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The Story Of David And Mephibosheth
Dining with the King
by Pastor Ricky Kurth
“… I
appoint unto you a kingdom…that ye may eat and drink at My table in My
kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Luke 22:29,30).
We see this same thought
in the Lord’s words to Tribulation Jews who will need to overcome the
temptation to take the mark of the beast if they want to reign with Christ
in the kingdom of heaven on earth:
“… if
any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I
grant to
sit with Me in My throne…” (Revelation 3:20,21).
If you are wondering what
connection dining with the king
could have to reigning with
him, the king’s table was probably a place where the king’s business was
discussed.
This writer is not a
member of the Berean Bible Society Board of Directors, but I have dinner
with them when they are in town for a meeting.
At these dinners, I’ve
noticed that board business is always discussed at the table and, based
on these discussions, decisions are made later at the official meeting.
We see this connection
between dining and reigning typified in the story of Mephibosheth.
If you’ll remember, after
David became the king of Israel, he wanted to show kindness to any members
of the house of Saul that he could find (II Samuel 9:1).
When
Mephibosheth was brought to his attention (verses 2-6), David
said to him,
“… I
will surely shew thee kindness for Jonathan thy father’s sake, and will
restore thee all the land of Saul thy father; and thou shalt eat bread at my table
continually” (II Samuel 9:7).
David
went on to give Mephibosheth “all that pertained to Saul and to all his
house” (verse 9), and remember, Saul had been king of Israel.
In other
words, Mephibosheth was given a king’s inheritance,
and invited to sit at the king’s table and reign with him “as one of
the king’s sons” (verse
11).
Quite an honor for the
grandson of a man who had once been the present king’s enemy.
Some men might take such
a tremendous honor for granted, but not Mephibosheth! He later told David:
“… all
of my father’s house were but dead men before my lord the king: yet didst
thou set thy servant among them that did eat at thine own table. What right therefore have I yet to cry any
more unto the king?” (II Samuel 19:28).
Mephibosheth knew that he
had been given such an unbelievably high honor that he felt he had no
right ever to ask the king for anything ever again.
Now how about you? May I
remind you that what the king did for Mephibosheth is exactly what
your King has done for you?
God “hath
raised us up together” with Christ (Ephesians 2:5,6), “and made us sit together in heavenly places in
Christ Jesus,” we who were once members of the family of God’s “enemies”
(Romans 5:10).
Just as the Lord invited
kingdom saints to sit and reign with Him in the kingdom of His Father,
Paul says that we have been invited to sit and reign with Christ in the
kingdom of His Father in the heavenlies — to sit with Him in His throne!
Speaking
of Christ, Paul says that God “hath put all things under His feet, and
gave Him to be the head over all things to the church” (Ephesians 1:22).
Since God
“calleth those things which be not as though they were” (Romans 4:17), you are already seated with Christ at the
Father’s right hand, and someday you will reign with Him over the angels (I Corinthians 6:3).
In
response, you can grumble and complain about your position in life, or you can rejoice in your position in heaven, and join Mephibosheth in
wondering about your right ever to ask anything more of God beyond what He
has already done in giving you a King’s inheritance (Ephesians 1:11) and seating you at the King’s table “as one of the
king’s sons” (cf.
Galatians 4:4-7).
I’m sure David would have
given Mephibosheth anything he asked for, but his heart was so filled
with thanksgiving that he felt he didn’t dare ask for more.
While
we have a clear command from God through Paul to “let your requests be
made known unto God” (Philippians
4:6), before asking God for
anything, it might be good to run a “Mephibosheth check” on the
level of your gratitude.
After all, if God never
did anything else for you other than what He has already done for you in
Christ, He’s done enough.
The Berean Bible
Society was founded over
seventy-five years ago for the sole purpose of helping believers understand and
enjoy the Word of God. Our Organization holds without apology to all the
fundamentals of the Christian faith and is evangelical, that is, we
believe that salvation is by grace through faith alone on the basis of the
shed blood of Christ.
We also emphasize the
importance of proclaiming the whole counsel of God in light of the Pauline
revelation. Insofar as Paul is the apostle of the Gentiles, it is our firm
conviction that in his epistles alone we have the doctrine, position, walk, and
destiny for the Church, the Body of Christ, during the dispensation of Grace.
When did the Berean Bible
Society actually have its beginning? Interestingly, it began in a two-room
school house in Preakness (now Wayne), New Jersey. Here a group of believers
began to see the importance of understanding the “the mystery”
revealed to Paul, and the urgency of proclaiming the unadulterated
“gospel of the grace of God”. It was Pastor C. R. Stam’s first
pastorate: the Preakness Community Church.
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