Mephibosheth From Lodebar

MEPHIBOSHETH FROM LODEBAR

2 Sam. 9:1-13

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR

1. Two robins were sitting in a tree. "I'm really hungry," said the first one. "Me too," said the second. "Let's fly down and find some lunch."

2. They flew to the ground and found a nice plot of plowed ground full of worms. They ate and ate and ate until they could eat no more. "I'm so full I don't think I can fly back up to the tree," said the first one.

3. "Me neither, let's just lay here and bask in the warm sun," said the second. "Okay," said the first. They plopped down, basking in the sun.

4. No sooner than they had fallen asleep, a big fat tomcat snuck up and gobbled them up. As he sat washing his face after his meal, he thought, "I love baskin' robins."

B. TEXT

David asked, “Is there anyone still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?” 2 Now there was a servant of Saul’s household named Ziba. They summoned him to appear before David, and the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?” “At your service,” he replied. 3 The king asked, “Is there no one still alive from the house of Saul to whom I can show God’s kindness?” Ziba answered the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan; he is lame in both feet.” 4 “Where is he?” the king asked. Ziba answered, “He is at the house of Makir son of Ammiel in Lo Debar.” 5 So King David had him brought from Lo Debar, from the house of Makir son of Ammiel. 6 When Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, he bowed down to pay him honor. David said, “Mephibosheth!” “At your service,” he replied. 7 “Don’t be afraid,” David said to him, “for I will surely show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will restore to you all the land that belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will always eat at my table.”8 Mephibosheth bowed down and said, “What is your servant, that you should notice a dead dog like me?” 9 Then the king summoned Ziba, Saul’s steward, and said to him, “I have given your master’s grandson everything that belonged to Saul and his family. 10 You and your sons and your servants are to farm the land for him and bring in the crops, so that your master’s grandson may be provided for. And Mephibosheth, grandson of your master, will always eat at my table.” (Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.) 11 Then Ziba said to the king, “Your servant will do whatever my lord the king commands his servant to do.” So Mephibosheth ate at David’s table like one of the king’s sons. 12 Mephibosheth had a young son named Mika, and all the members of Ziba’s household were servants of Mephibosheth. 13 And Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, because he always ate at the king’s table; he was lame in both feet.

C. THESIS

1. We’re looking at the story of one who was:

a. A prince by birth;

b. Deprived of his inheritance/ family;

c. Crippled by a negligent step;

d. Carried into exile and poverty; a helpless dependent in a remote district.

2. THIS STORY IS AN ANALOGY OF THE REDEEMED SINNER.

3. The title of this is “Mephibosheth from Lodebar.”

I. THE HEIGHT FROM WHICH HE FELL

A. BELONGED TO A ROYAL LINE

1. Mephibosheth was like a Kennedy/ a Roosevelt in this country. His Grandfather was King Saul, first King of all Israel.

2. His father Jonathan was in line for the throne.

3. Mephibosheth was the oldest son, in line for the throne.

4. He had it all – riches, power, kingship.

B. LOST IT ALL

1. Grandfather & father killed on Mt. Gilboa by the Philistines.

2. He, 5 years old. Nurse at Jezreel picked up Mephibosheth & accidentally dropped him, crippling both feet.

3. Another man took the kingdom.

4. Mephibosheth (“one who blows upon shame”) fulfilled his name – helpless, poor, and exiled East of the Jordan, outside Canaan-land.

5. Hos. 14:1 says, “Your sins have been your downfall!” We lost our riches in the Fall and were exiled. Eph. 2:12-13; “12 remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”

6. He was living in Lodebar, a ghetto town in Biblical times. The word means "no pasture,"(2 Samuel 17:27) "no word" or "no communication" [Wikipedia].

7. If it meant “no word,” it was a derogatory name denoting lack of enlightenment or stupidity. If “no pasture” it meant it was a worthless piece of ground. Either way, it indicated exile to the worst area.