91 And David said, Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul, that I may shew him kindness for Jonathan's sake? 2 And there was of the house of Saul a servant whose name was Ziba; and they called him to David. And the king said to him, Art thou Ziba? And he said, Thy servant! 3 And the king said, Is there not yet any of the house of Saul, that I may shew the kindness of God to him? And Ziba said to the king, Jonathan has yet a son, who is lame on [his] feet. 4 And the king said to him, Where is he? And Ziba said to the king, Behold, he is in the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, in Lodebar. 5 And king David sent, and fetched him out of the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, from Lodebar. 6 And Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, and fell on his face and did obeisance. And David said, Mephibosheth. And he said, Behold thy servant! 7 And David said to him, Fear not; for I will certainly shew thee kindness for Jonathan thy father's sake, and will restore thee all the land of Saul thy father; and thou shalt eat bread at my table continually. 8 And he bowed himself, and said, What is thy servant, that thou shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I am?
9 Then the king called Ziba, Saul's servant, and said to him, I have given to thy master's son all that belonged to Saul and to all his house. 10 And thou, and thy sons, and thy servants, shall till the land for him, and thou shalt bring in [the fruits], that thy master's son may have food to eat. And Mephibosheth thy master's son shall eat bread at my table continually. Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants. 11 And Ziba said to the king, According to all that my lord the king has commanded his servant, so will thy servant do. And Mephibosheth [said David] shall eat at my table, as one of the king's sons. 12 And Mephibosheth had a young son, whose name was Mica. And all who dwelt in the house of Ziba were servants to Mephibosheth. 13 So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem; for he did eat continually at the king's table. And he was lame on both his feet.
101 And it came to pass after this that the king of the children of Ammon died, and Hanun his son reigned in his stead. 2 And David said, I will shew kindness to Hanun the son of Nahash, as his father shewed kindness to me. And David sent to comfort him by the hand of his servants for his father. And David's servants came into the land of the children of Ammon. 3 And the princes of the children of Ammon said to Hanun their lord, Is it, in thine eyes, to honour thy father that David has sent comforters to thee? Is it not to search the city and to spy it out, and to overthrow it, that David has sent his servants to thee? 4 And Hanun took David's servants, and had the one half of their beards shaved off, and their raiment cut off in the midst, as far as their buttocks, and sent them away. 5 And they told [it] to David; and he sent to meet them, for the men were greatly ashamed. And the king said, Abide at Jericho until your beards be grown, and then return.
6 And the children of Ammon saw that they had made themselves odious to David; and the children of Ammon sent and hired the Syrians of Beth-Rehob, and the Syrians of Zoba, twenty thousand footmen, and the king of Maacah [with] a thousand men, and the men of Tob twelve thousand men. 7 And David heard [of it], and he sent Joab, and all the host, the mighty men. 8 And the children of Ammon came out, and put the battle in array at the entrance of the gate; and the Syrians of Zoba and of Rehob, and the men of Tob and Maacah were by themselves in the field. 9 And Joab saw that the front of the battle was against him before and behind; and he chose out of all the choice men of Israel, and put them in array against the Syrians; 10 and the rest of the people he gave into the hand of Abishai his brother that he might array them against the children of Ammon. 11 And he said, If the Syrians be too strong for me, then thou shalt help me; and if the children of Ammon be too strong for thee, then I will come and help thee. 12 Be strong, and let us shew ourselves valiant for our people and for the cities of our God; and Jehovah do what is good in his sight. 13 And Joab drew near, and the people that were with him, unto the battle against the Syrians; and they fled before him. 14 And when the children of Ammon saw that the Syrians fled, they fled before Abishai, and entered into the city. And Joab returned from the children of Ammon, and came to Jerusalem.
15 And when the Syrians saw that they were routed before Israel, they gathered themselves together. 16 And Hadarezer sent, and drew forth the Syrians that were beyond the river; and they came to Helam; and Shobach the captain of the host of Hadarezer [went] before them. 17 And it was told David; and he gathered all Israel, and passed over the Jordan, and came to Helam. And the Syrians set themselves in array against David, and fought with him. 18 And the Syrians fled before Israel; and David slew of the Syrians seven hundred [in] chariots, and forty thousand horsemen, and smote Shobach the captain of their host, who died there. 19 And all the kings that were servants to Hadarezer saw that they were routed before Israel, and they made peace with Israel, and served them. And the Syrians feared to help the children of Ammon any more.
