Come To The Table
Context
Though it was customary for a new king to kill all descendants of the former king to prevent rival claims to royalty (e.g.,
As a relative of Saul, he likely thinks that he will be executed. Descendants of deposed kings and other rival claimants to the throne were often put to death.
First and Second Samuel contain frequent comparisons to dogs that are meant to be degrading (e.g.,
Mephibosheth understands the power structures and his language publicly acknowledges this.
At this time, when one king prevailed over another by winning in battle, he would cut off the thumbs and the big toes of his opponent, and then keep them as a kind of showpiece. These incapacitated kings would sit under the table of the victorious king, getting the scraps, like dogs. These defeated kings were not honored guests; they were trophies of war. David would have none of this with regard to Mephibosheth. He does not want him at his table as a subjected foe, but as an honored guest, the son of his beloved friend, Jonathan. It is an amazing act of grace (9:7–13).
Mephibosheth could have been seen as an enemy, but was treated as a friend. Contrastingly, chapter 10 tells the story of how David was treated as an enemy when he could have been seen as a friend. The editors seem to have deliberately placed these chapters together before chapter 11, where Uriah, who had proved himself to be very much a friend, was betrayed by David and treated as an enemy. Identifying the difference between friends and enemies, recognizing the need to turn enemies into friends and finding ways of doing that are key skills for any national leader who wants to govern a stable regime
Invitation To The Table
Ziba apparently had not only gained his freedom but had also become a successful landowner (v 10). This status was lost as a result of the discovery of Mephibosheth, Jonathan’s crippled son.
As Mephibosheth was regarded as an adopted son—like one of the king’s sons—with attendant privileges and blessings, so believers have been adopted as sons and daughters into the family of God (
We may be tempted to show kindness and to keep our covenant commitments only when it is convenient to do so or when it shows particular promise of return. In the workplace, in schools, even in the church, we tend to keep our promises to those who will repay us in some way. In this text, David serves as an example because he keeps covenant and shows mercy to someone who cannot benefit him. David uses power in this passage in a way that is consistent with his calling as shepherd of God’s flock. As such, he also anticipates his greater Son, who will use his power only for the advancement of his Father’s kingdom. Unfortunately, David will not always represent such an example of the use of power, as later chapters reveal.
But this is not all. God also gives us His own royal bounty. Mephibosheth not only received his forfeited inheritance back, but he was accepted as the child of the king and henceforth ate at the king’s table, and was shown all the hospitality of the royal palace. And so God takes us into His heart and home, and makes us His very sons and daughters, and shares with us all the fullness of His love, grace and glory, saying to us, “My son, … you are always with me, and everything I have is yours” (
Table of the LORD
The question of David, “Is there anyone still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness?” (
Application
He was not loyal for the sake of being considered loyal, but he was loyal on principle, loyal for David’s sake and his own. It was in him to be loyal, and he could not be disloyal. So loyal indeed was he, that when David came back months later, after his own sad exile, he found that Mephibosheth had been fasting in sackcloth and sorrow all the days of his absence, and nothing could make him happy until the king came back unto his own again.
