The Kindness That Changed a Kingdom
"Is there anyone still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan's sake?" 2 Samuel 9:1
For years, King Saul hunted David like an animal.
He threw a spear at him twice. He sent armies after him. He turned the entire apparatus of his kingdom toward one goal: eliminating David before David could take the throne that God had already promised him. David spent some of the best years of his life living in caves and running for his life from a king who had no rational reason to hate him.
Saul is dead now. His armies are gone. His kingdom has passed to David. And David, the man who had every reason to let the house of Saul fade into irrelevance, does something that nobody expected.
He asks: is there anyone left in the house of Saul that I can show kindness to?
Not for political strategy. Not to consolidate power by appearing merciful. Because of a promise he made to Jonathan, Saul's son, David's closest friend, years ago, before either of them knew how the story would end. And David is the kind of man who keeps his promises even when the other party is no longer around to hold him to it.
They find Mephibosheth. Jonathan's son, Saul's grandson. He is crippled in both feet, living in obscurity in a place called Lo-debar, which literally means "no pasture." A place of nothing. A place people go when they've been forgotten.
David sends for him. And when Mephibosheth arrives, terrified, bowing to the ground, calling himself a dead dog, David says: don't be afraid. I will 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 eat at my table for the rest of your life.
Every day. At the king's table. The grandson of his enemy.
This is what it looks like when the mother bird principle becomes a life. David didn't show mercy to Mephibosheth because Mephibosheth deserved it. He showed it because that's the kind of person David was. Someone who looked for opportunities to show kindness even to people who had no claim on it, even when no one would have blamed him for looking the other way.
And God called David a man after His own heart.
Is there someone in your life from whom you've been withholding kindness? Maybe rightfully so, maybe they don't deserve it, maybe they were more wrong than you. The question David asks is worth sitting with: is there anyone I can show kindness to? Not because they've earned it. Because that's the kind of person you want to be.
That's the kind of person God puts the wind behind.
Reflection:
Think of one person in your life you've been withholding kindness from, intentionally or by default. One small act of intentional kindness toward them today. Not because they deserve it. Because you want to be the kind of person David was.
Today's Prayer:
Lord, it is easy to show kindness to people who are kind to me. It's something else entirely to show it to people who haven't earned it, who have hurt me, who I don't feel like loving today. Give me David's heart. Help me ask the question, is there anyone I can show kindness to, and then actually do it. Amen.
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