Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Romans 5

Last Sunday I finished an 8-week study about living a “MORE THAN” life in Christ. (I’m hoping to make this into my next book. Will you pray for me about this?) But, anyway, back to the subject at hand, I wanted to share some of one of the lessons as I looked at the life of Mephibosheth, a poor wretch of a man who was adopted into a King’s family. His story can be found in 2 Samuel 9.

Let me begin by sharing a little back story with you before we read. David was the second king of the nation of Israel. The first king, King Saul, along with his son, Jonathan, had recently died. David and Jonathan had been lifelong best friends despite King Saul’s fanatical hatred for David and repeated attempts to take David’s life. Though the family of the newly-crowned David and the family of the former king, Saul, should have been enemies of the highest degree, David was determined to keep his covenant with Jonathan by blessing his descendants.

And David said, “Is there still anyone left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?”

Now there was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was Ziba, and they called him to David. And the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?”

And he said, “I am your servant.”

And the king said, “Is there not still someone of the house of Saul, that I may show the kindness of God to him?”

Ziba said to the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan; he is crippled in his feet.”

The king said to him, “Where is he?”

And Ziba said to the king, “He is in the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, at Lo-debar.”

Then King David sent and brought him from the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, at Lo-debar. And Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, son of Saul, came to David and fell on his face and paid homage. And David said, “Mephibosheth!”

And he answered, “Behold, I am your servant.”

And David said to him, “Do not fear, for I will show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan, and I will restore to you all the land of Saul your father, and you shall eat at my table always.”

And he paid homage and said, “What is your servant, that you should show regard for a dead dog such as I?”

Then the king called Ziba, Saul’s servant, and said to him, “All that belonged to Saul and to all his house I have given to your master’s grandson. And you and your sons and your servants shall till the land for him and shall bring in the produce, that your master’s grandson may have bread to eat. But Mephibosheth your master’s grandson shall always eat at my table.”

Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants. Then Ziba said to the king, “According to all that my lord the king commands his servant, so will your servant do.” So Mephibosheth ate at David’s table, like one of the king’s sons. And Mephibosheth had a young son, whose name was Mica. And all who lived in Ziba’s house became Mephibosheth’s servants.

So Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, for he ate always at the king’s table. Now he was lame in both his feet.

2 Samuel 9:1-13 ESV

Certainly Mephibosheth was not expecting to be chosen to be brought into the family by the King. According to human logic and emotions, Mephibosheth should have been the very last to be picked.

Like God had chosen King David, the youngest of Jesse’s sons, David has chosen Mephibosheth, a cripple, the grandson of his enemy, to feast at the king’s table all the days of his life.

In the rural area where I live, there are countless stray dogs roaming around which means there are all too many dead dogs laying on the side of the road, struck dead by a passing car – unloved and unnoticed. Maybe someone would pull over to help a living dog, but a dead dog? Nah.

Mephibosheth sees himself not only as a dog, but a dead dog. Why would David choose him? He is wholly unworthy of this honor. He has done nothing to deserve it, and he has nothing to offer him in return. Like the great 18th century preacher and theologian Jonathan Edwards said, “You contribute nothing to your salvation except the sin that made it necessary.”

And even more awesome than all of the stuff Mephibosheth got to enjoy, more than the produce and the palace and the servants …. Mephibosheth got to enjoy the presence of the King.

All too often we see ourselves more like Eliab, David’s big, strong, older brother, worthy of being chosen by God, rather than like Mephibosheth. The truth of the matter is that from birth we are born enemies of God, cripped by our sin, residents of the enemy’s camp, wholly unable to save ourselves. And while we were living far away in the desolate land of LoDebar, God pursued us, brought us into His palace, seated us at His table, and made us His daughters.

But how is that even possible? How can a holy God invite a sinful person like me into His family? Well, in human terms, it isn’t. With man this is indeed impossible, but with God all things are possible

The miracle of being made a child of God is the greatest conceivable miracle. Like Romans 5:7-8 tells us that one will scarcely die for a righteous person – a just, law-abiding, rule-keeping, moral person – though perhaps for a good person – a truly kind, loving, benevolent person – one would dare even to die. But GOD shows HIS love for us in that while we were STILL SINNERS, Christ died for us.

Jesus died to bring enemies into his family. His kindness is meant to bring us to repentance. He already paid the penalty for our sin, so we don’t have to. When we by faith receive Jesus as our King, we are forgiven, cleansed, made whole and
brought into the family.

Friends, like Mephibosheth, we could never be good enough on our own. We could never clean ourselves up enough to march into the king’s palace and take our own seat at the table.

You will never be smart enough,
strong enough, or rich enough to deserve God’s love.

• You can’t wear enough make-up, lose enough weight, or buy a big enough house to deserve a place in God’s kingdom.
• You can’t read your Bible enough, go to church enough, or pray enough to deserve a spot in God’s family.

We’re all lame. We all need to be carried to the table. We need God to take what was dead and make us alive, to take what is unworthy and sinful and make us worthy and righteous.

Thank You, Father, for casting Your loving eyes upon me and bringing me into Your everlasting kingdom. I love You, Lord. You are worthy of all the praise. I’m honored to sit at Your table. The banner over me is love. You have filled me with joy and peace and purpose, and given me new life in Christ. It is in His Name that I pray. Amen.