Mephibosheth And Me (2025)

Introduction:

A. Welcome to Family and Friend Day, we are really thrilled to have so many “friends” visiting with us today.

1. We sincerely hope that you are having an uplifting and inspiring time.

B. Let’s talk about funny names for a minute.

1. Many years ago, when we were looking at names for one of our daughters, we liked the name Cloe, but then realized that Cloe Owens wouldn’t go together very well.

2. Here are a few funny names from Parade Magazines list of 205 funny names.

a. Marsha Mellow, Chip Munk, Neil Down, Paige Turner, Anita Bath, Art Major, Al O’Vera, Clair Annette, Barry Cade, Duane Pipe, Justin Time, Sal Monella, Gene Pool, Tim Burr.

C. Today, I want to tell the story of a man with the unusual name: Mephibosheth.

1. Now there’s a name for you! Anyone want to use that name for their son?

2. It’s so hard to pronounce that I thought about giving him a nickname for today.

3. I thought about just calling him “M.”

4. Then I thought about “Fib,” but didn’t think that would work.

5. “Bo” sounded pretty good.

6. “Sheth” didn’t do much for me.

7. But I guess even though it is a bit of a tongue-twister, I’ll just call him by his full name.

I. His Story

A. Mephibosheth’s story is found in the Old Testament portion of the Bible, in the book of 2 Samuel.

B. His story goes something like this:

1. One day there was a knock on Makir’s front door at the home where Mephibosheth lived.

2. Makir went to answer the door and there stood Ziba, a servant of the former King Saul, with an authoritative look on his face.

3. Bluntly, He told Makir the news: “King David wants to see Mephibosheth NOW!”

C. I’m sure all of us remember something about King David.

1. He’s the same David who killed Goliath the giant, then grew up to be the 2nd King of Israel, but then later committed adultery with Bathsheba.

2. What Mephibosheth likely didn’t know was that many years before David became king, Jonathan (Mephibosheth’s father) was David’s closest friend.

3. In fact, Jonathan and David were so loyal to each other that they made a covenant together.

4. They promised that no matter what happened they would always look after each other’s families.

D. Not knowing any of that, Mephibosheth, now an adult, must have trembled at the news.

1. I’m sure Mephibosheth feared the worst.

2. Most of the time in the ancient world, a new king would eliminate all possible challenges to the throne.

3. And being prince Jonathan’s son, and king Saul’s grandson, meant that he was in line for the throne.

4. In his mind, he must have thought, “Oh, no, king David has found me and now my life was going to end!

5. But his fear was not for himself alone, but also for Mica, his own son.

6. And his fear was likely mixed with another feeling: “It’s not fair, It’s just not fair!”

E. Life had certainly not been fair to Mephibosheth.

1. His life had started out well enough, his father was prince Jonathan, and his grandfather was King Saul, the first king of Israel.

2. That meant he was royalty and royalty had many privileges.

3. Back then, he even had a royal name “Mirab Baal” which meant “opponent of Baal” (Baal was a false, pagan god).

a. But now his name was different.

b. Mephibosheth meant “Son of Shame.”

c. His name had been changed because of what happened many years ago.

4. When he was a little boy, just 5 years old, a man, who was bloodied and exhausted from battle, ran into the palace gates and yelled out: “King Saul and his sons are dead! King Saul and his sons are dead!”

5. The same cold chill that he now felt ran through his body that day, many years before.

6. Back then he did not understand it all, but suddenly the palace became a place of panic.

a. Wives wept and servants were white with fear.

7. Mephibosheth remembered how his nurse came running up to him with a few things in her hand and she yelled: “RUN Mirab Baal - Run for your life!”

a. He didn't understand, but he ran with her as hard as he could.

b. But his five-year-old legs could only go so fast and so far.

8. In desperation, his nurse picked him up and with Mirab Baal in her arms, she ran, but something caused her to lose her hold on the boy, and he fell out of her hands and became crippled in both feet.

F. And so, on the day when his dad Prince Jonathan died, and his grandpa King Saul died, Mirab Baal’s life changed for the worse.