Always a seat at the Lord’s table

How do you sleep when the excruciating pain you feel in your body is overwhelmed by the fear in your heart?

Here I thought I was hidden from harm, yet it has found me once again. Me, a man with useless legs who cannot run away. Assisted everywhere, I can’t even get out the door. Compelled to accept handouts from the generous, I have no future, my past anchors me in place. Turmoil rules my emotions. How can I be to blame for my condition?

I was only a baby when my caretaker dropped me. Surely that is not my fault! Am I being punished for my parents or grandparents’ mistakes? What am I to do? Hidden in isolation in this place without pasture, without rest, without hope, my greatest fear is manifested. Mercy cannot reach me, and grace has turned its back on me. I am worthless beyond repair, a broken body, a broken spirit.

All these things swirled around in his head lying there that night. And as the sun peaked over the horizon, he was forced to admit these might be his final hours.

The king lay upon his bed in comfort thinking about all the promises that God had not only made him but had fulfilled. In his gratitude to God, a covenant he had made a long time ago came to his mind. When he was a young man in service to the king of that time, he became close with the king’s son. Through their friendship a bond was forged that defied even the king and his authority. A pledge was made between them, and it was that guarantee that the current king was looking to honor. That is why the crippled man had been summoned to court.

He was the son of the friend with whom the king had promised to provide. The king was David and the cripple was Mephibosheth, son of Jonathan. The place Mephibosheth was hiding was a little village called Lo Debar, which means pasture less. He was there out of fear king David would kill him for being the grandson of King Saul. This is the king who had tried unsuccessfully several times to kill David out of misplaced jealousy.

The injuries that plagued him were caused when a fleeing attendant dropped him while he was still a baby. These left him, as the Bible says” lame in both feet.”  Because of David’s vow to Jonathan, Mephibosheth was brought to court. “Don’t be afraid,” David said to him, “for I shall 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. Mephibosheth bowed down and said, “What is your servant, that you should notice a dead dog like me?” It is written in Second Samuel that King David instructed servants to care for and farm the land for Mephibosheth. And once more commanded that Mephibosheth will always eat at the king’s table. So he did, just like one of the king’s sons.

Have you ever felt trapped in place by a tragedy of the past? Have you wondered if mercy really exists? Is Grace just some woman’s name? Is your experience, promises made equal promises kept? Did you know that unless it is honored, promise is nothing but a word? Promises flow across some people’s lips like breath. And like breath they have no substance, just hot air.

But there is a promise to you that has been kept. It is the promise of your place at The King of King’s table. Your place has been guaranteed by the obedience of The King’s only son. It is He who has come now to help you in your distress. He is the one who completes the covenant. He is the One that remembers you and calls you from the place of no pasture. He looks to free you from your shackles whatever they may be, so that no longer will you be dependent on temporal things. What He loosens cannot be bound and what He binds cannot be loosed. He is the only way to the table of the King. Without His mark upon you there is no admission into the coming fullness of His glory.

Sometimes people have a hard time working through the idea of God really being merciful and kind, because they stumble over His Righteous Holiness. Mephibosheth thought King David would destroy his life because of mistakes made. But the mercy of God flowed through David as he allowed it to do its work bringing Mephibosheth into a place of fellowship. I invite you all in The Name of Jesus to come to the table and taste the Lord’s goodness.