2 Samuel 9:2-3


2 Samuel 9:2-3

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.”

Can you imagine David’s surprise when one of Saul’s former household servants tells him, “Yes there is one still alive but he is crippled in both feet.” WOW! I wonder if David got more than he expected? I could imagine David thinking; we will find a guy who is doing halfway decent and I will have a chance to fulfill my promise I made to Jonathan by showing this guy a bit of kindness. Instead, he finds someone, a son of Jonathan his best friend no less, who is disabled. This is a man who is in the greatest of needs, not someone you can simply show some kindness and feel better about yourself.

But, this highlights the true nature of grace. Grace is never a two-way street. It is by nature a one-way street. Grace is shown to those undeserving and unable to merit or earn it. Mephibosheth, Jonathan’s son, had absolutely nothing to offer David. In fact, not only did he have nothing, but he was hiding from the king.

The same is true of us. We deserve nothing, had nothing, and could offer God nothing. We were hiding when He found us. Yet, the King set His heart on you. He sought you out fully knowing that you had nothing to give in return. What’s more – to seek us out and find us would cost the King everything, including His own life. Jesus never asks for or demands a single thing from us before he goes willingly to the cross. He simply goes out of love showing grace.