David & The Broken Prince

00:00:00 Speaker 1: Previously on the Chosen People. 00:01:36 Speaker 2: There was no more hiding, only hope shell, Oh, my friends, from here in the holy land of Israel. I'm l Exstein with international fellowship of Christians and Jews, and welcome to the Chosen People. What if everything you were born into, your name, your future, your entire legacy, was shattered in a single night. Today, in Second Samuel, chapter nine, we meet a boy born of royalty in the shadows. He is a prince turned pauper, his life interrupted by war and swallowed by silence until one day the king remembers. In past episodes, we followed David through war and loss and ascension. We watched him wrestle with power and promise. But today we see something quieter, something tender. Covenant remembered, a broken boy summoned, and a table set not for the mighty but further forgotten. Are you ready, wake, my prince? 00:02:33 Speaker 3: Wake? 00:02:34 Speaker 1: The woman's hands trembled as she shook the boy, her voice sharp and terrified. Meffi beau Cheth opened his eyes. His nursemaid tore the furs from his bed and thrust his tunic over his small arms with frantic fingers. 00:02:50 Speaker 4: We must go. 00:02:51 Speaker 1: There is no time, sweep boys, no time at all. 00:02:54 Speaker 4: Come out up. 00:02:56 Speaker 1: The holes were choked with smoke. Shouts echoed beyond the door. The boy stumbled as she pulled him along, bare feet, slapping against the cold flagstone. 00:03:06 Speaker 2: The Philistines they've come. 00:03:09 Speaker 3: The waters are brooking. 00:03:10 Speaker 1: Your father, your grandfather, they've fallen. 00:03:13 Speaker 4: You must flee, my prince, you are all that remains. 00:03:17 Speaker 1: The child pulled at her hand. Small and desperate, they burst onto a balcony overlooking the upper tears of Gibea. The city was bleeding fire. 00:03:28 Speaker 4: Your father, he's your sweet child. This isn't the time for tears. 00:03:35 Speaker 2: Now we run, We run for our lives. 00:03:39 Speaker 1: The nursemaid scooped Nephi beau Chef up in her arms. The boy writhed and kicked. Blinded by tears and terror in his flailing, he slipped from her arms. His body tumbled through the air and struck the stairwell, hard bones crunching like snapped branches. The nursemaids greamed. She leaped after him, cradling him in her arms, where he lay on the stone steps, his legs twisted beneath him at angles. No child's limbs should bend the world around them burned. The banners of soul no longer flew above the citadel. Screams echoed from the lower city, and ash began to fall like snow. Mefi Beaucheth, son of Jonathan, was scooped up and taken to safety, and no one came back for him. His birthright was taken, his legs shattered, and his name lost to history. From the rooftop of his palace, David watched the evening fall like a velvet curtain. Below him, the streets murmured with the slow life of twilight, merchants closing stores, children shouting their last games before being called in. The scent of bread and burning oil wafting up to the heights the city of David. They called it now a monument to his triumphs carved in cedar and stone. David tilted his head to the sky, where the sun kissed the horizon with a bleeding orange. He breathed deep, and the air filled his lungs with the scent of lavender and dust. Yet it was not peace that filled him, only longing. His thoughts, as they often did, wandered back to Jonathan. David remembered his voice steady, noble, unwavering. He remembered the clasp of his hand, the strength in his arms when they embraced. He remembered a brother not by blood but by oath. And he remembered the promise. That night in the wilderness, when the world had turned against them and Saul's madness hunted them both, Jonathan had spoken with the clarity of a prophet. 00:06:14 Speaker 3: Do you remember what I told you the night I gave you my armor? 00:06:19 Speaker 4: You said I would be king. 00:06:21 Speaker 5: I'm still believe it, but I'm certain my father believes it too. 00:06:25 Speaker 3: That's why he hates you. 00:06:26 Speaker 5: When that day comes, when my father is dust and you sit on the throne, I ask only this show mercy to my house, protect my wife, my children. 00:06:38 Speaker 4: I swear it by the Lord's name, I will show your house kindness. 