Thursday, July 25 – 2 Samuel 9, 1 Chronicles 18 – Additional reading, Patriarchs and Prophets chapter 70, “The Reign of David”

1. What did David do with the silver and gold he acquired in his conquests?
(1 Chronicles 18:11)

2. Why did David show great kindness to Jonathan’s son, Mephibosheth, a potential threat to his throne? (2 Samuel 9:7. Also, 1 Sam 20:42)

3. What godly characteristics did David exhibit while reigning over all of Israel?
(1 Chronicles 18:14, 2 Samuel 9:1)

The chapters of 2 Samuel 9 and 1 Chronicles 18 exhibit contrasting character traits of the recently appointed King David, which are also found in King Jesus.

In 1 Chronicles 18, we are shown a courageous, faithful, and conquering David. We see David delivering the Israelites from the enemies that had previously tormented them. God used David to lead Israel to victory over enemies in every direction. David’s victories were complete from the Philistines to the Moabites and from Zobah to Hamath. Under David, Israel possessed more of the land God promised Abraham (Genesis 15:18-21) than at any other time.

Unlike King Saul before him, David was able to gain complete victory against God’s enemies because he, unlike Saul, was not consumed with fighting against the people of God. David understood the true enemy were those who opposed the living God.

David’s amazing victories were followed by his understanding that all the glory, honor, and praise belonged only to God, as evidenced by his dedication of all the spoils of war to the Lord (1 Chronicles 18:11). Despite previous hardships and apparent failures, his actions in victory tell us that David knew how to handle success.

From the victorious and conquering King in 1 Chronicles 18, we find a more subdued David in 2 Samuel 9.

The chapter opens with David asking, “Is there anyone remaining from Saul’s family I can show kindness to because of Jonathan?” (2 Sam 9:1).

David’s obligations to Jonathan had been temporarily forgotten, but now, David desired to honor his covenant of agape love with Jonathan (1 Samuel 20:42) by providing for Jonathan’s crippled son Mephibosheth. Mephibosheth was a potential threat to David. Any other king would have killed him.

In this particular era of building walled cities and acquiring vast armies, kindness was often associated with weakness.

David, however, was not concerned with what others thought. He knew that God had delivered his enemies into his hand once, and He could do it again. So now, King David set his heart on fulfilling his promise to Jonathon.

His inquiry about the remains of the ruined house of Saul, v.1, came sometime after he acceded to the throne. Mephibosheth, Jonathan’s son, was only five years old when his father and grandfather died (2 Samuel 4:4), and now we see that he had a son of his own (2 Samuel 9:12)

We would do well to take time to reflect on promises or “covenants” that we may have forgotten or neglected. It is better to fulfill those promises late than not at all.

David’s actions in 2 Samuel 9 reflect our Savior’s actions toward us. It is a demonstration of love that is undeserved and unearned. Saul was David’s sworn enemy, yet David would show kindness to the house of Saul.

Jonathan’s request to David (1 Sa. 20:14, 15), “Show me the kindness of the Lord, that I die not, and the same to my seed” was indeed fulfilled. The kindness of God is greater than we can ordinarily expect from men. David’s desire to show kindness to the house of Saul, not only because he trusted in God and feared not what might happen to him, but because he possessed the very attributes of Christ.

The apostle Paul says of David’s life (Acts 13:36) that he served his generation according to the will of God. David was a man who made it his business to do good.

May the example of David serve as a testimony so that it might be said of us, ‘he served his generation according to the will of God.’