In 2 Samuel 9:1, David inquired if there was anyone left in the house of Saul. He remembered and wanted to keep the covenant he made with Jonathan, Saul’s son (1 Samuel 20:14-23). It is a sin to withhold kindness. We are to be committed to doing right. James 4:17: “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.”

David made inquiries of Ziba, Saul’s servant (2 Samuel 9:2). We often want to do what is easiest for ourselves, rather than reaching out to others. Kindness is to be extended not only within our family, which may be easy, but also to others. In so doing, we are “bearing one another’s burdens” and going above and beyond not expecting anything in return. Romans 12:10: “Be kindly affectioned, one to another with brotherly love; in honor preferring one another.”

Ziba told David about Jonathan’s son (2 Samuel 9:3) . Psalm 127:3: “Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.” There is a need to train up the next generation to know God personally and to learn about the awesomeness of Him.

• Great leaders show kindness without expecting anything in return. David was willing to go out of his way to find and care for crippled Mephibosheth. His desire was to honor the promise he made to Jonathan twenty years earlier.

• David calmed Mephibosheth’s fears (verse 6). It was common when new kings were put into power to kill any contenders from the previous dynasty.

• David restored Saul’s property to Mephibosheth in honor of Jonathan’s kindness to David (2 Samuel 9:7a). 1 Samuel 23:16-18: “And Jonathan Saul's son arose, and went to David into the wood, and strengthened his hand in God. And he said unto him, Fear not: for the hand of Saul my father shall not find thee; and thou shalt be king over Israel, and I shall be next unto thee; and that also Saul my father knoweth. And they two made a covenant before the Lord: and David abode in the wood, and Jonathan went to his house.” Sometimes it may be costly to show kindness to others.

• David invited Mephibosheth to eat continually at his table (2 Samuel 9:7b). Eating at the king's table meant that one was being honored. They would never go hungry, would have access to the king, and would be treated like a member of the family. They were welcomed as a friend. 

• David provided Mephibosheth with servants to manage his property (2 Samuel 9:10).

James 4:17: “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” Proverbs 3:27: “Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it.” Ephesians 4:28: “Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.” Galatians 6:10: “As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.”

James 1:22-27: “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain. Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.”

James 2:14-26. Verse 26 concludes “for as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” Others should see ours lives as different from the world.