00:06:43 Speaker 1: David pressed his lips together and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. The House of Saul had crumbled, burned by war, shattered by its own pride. Yet if any thread remained from Jonathan's life, David would find it. He would keep his word. He had failed friends before, he would not fail this one. 00:07:10 Speaker 4: I will keep my promise, Your God Jonathan, but I will not break my covenant with you. 00:07:20 Speaker 1: The morning was quiet, save for the faint scratching of quill upon parchment. David sat beneath a latticed window, the warm light of the sun falling upon scrolls, maps and trade contracts. His crown lay unworn upon the table. A knock broke the silence. One of his guards opened the chamber door, and an old man shuffled in. He was gray bearded and stoop shouldered, dressed in the humble linens of a house servant, but he carried himself with the careful grace of someone once accustomed to courtly hauls. His name was Zebra, once chief steward to the House of Saul, once servant to a dead king, now displaced and forgotten, like so many relics of the old order, you summoned me, my lord David Rose motioned the man forward and gestured to the sea to cross from him. His voice was gentle, but there was a tension in his shoulders. 00:08:30 Speaker 4: Yes, Zebra, I need your memory. You were a steward in the house of Sant. 00:08:37 Speaker 3: Yes, yes, my king, my served soul of blessed memory and his children. 00:08:43 Speaker 4: Tell me, does any soul yet live from the house of sor any child any air. 00:08:51 Speaker 1: Zebra turned flush at that question. His fingers twitched nervously, and his eyes darted to the left. David could sense his nervousness. 00:09:03 Speaker 4: I don't seek enemies again. For the sake of Jonathan, I would show kindness. 00:09:13 Speaker 3: My lord. It is not often that new kings seek to bless the blood of those who once at the throne. More often the the cleanse say it. 00:09:27 Speaker 4: I am not sore, and Jonathan was no rival. He was my brother in all but blood. If there is anyone left of his house, I must know. 00:09:38 Speaker 3: The Philistines were ruthless when they marched on deer bear, merciless like animals. I barely escaped with my life ended. 00:09:53 Speaker 1: Zeba trailed off, weighing the cost of the information he held. Then he looked at Day. There was an earnestness in his eyes. 00:10:04 Speaker 3: Zebra. 00:10:05 Speaker 4: I loved Jonathan more than anyone else in this world. 00:10:10 Speaker 3: Please please tell me what you know. There is a son, Jonathan's youngest. 00:10:21 Speaker 4: He lives. 00:10:23 Speaker 3: He does, though he is broken, my Lord, crippled in both feet since childhood. The nurse maid fled with him the day your enemies took soul than Jonathan. In her haste, the boy fell down a stairwell. He has never walked correctly since. 00:10:45 Speaker 1: The King's breath caught in his chest. 00:10:48 Speaker 4: All these years, all this time, I had no idea where is he now? 00:10:55 Speaker 3: He lives in Loudebar, in the house of mckier's, son of Amma, a quiet place forgotten by most. The boy is no prince there. He tends animals, sleeps among the straw, a servant, not a sovereign. I assure you, my King, here is no thread. 00:11:17 Speaker 4: I I didn't ask you out of jealousy. Zebra, please believe me. I asked out of love. 00:11:24 Speaker 1: Zebra bowed once more. 00:11:27 Speaker 4: Bring him to me. I must look upon him with my own eyes. I must do what I swore to do so many, so many, so many winters ago. 00:11:38 Speaker 1: As the steward departed, David walked to the window. The sun had climbed higher, now warming the stone beneath his feet, But the king felt cold. He placed a hand over his heart and whispered. 00:11:53 Speaker 4: Forgive me, Charaman. I'm late, but I have not forgotten. 00:12:02 Speaker 3: MEFI. 00:12:03 Speaker 1: Beauchef crawled from barn to well and back again, dragging behind him a small wooden cart bearing two sloshing pails of water. His arms, wiry and bruised, bore the burden with dogged resolve. He had grown strong in his own way, not the strength of swords or spears, but the quiet, stubborn strength of one who refuses pity. His legs twisted and useless since the fall ached with every motion, His palms were thick with calluses, but Mefi Beauchef offered no complaint. He was like his father in that way, stubbornly optimistic against the tragedies of life that wouldn't relent. Since the war, he had lived here in the shadows of another man's fields. Maykir of Gilead had taken him in and clothed him, given him food, shelter and quiet. But charity has its limits, even when kindly given. He was tolerated, not quite family, pitied, not quite loved. Mefi beauchth did not begrudge it. That was the way of the world. Kingdoms fall, and with them princes crawl. He was halfway through his eighth journey from the well when the door to the house creaked open. Makir's voice echoed across the yard. Meffi Beauchth froze, his hands slipped a little on the edge of the cart. No one came to see him. No one even knew he was alive. He wiped the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand and crawled slowly to the house. There, standing amidst the clay, jars and linen was a man he had not seen since childhood. 00:14:08 Speaker 3: Zebra. 00:14:10 Speaker 1: The old steward, turned and smiled, his eyes crinkling with fondness and regret. 00:14:17 Speaker 3: It is I, my prince, you've grown. 