You Have a Seat at the Table
Based on 2 Samuel 9:1-13
Life is not always fair. If you live long enough, you will go through situations and circumstances that make it feel like you have been dropped - dropped by a father, dropped by a friend, dropped by illness, dropped by a job, dropped by divorce, dropped by the people you trusted most.
You may have been dropped by family. Dropped by a spouse. Dropped by an unexpected diagnosis. Dropped when the company closed. Dropped when the finances fell apart.
I don't know who or what dropped you - but you have been dropped.
And if you are not careful, you will fall into a depressed and discouraged state. But the Bible shows us how to navigate the drops of life.
The three Hebrew boys were dropped into a fiery furnace - and God was with them. Daniel was dropped into the lion's den - and God shut the mouths of the lions. Joseph was dropped into a pit by his own family out of jealousy. Hagar was dropped off in the desert with nowhere to go.
Though you may have been dropped, the good news is this: God knows how to pick you back up.
I waited patiently and expectantly for the Lord; and He inclined to me and heard my cry. He brought me up out of a horrible pit [of tumult and of destruction], out of the miry clay, and He set my feet upon a rock, steadying my footsteps and establishing my path. — Psalm 40:1-2 (AMP)
God has not forgotten about you. He has seen every tear you've shed, every hurt, every lonely night, every person that has done you wrong. He said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you. I will be with you until the end of time."
The Story of Mephibosheth
Our main text today is 2 Samuel 9:1-13, and this story is symbolic of what God wants to do for all His children.
And David said, "Is there still anyone left of the house of Saul to whom I may show kindness for Jonathan's sake?" — 2 Samuel 9:1 (AMP)
When David became king, the first thing on his mind was: Who can I help? He remembered his covenant with his dear friend Jonathan. He was blessed, and now he wanted to be a blessing.
Alex Haley, the author of Roots, had an unusual picture hanging in his office - a turtle sitting on top of a fence post. When people asked him why, he would say: "Every time I write something significant and begin to feel proud of myself, I look at that turtle and remember - he didn't get up there on his own. He had help."
We are all turtles on fence posts. None of us got where we are without help.
David remembered the promise he made to Jonathan:
"If I am still alive, will you not show me the lovingkindness and faithfulness of the Lord, so that I will not die? You shall never cut off your lovingkindness from my house." — 1 Samuel 20:14-15 (AMP)
A brother is born for adversity (Proverbs 17:17). David honored that covenant even after Jonathan was gone.
Lo-Debar - The Place of No Hope
When David's servant Ziba was asked if anyone from Jonathan's family remained, the answer came:
"There is still a son of Jonathan, whose feet are crippled." — 2 Samuel 9:3 (AMP)
Mephibosheth was five years old when his nurse heard the news that Saul and Jonathan had been killed in battle. In her panic and grief, she picked him up and ran - and dropped him. He was crippled not because of anything he did, but because of who he was connected to and what someone else had done.
Can anybody relate to that? Dealing with consequences from someone else's choices? Carrying a wound you didn't earn?
People often identify us by our handicap or our issue. But the truth is, we all have handicaps. Some are just more visible than others.
Mephibosheth was found living in a place called Lo-Debar. The name Lo-Debar literally means "the place of no bread" - the place of no hope. But into that place of no hope came a king who was looking for him.
And into your Lo-Debar, your season of no hope, God is looking for you.
The King Calls His Name
Then King David sent word and had him brought from Lo-debar. Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan came to David and fell face down. David said, "Mephibosheth." And he answered, "Here is your servant!" — 2 Samuel 9:5-6 (AMP)
Mephibosheth was afraid to come before the king - the same king who wanted to treat him like a prince. He came expecting judgment and found grace instead.
David said to him, "Do not be afraid, for I will certainly show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan, and will restore to you all the land of your grandfather Saul; and you shall always eat at my table." — 2 Samuel 9:7 (AMP)
You shall always eat at my table.
Not once. Not when you earn it. Not when you get yourself together. Always.
Mephibosheth's response? He fell down again and said:
"What is your servant, that you would be concerned for a dead dog like me?" — 2 Samuel 9:8 (AMP)
Much like Mephibosheth, we will often feel unqualified. We look at our past, our failures, our limitations - and we cannot understand why God would want us at His table.
But your qualification is not based on who you are, what you have done, or who you know. It is based on what Christ has already done.
