David Shows Kindness to Mephibosheth

David's kingdom was now secure, and there was little danger of any of the descendants of Saul seeking to obtain the throne. The king's generous nature now manifested itself in his desire to show some kindness to the memory of Jonathan who died with his father Saul at the battle of Mt. Gilboa (ch. 1:4, 17). His son Mephibosheth was then only five years old (ch. 4:4).

Since Mephibosheth now had a young son, the experience here related must have taken place a number of years after David had come to the throne. But David had not forgotten his great friendship with Jonathan, and was now desirous of showing kindness to the house of his fallen enemy out of memory to his friend. So a search was made for Saul's descendents. It seems that Mephibosheth, fearful of his life, had secluded himself so successfully that his whereabouts were known to only a few of the closest friends of the house of Saul.

When called before King David, Mephibosheth realized that his life was at the mercy of the king. If David had so desired, he could have given orders for his execution in order that the seed of Saul might be completely wiped out of existence, and that there would be no possibility for a rival to arise from that source who might claim the throne. And so Mephibosheth spoke very humbly. Mephibosheth was the grandson of Saul, and his childhood memories were of the struggle between his uncle Ish—bosheth and David. He now stood before the king, pledging loyalty to the house of David. Henceforth he would be a servant of the king, faithfully doing his bidding.

David expressed kindness to him and promised he would eat bread from his table all the days of his life. The expression need not be taken literally. The basic meaning is that the one to whom such a favor was shown was henceforth to be supported from the king's bounty—in other words, he was to receive a life pension. Thus the 400 prophets of the grove did "eat at Jezebel's table" (1 Kings 18:19). This simply means that these prophets, who were probably scattered throughout the realm, received their support from the queen.

Thus also Jehoiachin, after his release from prison, "did eat bread continually" before the king "all the days of his life" (2 Kings 25:29, 30). That is, a daily allowance was provided for him as long as he lived. In the case of Mephibosheth, however, special honor was involved, since he was placed on a par with David's own sons (2 Sam. 9:11). He was to be treated like one of the children of David. Such treatment served further to endear David to Mephibosheth and to ensure mutual good will.