June 24, 2008
Mephibosheth
While
talking to Janet today she said she had been talking to someone who said,
“They wanted to sponsor a child and bless someone who had no way of paying
back what he wanted to sow into their lives”.
We
all should have this kind of heart, the need to bless others. So, who or what is
a Mephibosheth? He's an Old Testament character from the time of King David. He
doesn't get talked about a great deal.
Mephibosheth
was the son of Jonathon and grandson of Saul the king. When he was a youngster
he was crippled. When a king was killed it was the custom to kill off all his
family and friends so that there were no heirs left to the throne to rise up and
seek revenge. Perhaps not the most civilized of customs but very a very
practical way to head off future problems. When King Saul and Jonathon were
killed in battle, news quickly reached his household. It is at that point we
meet Mephibosheth. We are introduced to him in the Old Testament book of Second
Samuel
2
Samuel 4:4-5 NET
Now Saul's son Jonathan had a son who was crippled in both feet. He was five
years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan arrived from Jezreel. His nurse
picked him up and fled, but in her haste to get away, he fell and was injured.
Mephibosheth was his name.
While
Saul was a bitter enemy of David and repeatedly tried to kill him and have him
killed, David and Saul's son Jonathon were friends. David owed his life to
Jonathon and despite the animosity between them David went out of his way not to
kill King Saul. In due course the warring was over and David was the new king of
Jerusalem. Although both Jonathon and Saul were killed David did not have a hand
in their killing.
When
his throne was established David did something very unusual. We'll pick up
Mephibosheth's story
2
Samuel 9:1-13 NET
Then David asked, “Is anyone still left from the family of Saul, so that I
may extend kindness to him for the sake of Jonathan?”
Now
there was a servant from Saul's house named Ziba, so he was summoned to David.
The king asked him, “Are you Ziba?” He replied, “At your service.” The
king asked, “Is there not someone left from Saul's family, that I may extend
God's kindness to him?” Ziba said to the king, “One of Jonathan's sons is
left; both of his feet are crippled.” The king asked him, “Where is he?”
Ziba told the king, “He is at the house of Makir son of Ammiel in Lo Debar.
So
King David had him brought from the house of Makir son of Ammiel in Lo Debar.
When Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, he bowed low
with his face toward the ground. David said, “Mephibosheth?” He replied,
“Yes, at your service.”
David
said to him, “Don't be afraid, because I will certainly extend kindness to you
for the sake of Jonathan your father. You will be a regular guest at my
table.” Then Mephibosheth bowed and said, “Of what importance am I, your
servant, that you show regard for a dead dog like me?”
Then
the king summoned Ziba, Saul's attendant, and said to him, “Everything that
belonged to Saul and to his entire house I hereby give to your master's
grandson. You will cultivate the land for him - you and your sons and your
servants. You will bring its produce and it will be food for your master's
grandson to eat. But Mephibosheth, your master's grandson, will be a regular
guest at my table.” (Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.)Ziba said
to the king, “Your servant will do everything that my lord the king has
instructed his servant to do.” So Mephibosheth was a regular guest at David's
table, just as though he were one of the king's sons.
Now
Mephibosheth had a young son whose name was Mica. All the members of Ziba's
household were Mephibosheth's servants. Mephibosheth was living in Jerusalem,
for he was a regular guest at the king's table. But both his feet were crippled.
Now
that's a touching story about David's mercy but few of us think through the
application between the young man with disabilities and our own lives.
You
see, we're no different than Mephibosheth. We might not be the heir to the
throne of Jerusalem and we might not be crippled in both feet but we're a lot
alike.
Given
the custom of the day, David should have killed the boy. He was a potential
threat to David, if not directly because of his disabilities at least indirectly
through his children. Despite that David chose to spare him.
Mephibosheth
was crippled and likely needed to be carried everywhere. People with visible
disabilities we not welcome at the table of royalty. If they were permitted to
live they stayed clear of the king and his court eking out a living as beggars.
To
sit at the table with the king for the rest of his life was to be an affront to
the customs of the day. It was David declaring that no matter what others had to
say Mephibosheth was welcome to stay with him.
Do
you see the similarity yet to your own life? Let me explain it so there is no
misunderstanding. God is our king. Our sin is rebellion against God and we are
deserving of death because of it. Our death at the hand of God would be the just
reward for our treachery. We're crippled. Perhaps not physically, although maybe
even physically in some ways, but we're damaged goods. We sinners living in a
sin filled world. We're scarred and banged up emotionally and spiritually by our
sin and the sins of others.
Yet
for the sake of Jesus, God says that we are welcome at His table no matter what
the rest of the world thinks. We have no right to claim a seat at the table of
the King. We should have no expectation of spending time with Him, yet out of
His mercy and His grace it is possible for us to avoid scurrying out of his way
when he approaches.
We
are saved alone by God's grace alone in the shed blood of Jesus Christ alone.
Okay perhaps we recognize that, but ...here's the big question ... "SO
WHAT?"
So
it's time to drop any arrogance that we have acquired about being Christians. We
didn't get saved because we deserved it. We got saved because the King had mercy
on His little crippled children.
We
need to humbly live lives that are in keeping with the unmerited grace we have
received. We need to be thankful for God's grace and we need to show it to
others.
King
David didn't just let Mephibosheth live, he gave him the lands that were forfeit
by Saul's death and he allowed him to sit at the king's table.
God
didn't just forgive your sins. He gave you a seat in eternity with Him and
blessings in this life and beyond.
So
who is it you are called to help and bless today? The most unlikely person could
be the one God says to forgive, help, or even bless financially. A seed sown
into the life of a person always yields something. What is it your sowing into
the lives of those around you?
Is
it time you gave something to someone totally undeserving as God did for you?
Until
next time rejoice that you and I are not only permitted into the presence of the
King of Kings, but we are welcome at His table.
Darrel
Mason