Now there was a servant from the house of Saul whose name was Ziba. So they summoned him to David. The king said to him, “Are you Ziba?”
2 Samuel 9:2–3a
He replied, “I am your servant.”
The king said, “Is there no one else from the house of Saul to whom I may show the kindness of God?”
I set out last night to dutifully read the next daily portion of the chronological reading plan. I am about a year behind. I was basically just reading to mark the checkbox. I read through all of 2 Samuel 8 and how David is blessed by God, and everything he sets out to do happens favorably for him.
Reading of David’s derring-do is epic. But chapter 8 was just a synopsis of things with little detail. Then I start chapter 9.
David remembers his friend Jonathan and desires to do right to his remaining family, if any exist. One is found… Mephibosheth.
This intruding thought enters my mind: “What do you think those names mean?”
It was followed by another; you could just ask AI to rewrite it with the meanings of the proper nouns replacing the names.
I did that. I used Perplexity. Usually there is a few-second delay as Perplexity collects consensus. When I put in the six to seven verses, the response was immediate.
“Statue responded to the king, ‘There is still a son of Yahweh Has Given who is crippled in both feet.’
The king said to him, ‘Where is he?’
Statue told the king, ‘He is at the house of Sold son of My Kinsman Is God, at No Pasture.’
So King Beloved sent for him and brought him from the house of Sold son of My Kinsman Is God, from No Pasture.
From the Mouth of Shame—the son of Yahweh Has Given, the son of Asked For—came to Beloved, fell facedown, and bowed. Then Beloved said, ‘From the Mouth of Shame,’ and he replied, ‘Here is your servant.’”
The first thing to catch my attention was the meaning of Saul’s name… Asked for. Saul was the king that Israel asked for. David’s name is beloved. It goes far deeper than Israel, and I have to sort out what is here.
Saul is a typification of the adversary, or Satan as we think. God had given dominion of creation to Adam and Eve. By disobedience and taking what was not theirs, they asked for a new king. Because of the disobedience of this king, God anointed another Beloved One.
Just as David’s life goes, shortly after being anointed, he is sent to his brothers in the presence of Saul. He encounters the blasphemy of Goliath. We know the tale: he subdues the enemy of the people and the king and takes his head.
But it would be a long time before Saul is actually deposed and David takes his rightful throne. And that comes with civil war in Israel.
Think about how God had selected another King for the people of the world. He was sent at just the right time to defeat the enemy of the people and God. That enemy was death. Jesus did that at Calvary.
Calvary, from Latin, meaning skull. Jesus was crucified at the place of the skull… Golgotha. Say it out loud. Could it be Goliath of Gath, the place of the skull?
When David slew Goliath, he brought the giant’s head back to Jerusalem. Dead bodies made one unclean; therefore, the skull would remain outside the camp… Even though Jerusalem was a Jebusite city at the time. There are some who think that David set up Goliath’s skull as a trophy and warning to the Jebusites occupying Jerusalem. The place of that skull is thought to be the very same place where Jesus was crucified.
There is another typification of Jesus in what David did. Remember Genesis 3:15: the seed of the woman bruises the head of the serpent. David beheaded the giant, thought to be the seed of fallen angels. I will let that sit with you to ponder.
That is like a high-level concise view of Earth, and a partial view into the Gospel.
Ziba responded to the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan who is crippled in both feet.”
2 Samuel 9:3b
There is one son of Jonathan found. His name is Mephibosheth. He was crippled. He would have difficulty standing.
Think about that. Is not that our position before a Holy God… Being unable to stand?
The king said to him, “Where is he?”
2 Samuel 9:4
Ziba told the king, “He is at the house of Makir the son of Ammiel at Lo Debar.”
Mephibosheth is in the house of Makir at Lo Debar. Mephibosheth means from the mouth of shame. Makir means sold. And Lo Debar means no place. What does David do?
So King David sent for and brought him from the house of Makir the son of Ammiel, from Lo Debar.
2 Samuel 9:5
Beloved sent for him from the mouth of shame. He was crippled and had difficulty standing. He was summoned to the house of Sold, which had no place.
Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan the son of Saul came to David and fell upon his face and bowed down. Then David said, “Mephibosheth,” and he responded, “I am your servant.”
2 Samuel 9:6–7
David said to him, “Do not be afraid, for I will certainly show you kindness on account of Jonathan, your father. I will return to you every field of Saul, your father, and you will eat at my table perpetually.”
This destitute person is restored and has a perpetual seat at the table of the king.
He bowed low and said, “What is your servant that you should be concerned for a dead dog like me?”
2 Samuel 9:8
What is it that the God of the universe should be concerned with a dead dog like me?
The king summoned Ziba the servant of Saul, and he said to him, “All that belonged to Saul and to all his house, I have given to the son of your master. You will work the ground for him—you, your sons, and your servants. You will bring in the produce so that the son of your master will have food to eat; but Mephibosheth, the son of your master, will always eat at my table.” Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.
2 Samuel 9:9–11
Ziba said to the king, “Everything that my lord the king has commanded his servant, your servant will do.” So Mephibosheth ate at the table of David like one of the sons of the king.
The one from shame, sold, and no place was summoned by the king. He had one obligation… To respond to the summons or not.
Listen, in those times, it would be acceptable for the new king to kill all of the household of the deposed king. I can imagine hesitation to respond. But either way, in that mindset, Mephibosheth was as good as dead. He came to David and humbled himself.
David raised him up; he was treated as a son of the king.
If you see Jesus here… That is exactly the point. He summons all of the ashamed to His presence… Not for condemnation that we may be afraid to approach Him. He calls us to lift our heads and gives us a place at the table to be treated like children of God.
That is the Gospel.
The true Light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was created through Him, yet the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own people did not receive Him. Yet to all who received Him, He gave the power to become sons of God, to those who believed in His name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
John 1:9–13
Like Mephibosheth, you and I have to respond to the summoning of the King to have a perpetual place at His table.
