A Seat at the King’s Table
Be Strong, Be Well — Thursday, September 24
Mephibosheth is probably not our first choice in the study of Bible characters. Who was he? Well, he was the son of Jonathan, David’s best friend, and the grandson of King Saul.
The consequences of Saul’s reckless failures fell on his entire family. When Jonathan and two of his brothers were killed in battle, and Saul committed suicide, the royal family was forced to leave the kingdom. Mephibosheth was just five years old. While his nurse was running to escape, she dropped him and he became crippled in both his feet. He was taken to the land of Lo-debar, which means a place of desolation.
How sad for an innocent young boy to suffer such things because of the careless evil ways of his grandfather. But the story doesn’t end there.
After the dust settled, and David was made king of Israel, he enquired if any of Jonathan’s family had survived. Mephibosheth was brought to David. The king restored all of Saul’s lands and possessions to Jonathan’s young son. The king designated a man with his 15 sons and 20 servants to work the land for Mephibosheth.
But again, the story continues. At his first audience with the king, David told Mephibosheth, “Do not fear, for I will surely show you kindness for Jonathan your father’s sake, and will restore to you all the land of Saul your grandfather; and you shall eat bread at my table continually” (2 Samuel 9:7). Mephibosheth had become part of David’s own family.
Every one of God’s faithful children share some things with Mephibosheth. These would be specific to the spiritual realm.
We all have fallen because of sin (Romans 3:23). We are crippled by it. We are not able to take care of this blight on our souls by ourselves. We have been alienated from the royal kingdom because of our sins (Ephesians 2:12, 13). We are unable to save ourselves, so God provided the means of redemption through His Son. Jesus Christ, the King, has brought us back into God’s good graces through our obedience to the gospel.
Mephibosheth was not called back to Jerusalem because of his great accomplishments. He was invited by the king. We are brought back into a relationship with God because of His great love for us. We have the privilege and honor to approach the great throne room of God, the King . Now we have a permanent seat at the King’s table (Hebrews 4:14-16; Mark 14:25).
How thankful we are for God’s amazing grace that offers us a seat at the King’s table. —Chris