Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
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 called him to appear before David, and the king said to him, "Are you Ziba?" "Your servant," he replied.
The king asked, "Is there no one still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show God's kindness?"
Ziba answered the king, "There is still a son of Jonathan; he is crippled 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 son of Ammiel.
When Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, he bowed down to pay him honor. David said, "Mephibosheth!" "Your servant," he replied.
"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."
Mephibosheth bowed down and said, "What is your servant, that you should notice a dead dog like me?"
Then the king summoned Ziba, Saul's servant, 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 Mica, 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, and he was crippled in both feet.
2 Samuel 9
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
How well do we show compassion and love to those who are marginalized by society…those who are pushed to the fringes and made to feel worthless and inadequate? Do we actively seek to reach out and find these people, helping them see they are loved and valued? Or do we consider ourselves blessed to not be like them and continue on with our every day lives?
Personally, I couldn’t imagine how it feels to be pushed aside by society, feeling like I don’t count. But I know there are so many people who are and that’s why today’s scripture and the words the Lord has placed on my heart are so important.
For as Chapter 9 opens, we see a refreshing shift in God’s word. For we are given a respite from the battles and fighting to find David seeking to show kindness to someone…specifically someone from the “house of Saul”…and “for Jonathan's sake."
You’ll remember that Jonathan, Saul’s son, was a great friend of David (1 Samuel 18:1-4). They were one in spirit and Jonathan loved David as himself, willing to do anything for his friend to include risk dying for him to keep him safe. And he did just that helping save David several times from the hands of his murderous father Saul.
With this, it’s little surprise that David is please to learn from his servant Ziba that a son of Jonathan was still alive, even though he was “crippled in both feet." And so David has the son, Mephibosheth, brought to him.
It’s important to keep in mind at this point that the disabled were not cared for very well in biblical times. Most men were expected to work to make a living and fight in battle to protect the kingdom. A crippled man would have difficulty doing either and often had to resort to begging just to have some source of income. This made them looked down upon culturally…pushed to the fringes…left to feel lost and inadequate.
So as Mephibosheth comes before the king, it’s little surprise that he “bowed down to pay him honor” and address the king by saying he was his servant. There’s little doubt that David’s reputation proceeded him and Mephibosheth might have been feeling like this was the end…that David was going to have him executed for being part of Saul’s family.
And so he had to be amazed at what David’s words as he said, “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."
Imagine how unbelievable this must have been for Mephibosheth! If what David said was actually going to happen, his standard of living was going to change drastically. For he would be going from having to worry about where his next meal or money was coming from to inheriting the wealth of his grandfather and dining with the king!
Well all this was just too much for Mephibosheth to understand. We read where he “bowed down” and humbly asked David, "What is your servant, that you should notice a dead dog like me?"
His words pierce the heart. For we get a sense of how Mephibosheth felt about himself and his place in the world…that he felt of no more worth than a dead dog.
And he wasn’t alone because all other members of society who suffered from disabilities of some sort must have felt the same way. I have to think that many today might feel likewise…and that’s truly saddening.
So what are we going to do about it?
David certainly took action and “summoned Ziba” saying 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." And so it was. Ziba did what David commanded and “Mephibosheth ate at David's table like one of the king's sons” while living in Jerusalem. He had been lost…but now was found.
Up to this point, this discussion has been about physical disability…about how the handicapped often are marginalized and pushed aside by society. But we need to consider that there is another large category of disability in our world…those who are spiritually disabled.
For many in our world today think they are walking the road of success when they are really on the path to destruction and damnation…all because they are lost without a Savior. These people have gauged their value by the world’s materialistic standards, allowing Satan to blind them from The Way and The Truth and The Life…the only One through which they can find their way to the Father who has made it possible for them not just to live but to have anything.
Indeed, some people who feel they have everything actually have nothing…and conversely, some people who seem to have nothing have everything.
Jesus, our Savior, gave us a primer on the matter of being spiritually lost and found in what is arguably His most well know parable…the Parable of the Lost or Prodigal Son:
Jesus continued: "There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, 'Father, give me my share of the estate.' So he divided his property between them.
Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.' So he got up and went to his father.
But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. '
But the father said to his servants, 'Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate.
Luke 15:11-24
The man’s son thought that he had it all going for him. He had wanted to leave home for something better so he asked for his inheritance before his father had ever died and went off to a distant country where he proceeded to throw away all his material wealth on wild living.
Think this ever happens today?
Well, the son found himself broke and in the midst of a famine…circumstances that put him in such great need that he hired himself out to feed pigs. We read where no one gave him anything and so he reached a point of starvation, yearning to just be able to eat the pods the pigs were eating.
The son was at rock bottom…pushed aside by society…feeling lost, alone, and hopeless.
It was at this point that scripture tells us the son came to his senses and began to think that even his father’s servants had more to eat than he did. So he decided to return to his father and apologize for the wrongs he had done with the hope that he might be accepted back by his father as a servant.
And so he made the journey home to see his father, sure that he would face consternation and anger for what he had done. How amazed do you think he arrived home only to see his father run up to him, embrace him and kiss him. Such was the joy the father had in just seeing his son return home.
This didn’t stop the son from saying he was sorry…from saying he had sinned against his father in such a way that he deserved to be disowned. Surely now, his father would give him a lecture on the poor choices he had made.
But again, he had to stand there in amazement as his father told the servants to place his best robe on his son…to put sandals on his feet and a ring on his finger…to slay the fattened calf and prepare a great feast of celebration. All because his son who was dead was now alive…his son who was lost was now found.
Friends, we all are lost and hopeless without a Savior…no matter what our physical status is…no matter what our worldly status is.
Maybe you have already run back to the Father and experienced what the lost son experienced…that there was no condemnation from the Father only forgiveness and love…only rejoicing and celebrating because His child had returned to him…alive from the dead…discovered from the lost.
But maybe you are still living wildly and sinfully…lost in a distant country far from your Father. Maybe you haven’t realized yet how you are dead while still alive…teetering on the end of losing your chance at salvation…missing from the Lamb’s Book of Life and desperately in need of being found. If this is you, my advice is to not delay one more second in running back to your Father who awaits your return. Don’t wait until you reach spiritual starvation and hit rock bottom before you decide to go home to be fed by your Father…to seek His forgiveness and a better life through His Son Jesus…the only One who can bring us to the Father for ever (John 3:16 and 14:6).
No matter where you are, we are certain that we serve a Father who loves us compassionately and unconditionally and expects us to love likewise. This Father never wants to see us lost or marginalized or mistreated or feeling hopeless…and expects those who are found to reach out and help those who are lost.
It’s what we call amazing grace…and it is truly a sweet sound that saves the wretched and sinful…that helps the lost become found…that helps those who were blind see…that helps those who were dead come alive…forever.
And we can’t have much better news that that, can we? Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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