2 Samuel 21 Devotional

Oaths God Does Not Forget

“Now the king spared Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, because of the oath before the LORD between David and Jonathan son of Saul.”2 Samuel 21:7 (BSB)

This is one of the book's hardest chapters. A famine lasts three years, and when David seeks the LORD, he learns the cause: Saul had tried to wipe out the Gibeonites (21:1-2), breaking Israel's sworn oath to them (Joshua 9:15). The Gibeonites ask for seven of Saul's descendants, and they are put to death before the LORD. The chapter does not answer every question it raises, and its weight should not be rushed past.

It does show that God takes promises seriously, even ones made to outsiders. And mercy runs through the same chapter. David spares Mephibosheth because of his own oath to Jonathan (21:7). Rizpah, mother of two of the dead, guards their bodies from birds and beasts from harvest until the rain (21:10), and hearing of it, David gives Saul, Jonathan, and the others an honorable burial. Only then does God answer prayer for the land (21:14). The God who remembered his word to the Gibeonites will not forget one promise he has made in Christ.

To think about: What promise of God do you most need to remember today, knowing that he never forgets his word?