We have here a picture of -

I. EXTRAORDINARY VICISSITUDES IS LIFE. A prince by birth, deprived of his father, crippled by a heedless footstep, carried into exile and poverty, recently a helpless dependent in a remote district, is conducted into the presence of one who was once a shepherd boy, afterwards a wandering outlaw, and now the greatest monarch on earth! Such changes:

1. May be largely, though not entirely, traced to moral causes, personal character, hereditary relationships.

2. Are wrought by Divine providence (1 Samuel 2:7, 8; Psalm 113:7, 8).

3. Are designed for human welfare; being not only corrective, but also tentative and disciplinary (Psalm 55:19; Job 23:10; Hebrews 12:6).

4. And should be regarded in an appropriate spirit (James 1:9, 10).

II. THE DEPRESSING INFLUENCE OF MISFORTUNE. "He fell on his face, and did reverence" (ver. 6); "And he bowed himself, and said, What is thy servant, that thou shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I am?" (ver. 8). His physical infirmity, combined with long continued dependence, made him not merely humble, but timid, anxious, abject, and self-depreciatory. Hence his language (due in part to Oriental exaggeration) is excusable, though scarcely to be commended (Kitto, 'Daily Bible Illus.'). The natural tendency of heavy affliction to enfeeble and crush the spirit is effectually overcome only by the aid of Divine grace.

III. AN ADMIRABLE EXHIBITION OF KINDNESS; spontaneous, faithful, considerate, magnanimous, practical, enduring, Divine.

1. In gracious and encouraging words. "Mephibosheth!" (ver. 6). "Fear not!" etc. (ver. 7). To David himself, in a time of dejection, Jonathan had said," Fear not!" (1 Samuel 23:17); and how often has the Lord spoken the same comforting word to his servants (Genesis 15:1; Luke 12:32; Revelation 1:17)!

2. In becoming and beneficent acts; fulfilling what had been promised (vers. 9-11), restoring an alienated inheritance, and making a sure, permanent, and abundant provision (ver. 12).

3. In honoured, intimate, and abiding friendship. '"Mephibosheth, thy master's son, shall eat bread alway at my table" (vers. 10, 11,13). Such kindness, like sunshine after rain, and as a visit of "the angel of God" (2 Samuel 19:27, 28), dispersed his fear, alleviated his misfortune, and filled him with grateful devotion; whilst his presence at the royal table would daily remind the king of his deceased friend, and incite him to renewed generosity.

IV. THE IRREMEDIABLE DEFECTS OF THE MOST FAVOURED EARTHLY CONDITION. "And he was lame on both his feet" (ver. 13). His deformity was incurable; his infirmity became an occasion of complaint and slander (2 Samuel 16:2-4); and his dejection and distress returned "as the clouds after the rain" (2 Samuel 19:24-30). The king himself often longed to flee away and be at rest (Psalm 55:6). And it is vain to expect perfection in character or condition except in the heavenly mansions.

"There is a spot in every flower,
A sigh in every gale,
A shadow in the brightest hour,
Thorns in the smoothest vale.

"To smile and weep, and weep and smile,
To man alternate given;
To cling to earth permitted while
We learn to long for heaven."

When Warren Hastings was a boy he had to grieve at the fact that his family had lost their paternal estate at Dayleford, and he formed an early resolution of bringing it back once again into the family. To purchase that forfeited estate became to him a great ambition of his life, and he ultimately succeeded: he bought back the estate, and died at Daylesford. But no such possibility lay before the disinherited prince Mephibosheth. As far as his own achievements go, he must live and die alienated from his ancestral possessions. What, however, is impossible to Mephibosheth to achieve is not beyond the grace of David freely to bestow, and thus the grant of Saul's patrimony to his forlorn and impoverished grandson is analogous to the method of Divine grace whereby, in Christ, the lost station and purity of Adam are restored to us who have inherited his fallen condition

(Charles Deal.).