Restored: The Story Of Mephibosheth

Restored: The Story of Mephibosheth

2 Samuel 9:1-13

Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0D5KrmFyEn0

Today, I’d like to share with you God’s restorative plan through the life of a little-known person from the Old Testament named Mephibosheth. I was looking at the story as our men’s group was going through the life of King David. And what the story shows us is a picture of God’s grace to sinners.

It is found 2 Samuel 9, which happened after David was firmly established as King. It was then that he remembered a promise that he made to his best friend, Jonathan, that he would show kindness to his family. Now that Jonathan was dead along with his father, King Saul, David searched for and found the only surviving member of Jonathan’s family, Mephibosheth. After David found him, he restored him to his palace, the King’s Palace.

Read 2 Samuel 9:1-13

“Now David said, ‘Is there still anyone who is left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake?’ And there was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was Ziba. So, when they had called him to David, the king said to him, ‘Are you Ziba?"’ And he said, ‘At your service!’ Then the king said, ‘Is there not still someone of the house of Saul, to whom I may show the kindness of God?’ And Ziba said to the king, ‘There is still a son of Jonathan who is lame in his feet.’ So, the king said to him, ‘Where is he?’ And Ziba said to the king, ‘Indeed he is in the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, in Lo Debar.’ Then King David sent and brought him out of the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, from Lo Debar. Now when Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, had come to David, he fell on his face and prostrated himself. Then David said, ‘Mephibosheth?’ And he answered, ‘Here is your servant!’ So David said to him, "’Do not fear, for I will surely show you kindness for Jonathan your father's sake, and will restore to you all the land of Saul your grandfather; and you shall eat bread at my table continually.’ Then he bowed himself, and said, ‘What is your servant, that you should look upon such a dead dog as I?’ And the king called to Ziba, Saul's servant, and said to him, ‘I have given to your master's son all that belonged to Saul and to all his house. You, therefore, and your sons and your servants, shall work the land for him, and you shall bring in the harvest, that your master's son may have food to eat. But Mephibosheth your master's son shall eat bread at my table always.’ Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants. Then Ziba said to the king, ‘According to all that my lord the king has commanded his servant, so will your servant do.’ ‘As for Mephibosheth,’ said the king, ‘he shall eat at my table like one of the king's sons.’ Mephibosheth had a young son whose name was Micha. And all who dwelt in the house of Ziba were servants of Mephibosheth. So, Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem, for he ate continually at the king's table. And he was lame in both his feet.”

As we look at the restoration of Mephibosheth, we’ll see is that his story represents what God has done for each of us. First, like Mephibosheth, we were all crippled by the fall.

1. Crippled By a Fall

“Then the king said, ‘Is there not still someone of the house of Saul, to whom I may show the kindness of God?’ And Ziba said to the king, ‘There is still a son of Jonathan who is lame in his feet.’” (2 Samuel 9:3 NKJV)

The story of what happened is found in 2 Samuel 4. Let me give you a little background. Israel went out to war with the Philistines, and in the battle both Jonathan and Saul were killed.

“Jonathan, Saul's son, had a son who was lame in his feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel; and his nurse took him up and fled. And it happened, as she made haste to flee, that he fell and became lame. His name was Mephibosheth.” (2 Samuel 4:4 NKJV)

News of the defeat and of Jonathan’s and Saul’s deaths reached the palace, and everyone panicked and started running. They knew they were dead, either by the hands of the Philistines if they came to claim their prize, or possibly through David, because when a new king takes over, they usually kill the royal family so there is no conflict later. Neither of which occurred.

So, Mephibosheth started out at a distinct disadvantage in life. His well-meaning nurse panicked when she heard about the death of both Saul and Jonathan, and in her haste to get the boy away from danger she dropped him. Because of that fall, Mephibosheth grew up crippled in both feet. For the rest of his days, Mephibosheth would need the help of others to get by. He was pretty much at the mercy of anyone who wanted to do him harm.