When Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, he bowed down to pay him honor.  David said, “Mephibosheth!”  “At your service,” he replied.  “Don’t be afraid,” David said to him, “for I will surely show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will restore to you all the land that belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will always eat at my table.” Mephibosheth bowed down and said, “What is your servant, that you should notice a dead dog like me?”  Then the king summoned Ziba, Saul’s steward, and said to him, “I have given your master’s grandson everything that belonged to Saul and his family.
2 Samuel 9:6-9

But let your ‘yes’ be ‘yes’ and your ‘no’ be ‘no’. For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.
Matthew 5:37

---

My 7-year-old granddaughter asked me to come to her house in Florida for her birthday in March and stay overnight. Touched, I said, “I will be there.” She looked me in the eye, held out her little finger and said, “Pinky swear.”  Ahhh, the ultimate promise is a pinky swear. Chuckling, I entwined my finger with hers, and a covenant was made!

The Bible is full of promises from God. A simple internet search will yield many lists. God is our example—He honors His word, and we should honor ours in big and small ways.

Jesus instructed us to let our ‘yes be yes’ and our ‘no be no’ and not to swear on heaven or earth. Our promise should be our final word; our word should be our action. As a person of integrity, we don’t need to pinky swear. Anyone interacting with us should be able to depend on us and know we will honor and do what we say. Can that be said of you?

When someone follows through on an assurance with me, I feel remembered, important, and loved. When someone doesn’t, I feel dismissed and peripheral. I enjoy photo tours, and for three of the trips I have been on, I had the same leader. On the first trip, this leader told me he would try to find a Milky Way location for the next trip. He worked with local guides, so on the very last night of the second trip, he brought us to a fantastic spot. This master photographer smiled at me and said, “I didn’t forget. I got you.” I was overjoyed with the location and the photo, but my heart was so warmed by the fact he found our relationship significant enough to make the best effort he could to complete his word to me.

The Bible has characters who break their commitment and heroes who work to honor their obligation. I want to be a person who is dependable and follows God’s example. We won’t always get it right, but we can do our best and resolve to be people of integrity, even when we make mistakes!

In today’s verses, we see that David honored his promises to his dear friend’s family by caring for Mephibosheth. He broke all the cultural norms of the day—typically, a king would annihilate the existing family members of a previous dynasty. Not David. He honored the promise he made to Jonathan and instead met Mephibosheth with great honor. His yes was yes.  

Next Steps

What promises have you made verbally? What promises have you vowed to yourself? Have you kept those promises? Is God prompting you to make a promise? Do people trust you at your word?