“Mephibosheth bowed respectfully and exclaimed, ‘Who is your servant, that you should show such kindness to a dead dog like me?’” (2 Samuel 9:8 NLT)

It would be an understatement to say David had a complicated relationship with King Saul and his family. David was the anointed successor to Saul. As far as Saul was concerned, that made David his enemy. In fact, he tried to kill David several times.

Yet David married Saul’s daughter Michal. And Saul’s son Jonathan was David’s best friend. Jonathan tried to intervene on David’s behalf with his father. But when he realized how deeply Saul hated David, Jonathan urged his friend to flee.

But before the two friends parted, Jonathan asked David to show kindness to his descendants when David became king. Some time later, Jonathan died with his father on a battlefield.

History teaches us that the first thing many people do when they rise to power is eliminate any potential rivals. But David chose a different approach. It’s not that he was unaware of the political landscape. Saul and Jonathan may have been dead, but Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth was still alive. He might have challenged David for the throne of Israel.

Keep in mind, too, that Mephibosheth was Saul’s grandson. David could have gotten a little payback by making him run for his life the way Saul made David run for his life. Instead, he invited Mephibosheth to his palace.

“Don’t be afraid!” David said. “I intend to show kindness to you because of my promise to your father, Jonathan. I will give you all the property that once belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will eat here with me at the king’s table!” (2 Samuel 9:7 NLT).

This wasn’t an empty promise. Four verses later, we find these words: “And from that time on, Mephibosheth ate regularly at David’s table, like one of the king’s own sons” (nlt).

David was part of the most exclusive genealogy in human history—the genealogy of Jesus Christ. Yet his attitude was inclusive. He showed loving generosity to someone who had done nothing to earn it. He showed grace to someone who might otherwise have been his enemy.

And in this story, we find a beautiful picture of God and His mercy. Mephibosheth had nothing. He deserved nothing. He could repay nothing. In fact, he was hiding from the king. That’s us. We have nothing to offer God. We’ve done nothing to deserve His favor or forgiveness. Sometimes we even try to hide from Him.

And what does He do? He seeks us out. He adopts us and invites us to eat at His table. He makes us part of His royal family. This is the relationship God wants with you.

That’s why it’s essential that you get to know Him for yourself. He loves you. He has a plan for your life that’s better than your plan for yourself. But you need to come to Him. Mephibosheth could have refused David’s offer. He might have said, “I’m not going to that palace. I’m not going to sit at his table. I don’t want any of it. I want to stay here in Lo-Debar and watch the tumbleweeds blow by.” Instead, he made a wise decision that changed his life. You can do the same, right now, simply by embracing what the Lord is offering you. Your life will never be the same.

Reflection question: How has God shown mercy to you?

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“Then David confessed to Nathan, ‘I have sinned against the Lord.’

Nathan replied, ‘Yes, but the Lord has forgiven you, and you won’t die for this sin.’” (2 Samuel 12:13 NLT)

You could argue that, aside from Adam and Eve’s eating of the forbidden fruit, no sin has gotten as much press as David’s adulterous affair with Bathsheba. It seems like everyone has heard the story.

In 1 Corinthians 10:12, the apostle Paul writes, “If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall” (NLT). So if you read David’s story and think, I would never do anything like that, you’re missing the point. A better response would be, “God, help me not to make those kinds of decisions. Instead, help me stay close to You.”

The story in 2 Samuel 11 begins with David in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was on the roof of his palace in Jerusalem when he should have been with his army, battling the Ammonites. From his roof, he saw an extraordinarily beautiful woman taking a bath. It was Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite, one of David’s loyal soldiers.

David sent for her and slept with her. And Bathsheba became pregnant with his child. At that point, David could have repented and faced the consequences. Instead, he tried to cover it up. He arranged for Uriah to be sent home from the front. He wanted Uriah to sleep with Bathsheba so that Uriah and everyone else in Israel would assume that her baby was his.

