1 SAM 13: 13-14; AC 13: 22]. Despite David’s sins, this king of Israel took his covenant relationships seriously enough to endure a lot of abusive behavior from Saul during the latter’s lifetime. David avoided taking revenge on this mentally ill former king time and time again. Saul’s behavior didn’t destroy the respect David gave him as king. When Saul and his two sons, Jonathan and Malki-Shua, were killed at Giloa, that left a third son, Ish-Bosheth, remaining. Abner son of Ner, Saul’s uncle and the main general of Saul’s troops, preferred this third son of Saul’s over David to be king of Israel. But God had already given that lofty responsibility to David [1 SAM 16: 13-14].
David was from the house of Judah, and Saul was from the house of Benjamin, each occupying a different area of Israel, originally bestowed to them by God. Joab son of Zeruiah was David’s main general. Ish-Bosheth was king in Israel for only two years, becoming king at the age of 40 [2 SAM 2: 10]. The two generals agreed to have 12 men from each side battle for predominance. David’s troops soundly defeated Saul’s in a fierce battle [2 SAM 2: 17]. The war between these two houses, Israel and Judah, lasted a long time. But the house of Israel [Saul’s house] became weaker as time wore on. Abner tried to strengthen his position in the house of Saul, but made the mistake of sleeping with Saul’s concubine, Rizpah daughter of Aiah. Ish-Bosheth questioned this act, angering Abner. Abner transferred his service to the house of David, leading to the consolidation of David’s power over both houses [2 SAM 3: 21; 2 SAM 5: 3-5] at the age of 30. He would rule over all Judah and Israel for 40 years. David was able to betroth himself to Michal, Saul’s daughter, and take her forcibly into his household [2 SAM 3: 14-16]. Joab hated and mistrusted Abner, due to the latter’s slaying his brother, Asabel, previously at the battle of Gibeon. Thus, David’s general, Joab, killed Abner with his sword [2 SAM 3: 27]. Not long after that, a resting Ish-Bosheth, was killed during the deceptive incursion into his home by two Benjaminites, Baanah and Recab [2 SAM 4: 5-6], who then slipped quietly away. The evildoers had decapitated Ish-Bosheth and took the head to David at Hebron. David reminded these two that he had ordered the messenger who had taken delight in sharing the news that Saul and Jonathan were dead after the battle of Gilboa put to death. Then David did the same with Baanah and Recab for the death of an innocent man [Ish-Bosheth, 2 SAM 4: 10b-12a]. His loyalty to his covenant partners can never be questioned.
David’s lament: The Lament of the Bow, mentioned in 2 SAM 1: 17-18 as being written in the Book of Jashar, is something David wanted every soldier to learn as they learned to fight with a bow and arrows, the main weapon used in ancient Israel. The Book of Jashar, was never canon, but had it’s origins in Joshua’s time and was an account of Israel’s wars in poetic form [JS 10: 12-13]. David’s idea was probably borne out of his desire for his men to learn the bow so well that they never experienced the sadness of the defeat of their king, as David had of Saul and Jonathan. That’s how much David’s covenant partners meant to him. Let me encourage each of you to read David’s Lament for these fallen covenant partners of his, in 2 SAM 1: 19-27. It gives us a real picture of David’s heart and why he was called by God, “a man after My own heart.” Consider the love David showed the family of Saul, and begin to understand how much different their covenant relationships with David could have been had the members of Saul’s family not panicked and forgotten the rules and blessings of covenant living. David’s life as king of Israel is a real flesh and blood picture of the binding power of a covenant.
PRAYER: O Lord, we come before You today to offer our praise and thanks for the blessings You bring into our lives. Your love takes so many forms, and it is so generous and consistent as to sometimes bring tears to our eyes. We are sinners who don’t deserve the many blessings You bestow upon us [EPH 2: 8-10]. One of Your greatest blessings is the opportunity to enter into covenants that please you and give real purpose and fulfillment to our lives. You give us Your word and speak with us in prayer. Thus, we have a way to know what pleases You and what doesn’t. These ways we know Your will, and we aim to make it our own. Your longstanding patience in the face of our imperfections is unparalleled from any other source in the universe [2 PET 3: 9]. We have learned that Your enemies are also ours, because it is they who cause all the trials and troubles we must encounter and overcome. You have no evil in You [1 JN 1: 5]. You are always there for us, no matter when or how we call upon You. Your love is eternal; and You teach us to think, make decisions, and act, considering the eternal implications of these thoughts, decisions, and actions. Most of all, Dearest Abba, You have shown us by the example of Your Son, Jesus, what love is. You have sacrificed Him on the cross, so that we can repent and believe in Him. Thus, we escape certain spiritual death and can gain eternal life [JN 3: 16; RO 3: 24-25]. By the example that David’s life gives us, we can learn what it means to live in covenant relationships with others around us and with You. We open ourselves to Your direction, and we dedicate our lives to Your glory. We seek You now and always to be the Leader of our lives. Without You, we have nothing and can do nothing. With You, we have an embarrassment of riches in covenant – filled and satisfying relationships. Once again, we thank and praise You, in the holy/mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: I am led by the Holy Spirit to write more about the binding power of covenant relationships. We’ll look at some questions which may help us to assess the status of covenants on our own lives. We can still learn more from the events of David’s life, and the impact of some modern day events that affect our relationships. In the meanwhile, we should examine our own individual relationships to see what drives them, what transpires in the over the long run, and the consequences to others (many of them innocent) of them. I know that my own genetic family has been severely fractured by long-held misconceptions and grudges on the part of some members. Greed of some has brought pain and sorrow on others. We are spread all over the map geographically, and some of us have nothing in common with others. My family is not alone with these problems; they are characteristic of many families. God has brought some people into my life, through our shared belief in Jesus Christ, to take the place of others with whom covenant relationships have failed. This reminds me of the olive tree metaphor of RO 11: 16-25. We are blessed to know that our God watches over each of us from heaven [PS 33: 13]. Let me close with this prayer for each of you: RO 15: 13, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Praise and thanks be to God!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2014. All Rights Reserved.
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