00:14:23 Speaker 1: Meffi beau Sheth embraced him. There was an exchange of laughter, followed by the low tone of Zebra. 00:14:31 Speaker 3: I have come to take you to Jerusalem. The king has summoned you. He wishes to speak with you. 00:14:41 Speaker 4: He knows I'm alive. 00:14:43 Speaker 1: Zebra nodded. Meffi beau Sheth turned to make here, his eyes searching. 00:14:50 Speaker 4: Is it to kill me? 00:14:51 Speaker 3: Has the new king found the last scrap of Saul's house and come to sweep it away? 00:14:56 Speaker 1: Zebra shifted uneasily and make here across his arms. 00:15:01 Speaker 3: He says his intentions are good, but who cannot for sure? So your grandfather dead, a kid of the last years of his life, trying to kill the king called him serpent, traitor you. 00:15:22 Speaker 1: Mefi beau Chef looked down at his withered legs. 00:15:25 Speaker 3: He was no threat. 00:15:27 Speaker 1: He had no sword, no armies, no claim, only his name. 00:15:33 Speaker 4: There is no more hiding. 00:15:38 Speaker 3: No, there is not. Whatever King David intends for you, it's inhibitable. 00:15:48 Speaker 1: Mefi Beaucheth winced and tightened his fists. He had to be brave, brave like his father. 00:15:56 Speaker 4: Then take me to him. 00:16:01 Speaker 1: The wheels of the carriage creaked as it climbed the hill toward the heart of Jerusalem. Zeba sat still, the reins loose in his hands, his eyes fixed forward. Mefi beau Sheth said nothing. He sat hunched, his twisted legs folded awkwardly beneath him, the heat of the morning sun pressing down through the open slats of the carriage canopy. As the city walls rose into view, Mefi beau Cheth's breath caught in his throat. Towers crowned the skyline, and banners of deep red and gold fluttered in the breeze. The city of David. He felt small. The carriage halted before the gates of the palace great oaken doors stood open. Beniah was there to welcome them. 00:16:54 Speaker 3: Zebra, thank you for bringing the Phibius Chef to us. I'll less Gordon from here. 00:16:59 Speaker 1: Ziba knelt to Mefi beau Cheth and gave him a hug. 00:17:03 Speaker 3: Be brave, my prince. 00:17:06 Speaker 1: Mefi Beaucheth nodded and followed Baniah through the palace doors. There was no fanfare, no trumpets. He followed behind Beniah, dragging his frame on hands and knees. The hallway before the throne room stretched long and golden, lit by torches flickering against tall, polished walls. Once in the halls, Baniah left, The doors echoed as they shut. Mefi Beaucheth was alone, waiting, vulnerable. His eyes were drawn upward to the colors woven into the tapestries. They lined the stone walls like ancient memories stitched in cloth. Heroes and horrors both One caught his eye, a boy with a sling and a giant with a spear. Another showed the king bloodied and roaring. A mirrored a circle of philistines. But it was the final tapestry that stopped him cold. There were two men standing back to back in the thick of battle. One held a sword, the other a spear. Her malachite surged around them like a tide. One was David Mefi Beaucheth recognized him from the stories. The other wore armor etched with the sigil of the House of Saul. His hair curled like Mefi Beaucheth's. His stance was familiar his face father, MEPhI Beauchth, reached out his hand, trembling, fingers brushing the cloth. His father stood frozen in the weave of war, forever, fighting forever. Young pain welled up inside him. He wept quietly. A tear rolled down one cheek, carved a path through the grime of travel. As Meffi beau Chev stared at the tapestry, a voice called from the shadows, low but warm, Bibaschev. He turned there. A few paces away stood the King of Israel. The boy dropped his gaze and fell prostrate to the floor. His voice trembled, Please, my lord, I'm your servant. 00:19:30 Speaker 4: I am no threat to your kingdom. 00:19:32 Speaker 3: Please, I beg you do not kill me. 00:19:36 Speaker 4: Kill you, No, my son, do not be afraid. 00:19:41 Speaker 1: David approached and the boy flinched. David paused, then did something no king in the known world would ever do. He knelt down to his level where they could speak. I to eye. 00:19:57 Speaker 4: Had I known you were alive, I would have sai for you long ago. I'm so sorry. Please forgive me. Why would I need to forgive you? Because your father. 00:20:12 Speaker 3: Was my brother. 