What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of earthborn man that You care for him? Yet You have made him a little lower than God, and You have crowned him with glory and honor. — Psalm 8:4-5 (AMP)
Christ's blood qualifies the unqualified.
A Seat at the Table
So Mephibosheth ate at David's table as one of the king's sons. And he was lame in both feet. — 2 Samuel 9:11, 13 (AMP)
Notice what happens when Mephibosheth sits at the king's table: the tablecloth covers his crippled feet. His disability is hidden by the king's provision. He sits not as a charity case - but as a son.
Look at who God invites to His table:
- Noah - struggled with drunkenness
- Abraham - gave in to fear
- Sarah - wrestled with doubt
- Jacob - was deceptive
- Joseph - battled pride
- Moses - had a temper
- Rahab - was a prostitute
- Gideon - was insecure
- David - was an adulterer
And yet every one of them had a seat at the table. God covers all our issues at this table.
How This Story Connects to Us
1. God Chose Us
No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day. — John 6:44 (AMP)
Just as David sent for Mephibosheth, God sends for us. We did not find God. He found us.
2. We Cannot Save Ourselves
While we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly... But God clearly shows and proves His own love for us, by the fact that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. — Romans 5:6-8 (AMP)
Morally, we cannot live up to God's perfect standards. Physically, we all face pain and death. Spiritually, we cannot make ourselves righteous enough to approach God on our own. Mephibosheth couldn't help himself - and neither can we.
3. God Came to Seek the Lost
"I have come to seek and to save that which was lost." — Luke 19:10 (AMP)
David sought out Mephibosheth. Jesus seeks out us.
4. God Wants Us at His Table
"I grant you the privilege that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom." — Luke 22:29-30 (AMP)
This is the whole point. Not just salvation from hell - but a seat at the table. A place of belonging, provision, and family.
RSVP
A professional singer named Ruthanna Metzgar was asked to perform at a wealthy man's wedding in Seattle. The reception was held on the top two floors of the Columbia Tower - the tallest skyscraper in the Northwest. Waiters in tuxedos, luscious hors d'oeuvres, a live orchestra in white tuxedos, ice sculptures.
At the top of the stairs, a maître d' stood with a bound guest book.
"May I have your name, please?"
"Ruthanna Metzgar."
He searched the M's. Then looked up. "I'm sorry, but your name isn't here."
"There must be a mistake - I'm the singer! I sang at this wedding!"
"I'm sorry. It doesn't matter who you are or what you did. Without your name in the book, you cannot attend the banquet."
He gestured to a waiter, who led them past the beautifully set tables and the orchestra - and straight to the service elevator. Down to the parking garage.
On the drive home, Ruthanna began to weep - not only because she had missed the most lavish banquet she had ever been invited to, but because she suddenly understood something. When the invitation had come, she had been too busy to RSVP. She assumed that because she sang at the wedding, she could just show up.
Throughout history, countless people have been too busy to respond to Christ's invitation. Many assume that the good they've done - attending church, being baptized, serving in ministry - will be enough. But people who never respond to Christ's invitation are people whose names aren't written in the Lamb's Book of Life.
The Bible says a righteous man may fall seven times - but he gets back up. No matter who dropped you, what matters is who picks you up. And the only one qualified to do that is Jesus.
Have you RSVPed?
If you have been putting off your response, today is the day. The King is sending for you. The table is prepared. And there is a seat with your name on it.
Discussion Questions
- Where is your Lo-Debar? Is there an area of your life that feels like a place of no hope right now - a "place of no bread"? What would it look like to believe that God is sending for you even in that place?
- Mephibosheth was crippled by someone else's actions - something he had no control over. Have you ever suffered consequences from another person's choices? How has that shaped the way you see yourself, and how does David's response to Mephibosheth speak to that wound?
- David's first thought after becoming king was, "Who can I help?" When God elevates you - in your career, your finances, your relationships - what is your first instinct? Who in your life might be waiting in their own Lo-Debar for someone to seek them out?
- Mephibosheth called himself "a dead dog" - someone unworthy of the king's attention. In what ways do you struggle to believe you belong at God's table? What would it mean to accept your seat not based on what you've done, but on what Christ has done?
- The story ends with Mephibosheth eating at the king's table "as one of the king's sons" - his disability covered, his identity restored. What is one practical step you can take this week to live as someone who belongs at the table, rather than as someone still waiting outside the gate?