Inside Out Living

The devotional from last Saturday (9/13) was about how David fulfilled his covenant promise to Jonathan by showing kindness to his son, Mephibosheth. Today, we have been reminded of this act in the reading. As we think about this today we are going to consider David’s treatment of Mephibosheth in light of God’s treatment of us.

Mephibosheth had done nothing to deserve the kindness that David showed to him. It was an undeserved gift. Mephibosheth was the benefactor of David’s decision to fulfill his commitment to Jonathan.

God is not contractually or morally bound to save anyone. Based on our actions, we are all deserving of his judgment. For our sake, God has chosen to extend grace to all who come to faith in Jesus Christ. “God saved you by His special favor when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Jonathan and David had a special friendship. Chapter 20 gives us a little insight into how close the two were. Unlike his father, Jonathan was not jealous for the throne of Israel, but recognized that the Lord was with David. Thus, as part of their covenant of friendship, Jonathan asked David to continue to show “faithful love” to his descendants even if Jonathan died. David accepted this responsibility as part of their covenant.

Have you ever made a promise without thinking the consequences through? I think all of us as parents have done this at some point. So, how many of our promises are we to keep? If the Lord is the standard for righteousness, then we are to keep them all, for “the LORD is faithful to all His promises” (Psalm 145:13 NIV).
What did David do about the promise he made to Jonathan? 2 Samuel 9 tells us that David, in fact, kept his promise to Jonathan by showing kindness to his son, Mephibosheth.

Are you willing to keep your promises like David did? What about when no one is watching? Do you still keep your promises then?