And the king said, Is there not yet any of the house of Saul, that I may shew the kindness of God unto him? And Ziba said unto the king, Jonathan hath yet a son, which is lame on his feet. And the king said unto him, Where is he? And Ziba said unto the king, Behold, he is in the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel, in Lo-debar. Then king David sent, and fetched him out of the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel, from Lo-debar. | ||
| 2 Samuel 9:3-5 | ||
| In Old Testament times, if a king from a different family than the previous one came to power, he would kill all of the relatives of the previous king in order to eliminate any rival. Lo-debar means “pasture-less place.” Consisting of only rocks and sand, Lo-debar would have been a terrible place to live. Why did Mephibosheth live in such a desolate place? Because he no doubt feared the new king. Mephibosheth means “shameful breath.” This more than likely means that he had asthma, or some other breathing ailment. On top of that, he was lame. Second Samuel 4 tells us that when Saul and Jonathan died on Mount Gilboa, Mephibosheth was five years old. His nanny scooped him up to rush him to safety, but in her haste, she tripped. Mephibosheth fell to the ground, evidently injuring his spinal cord. Here was Mephibosheth - hiding in a dry place, unable to breathe easily, and unable to walk at all. Perhaps that describes you or someone you know. Maybe you feel suffocated spiritually, in a dry place, unable to make any progress because you too were dropped . . . “He told me he was going to marry me, and I gave myself to him completely. Then he dropped me. My heart is broken and now I’m crippled.” “My mom left my dad. She was a Christian, but she left and never came back. So here I am, hiding out in a desolate place.” “I thought I was the best baseball player on the team. But my coach cut me. That might not seem important to some, but to me, it’s had a crippling effect.” “I was a good worker. I deserved better, but my boss dropped me to cut back on the budget.” There are countless stories of people who are crippled. I’m convinced that if we knew the secret stories of even our worst enemies, we would have nothing but compassion for them, nothing but love toward them. There is One who does know their stories. And He knows yours as well. He’s the King, the Son of David, calling out to those who are in pastureless places, to those with crippled feet. If you feel lame or crippled a bit, listen, and you’ll hear the King calling - sending a messenger to you. Just as David sent messengers to the pastureless place, the King calls still. Pastor Jon Courson | ||
