2 Samuel 9:6

_AND THE KING SAID, IS THERE NOT YET ANY OF THE HOUSE OF SAUL, THAT I MAY SHEW THE KINDNESS OF GOD UNTO HIM?_ And Ziba said unto the king, Jonathan hath yet a son, which is lame on his feet. No JFB commentary on these verses....

1-8 Amidst numerous affairs we are apt to forget the gratitude we owe, and the engagements we are under, not only to our friends, but to God himself. Yet persons of real godliness will have no rest till they have discharged them. And the most proper objects of kindness and charity, frequently will not be found without inquiry. Jonathan was David's sworn friend, therefore he shows kindness to his son Mephibosheth. God is faithful to us; let us not be unfaithful to one another. If Providence has raised us, and our friends and their families are brought low, we must look upon that as giving us the fairer opportunity of being kind to them....

MEPHIBOSHETH - Also called Merib-baal (and Meri-baal, probably by a clerical error, 1 Chronicles 9:40). The two names seem to have the same meaning: Bosheth, shame, being the equivalent for Baal, and Mephi (scattering or destroying, being equivalent to Merib (contending with). Compare Ish-bosheth and Esh-baal, Jerub-baal and Jerub-besheth. HE FELL ON HIS FACE - In fear. Such generosity to a fallen rival as David showed in restoring him his paternal property seemed to him scarcely credible....

EXPOSITION 2 SAMUEL 9:1 IS THERE YET ANY THAT IS LEFT OF THE HOUSE OF SAUL? As Mephibosheth was five years old at his father's death (2 Samuel 4:4), but now had a son (2 Samuel 9:12), a sufficient time must have elapsed for him to grow up and marry; so that probably the events of this chapter occurred seventeen or eighteen years after the battle of Gilboa. As David was king at Hebron for seven years and a half, he had been king now of all Israel for about nine years. But during this long period he had been engaged in a weary struggle, which had left him little repose, and during which it might have been dangerous to draw the house of Saul out of obscurity. But he was at

NOW WHEN MEPHIBOSHETH, THE SON OF JONATHAN, THE SON OF SAUL,.... For that was his name, though sometimes called Meribbaal, 1 Chronicles 8:34; and this was his relation to Jonathan and Saul, the son of the one, and grandson of the other: WAS COME UNTO DAVID; to his court and palace in Jerusalem, being thither brought; for he could not go of himself, being lame: HE FELL ON HIS FACE, AND DID REVERENCE; to him as a king, in a civil way, and in the best manner he could, considering that he was lame on his feet: AND DAVID SAID, MEPHIBOSHETH; is it he? having learnt what his name was, this he expressed with great vehemency and affection, as glad that he had found one of Jonathan's posterity: and HE ANSWERED, BEHOLD THY SERVANT! he answered to his name, and owned his subjection to David, and was ready to take th

6. DAVID AND MEPHIBOSHETH CHAPTER 9 _ 1. Mephibosheth brought to David (2 Samuel 9:1)_ 2. Grace and mercy shown to him (2 Samuel 9:7) The story of Mephibosheth is the first thing mentioned after the government of David had been fully established. Typically it reveals the gospel in a beautiful way, and dispensationally the kindness of God which will be manifested in the coming kingdom. Mephibosheth is a type of the sinner and the condition which he is in. He was helpless, being lame of both feet. How he became lame is found in 2 Samuel 4:4. He fell and became lame, a helpless cripple. It reminds us of the fall of man and the helpless condition into which sin has put man. Therefore he could not c

2 SAMUEL 9. DAVID SHOWS FAVOUR TO MERI-BAAL (J). David, asking as to survivors of the house of Saul, hears of Meri-baal (2 Samuel 4:4 *); he bestows upon him Saul's private estates, and gives him the status of a royal prince at his court....

MEPHIBOSHETH. Born in 965 (2 Samuel 4:4). Now seventeen, and father of. young son (2 Samuel 9:12)....

_Mephibosheth_ See note on ch. 2 Samuel 4:4....

AND DAVID SAID, MEPHIBOSHETH, &C.— David said, _Art thou Mephibosheth? He answered, I am thy servant._ Houbigant. _Note;_ (1.) We must be not only ready to do good when applied to, but seek for occasions, and enquire out the most proper objects. (2.) It is not enough to forgive those who hate us, but we must shew kindness to them or their families in their distresses; this is God-like. (3.) No advancement, or change of circumstances, should make us forget our old friends; they and theirs have a title to our notice, and, according to our power, to our assistance. (4.) That is the acceptable charity, and no other, which is done with an eye to God's glory, and flows from a sense of God's love to us....