The Story Of Mephibosheth

There is a story, my friends, in the books of Samuel—way back as far as the time of the kings of Israel—which will help us to understand the Gospel. It is about a man of the name of Mephibosheth.

You remember what a hard time David had when Saul was hunting him to kill him, just as men hunt game.

Well one day, David and his good friend Jonathan were taking a walk together in the fields. Saul was very angry and was bent on killing David, but his son Jonathan was looking out for a chance to save him. It had been revealed to him that David was to be king after his father instead of himself, but this did not hinder his love for David. It must have been real, true friendship that could stand that sort of thing!

After they had agreed upon a sign by which David was to know whether it was safe for him to stay around the court of the king where he could see his friend once in a while or whether he must leave and go off into the cave of Adullam, Jonathan said to him: “David, it has been revealed to me that you are to be king after my father. Now, I want you to promise me one thing, when you come to the throne, if any of the house of Saul are alive, I want you to be good to them for my sake.”

“I’ll do that, of course,” said David. So he made a solemn covenant to that effect and then he went off to the cave of Adullam to get out of the way of Saul who was bound to kill him if he could.

But God took care of David. You never can kill or harm a man if God is taking care of him.

About four years after that, David heard that there had been a great battle over by Mount Gilboa and that the Philistines had beaten the Israelites with great slaughter and that Saul and Jonathan were both dead. So he got his men together and went out after the enemies of the Lord and of Israel, and it was not a great while before he had turned the tables on them, and set up his kingdom at Hebron.

Recalls A Forgotten Promise.

It must have been pretty near fourteen years after that before David remembered his promise to his old friend Jonathan. It is a great deal easier to make promises than keep them. How many broken vows has God written down against you tonight? But one day the king was walking in his palace at Jerusalem where he had removed his capital, and all at once, he happened to think of that promise. It is a good thing God does not forget His promises that way.

“That’s too bad!” said David. “I forgot all about that promise. I have been so busy fighting these Philistines and fixing things up that I have not had time to think of anything else.” So he called his servants in great haste and said, “Do any of you know whether there is any of Saul’s family living?”

One of them said there was an old servant of Saul’s by the name of Ziba and maybe he could tell.

“Go and tell him I want him, right away.”

Pretty soon, Ziba came, and David said, “Ziba, do you know whether there is anybody of the house of Saul in my kingdom?” Ziba said there was one he knew of—a son of Jonathan, by the name of Mephibosheth.

Oh how that name, Jonathan, must have smitten the heart of David! One of the sons of his old friend, living in his kingdom for as much as fourteen years, and he had never known it! What would Jonathan think of him for forgetting his promise that way!

The King Sends For Him

“Go, fetch him!” says David, “go quick. Tell him I want him. I want to show him the kindness of God.”

Now, my friends, where do you suppose Mephibosheth was all this time? Why, he was down at Lo-debar. Did you ever hear of that place? There may be some sailors here, did you ever come across that port? When you have travelled on the railway, did any of you ever stop at that station?

Ah! Yes! There is where the whole human race are until they come to Christ for salvation—way down at Lo-debar, which means “a place of no pasture.”

The king is in haste to keep his promise now. I seem to see them hurrying off; maybe they take the king’s own chariot and rattle away to find this son of Jonathan.

When they reached the little out-of-the-way place, I fancy there was a great commotion.

“Where’s Mephibosheth? The king wants him.”

Feared For His Life.

Poor fellow! When he heard that, he hung down his head. He was afraid the king wanted to kill him because he was of the house of Saul, his old enemy.

Ah! My friend, that’s just the way sinners receive Christ’s offer of salvation. They think God hates them and wants to cut their heads off. But that is a great mistake. God loves them for Christ’s sake, a great deal more than David loved Mephibosheth for Jonathan’s sake. I never knew a sinner to take the Gospel right. They always think, at first, that it is too good to be true.

“Don’t be afraid,” said the servants. “The king says he wants to show you the kindness of God. He is in a great hurry to see you; so get ready and jump right into the chariot. Don’t you see the king has sent his own chariot to fetch you?”

Ashamed Of His Feet.

It did begin to look as if the king meant no harm to him. But poor Mephibosheth had another difficulty. He was lame in both feet. He was a little fellow when David came to the throne and an old servant, who was afraid that all the house of Saul were going to be killed, took him up and ran away to hide him. Somehow he managed to drop the lad and lamed him in both feet.

And now I can see poor Mephibosheth looking down at his feet. Maybe the toes turned in—or he was club-footed. And he says to himself, “I am not fit to go to the king. I am a poor cripple. I am not fit to be seen among the tall, handsome servants of the palace in Jerusalem.”

That’s just the way with a convicted sinner. He is all the time thinking of his own unworthiness and saying to himself that he isn’t fit to be saved.

“Never mind your lame feet, Mephibosheth, so long as the king sends for you, it’s all right.” So they take him up and put him into the chariot and start for Jerusalem on a run.

As soon as the king sees him, he takes him in his arms, and cries out, “Oh Mephibosheth, the son of my dear old friend Jonathan! You shall have all that belonged to the house of Saul and you shall live with me here in my palace!”

Welcomed, Enriched And Honored.

What a happy man he must have been to hear that! Sinner, that is just what God says to the soul that comes to him in Jesus Christ. He takes us in His arms, He gives us a great fortune of love and grace, and He promises that we shall live with Him in His heavenly palace forever.

Some people think that Mephibosheth, like certain low-spirited Christians, after he went to live with the king, must have been all the time worrying over his lame feet. But I don’t think so. He couldn’t help it, and if David didn’t mind it, it was all right. So I think that when he dined with him in state, with the great lords and ladies all around him, he just stuck his club-feet under the table and looked the king right in the face.

That is the Gospel, my friends. We are God’s enemies, and the children of His enemies. We are lame and blind and wretched and ragged and hateful by reason of our sins. But the covenant of grace in Jesus Christ has been made, and now God sends for you, poor sinner, to come in Christ’s name and eat bread at His table, and he in His house and in His heart forever. Will you come? Will you come now?