111 And it came to pass, at the return of the year, at the time when kings go forth, that David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they laid waste the [land of the] children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah. But David abode at Jerusalem. 2 And it came to pass at evening time that David arose from off his couch, and walked upon the roof of the king's house; and from the roof he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful; 3 and David sent and inquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Urijah the Hittite? 4 And David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in to him, and he lay with her; and she had purified herself from her uncleanness; and she returned to her house. 5 And the woman conceived, and sent and told David, and said, I am with child.
6 And David sent to Joab [saying], Send me Urijah the Hittite. And Joab sent Urijah to David. 7 And when Urijah had come to him, David asked how Joab prospered, and how the people prospered, and how the war prospered. 8 And David said to Urijah, Go down to thy house and wash thy feet. And Urijah departed out of the king's house, and there followed him presents from the king. 9 And Urijah slept at the entrance of the king's house with all the servants of his lord, and went not down to his house. 10 And they had told David saying, Urijah did not go down to his house; and David said to Urijah, Art thou not come from a journey? why didst thou not go down to thy house? 11 And Urijah said to David, The ark, and Israel, and Judah abide in booths; and my lord Joab, and the servants of my lord, are encamped in the open fields: shall I then go into my house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? [As] thou livest, and [as] thy soul liveth, I will not do this thing. 12 And David said to Urijah, Abide here to-day also, and to-morrow I will let thee depart. And Urijah abode in Jerusalem that day and the morrow. 13 And David invited him, and he ate and drank before him; and he made him drunk. And in the evening he went out to lie on his couch with the servants of his lord, but did not go down to his house.
14 And it came to pass in the morning, that David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by Urijah. 15 And he wrote in the letter saying, Set Urijah in the front of the thickest fight, and withdraw from him, that he may be smitten and die. 16 And it came to pass as Joab watched the city, that he assigned Urijah to a place where he knew that the valiant men were. 17 And the men of the city went out and fought with Joab; and there fell some of the people, of the servants of David; and Urijah the Hittite died also. 18 Then Joab sent and told David all the matters of the war; 19 and charged the messenger, saying, When thou hast ended telling the matters of the war to the king, 20 and if so be that the king's wrath arise, and he say to thee, Why did ye go so near to the city to fight? did ye not know that they would shoot from the wall? 21 Who smote Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? did not a woman cast the upper stone of a handmill from the wall, that he died in Thebez? why did ye go near the wall?—then say thou, Thy servant Urijah the Hittite is dead also. 22 And the messenger went; and he came and told David all that Joab had sent him for. 23 And the messenger said to David, The men prevailed against us, and came out against us into the field, and we were upon them as far as the entrance of the gate. 24 And the shooters shot from upon the wall against thy servants; and some of the king's servants are dead, and thy servant Urijah the Hittite is dead also. 25 Then David said to the messenger, Thus shalt thou say to Joab: Let not this thing displease thee, for the sword devours one as well as another: make thy battle strong against the city, and overthrow it;—and encourage him. 26 And the wife of Urijah heard that Urijah her husband was dead, and she mourned for her husband. 27 And when the mourning was past, David sent and fetched her to his house, and she became his wife, and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done was evil in the sight of Jehovah.
11 And he said, A certain man had two sons; 12 and the younger of them said to his father, Father, give to me the share of the property that falls [to me]. And he divided to them what he was possessed of. 13 And after not many days the younger son gathering all together went away into a country a long way off, and there dissipated his property, living in debauchery. 14 But when he had spent all there arose a violent famine throughout that country, and he began to be in want. 15 And he went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. 16 And he longed to fill his belly with the husks which the swine were eating; and no one gave to him. 17 And coming to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have abundance of bread, and I perish here by famine. 18 I will rise up and go to my father, and I will say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee; 19 I am no longer worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. 20 And he rose up and went to his own father. But while he was yet a long way off, his father saw him, and was moved with compassion, and ran, and fell upon his neck, and covered him with kisses. 21 And the son said to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee; I am no longer worthy to be called thy son. 22 But the father said to his bondmen, Bring out the best robe and clothe him in [it], and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet; 23 and bring the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and make merry: 24 for this my son was dead and has come to life, was lost and has been found. And they began to make merry. 25 And his elder son was in the field; and as, coming [up], he drew nigh to the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 And having called one of the servants, he inquired what these things might be. 27 And he said to him, Thy brother is come, and thy father has killed the fatted calf because he has received him safe and well. 28 But he became angry and would not go in. And his father went out and besought him. 29 But he answering said to his father, Behold, so many years I serve thee, and never have I transgressed a commandment of thine; and to me hast thou never given a kid that I might make merry with my friends: 30 but when this thy son, who has devoured thy substance with harlots, is come, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. 31 But he said to him, Child, thou art ever with me, and all that is mine is thine. 32 But it was right to make merry and rejoice, because this thy brother was dead and has come to life again, and was lost and has been found.