00:20:14 Speaker 4: He was the finest man I've ever known, and I swore to him, by the God we both served that I would look after his house as if it were my own. You loved my father, didn't you. 00:20:27 Speaker 3: I remember so little of him. 00:20:30 Speaker 4: I loved him more than I can say. He was brave but not brash. He was righteous but not self righteous. And he saw something in me that nobody else but the Lord saw. 00:20:44 Speaker 1: David saw the longing in Meffi Beaucheff's eyes. David may have lost a friend and brother, but he had lost a father. David smiled and gestured to the hale. 00:20:58 Speaker 4: Come walk with me. 00:21:01 Speaker 1: David slowed his pace to match the crawl of Jonathan's son. They crossed the Great Hall, and servants pulled wide the iron banded doors to reveal a long table set with meats, bread, honey, and fruit. No royal feast had ever been laid for one such as Meffi Beaucheth. But David bade him sit, and for a long time they dined and talked his family. David spoke of the battles he and Jonathan had fought, of late nights, whispering under the stars, of blood shed and oaths. 00:21:40 Speaker 4: Sworn, I vowed I would care for you. Today I make good on that vow. You shall eat at my table like my own son. You shall be one of us. 00:21:53 Speaker 1: Mefi Beauchth trembled, his calloused hands curled tightly. He bowed his head and tried to speak, but words choked in his throat. At last, with shame and tears, he found his voice. 00:22:09 Speaker 3: No, I'm not worthy. Who am I that the king would be mindful of me? 00:22:15 Speaker 1: I'm broken, a dead dog, nothing more. 00:22:20 Speaker 3: I'm not my father. 00:22:22 Speaker 4: He was a prince and a warrior, and I'm I'm no one. 00:22:27 Speaker 1: David stood, walked around the table, and knelt again at the boy's side. 00:22:33 Speaker 4: Come with me. 00:22:35 Speaker 1: They ascended to the rooftop, where the wind blew clean and the stars spilled like fire over the sky. It was just David and Meffi Beaucheth, the King and the broken Prince. David pointed out to the heavens. 00:22:53 Speaker 3: Look loud, my son, what do you see? 00:23:00 Speaker 1: She was used to looking up, but not like this. He lifted his eyes for the first time in years. He truly looked, not just with his eyes, but with his soul. The heavens danced with light, and it seemed as if the whole world had been cast in silver. David raised his head and began to recite a psalm of his heart. His voice was a hush upon the breeze. 00:23:31 Speaker 4: O Lord, our lord, how majestic is your name? And all the earth above the heavens of such a rooring him out of the mouth of Babes. You've drop strength what I consider the moon stars the work of your hands. What is that? You are monthful of him, the son of Mary? You care for him, You have crowned him with glory and honored. 00:24:03 Speaker 1: He fell silent. Mefi beauchev could not speak. David looked at him earnestly. 00:24:11 Speaker 3: You asked the question of why you're worthy of such honor? 00:24:16 Speaker 4: A phibichef, I asked the same question, who am I that the Lord will be mindful of me. Who am I that he would consider me all? 00:24:27 Speaker 1: David knelt again to the boy, tears on the creases of his eyes, glistening in the starlight. 00:24:35 Speaker 4: You are not a dead dog. You are the son of Jonathan and a child of God. He has not forgotten you, and neither will I. 00:24:46 Speaker 1: He called for Zeba, who appeared like a ghost in the torchlight. 00:24:51 Speaker 4: Zeba, I restored him a fibichet. All the lands of his grandfather's saw You and your sons shall tend them, and the prince shall eat at my table all the days of his life. 00:25:03 Speaker 1: And Mefi beau Chef, the forgotten son, crawled to David and threw his arms around him, and David held him like a father holds a wounded child. For the first time in his life, Meffi beau Chef felt tall. 00:25:26 Speaker 2: Today's Bible story really moved me. Not in a loud and obvious way. It moved me in the way that sneaks into your chest and just sits there. 00:25:34 Speaker 1: You know what I mean. 00:25:35 Speaker 2: It would be easy to say that this story is about royalty or war, or the slow grind of political power, shifting hands but that would miss its true point. This story, it's about mercy where it ought not to be. You know, we've all been them. We've all been Meffi Bosche, dragging our past behind us, wandering and wondering if we're worth remembering. And we've all been David, standing at the precipice of a vow we've made, deciding whether or not we'll keep it. Today's story actually begins back in First Samuel, chapter twenty. Do you remember back when we looked at the friendship between Jonathan and David. When Jonathan made this very confidant Jonathan said to David, do not ever cut off your kindness from my family, not even when the Lord has cut off every one of David's enemies from the face of the earth. Long after Jonathan died, David showed his friend respect by extending mercy and compassion to Jonathan's son, Meffi Bushit. But it's a lesson for all of us today. Keeping our promises when others know about our promises is one thing. But to keep a promise when nobody knows about it, when nobody would even know the difference, that is a godly act. So follow David's godly example and be the type of promise keepers who honor our commitments even when God is the only one who knows. But looking at this Bible story is a bit