Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
When David had gone a short distance beyond the summit, there was Ziba, the steward of Mephibosheth, waiting to meet him. He had a string of donkeys saddled and loaded with two hundred loaves of bread, a hundred cakes of raisins, a hundred cakes of figs and a skin of wine.
The king asked Ziba, "Why have you brought these?"
Ziba answered, "The donkeys are for the king's household to ride on, the bread and fruit are for the men to eat, and the wine is to refresh those who become exhausted in the desert."
The king then asked, "Where is your master's grandson?"
Ziba said to him, "He is staying in Jerusalem, because he thinks, 'Today the house of Israel will give me back my grandfather's kingdom.' "
Then the king said to Ziba, "All that belonged to Mephibosheth is now yours."
"I humbly bow," Ziba said. "May I find favor in your eyes, my lord the king."
2 Samuel 16:1-4
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Mephibosheth, Saul's grandson, also went down to meet the king. He had not taken care of his feet or trimmed his mustache or washed his clothes from the day the king left until the day he returned safely. When he came from Jerusalem to meet the king, the king asked him, "Why didn't you go with me, Mephibosheth?"
He said, "My lord the king, since I your servant am lame, I said, 'I will have my donkey saddled and will ride on it, so I can go with the king.' But Ziba my servant betrayed me. And he has slandered your servant to my lord the king. My lord the king is like an angel of God; so do whatever pleases you. All my grandfather's descendants deserved nothing but death from my lord the king, but you gave your servant a place among those who eat at your table. So what right do I have to make any more appeals to the king?"
The king said to him, "Why say more? I order you and Ziba to divide the fields."
Mephibosheth said to the king, "Let him take everything, now that my lord the king has arrived home safely."
2 Samuel 19:24-30
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Not long after David had encountered Hushai the Arkite at the summit of the Mount of Olives, he came upon Ziba, the man he had appointed as “steward of Mephibosheth”, Saul’s crippled grandson who David had taken into his household and treated like family. We read where Ziba was waiting to meet David with “a string of donkeys saddled and loaded with two hundred loaves of bread, a hundred cakes of raisins, a hundred cakes of figs and a skin of wine”.
Surprised to see Ziba, he asked him why he had brought everything to which Ziba replied, “The donkeys are for the king's household to ride on, the bread and fruit are for the men to eat, and the wine is to refresh those who become exhausted in the desert."
On the surface, Ziba’s actions seemed noble enough. Still, we get a sense that David isn’t quite convinced of Ziba’s motives. After all, he had been betrayed enough up to this point by others he thought he could trust.
And so we see where David inquires about the whereabouts of Saul’s grandson, Mephibosheth, and Ziba tells David that he remained in Jerusalem…and then added, “because he thinks, 'Today the house of Israel will give me back my grandfather's kingdom.' "
David, quick to judgment, assumes Ziba is telling the truth about Mephibosheth and, feeling betrayed once again by someone he had helped and extended a hand of hospitality to, decides to give everything that belonged to Mephibosheth to Ziba…to which Ziba replies, “May I find favor in your eyes, my lord the king."
Ziba’s actions and words led to his own gain and Mephibosheth’s loss, even though he wasn’t present nor given a chance to tell his side of the story. David made a crucial decision based on Ziba’s words and as we will see, made an error in not getting both sides of the story.
For as we fast forward ahead, we will see where David will eventually return to Jerusalem as Absalom’s plot goes awry. And as he enters the city, he will encounter Mephibosheth and get the other side of the story…and discover that he had erred in believing everything Ziba had told him.
For as David came back to Jerusalem in Chapter 19 of 2nd Samuel, we read where “Mephibosheth…went down to meet” him. David noticed Mephibosheth’s physical appearance immediately, observing that he “had not taken care of his feet or trimmed his mustache or washed his clothes from the day the king left until the day he returned safely” This was unusual because typically the king’s guests would always present themselves properly before him. But Mephibosheth’s appearance showed the depth of his sorrow and concern for David and the people of Jerusalem as they were forced to flee a conniving Absalom.
