JUST AND EQUITABLE RULERS
Opening Prayer
Lord, how can I reach out to someone truly in need of what I can supply?
Read 2 SAMUEL 8:15; 9:1–13
2 Samuel 8:15
David’s Officials
15 David reigned over all Israel, doing what was just and right for all his people.
2 Samuel 9
David and Mephibosheth
9 David asked, “Is there anyone still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?”
2 Now there was a servant of Saul’s household named Ziba. They summoned him to appear before David, and the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?”
“At your service,” he replied.
3 The king asked, “Is there no one still alive from the house of Saul to whom I can show God’s kindness?”
Ziba answered the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan; he is lame in both feet.”
4 “Where is he?” the king asked.
Ziba answered, “He is at the house of Makir son of Ammiel in Lo Debar.”
5 So King David had him brought from Lo Debar, from the house of Makir son of Ammiel.
6 When Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, he bowed down to pay him honor.
David said, “Mephibosheth!”
“At your service,” he replied.
7 “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.”
8 Mephibosheth bowed down and said, “What is your servant, that you should notice a dead dog like me?”
9 Then the king summoned Ziba, Saul’s steward, and said to him, “I have given your master’s grandson everything that belonged to Saul and his family. 10 You and your sons and your servants are to farm the land for him and bring in the crops, so that your master’s grandson may be provided for. And Mephibosheth, grandson of your master, will always eat at my table.” (Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.)
11 Then Ziba said to the king, “Your servant will do whatever my lord the king commands his servant to do.” So Mephibosheth ate at David’s table like one of the king’s sons.
12 Mephibosheth had a young son named Mika, and all the members of Ziba’s household were servants of Mephibosheth. 13 And Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, because he always ate at the king’s table; he was lame in both feet.
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
Are you thanking God, or areyou praying, for just and equitable government in your country right now?
Whether they be democracies, dictatorships or military juntas or any other type of government, how many countries do we know for which the words of verse 15 can be said of their rulers? The acclamation poured out at their accession soon fades and their approval ratings plummet as the glorious promises they have made evaporate. Sadly, even those who were known to be men or women of God often succumb to the temptations accompanying power. Thank God for glorious exceptions such as King David.
David seeks out the family of his faithful friend and what he finds is not desirable. Jonathan’s only son is alive but lame, staying with a caring friend (9:4). Ziba, manager of the family estate of the late king, has a large retinue of servants to assist in this task. However, with 15 sons of his own to support, it would seem that he does not include the care of the lame prince on his list of responsibilities. He will later reveal himself as a dishonest, self-seeking opportunist by the way he abandons his master in time of crisis (2 Sam. 16:1–4; 19:24–30).
One of the chief ways we recognize good government is how it treats the poor and disadvantaged citizens, saving them from exploiters such as Ziba. The fatherless and widows remain protected under the law given by the God of Israel (Exod. 22:22). Indeed, this is a cardinal injunction issued to their rulers and one of the factors for which, again and again, he takes them to task (e.g., Isa. 1:23; Mal. 3:5).
Apply
“All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I had been eager to do all along” (Gal. 2:10). Does this describe your own life?
Closing prayer
Lord, we pray for godly rulers who rule those under themin the fear of God.
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