642
Patriarchs and Prophets
David, in his covenant with Jonathan, had promised that when
he should have rest from his enemies he would show kindness to the
house of Saul. In his prosperity, mindful of this covenant, the king
made inquiry, “Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul, that I
may show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?” He was told of a son
of Jonathan, Mephibosheth, who had been lame from childhood. At
the time of Saul’s defeat by the Philistines at Jezreel, the nurse of this
child, attempting to flee with him, had let him fall, thus making him a
lifelong cripple. David now summoned the young man to court and
received him with great kindness. The private possessions of Saul
were restored to him for the support of his household; but the son
of Jonathan was himself to be the constant guest of the king, sitting
daily at the royal table. Through reports from the enemies of David,
Mephibosheth had been led to cherish a strong prejudice against him
as a usurper; but the monarch’s generous and courteous reception of
him and his continued kindness won the heart of the young man; he
became strongly attached to David, and, like his father Jonathan, he
felt that his interest was one with that of the king whom God had
chosen.
After David’s establishment upon the throne of Israel the nation
enjoyed a long interval of peace. The surrounding peoples, seeing the
strength and unity of the kingdom, soon thought it prudent to desist
from open hostilities; and David, occupied with the organization and
upbuilding of his kingdom, refrained from aggressive war. At last,
however, he made war upon Israel’s old enemies, the Philistines, and
upon the Moabites, and succeeded in overcoming both and making
them tributary.
Then there was formed against the kingdom of David a vast coali-
tion of the surrounding nations, out of which grew the greatest wars
and victories of his reign and the most extensive accessions to his
power. This hostile alliance, which really sprang from jealousy of
David’s increasing power, had been wholly unprovoked by him. The
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circumstances that led to its rise were these:
Tidings were received at Jerusalem announcing the death of Na-
hash, king of the Ammonites—a monarch who had shown kindness to
David when he was a fugitive from the rage of Saul. Now, desiring to
express his grateful appreciation of the favor shown him in his distress,
David sent ambassadors with a message of sympathy to Hanun, the