"Mephibosheth: Hesed" I Samuel 18: 1-5; 2 Samuel 9: 1-13

This week's minor character is Mephibosheth, Jonathan's son, whom David brings into his household after Jonathan's death.  In doing so, David returns the love that Jonathan had showed to him. the Hebrew word for that kind of love is hesed, which speaks of faithfulness/love that is often expressed by a person in power to a person not in power.  In the case of David and Jonathan, Jonathan protects David from King Saul (Jonathan's father) and then David will return the favor by protecting Mephibosheth after Jonathan's death.  Hesed is often used to describe the kind of faithfulness/love God has for us.

David invites Mephibosheth to sit at the king's table.   That has an interesting image that I might use in the sermon.

I am also thinking about how David remembered the promise he made to Jonathan and how that reflects the God who remembers us.

There is another biblical character named Mephibosheth -- Jonathan's brother.  He is put to death by the Gibeonites after David hands him over for execution (2Samuel 21: 8-9). It might be interesting to play off of David's treatment of the two Mephibosheths (See Harper's Bible Dictionary (626) for more details).