A Seat at the Table
This week in worship, as we continue our 66-week journey through the Bible, Pastor David shares from 2 Samuel, when David took the initiative to seek out Mephibosheth and extend kindness to him. Can you think of someone that you can show kindness and grace to, and bless them this week?
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A Seat at the Table
For those of you that are new, we are in a series called, “The Bible – A Story of Love, Belonging, Redemption, and Hope.” Each week, we are going through one book of the Bible. Inside that book, we are picking out one story that is meaningful for each book. What is cool is that we are going to explore all 66 books of the Bible and hear a great story from each book. This week’s book is 2 Samuel. I have a great story for you today.
But before we begin, I want to introduce you to a word – GRACE. Grace is a key word for our story today. Unfortunately, “grace” is a word that we typically don’t use very much anymore.
When you think of the word grace, what comes to mind?
Some people may think of a ballet dancer performing on stage. Grace can refer to the coordination of the dancer’s movements. For others, you may think of the word grace in the sense of a queen: the queen is gracing us with her presence, showing dignity and elegance. When you hear the word grace, some may think about a prayer before a meal.
The Bible uses the word “grace” in another way.
Grace means unmerited favor – extending special favor to someone who doesn’t deserve it, or hasn’t earned it, and can never repay it.
If you are the person receiving grace, that’s pretty awesome! I was thinking of an example of grace that goes with our definition. I have three teenage drivers. They probably can’t wait to get their own car. Just imagine, that one day, I came home with a gorgeous new, blue, Toyota Rav4, SUV, all decked out. My two older girls are off at college right now. I say to my son: this new, blue, Toyota Rav4 is yours! You can imagine that his eyes would light up, and he would be speechless and ecstatic! He might even think he’s dreaming. He’d want to ask for the keys to take it for a ride, show all his friends, and take pictures of it to show to his sisters in college.
Let’s go back to the word “grace”. Grace can mean unmerited favor – extending special favor to someone who doesn’t deserve it, or hasn’t earned it, and can never repay it. Did I show my son “grace” in this example by buying him a beautiful blue SUV? Yes. Did my son get shown favor? Yes. Did my son deserve it? No. Has my son earned it? No. Could my son repay me? Probably not. If I did buy my son a car, this would be example of Christy and I showing “grace” to our son: giving him something he does not deserve, something he has not earned, and something he can’t repay. Sorry, Jeremiah this is only an example.
Today, we come across a story in scripture where we can see a beautiful illustration of the kind of “grace” we are talking about. Today’s story comes from 2 Samuel 9:1-13. Before we get to the story, I need to give you a brief background. In 1 Samuel – God appoints Saul to become the first King over the Israelites. Saul started out as a good king. But then, Saul takes his eyes off God and goes from being a good king to being a bad king.
A second character I need to share with you, is a man named David. Many of you recognize David because he took down Goliath. Saul is very jealous of David. Saul is trying to kill David. Saul had a son, named Jonathon in line to be the next king. Jonathon and David are similar ages. They are really good friends, more like brothers. David and Jonathan make a covenant with each other. I want to read to you the covenant that David and Jonathan make which is found in 1 Samuel:
May the Lord be with you as he has been with my father. But show me unfailing kindness like the Lord’s kindness as long as I live, so that I may not be killed,and do not ever cut off your kindness from my family.” So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “May the Lord call David’s enemies to account. And Jonathan had David reaffirm his oath out of love for him, because he loved him as he loved himself.
1 Samuel 20:13b-17
From this passage, we can see that Jonathan and David make a covenant that when David becomes king, he will show kindness and mercy to Jonathan and Saul’s family. As we move to 2 Samuel, Saul is no longer king. Both Saul and Jonathan are dead. David is now king of Israel. King David and the Israelites win every battle, and their territory is increasing. Life is good for King David. There is now peace throughout the land. We see David begin to think back to his covenant with Jonathan. We pick up the story in 2 Samuel 9: 1-13:
David asked, “Is there anyone still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?” Now there was a servant of Saul’s household named Ziba. They summoned him to appear before David, and the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?” “At your service,” he replied. The king asked, “Is there no one still alive from the house of Saul to whom I can show God’s kindness?”
