Yesterday during worship I felt led to read from 2 Samuel 16:1-4 NIV and the Lord started speaking to me about something I believe He wanted to address. Here are the verses:
[1] "When David had gone a short distance beyond the summit, there was Ziba, the steward of Mephibosheth, waiting to meet him. He had a string of donkeys saddled and loaded with two hundred loaves of bread, a hundred cakes of raisins, a hundred cakes of figs and a skin of wine.
[2] The king asked Ziba, “Why have you brought these?”
Ziba answered, “The donkeys are for the king's household to ride on, the bread and fruit are for the men to eat, and the wine is to refresh those who become exhausted in the wilderness.”
[3] The king then asked, “Where is your master's grandson?”
Ziba said to him, “He is staying in Jerusalem, because he thinks, 'Today the Israelites will restore to me my grandfather's kingdom.' ”
[4] Then the king said to Ziba, “All that belonged to Mephibosheth is now yours.”
“I humbly bow,” Ziba said. “May I find favor in your eyes, my lord the king.”
My first thought in reading this was that Ziba was an honorable guy and here he was sacrificing to care for David (as David was fleeing Jerusalem because his son Absalom had usurped the throne). I was thinking that Mephibosheth was clearly taking advantage of the situation, and that after all the kindness that David had shown him (See 2 Sam 9).
Then a few moments later I thought, no I don't think that is right, so I continued to read. When David comes back to Jerusalem, we actually get the whole story, as follows:
2 Samuel 19:15-18,24-30 NIV:
[15] "Then the king returned and went as far as the Jordan. Now the men of Judah had come to Gilgal to go out and meet the king and bring him across the Jordan.
[16] "Shimei son of Gera, the Benjamite from Bahurim, hurried down with the men of Judah to meet King David. [17] With him were a thousand Benjamites, along with Ziba, the steward of Saul's household, and his fifteen sons and twenty servants. They rushed to the Jordan, where the king was. [18] They crossed at the ford to take the king's household over and to do whatever he wished...."
[24] "Mephibosheth, Saul's grandson, also went down to meet the king. He had not taken care of his feet or trimmed his mustache or washed his clothes from the day the king left until the day he returned safely.
[25] When he came from Jerusalem to meet the king, the king asked him, “Why didn't you go with me, Mephibosheth?”
[26] He said, “My lord the king, since I your servant am lame, I said, 'I will have my donkey saddled and will ride on it, so I can go with the king.' But Ziba my servant betrayed me. [27] And he has slandered your servant to my lord the king. My lord the king is like an angel of God; so do whatever you wish. [28] All my grandfather's descendants deserved nothing but death from my lord the king, but you gave your servant a place among those who eat at your table. So what right do I have to make any more appeals to the king?”
[29] The king said to him, “Why say more? I order you and Ziba to divide the land.”
[30] Mephibosheth said to the king, “Let him take everything, now that my lord the king has returned home safely.”
What we find is that indeed Mephibosheth had been slandered to the King by Ziba. Ziba had even gone so far as to give David a large amount of gifts, and had clearly received David's favor. Ziba totally took advantage of a situation, knowing that David wouldn't be able to follow up on the truth of what he was saying. But in the end justice was done, and Ziba's lies were exposed.
I felt like the Lord said there are people I know who have been wrongfully accused in their lives and that He was moving to bring revelation and restore that which was lost.
Secondly, I felt like He said there are those of us that have believed the accusation against our brothers and sisters, and that we need to repent, and we need to give them the opportunity to speak on their own behalf.
Thirdly, I felt like He said there are those that have believe the accusations the enemy makes about their very selves. He is constantly working to make us believe that we have somehow disqualified ourselves; or that we have lost our way so bad that we will never get back to where we were; or that we have nothing to offer and have no value in the Body of Christ; or that we have missed out on our opportunity to minister as we should have done! I am sure there are several other accusations the enemy makes, these are just the ones he uses to beat on me.
Anyway, the Truth is fully known by God. He is making the truth known to others! If we stay focused on Him, it really doesn't matter if we are repaid or not, because intimacy with Him is restored and embraced! He is all we need and want!
Amen!
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