2 Sam. 19:31-39; 2 Ki. 2:7, Covenant Faithfulness (2)

This is a follow-up, with revision, and some additional thoughts on checed.

First, we said previously that we weren’t sure about when the King of Ammon showed checed (kindness) to David, only surmising that it was during the rebellion of Absalom.  The problem with that view is that this kindness to David is in 2 Sam.17:27-29, the David’s attempted kindness to the son of the king of Ammon is in 2 Sam. 10.  What we would now say is that the story in Ch. 10 is not dated, only saying “after this” (10:1, after he had showed kindness to Mephibosheth).  In other words, it is not always chronological.

To support this, some have noted that 1 and 2 Samuel are organized in sections by certain “summary” paragraphs.  1 Sam. 7:15-17 ends Samuel’s ministry and turns to King Saul.  1 Sam. 14:47-52 concludes Saul and introduces David into the picture.  2 Sam. 8:15-18 concludes the establishment of David as king, and then turns to the latter days of David’s reign with the troublesome time after his great sin.  2 Sam. 20:23-26 concludes David’s reign and moves to Solomon.  What this could mean is that the two stories of David’s kindness to Mephibosheth and to the son of the king of Ammon are told first, because they are not critical to the events of 2 Sam. 11-20, describing David’s great sin and ending with the rebellions of Absalom and Sheba.  I’m not sure this is the most important discussion, but perhaps it helps in terms of making sense of the narrative of Samuel and Kings.

Now, with respect to checed having to do with “covenant faithfulness” (kindness shown because of the existence of a covenant), I want to just add to this from 2 Sam. 22 (also Ps. 18), David’s Psalm of praise for God’s deliverance throughout his life and reign.  Checed appears once, at the end of the Psalm, in 22:51.  It is so appropriate at that point, as David is acknowledging that God kept the covenant He made with David (2 Sam. 8).  It was not just a covenant to be fulfilled in the Messiah, the far future Son of David.  God did what He promised with David, and we can say He also kept it with David’s sons.  Those who were faithful, God blessed their reigns (Rehoboam, Asa, Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, Josiah and so forth); and those who were unfaithful God chastened them (Rehoboam, Asa late in his reign, Jehoram, Ahaz, Manasseh and so forth). 

Here's another aspect to checed.  David showed it to Mephibosheth by having him eat at his (David’s) table.  As we noted, the reason was because David had a covenant with Jonathan, to show checed to his family when he became king.  When David was on his death bed, he charged Solomon to show checed to the sons of Barzillai (2 Ki. 2:7).  Barzillai had also helped David during the rebellion of Absalom (2 Sam. 19:31-39).  And David had made an agreement with Barzillai, concerning his son Chimham: now whatever you request of me I will do for you (19:38).  Again, it’s “covenant faithfulness.”

Now here’s something on which we can meditate and appreciate: as with Mephibosheth, so with the sons of Barzillai, this checed is defined as eating at the kings table!  Our Lord, by our faith in Him, will come to eat at our table (Rev. 3:20).  How we look forward to the day of feasting at His table (Rev. 19:9-10; Mt. 22:1-14).  This will be checed, New Covenant faithfulness!