Summoned to the Table of the King

"I will come into him and dine with him and he with Me..."

“Is there still anyone who is left of the household of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake? ...And Ziba said to the king, 'There is still a son of Jonathan who is lame in his feet.' Then King David sent and brought him out of the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel, from Lo Debar. So David said to Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, “Do not fear, for I will surely show you kindness for Jonathan your father's sake, and will restore to you all the land of Saul, your grandfather; and you shall eat bread at my table continually.” Then he bowed himself and said, “What is your servant, that you should look upon such a dead dog as I?”

To the utter amazement of Mephibosheth, King David proceeds to instruct the dead King Saul's servants that he has restored to Mephibosheth all of the land and holdings of King Saul, and orders them to serve Mephibosheth, Jonathan's son. The story from 2 Samuel, Chapter 9, ends with the statement of the king, “As for Mephibosheth, he shall eat at my table like one of the king's sons.... And he was lame in both his feet.”

I heard a reference to this story recently and it touched me very deeply. The tribute that David pays to the memory of his dearest friend, Jonathan, through the blessing he bestows on Mephibosheth, is something for us as followers of Jesus Christ to ponder and understand. It is a picture of the blessing of the promises of God to us because of His great love for the Son. As surely as Mephibosheth was summoned before the King, so are we summoned to the unimaginable privilege of dining at the table of the King. “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.” Revelation 3:20

As someone who has recently had the humbling experience of being “lame”, I can well imagine how Mephibosheth must have seen himself. He had been dropped as a very young child, by a servant who was trying to carry him to safety while fleeing from the enemy who wanted to kill him. From that point on, he was lame and hidden away. It is very difficult, even today, to experience the limitations of lameness in a world that has no time or patience for the slow, the needy, the less than perfect. We live in a culture that worships the appearance of perfection and shuts its eyes to the cries and the needs of those who, simply by their presence, rock the pretense that we are indeed perfect. It was no less so, I'm sure, in David's day.

When David ascended the throne, after Saul's death, it was the custom of the time to summon the heirs of the previous king for the purpose of slaying them. Mephibosheth expected nothing less. His reference to himself as a “dead dog” says it all. This was not a man who expected to be treated well. He had lived a lifetime of hardship, shunned and kept in hiding. But he is the grandson of a king and the son of the best friend the new king ever had. He was too little to know about his father Jonathan's friendship with David. But David had never forgotten Jonathan and his oath to protect any heirs that might survive after Jonathan's death. David knows who Mephibosheth is. He is an heir to the royalty of his grandfather, Saul, and his father, Jonathan. David sees beyond any limitations Mephibosheth might have and honors him, purely because of his love for Jonathan. He sits him at his table. He restores his lost land and honor due to him because of who he is. He is Jonathan's son. That's enough for David. Out of his great love for Jonathan, David treats him like one of his own sons.

Do you see yourself at all in this picture of grace extended for no other reason than your relationship to the Son? Do you hear the King summoning you to the table of the King? Are you ashamed to enter in because of your flaws? Have you gotten so lost in the reality of your brokenness, your sin, your failures, that you have forgotten who you belong to? Are you afraid He's calling you to condemn you? Do you see him bending over the throne of God searching for you? Calling you? He's looking for you! Not to bruise you but to bless you. He wants to dine with you. He wants to celebrate with you. He wants you at His table. Do not miss the grace of God extended to you, because of the great love of your Savior for you. No matter what else you do, make sure you have a seat at the table of the marriage feast of the Lamb...

“And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, “Alleluia! For the Lord God Almighty reigns! Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready. And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, “Write: Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!” Revelation 19: 6-9