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No one had mourned like David mourned.
He was scarred. He was hurt. He felt like something huge was missing. That something's name was Jonathan, and he'd been gone for months.
David sat on his roof thinking about the incredible times they shared together. The two of them fighting against the Philistines and destroying hundreds of enemy soldiers together. The two of them spending their intrepid lives together and being there for one another. Jonathan saving his life countless times from Jonathan's decaying and jealous father, Saul.
His name, Jonathan, literally meant 'Jehovah-given', and David believed that. Their pacts of friendship and brotherhood hadn't ended, and truly, they never would end. David thought of the sacrifices that Jonathan had made for him. He would have died for David, even at the hands of his father if it came to that. They had a very real friendship, and David remembered it with both fondness and depression.
All their times ended abruptly when Jonathan was killed in battle against the Philistines. The two of them were fighting on different areas of the field, and David left after he destroyed the enemy. The news of Jonathan's death came from a messenger who told of Jonathan's valiant death fighting next to two of his brothers.
David put his thoughts onto paper and wrote,
“Saul and Jonathan were beloved and pleasant in their lives, And in their death they were not divided; They were swifter than eagles, They were stronger than lions."
Through all of this, David realized that at some point his mourning would have to stop. He was the King of Israel, after all. He would have to return to regular, ordinary life, but this time around, it would be a very different life: one without his closest friend and confidante.
Of course, David was not the only person affected by the death of Jonathan. Mephibosheth was Jonathan's only kin that still lived, and he was just five years old when war took his father's and grandfather's life. Because of the battles, Mephibosheth was hidden away, and David never heard anything of him after that.
David's heart filled with hope and fear one morning as he began contemplating what he ought to do moving forward. Jonathan was gone, but perhaps not all of Jonathan was gone.
Ziba, the servant of Saul was summoned very early one day to David's court and presented with a pivotal question by the King himself: "Is there still anyone who is left of the house of Saul, that I may show him the kindness of God for Jonathan’s sake?"
The answer wasn't much of a challenge for Ziba, but it was for David. "There is a son of Jonathan who is lame in both feet," Ziba said. "His name is Mephibosheth."
David was ecstatic. For, his love for Jonathan would not end at Jonathan's death; rather, their bond would continue through Jonathan's flesh and blood.
While David was making preparations, Ziba sat in his quarters shocked. He was nearly certain that David had missed the part about Mephibosheth being paralyzed from the waist down; he was a social outcast, capable of nothing in this world. If teenagers back then had called Mephibosheth lame, they, quite literally, would have been right. Ziba was in no position to reprimand the king, though. So, he decided to sit back and watch things unfold.
Everything was prepared, and the day of Mephibosheth's arrival came. As he was carried into the King's hall, Mephibosheth wasn't smiling. He wasn't attempting to bow. He wasn't singing to the King.
Mephibosheth was sitting on his mat with his face in his hands, weeping.
Never in his entire life had this happened to him. He had been seen as worthless by most, and worse than that by others. Never had anyone, especially a King, seen him as valuable, or worthwhile, or treasured.
David gave him a short introduction about his relationship with Jonathan and his desire to bless Mephibosheth. Mephibosheth didn't hear much of it. He was busy wiping his tears, and after that, he, still in shock and disbelief, said “What is your servant, that you should show regard for a dead dog such as I?”
It was made very clear that David would never view him as a dead dog. David promised to show him the love that he had shown his father, and that Mephibosheth would eat at the King's table all of his life. In fact, David treated him like his own son.
All of Mephibosheth's imperfections were quickly and radically overlooked by King David. It came as an absolute surprise to Ziba and the rest of the house of David, that this outcast would be adopted as a son.
Perhaps you can see the similarities between this story and the story of the Gospel, but David puts into practice what we take for granted; that God in Christ would sacrifice His life for us so that we might be adopted into His family. We look at the deformed Mephibosheth and think it incredible that David could love him so easily, but I think we need to look more closely at our deformed, depraved, disgusting selves and praise God for His great love; a love that was infinitely, unabashedly demonstrated by His death on the Cross.
This all ought to bring us back to that question we posed at the start: how far are you willing to go for God? Here's what the answer should look like: as far as He went for me.
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"What a friend we have in Jesus..."
Andrew
