PERSONAL JOURNAL:
SIN ( 2 Samuel 9:8 ): Jonathan’s son, Mephilobesheth, did something that I have done far too often throughout my life—talking down and negative about myself. The negative words I’ve said/thought to myself are not from You, Father. The negative words I’ve said/thought to myself are NOT part of my identity in Christ. Please forgive me for degrading what Your Son sacrificed for, Father. Forgive me for not truly embracing my identity in Christ as You want me to. Help me to hold it true in my heart and mind, so that I no longer do these negative things towards myself, Father.
PROMISE ( 2 Samuel 9:7 ): David makes a promise to Jonathan’s and Saul’s remaining heir. A promise of restoration and a promise of continued support. The restoration is that all of Saul’s land will be given to Mephibosheth. The continued support for him is that he will always be fed and sit at David’s table to eat. Additionally, the servants would tend the grounds for him, as he had foot issues and obviously would not be able to do so himself. This is such a powerful promise to make, because David just took over Saul’s kingdom, so a “normal” king could have just taken all of the previous king’s items for himself. David was different, though, which is evident here.
ATTITUDE ( 2 Samuel 9:1, 3, 7 ): The obvious attitude I need to work on from today’s scripture is kindness. You repeated this several times throughout this scripture today and I felt convicted every single time like You were hammering a nail in. I am kind quite a bit, but I do fail far more often than I’d like, Father. Help me to truly breath in Your kindness so that I can breath it out towards others in this life, Father.
COMMAND ( 2 Samuel 9:7 ): The command I am sensing from You today is for me to live in kindness, Father. Kindness can be a restorative thing for others, just as it was here by David for Jonathan’s son, Mephibosheth. I really do need to get better at living in and expressing kindness towards others.
EXAMPLE ( 2 Samuel 9:1-3 ): David wanted to do something good for Jonathan, his good friend who died, now that David is king of Israel. David would do whatever it took to do something good here. He reached out to a former servant of Saul to find an heir. This servant said that there was only one remaining heir, so David sought him out. David blessed this man as much as he could not only with kindness and restoration, but also with his personal company. I do not often bless others with my company, Father. Not that I’m anything special, but time is a valuable commodity and giving others my time by being in their presence can truly be seen as a blessing. Help me, Father, to be better at showing kindness but also in giving my time more to others.
*DAILY NOTE: David’s story never ceases to amaze me with how much I continue to learn from his testimony. I know he makes mistakes many times, but so do I. I know he’s not perfect, but neither am I. He still tries his best to keep himself and those around him focused on You as much as possible, with few exceptions. Thank You for continuing me down this journey of David’s life, Father. I hope I can continue to reap the benefits of his testimony just as I’m sure many others have.
EXPAND TO READ: GENERAL NOTE FOR MY QUIET TIMES
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