“I will surely show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan.” (2 Samuel 9:7)

In the powerful article “Does My Son Know You?” sportswriter Jonathan Tjarks wrote of his battle with terminal cancer and his desire for others to care well for his wife and young son. The thirty-four-old wrote the piece just six months prior to his death. Tjarks, a believer in Jesus whose father had died when he was a young adult, shared Scriptures that speak of care for widows and orphans. And in words directed to his friends, he wrote, “When I see you in heaven, there’s only one thing I’m going to ask-Were you good to my son and my wife?…Does my son know you?”

King David wondered if there was “anyone still left of the house of Saul to whom he could show kindness for his dear friend Jonathan’s sake” (2 Samuel 9;1). A son of Jonathan, Mephibosheth, who was “lame in both feet” due to an accident, was brought to the king. David said to him, “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.” David showed loving care for Mephibosheth, and it’s likely that in time the king truly got to know him.

Jesus has called us to love others just as He loves us. As he works in and through us, let’s truly get to know and love them well.

Daily Questions

1. How can you know others more deeply?
2. What will it look like for you to love them the way God loves you?

Daily Thoughts

Heavenly, Father, please help us to honor You by trying our best to truly know and love others. Even the most difficult of people who may even despise us.

2 Samuel 9:1-10

David asked, “Is there anyone still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?”

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.

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.”…

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.

“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.”

Mephibosheth bowed down and said, “What is your servant, that you should notice a dead dog like me?”

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. 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).

Bonus Information

David and Jonathan offer a glimpse of what a true friendship looks like. Though Jonathan was King Saul’s son, he sought to protect David from the king’s irrational anger and bitter hatred. Upon hearing news of Jonathan’s death, David wrote of the pain, loss, and despair over the death of a dear friend. Yet, even during his grief for Jonathan, he also grieved over Saul. Saul had pursued David like a common criminal, but David still grieved the king’s death.