2 Samuel 8 & 9

                                                                         

In these chapters, we see a great dichotomy between who David was. On the one hand he's a ruthless warrior killing tens of thousands of soldiers, plundering cities, and overthrowing kingdoms. Then we see him showing great compassion toward Jonathan's descendant Mephibosheth and his family, even his servants. He was strong and brave when He had to be but also kind and merciful.

In this way, he shows us God's character. God adopted us as His children when we were His enemies. See, Mephibosheth could have tried to overthrow David as Saul's descendant. Not only that, other kings would've had Saul's lineage wiped out because they were competition. By all accounts, Mephibosheth was David's enemy. And we saw in chapter 8 what David could do to his enemies.

Instead David remembered His promise to Jonathan and showed grace toward Mephibosheth. Not only did David provide food and shelter, he adopted him as a son. David made him royalty and with that came protection, prestige, and maybe even an inheritance.

Likewise, God remembered His promise to Abraham and through Abraham's descendants all people were blessed. Jesus was the fulfillment of that promise. And it's through Jesus that we are adopted as sons and daughters of God. God makes us royalty. He gives us purpose, He protects us, and He lets us have a relationship with Him. Take some time to reflect on God's amazing grace and how your identity as sons and daughters of God changes your view of yourself and others.