2 Samuel 9:8 “Mephibosheth bowed down and said, “What is your servant that you should notice a dead dog like me?”(NIV)
2 Samuel 9:9-11 “...and Mephibosheth, grandson of your master, will always eat at my table.” ...So Mephibosheth ate at David’s table like one of the king’s sons.” (NIV)
I saw my old self this week. I looked into my old eyes and saw too much pain. Not the eyes that look back at me in the mirror today, but what you could see in my eyes nine years ago. I got a phone call at work last week, a woman who said that a mutual friend suggested that she call me. She was really nervous - she wanted to talk to me - but then again - maybe not because most people rejected her completely when she told them her story. She kept jumping back & forth on if we should meet, if she could talk to me, if I would judge her. When I told her that I was a recovering drug addict and a survivor of childhood and spousal abuse she calmed down and we agreed to meet at her house. Truth be told, she is a wreck. The abuse that she has suffered has taken away her self-esteem, made her angry and bitter towards the world and towards God. She is what I was. As I listened to her talk I heard myself in her words and saw myself in her eyes. The only difference between us is that she never got mixed up in the drugs as I did. Just as much as I am a sister to others by the Holy blood of Jesus, I am a sister to this woman through the unholy blood of abuse.
She lives outside of Fresno/Clovis area so I had plenty of time to think on my ride home. At first I cried the tears for her that I could not cry while I was with her. Then I cried tears of thanksgiving and happiness because my life - a mirror image of her life - was changed by a God of unexplainable mercy and grace.
Mephibosheth knew about unexplainable mercy and grace. Mephibosheth was the son of Jonathan, who was the son of Saul, the first king of Israel. Saul had made it his life’s purpose to destroy a shepherd boy named David. In fact, Saul had pursued David’s death until his very own death. Now that same David was the second king of Israel - and he had sent for Mephibosheth. Mephibosheth knew that this was not good. The custom of kings back then was to destroy any rivals to the throne so that there were not any rivals to the throne. Mephibosheth realized that David could consider him, as the grandson of Saul, a rival to the throne. As Mephibosheth traveled to Jerusalem he knew he was traveling to face King David’s judgement.
But there was something unexplainable going on in Jerusalem. David was not looking for vengeance. Instead he was looking to show love and mercy to a descendant of his beloved friend Jonathan. He had called Ziba, a former servant of Saul, and asked if there were any descendants of Saul. Listen to the sneer in Ziba’s voice as he answered, “There is still a son of Jonathan; he is crippled in both feet.” Ziba could not be bothered to identify this son by name but was quick to make sure the king knew that Mephibosheth was crippled. Mephibosheth’s physical deformity had made him a social outcast. Ziba’s attitude was one Mephibosheth lived with every day. When David sent for Mephibosheth, I wonder if Ziba was astounded by the king’s mercy towards this crippled social outcast.
I wonder what these two men, David & Mephibosheth, felt when they met for the first time. David, the most powerful man in the kingdom, and Mephibosheth, the descendant of the former king, a cripple, a social outcast. David intending mercy, Mephibosheth expecting judgement. Mephibosheth bowed down before his king and waited for the words of judgement.
Mephibosheth waiting before his king reminds of another cripple waiting before her King. On my knees before my God, I was crippled by the drugs, mentally and socially crippled by the child and spousal abuse. I had - through my bitterness and anger - made myself a social outcast. Still, the choices I had made with my life were my own. I deserved nothing less than His judgement on my life.
David saw Mephibosheth’s fear in his eyes. With a smile he said, “Don’t be afraid 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’s response to this declaration showed how astounded he was by this unexpected gift of mercy and grace from his king. “What is your servant, that you should notice a dead dog like me?”
Then came the 180 degree turn about in Mephibosheth’s life. The Word records, “So Mephibosheth ate at David’s table like one of the king’s sons.
I knelt before my King, soul crippled, waiting for the judgement that was due to me. With a smile in His voice, Father God said to me, “Don’t be afraid for I will surely show you grace and mercy for the sake of My Son, Jesus. You will be my daughter, I will fill your life with glory and you will always eat at my table.”
Just as astounded as Mephibosheth, all I can say is, “Who am I that You should love me so?”
Mephibosheth ate at King David’s table like one of the king’s sons. I eat at my King’s table as His daughter - not like His daughter, but as His daughter. I live a life in my Father’s glory that is way beyond anything I could have imagined nine years ago.
This is the life He has for all of us if we just surrender ourselves to Him. This is the life that I will show my new sister as I pray that she too will find herself renewed and restored within God.
My God and my King, because of You I know things that were impossible for me nine years ago. I know what it is to be alive, to be filled with joy, to be Yours. I can’t live without You. Now there is another lost woman, Father. In her, I see what I was before You. Touch her, Father, change her like You changed me.