You Can't See Your Feet at the Table

The other day I was reading through 2nd Samuel 9, which is the story about David and Mephibosheth. Before I go into detail about the story, it might help to have some background about Mephibosheth. The first time he is mentioned in the Bible is in 2nd Samuel 4:4, shortly after Saul's death: "(Jonathan son of Saul had a son who was lame in both feet. He was five years old when the news of Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel. His nurse picked him up and fled, but as she hurried to leave, he fell and became crippled. His name was Mephibosheth.)"

This verse is in parenthesis for a reason. If you read through the first few chapters of 2nd Samuel, you will find that this verse is somewhat irrelevant to what is currently going on...until we come to chapter nine.
My dad did a sermon on 2nd Samuel 9 a couple years ago and after I recently read this story I searched for my sermon notes with the desire to recall the astounding message hidden within the text.

Now, David was anointed king over Judah in 2nd Samuel 2 and from then on, there was war between the houses of David and Saul. The house of David always defeated the house of Saul. We come to chapter nine and David asked if there was anyone of the house of Saul whom he could show kindness to for Jonathan's (Saul's son and David's best friend) sake. Ziba, a servant of Saul's household, told David about Mephibosheth.

I will let the Scriptures tell you the rest of the story, starting in vs. 5 of 2nd Samuel 9:
"So King David had him brought from Lo Debar, from the house of Makir son of Ammiel. 6 When Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, he bowed down to pay him honor. David said, 'Mephibosheth!' 'Your servant,' he replied. 7 '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.' 8 Mephibosheth bowed down and said, 'What is your servant, that you should notice a dead dog like me?'. . . 11b So Mephibosheth ate at David's table like one of the king's sons. 12 Mephibosheth had a young son named Mica, and all the members of Ziba's household were servants of Mephibosheth. 13 And Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, because he always ate at the king's table, and he was crippled in both feet."

The first point to be made here is that we are born enemies of Christ. Mephibosheth was a direct descendant of Saul. Saul had made David his enemy and pursued him consistently, wanting him dead. And from then on, there was consant warfare between the house of Saul and the house of David. However, Christ still pursues us just as David pursued Mephibosheth, wanting to show him kindness. In the same way, we are to pursue our enemies.

Second of all, God calls us by name and tells us not to fear. Mephibosheth's name means "shameful speech from my mouth." He did not have an honoring name whatsoever. It was shameful. But David called out to him, "Mephibosheth! Don't be afraid!" This indicates that Mephibosheth was afraid of David...I would be too if my grandfather tried to kill the king who just summoned me. Mephibosheth didn't deserve David's kindness. But because David loved his father, Jonathan, he wanted to show his household kindness. Like David, Christ is calling out to us, "Shameful one! Don't be afraid for I will surely show you kindness." We don't deserve God's kindness but because he loves us, he seeks us out and gives it to us anyways.

Next we see that, not only does God save us, but he also restores our heritance and our dignity. Mephibosheth was living in Lo Debar, which was a place of hiding, for he feared for his life because his grandfather was dead and David was now king. David had him brought to Jerusalem and promised to restore to him the land that belonged to Saul AND he promised Mephibosheth that he would eat at his table. David saved Mephibosheth from his place of hiding and restored everything to him and restored his dignity by letting him eat at his table. How many times does Christ do this for us also?

The blessing: Once we're invited to the table, it's our place to always come to. Mephibosheth always ate at David's table. Once Christ invites us into his kingdom, we are always welcome and are never banished.

The awesomeness doesn't end there though. There are a few more key points to be drawn from this passage:
1) We start fallen/crippled
2) We can't walk into the kingdon, we have to be brought
3) We can't walk in the king's presence on our own
4) This one's my favorite: While we're at the table we can't see our feet (our shame). Mephibosheth was a member of a deposed dynasty, but the "embarrasement" of having him, a cripple, in the royal courts did not in any way affect David's gracious treatment towards him.

Be encouraged by this as I was. Next Thursday is Thanksgiving. I am thankful that God loves me so much to show me his kindness and to carry me into his kingdom in my fallen state.