Eating at the King's Table

Do you know the Old Testament story of Mephibosheth? You can read much of it in Second Samuel chapter nine. Mephibosheth was the son of Jonathan and the grandson of King Saul. He was lame in both feet. He was crippled by an accident at age five (2 Samuel 4:4). His father and grandfather were dead, as was much of his extended family. David was now the King of Israel.

You may remember that David and Jonathan were very good friends. David had promised to show kindness to Jonathan’s family and his descendents (1 Samuel 20:14-17, 42). After David became King, he sought out anyone from Jonathan’s family that he might show kindness to them. David was told of Mephibosheth and he was brought to him. Mephibosheth appeared to be afraid, possibly thinking that David would want to kill any remaining relatives of the former king.

David said to him, “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” (2 Sam 9:7). Mephibosheth’s response was, “What is your servant, that you should notice a dead dog like me?” David went on to say, “Mephibosheth will always eat at my table.” This was a matter of great honor to eat at the King’s table.

Because he was crippled in both feet, he was disqualified from contesting David’s position as King, but he still grew up in fear of consequences of his family name. Mephibosheth means “from the mouth of the shameful thing.” His first reaction to David wanting to show him kindness was to refer to himself as a dead dog, an expression of deep self-abasement.

How many of us react to the kindness of our King this way. The Scriptures are full of the many blessings that we have received because of our new relationship to Christ. God has and desires to continue to bless us because of who we are “in Christ.”

• I am God's child. John 1:12
• I have been bought with a price and I belong to God. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
• I have been redeemed and forgiven of all my sins. Colossians 1:13-14
• I am complete in Christ. Colossians 2:9-10
• I have direct access to the throne of grace through Jesus Christ. Hebrews 4:14-16
• I am free from condemnation. Romans 8:1-2
• I am assured that God works for my good in all circumstances. Romans 8:28
• I am free from any condemnation brought against me and I cannot be separated from the love of God. Romans 8:31-39
• I am confident that God will complete the good work He started in me. Philippians 1:6
• I have not been given a spirit of fear but of power, love and a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7
• I am a minister of reconciliation for God. 2 Corinthians 5:17-21
• I am seated with Jesus Christ in the heavenly realm. Ephesians 2:6
• I am God's workmanship. Ephesians 2:10
• I may approach God with freedom and confidence. Ephesians 3:12
• I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13
• I am a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come. 2 Corinthians 5:17

These and so many others are true about me and you – We have been invited to sit at the King’s Table. Yet so often, I react to this good news by saying, “I am a dirty dog. I have come from a life of shame. I don’t deserve your blessings.”

If any of you know me at all, you know that this is an area in which I fight almost every day of my life. I was conceived out of wedlock – my mother was fifteen and my father was eighteen – in a small town in Indiana. My parents married, my father dropped out of college, joined the Air Force and was gone most of the first four years of my life. I lived with my mother (who dropped out of high school), her parents and her three siblings for those early years.

Much of those early years established my self-identity. My parents eventually separated three times, divorced each other, remarried each other and divorced each other again. I attended fifteen different schools (kindergarten through high school). These years further supported my feelings of shame, isolation, insecurity and a desire to stay hidden.

When I came to Christ at the age of sixteen, I embraced our Lord’s forgiveness, love, mercy and grace as a dry sponge absorbs any moisture it can. Our King has invited me to sit at his table because of what Christ has done. Because I have put my faith in Christ’s death, burial and resurrection I am no longer a child of shame, I am a child of God’s love. “He has delivered us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13-14).

I struggle with my old self-view every day. I say, “I don’t deserve to sit at the king’s table. I was conceived in shame. I am crippled by life.” and other lies that I tell myself. If you are like me and struggle with receiving what God has given and desires to continue to give us, let’s rise up and sit at the King’s table. I may not deserve it in my own ability, but I am a child of Jonathan; I am a child of God; I am in Christ. “It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God – that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: ‘Let him who boasts boast in the Lord’” (1 Corinthians 1:30-31). God invites us to draw near and to experience his love and grace.