Have you ever heard of Mephibosheth? Now that’s quite the name to be starting out in life with! I can’t imagine having to write that on the top of my page at school! Not only was Mephibosheth more than a mouthful but the name itself meant “𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘦!” Maybe Mephibosheth had a nickname, I know I did, perhaps it was Mep, let’s call this little boy that.
Mep was a King’s kid, the grandson of King Saul himself, and so for the first five years of his life, he lived in the lap of luxury. But as so often happens, calamity came, not only was Mep’s Dad killed but his grandfather too. In the ensuing panic, his nurse picked him up and began to flee but dropped him causing his feet to become twisted, making him lame for the rest of his life. Mep was moved to an unpleasant slum called ‘𝘕𝘰 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨,’ and there he expected to live out his days. Not a happy ending.
We pick up this story in 2 Samuel 9:1, about 20 years later, King David is on the throne. A mighty, fierce warrior, a great leader of Israel, and a man who keeps his word! “𝘿𝙖𝙫𝙞𝙙 𝙖𝙨𝙠𝙚𝙙, “𝙄𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙡𝙚𝙛𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙎𝙖𝙪𝙡 𝙩𝙤 𝙬𝙝𝙤𝙢 𝙄 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙅𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣’𝙨 𝙨𝙖𝙠𝙚?” You see, David had made a covenant with Jonathan, Mep’s father, a promise of protection and loyalty that stretched beyond a lifetime.
And so, Mephibosheth, perhaps about 25 with a son of his own, was summoned to the royal palace.
Can you imagine how nervous he may have been, was this an ‘𝗼𝗳𝗳 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱’ moment? I love David’s very first words; “𝘿𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝙗𝙚 𝙖𝙛𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙙,” 𝘿𝙖𝙫𝙞𝙙 𝙨𝙖𝙞𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙞𝙢, “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.” Don’t be afraid, I want to show you kindness for your father’s sake. I will restore you and you will forever dine with me!
What glorious parallels there are in this story. What a shadow of the fulfilment of a much more meaningful covenant! Here we are broken, crippled, dead in our sins, deserving nothing. But God, in His incredible mercy, shines His loving-kindness upon us, He seeks us out, pursues us because of his everlasting covenant towards us. With great tenderness, He restores us, sets a banqueting table before us, and invites us to dine with Him for all eternity! Like Mep, we will always eat at our Abba Father’s table, always dwell in His house.
That wasn’t the end of this miraculous story, remember Mephibosheth had a son called Mika, well Mika had 4 sons, and those sons had sons who had sons. God not only keeps His covenant promise with us but with our children and their children too!
Claire's Prayer 