154 Cardio: A Compassionate Heart

If you were to make a list of the qualities that are important for the everyday disciple to display, where would compassion rank? I’m afraid for many, it wouldn’t be very high on the list! Holiness, maybe. Discipline or biblical knowledge, yes. But compassion?

Yet for David, compassion was an important part of what made him a man after God’s own heart. We see David’s heart of compassion in 2 Samuel 9.

After establishing his kingdom and quelling all opposition, David did something remarkable. The custom was in that day that when a new king rose to the throne, all family members of the outgoing king were killed, removing any threat to the crown. But that’s not what David did. Instead, he asked this question: “Is there anyone still left of Saul’s house to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?” (vs. 1)

That word “kindness” is better translated as “grace.” One author defines it this way:

Grace: a demonstration of love that is undeserved, unearned, and unrepayable.

As one who never got over the grace given to him, David wonders, “Is there anyone around whom I can give that to?  He’s told about this crippled kid who’s in hiding and in the actions that follow he shows us a bit more about what it means to have a heart for God.

He was told that Jonathan had a surviving son named Mephibosheth who was crippled in both feet and lived in a desolate place called Lo Debar. David called for Mephibosheth to be brought to him.

With trepidation, Mephibosheth bowed low before the king, but David called him by name and said: “Don’t be afraid for I will show you kindness for the sake of your father.” Then David announced that he was restoring all of Saul’s lands to him and that Mephibosheth would always eat at the king’s table.

From this story, David teaches us much about the practicalities of compassion.

1.     Compassion sees people as individuals who matter.

2.     Compassion reaches out in generous, practical ways.

3.     Compassion flows from gratitude for what you’ve been given.

The grace-giving Christian never quite gets over what Jesus has done for him/her.  He/she asks the question, “Is there anyone to whom I can show kindness for Jesus’ sake?”

Text: 2 Samuel 9

Originally recorded on August 13, 2006, at Fellowship Missionary Church, Fort Wayne, IN.

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