2 Samuel 9: 1-13
David is asking, if there’s anyone still alive from the house of Saul and Jonathan. If so, David wants to show “kindness,” today’s translation, but I believe it means so much more than kindness: it’s grace. Grace is a demonstration of love that is undeserved, unearned, and unrepayable. Here we see that David wants to show “grace and kindness” to the family of Jonathan and Saul. Let’s get back to the story:
Ziba answered the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan; he is lame in both feet.” “Where is he?” the king asked. Ziba answered, “He is at the house of Makir son of Ammiel in Lo Debar.” So King David had him brought from Lo Debar, from the house of Makir som of Ammiel.
2 Samuel 9:3b-5
David tells Ziba to bring this man to the palace. He doesn’t care about his disability, or what others think. David wants to honor his covenant and vow to his friend Jonathan.
I find it interesting that if we go back a few chapters, we can learn how this man became lame.
Jonathan son of Saul had a son who was lame in both feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel. His nurse picked him up and fled, but as she hurried to leave, he fell and became disabled. His name was Mephibosheth.
2 Samuel 4:4
When the nurse found out that King Saul and Jonathan were dead, the nurse picked up the boy in her charge and fled, to protect him. As she hurried out the door, she probably tripped. She lost control of the boy. As a result of the fall, the boy was permanently disabled. The boy had a spinal injury causing his feet to be lame. Imagine what his life must have been like, living in “Lo Debar” which means “no pasture.” The son of Jonathan and the grandson of King Saul, who is royalty, is now living in a place where there is unimaginable desolation. He lives out in some obscure, barren field in Palestine.
Why do you think Mephibosheth was in hiding? Why do you think Jonathan wanted to make a covenant with David?
It was the custom for the new king to kill anyone left from the previous dynasty. The man was in hiding to protect his life. Saul’s servant Ziba was the only person who knew where he was. Can you imagine the conversation between Ziba and Mephibosheth? Can you imagine Mephibosheth’s shock when he hears that King David is looking for him? Do you think he’d be scared, and perhaps wondering if he was going to live? Remember Mephibosheth had every right to be fearful for his life and was probably expecting the worst.
When Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, he bowed down to pay him honor. David said, “Mephibosheth!” “At your service,” he replied. “Don’t be afraid,” David said to him, “for I will surely show you kindness (grace) 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.”
David remembers his covenant with Jonathan. He not only kept his vow, but he goes above and beyond the call of duty. I don’t believe kindness touches what David offered. David offered him grace giving him something that he did not deserve.
David offers Mephibosheth “kindness” and “grace” to restore him to the place of honor that he should have. First, he gives him his grandfather and father’s land which alone must have been amazing since he had been hiding and living in a desolate area. David does not stop there. He says he will always eat at his table with his family and receive the best food in the entire kingdom from the royal table. Nobody will ever look down on him again.
That’s grace: having someone show favor, then receiving something you don’t deserve, something you cannot earn, and something you can never repay. Can you imagine how Mephibosheth must have felt hearing what King David said to him? If you were Mephibosheth, you had to be feeling amazing, like it must have been a dream: moving from a desolate place to the royal palace, and from eating scraps that were left from other people to eating the finest foods in the land from the royal table.
How does Mephibosheth respond to King David’s offer?
Mephibosheth bowed down and said, “What is your servant, that you should notice a dead dog like me?”
He responds by bowing down and being humble. He asks King David why he’s doing this, he’s lame and has two feet that cannot work. He’s been in hiding. Nobody has cared about him in many, many years. David just adds more grace and kindness to Mephibosheth:
Then the king summoned Ziba, Saul’s steward, and said to him, “I have given your master’s grandson everything that belonged to Saul and his family. You and your sons and your servants are to farm the land for him and bring in the crops, so that your master’s grandson may be provided for. And Mephibosheth, grandson of your master, will always eat at my table.” (Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants. Then Ziba said to the king, “Your servant will do whatever my lord the king commands his servant to do.” So Mephibosheth ate at David’s table like one of the king’s sons. Mephibosheth had a young son named Mika, and all the members of Ziba’s household were servants of Mephibosheth. And Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, because he always ate at the king’s table; he was lame in both feet.
