2 Samuel 9:3

‘ And the king said, “Is there not yet any of the house of Saul, that I may show the kindness of God to him?” And Ziba said to the king, “Jonathan has yet a son, who is lame of his feet.” ’

He must therefore have been greatly relieved when the reason that he had been summoned turned out to be in order for David to show mercy to Saul’s descendants. For David questioned him about them in order to show ‘the kindness of God’ towards them. To David the ‘kindness of God’ was the highest form of unmerited kindness that it was possible to show, for he knew from experience what the kindness of God was like because God had shown His kindness towards him.. It might on the other hand mean a kindness wrought in the heart by God, but either way the thought is similar. Alternately in Hebrew idiom it can be seen as simply indicating ‘great kindness’ (in the same way as ‘the mountains of God’ could mean ‘great mountains’).

Note David’s awareness of the fact that Ziba would have been loth to answer his next question had he not indicated his intention to show mercy. It was not a wise thing to appear to be on terms with, or even familiar with, the household of the previous dynasty. It was no doubt the assurance of David that made him reply, ‘Jonathan has yet a son’ but he immediately hurried on to say ‘he is lame in both his feet’. That at least indicated that he was less likely to pose a threat to David.