As Mephibosheth falls on his face at the king's feet, he expects only judgement. Instead he hears words that he would never forget as long as he lived. In fact, we could sum up David's gracious invitation to Mephibosheth in this chapter in 3 commands. So what is the gospel as Mephibosheth hears it from David?3 commands:Don't be afraid.Eat at

Melchizedek had reason to hide from the king because of who he was descended from. But he also had reason to hide from the king because he had nothing to offer him. Why? Because he was a cripple. Mephibosheth says in v6 'Behold I am your servant'. But even if David spared him - what sort of service would he

As long as Mephibosheth is alive, he's a potential rallying point for those who don't want David as king. The only way for David to guarantee himself a nice, safe, secure kingdom is to take him out.Mephibosheth is well aware of that fact. The fact that David isn't aware of his existence is likely because Mephibosheth was trying to keep

In the Gospels Jesus is seldom called the Son of Moses or Son of Abraham, but over and over again he's called the Son of David. That doesn't just mean he was a descendant of David. It means when David the king is at his best, we're getting a glimpse into the heart of our true King. We're getting a

What David is doing in this chapter is very much focused on God's glory rather than his own, but David's actions are also for the good of the people. Those two things always go together. A victory for God's king is a victory for God's people. Not just because the kingdom they're part of will expand, but because David is

It's easy to do the right thing for the wrong motives. So what about David in this chapter? He's winning these great victories, but maybe it's just his own reputation that he cares about? There are little hints here that that's not the case. In v4 David takes 1700 horsemen. What does he do to them? He hamstrings all the

What about you? Do you realise that all of history is moving towards the moment when every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is LORD? Have you bowed the knee to him? Have you acknowledged Jesus Christ as the Lord of all? Or are you still fighting against him? If so, be warned, that in the

Because God had promised to be with him, David's victories in this chapter are inevitable. Just as it is with the progress of the church of Jesus Christ. The church may look doomed in this country, just like it has looked extinct in certain countries before. But we have Christ's promise: 'I will build my church and that gates of

What we see in this chapter is a king who is on the up. This is a king who is rising in power. The key word in the chapter is the word 'defeated'.v1: David defeated the Philistinesv2: And he defeated MoabV3: David also defeated HadadezerV5: David struck down - which is the same word in Hebrew - David struck down,

If we knew what was going to happen in the future, it would affect what we do here and now. There are always people trying to work out what's going to happen next. But our problem in many areas of life is that we don't know where life is going, so we just have to guess. But there are some