We all know David is an upstanding guy, and this chapter further exemplifies that. Oh, if we could only be like David! He didn’t need to consider if anyone from Saul’s family was living still, but he did, and he went above and beyond just finding Saul’s heir: he basically invited Mephibosheth, who was Saul’s grandson, to join his family. Verse 11 says David treated Mephibosheth like one of his own sons. To add to this beautiful moment, Mephibosheth accepted. We could easily say that Mephibosheth was crippled, so of course he joined the king’s family, but it sounds like Saul’s grandson was doing ok, despite his disability. And don’t you just wonder what that was??? The text in my NLT says he was crippled in both feet. In fact, it repeats that little tidbit, and if you remember correctly, it was noted in a chapter before this one also. I found myself reading about polio the other day when the news broke that the first person on earth to receive the coronavirus vaccine was a 90-year-old woman from Great Britain. The most interesting (to me) fact was that polio has likely been around for centuries, but it just wasn’t called polio until the late 1800s. I also learned that it’s still kicking around in Afghanistan and Iran. That’s super sad considering that a vaccine has been around since the 1950s. If you’re old enough to remember eating a sugar cube at the doctor’s office when you were little, you probably remember getting the polio vaccine. Best vaccine ever!!! I say that in jest. I do remember eating the sugar cube, but I had no clue that I was being protected from a deadly virus. I think I received another shot that day, so the nurse disguised the sugar cube as a treat to win back my love. Haha. Little did I know that she was loving me with that “treat,” as well as the painful jab she administered beforehand. Wow. I got way off topic there, but I’m still wondering what made Mephibosheth’s feet crippled.
Writing prompt: crippling thoughts
Write about what you think made Mephibosheth’s feet crippled, or discuss David’s hospitality and Mephibosheth’s acceptance of it.
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