“So Mephibosheth ate at the David’s table, like one of the king’s sons.” ~ 2 Samuel 9:11
Great God of abundant grace, You know that I love the story of David and Mephibosheth. As the grandson of the former king, Saul, and son of Jonathan, he was a potential rival to the king’s throne. Any other monarch would have had him found out and eliminated. That scenario would be expected. In fact, Mephibosheth expected it himself, living in a desolate part of the kingdom, he hoped never to be discovered. The former member of the royal family was now living in poverty on Lo-debar, the city of no promise.
And yet David’s desire was not to eliminate his enemy, but rather to show kindness to anyone left in the house of Saul, for the sake of his best friend, Jonathan. He called it the kindness of God. And Father, when I look at David’s heart toward Mephibosheth, I am struck how much it parallels your grace toward me.
He was born into royalty and then experienced a fall that left him lame in both feet. He was no real rival to the king. And he certainly had nothing to offer by way of practical service. He could not fight in the army, or even serve a cup of tea. Mephibosheth was a weak, helpless man, with many fears, insecurities and needs. And then David sought him out, not to curse or judge, but to bless.
Father, I am Mephibosheth. I, too, am lame. Not in my feet, but in my flesh. Apart from your Spirit, I am unable to take even one step spiritually. Yet you sought me out, not to curse or judge, but to bless—and bless beyond my wildest imagination.
And just as David supplied Mephibosheth with seventy-two feet of servants, so you have supplied me with the life-giving ministry of Jesus. Father, he worked for my salvation, securing my justification and giving me the Spirit to enable my sanctification. Every spiritual blessing I have is the result of Jesus serving and blessing a moral and spiritual cripple like me.
So, thank you Jesus. Thank you for humbling yourself to death, even death on a cross, where your feet were nailed and you became a cripple in my place. As my substitute, you paid the cost for my adoption so that I, like Mephibosheth, might be invited to eat at the King’s table of grace, being sustained not merely on that which is physical and temporal, but sustained by that which is spiritual and eternal—the bread of life and the cup of joy.
So may I believe today that I can come into your presence as a son and, lame as I am, be given the grace to walk in your ways by the indwelling power of your Holy Spirit. I desire the ability to step out in faith and to follow where you lead. As a recipient of abundant, overwhelming grace, I want to walk in line with the gospel. I want to repent. I want to believe and to experience the fruit of the Spirit. But I know that if I am to live as if I can walk, it will be because I am being carried, like Mephibosheth. Carried by the enabling grace of your Spirit, who gives feet to the lame and the place of a son at the table of the King.