Lastly, we see one more act of grace and kindness. David tells Ziba that he and his sons and servants are to farm the land for Mephibosheth. David had elevated Mephibosheth to the highest table in his kingdom. From that moment on, he gets to eat from the King’s table.
This is an incredible story about a king who shows grace and kindness to one man. King David welcomes him to his table to celebrate and enjoy life with him. What an honor that would be! This story is just a picture of a bigger story that God has for us. Jesus is our king. He has a wonderful table set up for us. Jesus invites us to be part of communion and in relationship with him. God wants us to come and join him at his table. God offers us grace at his table.
Think about Jesus inviting us to be at his table. Sometimes it can be hard to picture what it will be like to be at Jesus’ table.
It makes me think about our own dinner table at home. Christy and I have always made a point to eat together around the kitchen table. I know that we cherish these times when we can come together as a family. The people we love most sit around the table. All types of meals are shared. Countless stories are told. We laugh and have fun together. We share about our day. We dream together about what the future may look like. We even have difficult conversations around the table. There have been times of brokenness around the table. We have prayed around the table. Tables are one of the most important places of human contact. Being around the kitchen table is one opportunity to experience a human connection.
Throughout the Bible, we see God has a way of showing up at the table. In the Old Testament you have the Passover meal and in the New Testament, you find the disciples crowded around Jesus and taking communion. Jesus has invited each of us to be part of his table. His table is open to everyone, no matter where we are in life, no matter what we have done. God invites us to come to Him. God wants to extend to us his grace, kindness, love, and forgiveness. Having a seat at God’s table gives each of us the opportunity to break bread with Jesus. We can have fellowship with Him. Jesus enjoys connecting with us and hearing about our day, our struggles, and our praises. What matters most to God is that we are connecting with Him.
Jesus also understands times when we come to the table broken: when life is full of stress, when times are difficult. Like the disciples, we will stumble and fall. Jesus is there to pick us up and help us start over again and again. When our tears are streaming because we feel broken, Jesus will be there to comfort us and give us hope. Having a seat at Jesus’ table also means that we will have the blessing of God. Jesus wants to bless us and grant us grace. Jesus gives us the gift of salvation, and that one day soon, we will be in heaven with him, sitting and sharing with Him and all other believers in person. As a Christian, we are adopted into the family. One day we will have a grand inheritance. God offers us grace.
Grace is something we don’t deserve, have not earned, and can never repay. When I think of the story of King David and how he offered grace, it reminds me of how much grace God gives each of us. The biggest gift He gives us is His Son Jesus, who through His death on the cross in our place, allows us to have a relationship with Him and to be adopted into His family and share in his inheritance. Jesus wants us to come to him and to enjoy a seat at his table.
Questions for Discussion or Reflection
- Do you remember what it was like to sit at the “adult table”? Share how you felt and if you have a story that goes along with it.
- Why did David seek out someone from Jonathan’s family to show kindness to? How would you describe David’s attitude? Do you think this was in line with the typical behavior of a new dynasty that had just recently assumed the throne?
- What do we learn about Mephibosheth? Earlier in 2 Samuel 4:4, we learn how this happened. What do you think Mephibosheth’s upbring was like?
- How do you think Mephibosheth felt in verse 6? What did Mephibosheth do when he meets King David? Did David treat Mephibosheth any differently due to his disability?
- What specifically did David do for Mephibosheth? In what ways did David go above and beyond what might be expected of him? How was this a gift of grace?
- Having the benefit of the entire Bible, we can certainly see a parallel between David’s grace and kindness to Mephibosheth and God’s grace with us (Eph. 2:8-9). How are these two acts similar? How much does God love each of us?
- David showed grace and kindness in this chapter. David took the initiative to seek out Mephibosheth and extend kindness to him. How can you show kindness to someone this week? Can you think of someone that you can show kindness and grace to, and bless them this week?