deeper. I'm left asking what would a king do? And why would a king do this? Why risk power, perception and peace for the sake of a crippled child hidden way in obscurity. Why keep a promise that nobody else remembers now? In Jewish tradition, when a question feels too obvious, it's usually because we've missed the deeper lesson that's underneath it. So here it is kresaid. It's a Hebrew word that we've come back to again and again as we've studied God's word together. Kresid means loving kindness, yes, But more than that, it's a covenantal loyalty. It's a steadfast mercy. It's a kind of love that doesn't falter even when we might. David acted on Chresid, he embodied it. David had made a promise to John, then a covenant of brotherly love and an unbreakable bond, And that is where the deeper insights lie. Meffi Buchett's name literally means from the mouth of shame. He wasn't just physically broken, he was shame. He carried shame, and an ancient Israelite culture to bear such a name was truly a shame. But then the king calls Maffi Bouschit. The opposite of shame is in pride, it's dignity. And David gives Meffi Bouschett back his dignity, not because the boy earned it, but because he said demands it. Now, notice David doesn't act like a normal king here, I mean an ancient Near Eastern world. Kings didn't kneel to descendants of rival dynasties. They eliminated them. But David kneels. Today's story perfectly illustrates the story that we're reading together of the Bible of God's Word, which stands not of power, not punishment, but of mercy and remembrance. God remembers Noah and has mercy on him. God remembers Rachel and has mercy on her. God remembers his people in Egypt and has mercy on them. And here David remembers Jonathan's son and extends mercy. So let us ask ourselves, have we forgotten well? One of my greatest privileges of leading the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews is meeting countless people who have been forgotten, and they feel forgotten. But those are the people that we look for at the Fellowship, and through this partnership of faithful Christians and Jews, we are able to go and bring food to the forgotten table, to visit them with dignity and love and make them feel holy, and to make them know that they're loved, to let them know that God has not forgotten them, and neither have we. As we've taken this journey with the Chosen People, You've probably noticed I quite often quote Dietrich Bonhaeffer. Pastor Bonhauffer bravely stood up for his Jewish brothers and sisters throughout the Holocaust and forfeited his life for his holy actions. Of the many inspiring quotes by him, there's one that says, the test of the morality of a society is what it does for its children. In this story, we see this in action, this story of a king who goes looking for the least not to eliminate him, but to elevate him, and he does it because of promise Throughout the Bible, we find leadership tied to responsibility, not advantage. David doesn't act like kings of the nations. He acts like someone who remembers the God of creation, the God of Exodus, the God who hears the cry of the afflicted, the God who, as we read and Psalms one, p. Thirteen, lifts the poor from the ash heap and seats them with the princes. We live in a world that measures people by their ability, by their success, by their output, but that's not how God measures it. 00:31:19 Speaker 4: Is it. 00:31:20 Speaker 2: Maybe you felt like Mephiboshet lately, beaten down, forgotten, dragging yourself through the day, wondering if anyone even sees you, or maybe you've been called, like David, to remember someone that the world has forgotten. Either way, this story calls us back to the essence of our faith. We are seen, we are remembered, and the King well, He has made a place for each and everyone of us. 00:31:52 Speaker 1: You can listen to the Chosen People with the Isle exstein Ad free by downloading and subscribing to the Prey dot Com ap today. This Prey dog comproduction is only made possible by our dedicated team of creative Talents. Steve Gattina, Max Bard, Zach Shellabarger and Ben Gammon are the executive producers of The Chosen People with Yil Eckstein, Edited by Alberto Avilla, narrated by Paul Coltofianu. Characters are voiced by Jonathan Gotten, Aaron Salvado, Sarah Seltz, Mike Reagan, Stephen Ringwald, Sylvia Zaradoc, Thomas Copeland Junior, Rosanna Pilcher, and the opening prayer is voiced by John Moore. Music by Andrew Morgan Smith, written by Aaron Salvato, bre Rosalie and Chris Baig. Special thanks to Bishop Paul Lanier, Robin van Ettin, Kayla Burrows, Jocelyn Fuller, and the team at International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. You can hear more Prey dot com productions on the Prey dot com app, available on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. If you enjoyed The Chosen People with Yile Exstein, please rate and leave a review.