Noting the appearance, David next asked Mephibosheth why he didn’t go along with him. Mephibosheth replied:
"My lord the king, since I your servant am lame, I said, 'I will have my donkey saddled and will ride on it, so I can go with the king.' But Ziba my servant betrayed me. And he has slandered your servant to my lord the king. My lord the king is like an angel of God; so do whatever pleases you. All my grandfather's descendants deserved nothing but death from my lord the king, but you gave your servant a place among those who eat at your table. So what right do I have to make any more appeals to the king?"
Note here several key points.
First, Mephibosheth was crippled. David knew this as it was one of the factors he considered when deciding to make sure he was cared for, assigning Ziba as his steward.
Second, David learns that Ziba betrayed Mephibosheth and slandered him before David. I’m sure David had to flashback to the donkeys that Ziba had brought to him while he was in exile from Jerusalem and figure that one of those donkeys probably belonged to Mephibosheth.
David could start to see it all come together now and see how he had once again been tricked by someone he trusted.
Third, we see Mephibosheth show his respect and admiration of David comparing him to “an angel of God” and not demanding anything from David in return but rather submitting himself to whatever David pleased to do about the matter.
Finally, we see Mephibosheth display absolute humility and thanks before David, confessing that his “grandfather's descendants deserved nothing but death” from David but instead David had given him a “place among those who eat at your table”. Already feeling blessed, Mephibosheth admits that he has no right to ask for anything else.
Imagine how David must have felt at this point. He had fully believed Ziba without getting Mephibosheth’s side…and now that he had that, he was in a quandary…one that would have been avoidable had he not been so quick to judgment.
And so David was forced to retract his earlier decision and ordered that Ziba and Mephibosheth divide the fields. And it’s then that we see Mephibosheth seal the matter on who was really being truthful as he surrenders his portion of the fields to Ziba…for he was just satisfied enough that David had returned home safely. No material gain could top that.
Has this ever happened to you? Have you ever jumped to judgment before you got both sides of the story?
I couldn’t help but think of a story in a college sociology class I was taking on child welfare. Specifically, we were dealing with child behavior and how you had to find what triggers a behavior and treat it before you could effectively deal with the behavior itself.
The story was simple enough. A mother is shopping at the store and has two young children, a 4 year old boy and a 3 year old girl. While the mother is preoccupied with a clothing rack, the kids are doing what kids love to do…play. And in the midst of their playing, the girl pinches the boy hard on his arm and in response, the boy hits the girl causing her to cry. The mother turns to see the situation, the daughter crying and saying the son hit her, and immediately paddles the boy, never taking time to find out that the girl had started it all by hurting him with a pinch.
Of course, the idea here was to illustrate that the boy’s behavior in hitting was triggered by his sister’s pinch…thus take away the pinch and the hitting never happens. But there is a secondary lesson from the illustration and this came in the mother assuming she understood the full situation when she didn’t. And her decision and reaction became flawed as a result.
Friends, we all will face a matter like this at some time or another in life…a matter where we will have to make a decision between two cases and when we do, we would be best suited to get both sides of the story first before doing one other thing that David failed to do…that the mother with the children failed to do…but something we simply must do if we want to ensure we do what is right at anytime.
We need to turn to the Lord.
For had David just turned to the Lord and inquired about Ziba and what he was up to, the Lord would have helped David see that it was a ruse and prevent David from making the wrong call. Had the woman turned to the Lord in the store ever so briefly and asked Him to help her sort out what had happened, the Lord would have helped her see that it was a pinch that led to a hit…and she could have responded appropriately.
The Lord will never allow us to be betrayed or deceived if we just turn to Him in faith and trust. He will always take what is in the darkness and bring it to light…not just some of the time but all of the time.
And so when it comes to matters of getting the full story, we can get it from those who we’re dealing with…but we’ll only have the full truth when we turn to the One who IS TRUTH…both now and forever. Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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