But Uriah refused to enjoy the pleasures of home while his fellow soldiers were still fighting. Instead, he slept outside the palace gates. So David took a more sinister approach. He sent Uriah back to the front with a letter for Joab, his commander. In the letter, David ordered Joab to station Uriah where the battle was fiercest and then pull back the rest of his forces. In other words, he wanted Joab to make sure that Uriah was killed in battle. (David probably didn’t sign that letter, “A man after God’s own heart.”)

This time, his plan worked. Uriah was killed, and David immediately took Bathsheba as his wife so that her pregnancy would seem legitimate. For a moment, he might have thought he’d gotten away with everything. But there was one problem: “The Lord was displeased with what David had done” (2 Samuel 11:27 NLT).

Twelve months later, God sent the prophet Nathan to confront David. To his credit, David immediately admitted his guilt. David and Bathsheba’s child died, and they had to live with that loss for the rest of their lives.

But, as devastating as his sin was, David made a comeback. He faced repercussions, but ultimately his life ended well. Remember, David came from Bethlehem. And that’s where Jesus was born. Why? Because Jesus was the offspring of David through the bloodline of Mary and the lineage of Joseph. That’s why Joseph and Mary went to Bethlehem to be taxed.

Want to know who else made it into the messianic line of Jesus Christ? Bathsheba. She repented, too, and was included in the most exclusive genealogy in human history. When you look at the family line of David, you find not only Bathsheba but also two other women, Tamar and Rahab, both prostitutes who turned to the God who gives second chances.

The ideal, of course, is obeying Him in the first place. We need to understand that God’s plans are better than ours. Having said that, it does not mean that they are always the easiest plans or even the most appealing at the moment. There are times when we are going through life that we might not like the plan of God. But God’s plans are always better for us in the long run.

Reflection question: What God-given second chance are you most thankful for?

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“The Lord is my light and my salvation—so why should I be afraid? The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger, so why should I tremble?” (Psalm 27:1 NLT)

David was a shepherd, a musician, and a poet. When you think of the qualifications necessary for those occupations, courage probably isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. Yet David showed remarkable courage. He killed a lion and a bear protecting his flock. He walked onto a battlefield to face the giant, heavily armored Philistine warrior Goliath, carrying nothing but a slingshot and a few rocks. He led King Saul’s army into countless battles.

At some point, though, fear replaced courage in David’s heart. First Samuel 21:10 says, “So David escaped from Saul and went to King Achish of Gath” (NLT). Even though God had protected him again and again in high-risk situations, David chose to run away.

He may have been thinking, I liked it better when I was watching sheep. At least then I knew who my enemies were. He may have felt as though he were in over his head with all the political intrigue and royal scheming. We’re talking about a small-town boy here. He was probably still trying to wrap his head around the fact that he was the anointed king of Israel. (And it wouldn’t be long before God dropped the bombshell that he also would be the ancestor of the Messiah!)

Whatever the reasons, David was gripped by fear, and that caused him to take his eyes off the Lord. In his panic, he ran to enemy territory, where the Philistine king recognized him immediately. First Samuel 21:12 says, “David heard these comments and was very afraid of what King Achish of Gath might do to him” (NLT).

David escaped from Gath and hid in a cave called Adullam. And that’s where he wrote these words from Psalm 142: “I cry out to the Lord; I plead for the Lord’s mercy. I pour out my complaints before him and tell him all my troubles. When I am overwhelmed, you alone know the way I should turn. Wherever I go, my enemies have set traps for me. I look for someone to come and help me, but no one gives me a passing thought! No one will help me; no one cares a bit what happens to me” (verses 1–4 NLT).

But then he shifts gears. “Then I pray to you, O Lord. I say, ‘You are my place of refuge. You are all I really want in life. Hear my cry, for I am very low. Rescue me from my persecutors, for they are too strong for me. Bring me out of prison so I can thank you. The godly will crowd around me, for you are good to me’” (verses 5–7 NLT).

David understood that when the bottom drops out, you look up. You put your focus on God, and not on your problems. You give your fears to Him. That’s how to be a person after God’s own heart.

Maybe you are facing what seems like an impossible situation right now. You may not be able to see a way out. But God can. Call on Him. Then stand still and see what He will do.

Reflection question: What fears do you need to give to God?

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