(Read Luke 15:11-16)
The parable of the prodigal son shows the nature of repentance, and the Lord's readiness to welcome and bless all who return to him. It fully sets forth the riches of gospel grace; and it has been, and will be, while the world stands, of unspeakable use to poor sinners, to direct and to encourage them in repenting and returning to God. It is bad, and the beginning of worse, when men look upon God's gifts as debts due to them. The great folly of sinners, and that which ruins them, is, being content in their life-time to receive their good things. Our first parents ruined themselves and all their race, by a foolish ambition to be independent, and this is at the bottom of sinners' persisting in their sin. We may all discern some features of our own characters in that of the prodigal son. A sinful state is of departure and distance from God. A sinful state is a spending state: wilful sinners misemploy their thoughts and the powers of their souls, mispend their time and all their opportunities. A sinful state is a wanting state. Sinners want necessaries for their souls; they have neither food nor raiment for them, nor any provision for hereafter. A sinful state is a vile, slavish state. The business of the devil's servants is to make provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof, and that is no better than feeding swine. A sinful state is a state constant discontent. The wealth of the world and the pleasures of the senses will not even satisfy our bodies; but what are they to precious souls! A sinful state is a state which cannot look for relief from any creature. In vain do we cry to the world and to the flesh; they have that which will poison a soul, but have nothing to give which will feed and nourish it. A sinful state is a state of death. A sinner is dead in trespasses and sins, destitute of spiritual life. A sinful state is a lost state. Souls that are separated from God, if his mercy prevent not, will soon be lost for ever. The prodigal's wretched state, only faintly shadows forth the awful ruin of man by sin. Yet how few are sensible of their own state and character!
(Read Luke 15:17-24)
Having viewed the prodigal in his abject state of misery, we are next to consider his recovery from it. This begins by his coming to himself. That is a turning point in the sinner's conversion. The Lord opens his eyes, and convinces him of sin; then he views himself and every object, in a different light from what he did before. Thus the convinced sinner perceives that the meanest servant of God is happier than he is. To look unto God as a Father, and our Father, will be of great use in our repentance and return to him. The prodigal arose, nor stopped till he reached his home. Thus the repenting sinner resolutely quits the bondage of Satan and his lusts, and returns to God by prayer, notwithstanding fears and discouragements. The Lord meets him with unexpected tokens of his forgiving love. Again; the reception of the humbled sinner is like that of the prodigal. He is clothed in the robe of the Redeemer's righteousness, made partaker of the Spirit of adoption, prepared by peace of conscience and gospel grace to walk in the ways of holiness, and feasted with Divine consolations. Principles of grace and holiness are wrought in him, to do, as well as to will.
(Read Luke 15:25-32)
In the latter part of this parable we have the character of the Pharisees, though not of them alone. It sets forth the kindness of the Lord, and the proud manner in which his gracious kindness is often received. The Jews, in general, showed the same spirit towards the converted Gentiles; and numbers in every age object to the gospel and its preachers, on the same ground. What must that temper be, which stirs up a man to despise and abhor those for whom the Saviour shed his precious blood, who are objects of the Father's choice, and temples of the Holy Ghost! This springs from pride, self-preference, and ignorance of a man's own heart. The mercy and grace of our God in Christ, shine almost as bright in his tender and gentle bearing with peevish saints, as his receiving prodigal sinners upon their repentance. It is the unspeakable happiness of all the children of God, who keep close to their Father's house, that they are, and shall be ever with him. Happy will it be for those who thankfully accept Christ's invitation.
