Just and right
2 Samuel 7:18 – Chapter 9
This is one of those rare sections where everything is going well for God’s people.
David takes the news well that it will not be his place to build a house for God, and renews his own obedience and states his trust in God.
David continues to defeat his enemies. While the battles are often bloody, he seeks to subdue rather than totally destroy the peoples he defeats. God gives him victory wherever he goes.
As he consolidates his power, he also accumulates wealth: gold and silver and bronze.
His reign is good for the people, with David “doing what was just and right for all his people.”
With everything going well, David turns his concern to the all-but-destroyed house of Saul and asks if there is anyone left from it—not to kill them as might have been expected, but to honor the family of the man he still considers to have been God’s chosen king.
He is pleased to find that the one remaining branch of the family is Jonathan’s son, Mephibosheth.
David restores Saul’s property to Mephibosheth and provides one of Saul’s servants to serve him and his family. Mephibosheth will also eat at David’s table like one of his own sons.
It’s worth noting that in an era that was not kind to people with disabilities, which could be seen as a sign of weakness or even as a curse for wrongdoing, that David takes on a man who is lame in both feet as an honored member of his household and provides him with substantial wealth and the honor that brings.