SHOWING UNEXPECTED KINDNESS

PROCLAMATION

“When Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, son of Saul, came to David, he bowed down to pay him honor.  David said, ‘Mephibosheth!’  ‘At your service,’ he replied.  ‘Don’t be afraid,’ David said to him, ‘for I will surely 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 always eat at my table.’”  2 Samuel 9:6-7 (NIV)

EXPLANATION

After King David had enlarged Israel by expanding the borders in all directions, (2 Samuel 8:1-13) he began to search for any living relative of Saul to whom he could show kindness for the sake of Saul’s son, Jonathan. (2 Samuel 9:1)  One of Saul’s servants told David that Jonathan’s son, Mephibosheth, was still alive so David sent for him. (2 Samuel 9:2-5)  David did not know Mephibosheth, he was showing him this unexpected kindness because of his love for Jonathan.  Normally, in order to secure his own position a new king would kill anyone with competing royal seed rights to the throne.  Mephibosheth initially questioned King David (2 Samuel 9:8) but then he humbly accepted the unexpected gift of kindness. (2 Samuel 9:11)  

APPLICATION

Usually when people are much nicer to us than we expect, we tend to question them or distrust them and wonder what they are up to.  This text is an example of showing unexpected kindness with a very large gift and nothing is expected in return.  As believers it is good for us to go about showing random acts of kindness to others while expecting nothing in return.  Jesus, The Christ, said that people will know that we are His disciples if we show love for one another. (John 13:35)  We are even to be nice to our enemies.  When we show them acts of kindness, we are heaping burning coals on their head.  The Lord God will deal with them and we will be rewarded for doing the right thing. (Proverbs 25:22 and Romans 12:20)  Be kind to one another and be forgiving when kindness is not returned. (Ephesians 4:32)