Edward’s QT, 7 July 2026.Summary: Abishai wants to kill Shimei but David pardons him. Unwashed and unshaved since David left, Mephibosheth goes to meet David and tells of Ziba’s betrayal. David says to divide the land between them but Mephibosheth says to let Ziba take it all because having David return is the best gift.After David lost his handsome, gloriously coiffed but treasonous and rebel son Absalom and returned to Jerusalem, no other son is mentioned, just lame, filthy, humble, grateful Mephibosheth, who wished for nothing but David’s return, content to give all his land to scheming Ziba.
Absalom built an idol of himself while Mephibosheth did not. Although he looks like a lame beggar, a nobody, he inherited his father Jonathan’s values of loving respect for God and for David.
Ziba, on the other hand, is a self-serving flatterer and schemer, who seems to win, getting either half of Mephibosheth’s land or all of it. Mephibosheth’s reward in the civil war is the happiness of David’s return.
Mephibosheth worships no idol as Absalom did and as Ziba does. Ziba worships wealth and himself as a successful dealer in the world while Mephibosheth rightly worships the Lord and his anointed one. His appearance and attitude show how he has defied idols.Questions: What idols do I worship or defy with repentance? What values have I inherited? Like Mephibosheth, I have lame feet because I have not walked on paths of righteousness due to my sinful nature. Unlike him, I do not have the humility to be truly, deeply, and ongoingly grateful for my salvation or the desire to wish for nothing more than God’s presence in my life.
Unlike him, I inherited sinful family values, particularly the one of adultery. My maternal grandfather lost his high position because of his adultery.
My paternal grandfather was adulterous up to his death. My mother broke our family with it. I followed my mother and broke someone else’s family with adultery. At Wooridle I saw that sin and repented for mine and for my family’s.
I trust that the family value of adultery has been broken and that my children will be free of that sin. Also through last Sunday’s sermon, I recognize the idol of my self-image that I’ve worshipped like Absalom and Ziba for most of my life and failed utterly to defy it as Mephibosheth did.
Application: To see my self-image idol more clearly and pray for God’s spirit of repentance to break it. Prayer: Lord have mercy on me, a sinner. Fill me with your Spirit of gratitude and seek the joy of your presence in my life, which you have graciously preserved.
