“And Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, because he always ate at the king’s table; he was lame in both feet.” 2 Samuel 9:13
Previously Mephibosheth lived at Lo Debar, and even the name of the place sounds depressing. It means “no pasture.” It was an empty and barren place. Mephibosheth was disabled and living in poverty following the demise of King Saul, his grandfather.
David summons Mephibosheth to the palace and says: “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 responds, “What is your servant, that you should notice a dead dog like me?” (2 Samuel 9:7-8).
Mephibosheth saw himself as a dead dog living in Lo Debar, a place of no hope, but David reverses his situation. We’re reminded of how God reverses our situations. Once we were in a hopeless place but now we are his children.
So Mephibosheth eats at the king’s table, where the elite in Jerusalem gathered. For a while Mephibosheth must have felt uncomfortable, he probably thought he had nothing to offer such illustrious company, but he did. He offered a different perspective. A perspective of suffering that existed beyond the walls of the palace. Among this happy group of royal revellers, God brought someone with an outsider’s outlook. I wonder if they felt uncomfortable in the presence of this misfit?
God may want to break up our happy circle of church friends by bringing in a misfit, a Mephibosheth, someone who will tell us about the pain and suffering that exists beyond the church walls. Someone who is broken and wounded who needs to see God’s grace operating through his people.
Devotional Thought : 2 Samuel 9:13
