Why did David wait 20 years to help Mephibosheth? (Talk Back Question 3)

After David became king of Judah (in the south), there was a long civil war with most of the tribes of Israel following Ishbosheth (Saul’s son and Mephibosheth’s uncle) in the north.  After the David’s side one, he became king of the united Israel.  Next David dealt with Israel’s external enemies - either winning wars or making peace treaties.  After David’s kingdom was solidly established and Israel had a period of peace, David seems to have taken time to reflect on his promise to look after Jonathan’s descendants.  

So basically, David seems to have forgotten about his promise (or to have been to busy to fulfill it) until there was peace.  But then he did right by Mephibosheth.  Even though it was late in coming, it was still a pretty courageous act, considering that David had fought a civil war against Ishbosheth.

Me and Abel - Genesis 4:1-16

Today we skip forward in our journey through Genesis.  After the creation of humans, there was the famous “Fall,” when humans first sinned.  Chapter 4 tells us, we kept falling, farther and farther. 

Old Testament Lesson: Genesis 4:1-16

¹ Now Adam had sexual relations with his wife, Eve, and she became pregnant. When she gave birth to Cain, she said, “With the LORD’s help, I have produced a man!” ² Later she gave birth to his brother and named him Abel.

   When they grew up, Abel became a shepherd, while Cain cultivated the ground. ³ When it was time for the harvest, Cain presented some of his crops as a gift to the LORD. ⁴ Abel also brought a gift—the best of the firstborn lambs from his flock. The LORD accepted Abel and his gift, ⁵ but he did not accept Cain and his gift. This made Cain very angry, and he looked dejected.

 ⁶ “Why are you so angry?” the LORD asked Cain. “Why do you look so dejected? ⁷ You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master.”

 ⁸ One day Cain suggested to his brother, “Let’s go out into the fields.” And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother, Abel, and killed him.

Blind Love - 1 Corinthians 13

    Just before she died in 1964, Flannery O’Connor wrote a brilliant short story called, “Revelation.”  O’Connor seemed to like symbolic names.  The lead character Mrs. Turpin - bringing to mind Turpentine, that cleaning chemical which is poisonous and stinky, and the other key character is an “ugly girl” named Mary Grace, who doesn’t like Mrs. Turpin and keeps giving her mean looking stares.  In an ironic way Mary Grace represents the disruptive grace of God. 

The Doctor’s waiting room, which was very small, was almost full when the Turpins entered and Mrs. Turpin, who was very large, made it look even smaller by her presence.  She stood looming at the head of the magazine table set in the center of it, a living demonstration that the room was inadequate and ridiculous.  Her little bright black eyes took in all the patients as she sized up the seating situation.  There was one vacant chair and a place on the sofa occupied by a blond child in a dirty blue romper who should have been told to move over and make room for the lady.  He was five or six, but Mrs. Turpin saw at once that no one was going to tell him to move over.  He was slumped down in the seat ... his nose ran unchecked. ... if that child belonged to me, he would have some manners and move over-there's plenty of room there for you and him too. ...
Next to her was a fat girl of eighteen or nineteen, scowling into a thick blue book which Mrs. Turpin saw was entitled Human Development. The girl raised her head and directed her scowl at Mrs. Turpin as if she did not like her looks. She appeared annoyed that anyone should speak while she tried to read. The poor girl's face was blue with acne and Mrs. Turpin thought how pitiful it was to have a face like that at that age. She gave the girl a friendly smile, but the girl only scowled the harder. Mrs. Turpin herself was fat, but she had always had good skin, and, though she was forty-seven years old, there was not a wrinkle in her face - except around her eyes from laughing too much.
Next to the ugly girl was the child, still in exactly the same position, and next to him was a thin leathery old woman in a cotton print dress. She and Claud had three sacks of chicken feed in their pump house that was in the same print. She had seen from the first that the child belonged with the old woman. She could tell by the way they sat- kind of vacant and white-trashy, as if they would sit there until Doomsday if nobody called and told them to get up. And at right angles but next to the well-dressed pleasant lady was a lank-faced woman who was certainly the child's mother. She had on a yellow sweatshirt and wine-colored slacks, both gritty-looking, and the rims of her lips were stained with snuff. Her dirty yellow hair was tied behind with a little piece of red paper ribbon. Worse than [black folk] any day, Mrs. Turpin thought.
The gospel hymn playing [on the radio] was "When I looked up and He looked down," and Mrs. Turpin, who knew it, supplied the last line mentally, "And wona these days I know I'll we-eara crown.  ...


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