2 Samuel 9:7-13 – The Covenant
Why does David do all this? The answer really is ‘covenant’. The word translated kindness in this chapter is the Hebrew word ‘hesed’. Which could be translated as ‘covenant love’ or ‘steadfast love’. 15 or 20 years before, Jonathan had made a covenant with David. Jonathan gladly accepted what Saul refused to accept – that David was God’s chosen king. Jonathan says to David: ‘If I am still alive, show me the steadfast love of the LORD, that I may not die, and do not cut off your steadfast love – your hesed – from my house forever, when the LORD cuts off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth. And Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David…And Jonathan made David swear again by his love for him’. David had made a similar promise to Saul. The first time David has the opportunity to kill Saul and doesn’t, Saul says at the end of 1st Samuel 24: ‘Swear to me therefore by the LORD that you will not cut off my offspring after me, and that you will not destroy my name out of my father’s house’. And David keeps his promises.
Those covenant promises are the basis of all that David does in this chapter. David could have said – look, I know I made the promise, but times have changed. But he’s made a covenant. In the words of Psalm 15, he’s sworn to his hurt, and isn’t going to try and wriggle out of it. Make no mistake, this is costly for David. It’s costly, because it leaves the possibility that Mephibosheth or his son could become the focus of a rebellion. It’s also costly for David in v9 to give Mephibosheth all the land that belonged to Saul.
God’s love for us is a covenant love. From all eternity the Father and Son made a covenant commitment that the Son would save a people for himself. Throughout the Bible we see God’s covenant promises to his people that he would do just that. We can be sure that having made those promises, he’s not going to change his mind. He’s not going to let us go. Because he has made a covenant commitment to share his immeasurable riches with us. Neither the passing of time – or the fact that we’re so undeserving – can weaken that commitment.
Question
- What do we learn about God’s covenant love here?
Prayer Points
- Pray for the preaching and hearing of God’s Word tomorrow.
- Use prayer points from your congregation.
- Pray for family matters.