Sing Servant

Two-Face
by Eleanor van der Merwe

David asked, "Is there anyone still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan's sake?" Now there was a servant of Saul's household named Ziba. All the members of Ziba's household were servants of Mephibosheth.   2 Samuel 9:1,2,12

Just when he thought that he was through with serving, the grandson is found. "Serve? Not again…"

He knows how to play his cards. He is at the right time at the right place - the Mount of Olives. The king is impressed with his team of heavy-laden little donkeys. It will keep the fugitives going through the desert. But where is Mephibosheth? He is still waiting for his donkey to be saddled, and will be for a long time.

Truth supervenes. Absalom falls and David returns to Jerusalem. Mephibosheth awaits him, unshaven. To prove his innocence, he wants Ziba to take all his possessions. But King David allows only fifty percent. "Long live the King!"

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Rizpah
by Eleanor van der Merwe

Now Saul had a concubine named Rizpah. Rizpah took sackcloth and spread it out for herself on a rock. From the beginning of the harvest till the rain poured down from the heavens on the bodies, she did not let the birds of the air touch them by day or the wild animals by night.    2 Samuel 3:7 and 21:10

Drought for three successive years because of Saul killing the Gibeonites. Seven of his sons receive the death penalty, without burial. Personal tragedy of two bereaved mothers.

It is the time of the Feast of Tabernacles. The nation lives in booths for a week. But Rizpah sits on a rock under the open skies. Rizpah. It means floor. You cannot go lower. Yet she is the only one who cares enough to watch over the corpses. Sleep is preciously little, the wild animals dangerous, the circumstances horrible.

Her valiant deed spurs King David on to bury the bones of Saul and his sons. Only then is the drought broken. Only then is the land washed clean again.

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