The Table of Grace
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“Mephibosheth bowed down and said, ‘What is your servant, that you should notice a dead dog like me?’” 2 Samuel 9:8 (NIV)
Most of us have trouble receiving grace. Grace is getting something we didn’t deserve. In fact, what we deserved was just the opposite! The story of a man with a strange name in the Old Testament illustrates this so well that you and I can identify with how he must have felt. His name was Mephibosheth. He was the son of Jonathan, who was the son of King Saul, Israel’s first King! Saul and Jonathan had been killed in battle and David was now King of Israel. In 2 Samuel 9:1 (NLT) the Bible says that “One day David asked, ‘Is anyone in Saul’s family still alive – anyone to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?” You have to understand the times to appreciate the grace that David was offering Mephibosheth. Most kings in David’s day would have wiped out the surviving families of their rival king to prevent their descendants from seeking the throne. But David offered Mephibosheth kindness! How unexpected and unmerited!
This is a remarkable Old Testament story that illustrates the grace of God. In this story, King David sought out Mephibosheth, a man who had been crippled since childhood. He sent a servant to find him and bring him to the King. When they searched for him, they found him in a place called “Lo Debar.” Lo Debar in Hebrew means “no pasture,” a barren wilderness, a place of isolation and desolation. What a fascinating picture of the soul separated from God, living in lonely isolation, lost in the wilderness of a fruitless existence. The Bible tells us that just as David sought out this lost soul to show him kindness, so the Lord Jesus came to seek and save those who were lost and invite us to His table of grace to be part of His family.
Mephibosheth’s name means “shame” or “shameful one.” You can feel the shame in his response when he was brought to the king. The Bible says he bowed down and said, “What is your servant, that you should notice a dead dog like me?” Shame imprints that kind of self-image on us. Mephibosheth had trouble receiving grace because of his shame. He knew his heritage and how is Grandfather had mistreated and abused David. When David summoned him, he thought he was as good as dead since he was the only surviving heir to the throne of Saul! In verse 6, Mephibosheth offers himself as a servant to David in hopes of saving his skin. “Maybe,” he thought, he could earn David’s favor? Like Mephibosheth, we have trouble receiving grace. We think we must earn God’s favor. We see ourselves like a dead dog because of our sin and shame when God calls us to His table. But rather than condemning us, God convicts us and offers us forgiveness with a place at His table of grace through the sacrifice of His own Son.
David says to Mephibosheth, “Don’t be afraid! … I intend to show kindness to you because of my promise to your father, Jonathan. I will give you all the property that once belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will eat here with me at the king’s table!” 2 Samuel 9:7 (NLT). Verse 11 says, “And from that time on, Mephibosheth ate regularly at David’s table, like one of the king’s own sons.” David adopts him as one of his own sons! That’s exactly how we enter God’s family. The Bible says in Romans 8:15 (NLT), “So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when He adopted you as His own children. Now we call Him, ‘Abba, Father.’” The word Abba is an untranslated Aramaic word meaning “Daddy” or “Papa.” What an intimate term of endearment! Because of grace, our sins are wiped out. No more shame! God restores everything we’ve lost! The lost years! The lost resources! Our lost hope. Our lost purpose. Our lost identity! We are adopted into His family, invited to His table of grace, and made a joint heir with His own dear Son!
Have you responded to God’s invitation? He sent His own Son to seek you and find you and invite you to His table of grace. If not, you can right now! He longs to adopt you as His very own child. The Bible says in John 1:12 (NKJV), “… as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.” Grace must be received. It can never be achieved. Just open your heart today and receive His grace by faith. Then, thank Him for dying for your sins and rising again to indwell your life by His Spirit.
This weekend at all our Woodlands Church campuses we are celebrating new life in Christ through believer’s baptism, a sacred symbol that identifies us as His children, adopted into His family, and cleansed of all our sin and shame. We invite you to experience the refreshing power of baptism in your life if you have not taken that step. Just check our website for times and locations. You can register today.