Are Your ‘Lame’ Feet Under His Table?

Carefully pondering the brief Old Testament account of Mephibosheth, will reveal a stirring story of danger, despair, deliverance, deceit, and abandoned delight. Mephibosheth was the son of Prince Jonathan, the heir to the throne and son of King Saul-Israel’s first king. In a fierce battle with Israel’s enemy, the Philistines, King Saul and his three sons were surrounded and either slain in battle or, in Saul’s case ‘fell on his sword’ to avoid capture [1 Samuel 31].

Mephibosheth was just a small child at the time of death of Jonathan, and when word came to the palace of the death of the king, along with prince Jonathan and his brothers, the caregiver/nursemaid of Mephibosheth picked him up in a panic, fleeing in haste to protect him from possible harm. In doing so she accidentally dropped him, perhaps breaking his legs, hips, or back resulting in his being lame and unable to walk from then on. He grew up in obscurity living in an out-of-the-way place in southern Judah called Lo-debar.

After David became king after Saul’s death, he remembered his covenant he had made with his friend Jonathan to look after each other’s family if either one of them died in battle [I Sam 20:15]. David was informed of the existence of Mephibosheth and requested he be brought to Jerusalem, a likely anxiety-ridden trip for Mephibosheth at the thought of having to appear before the king. To his shocking surprise, David restored to Mephibosheth all of the land holdings of King Saul, and had Mephibosheth dine regularly at the king’s table. [2 Samuel 9:7]

Years later, at the uprising against David by his son Absalom, David fled Jerusalem for safety. Mephibosheth stayed behind because there was no one to help him mount a donkey so he could escape with the King. Ziba, the land manager for Mephibosheth, lied to David telling him that Mephibosheth stayed behind in Jerusalem hoping the people would make him king. This lie resulted in David offering Ziba all of the land owned by Mephibosheth [I Samuel 16:1-4].

After the death of Absalom, David returned to Jerusalem, meeting a very unkempt and disheveled [a sign of mourning] Mephibosheth who informed David that Ziba had lied about the motive of Mephibosheth. David promptly promised to return to Mephibosheth one-half of his former land holdings, leaving one-half with Ziba. Amazingly, Mephibosheth, having become so devoted to King David, replied “let him [Ziba] even take it all, since my lord the king has come safely to his own house” [2 Samuel 19:30]. Mephibosheth displays no outrage at being ripped off by his manager Ziba, and is willing to abandon his worldly properties if only he could be restored to fellowship with the king.

David’s kindness and compassion towards Mephibosheth is a very moving example of Christ’s great kindness and compassion toward each one of us, though we are afflicted with far more than ‘lame legs’. Our ‘lameness’ is spiritual, and the scriptures even describe us as ‘dead’ in our trespasses and sins [Ephesians 2:1]. King Jesus brought us to His table, “anointed our heads with oil, filled our cups to overflowing, showing us goodness and lovingkindness” [Psm 23: 5-6]. This Son of David, King Jesus invites each of us to dine with Him in close fellowship [Rev 3:20]. He knows we are stricken with sin and its consequences, but invites us to come as we are and put our ‘lame’ feet under His table.

Is your gathering of this world’s goods, or your status in this life more important to you than an intimate time of fellowship with the King of the universe? Are you more devoted to those things than to Him? Do you recognize your ‘lameness’ and do you now seriously desire, i.e. a nothing-else-really-matters kind of desire to put your ‘lame’ feet under His table?

CJS