From a pain to peace
Read time: 7 mins
“(Saul’s son Jonathan had a son named Mephibosheth, who was crippled as a child. He was five years old when the report came from Jezreel that Saul and Jonathan had been killed in battle. When the child’s nurse heard the news, she picked him up and fled. But as she hurried away, she dropped him, and he became crippled.)”
2 Samuel 4:4 NLT
Mephibosheth had a hard life. On the same day, both his father and grandfather died in battle. When his babysitter heard the news, she dropped him and the drop left him paralyzed for life. Now he is fatherless, and he has no grandfather. His family goes from royal to running as a new government replaces them. The family finances tank and he moves from a palace to a poorhouse. And to make matters worse, he is crippled because of the negligence of someone who was supposed to be protecting him. This is a traumatic day.
At that time, being paralyzed was basically a sentence to poverty. If you couldn’t walk, you couldn’t work. If you couldn’t produce, you couldn’t provide. Mephibosheth has been damaged by the fault of others and now lives a life that sounds pretty hopeless. The Bible even says he lived in a place called Lo-debar which means “no pasture.” In an agricultural society, having no pasture meant you had no future or provision. It wasn't just that there were no resources. No pasture meant they couldn’t even try to pull themselves up by their bootstraps if they wanted to. There was no sense of hope. Not only was Mephibosheth what many would call hopeless, he was surrounded by a whole city that was hopeless.
Can you find yourself in this story? Sometimes it's hard for us to admit our pain. We have intentionally blurred the memory of the things that have hurt us. We may have used substances, people, work, and even relationships to drown out the noise of our pain and numb our feelings of helplessness. But if God has rest for all who are weary, we must little by little allow ourselves to admit that we are tired. Even while reading this devotional you may feel uncomfortable. But I promise you that admitting the pain will be the catalyst for your healing. It’s something that I've had to spend years taking time to do and it hurts, but it's freeing.
You may feel like Mephibosheth. You may feel alone. I don't know if your family was taken from you physically or they were never there emotionally. Mephibosheth gets it. Both his father and grandfather were killed before he could even understand his need for them.
You may feel betrayed like Mephibosheth may have. The people in power who should have protected you allowed their intentional or subconscious humanity to hurt you. And the effects have been long lasting. You may feel like you’ve been dropped. Friends, family, parents, pastors, teachers and leaders may have dropped you. The decision of your parents to get divorced may have caused wounds that make it hard to trust them or anyone else. Your guardian caring about their job more than your well being may have impacted your view of self worth. Seeing the abuse in your home may have had lasting effects that haunt you to this day. You may have been dropped. You may still be dealing with the effects of the things that hurt you. You may still be dealing with the weight of the abuse. Mephibosheth gets you.
Maybe you aren't as bothered by being dropped but you can identify with the feeling of being hopeless in a world that seems hopeless. No one in Mephibosheth’s community was allowed to hope. The name of their ghetto literally meant “No future”. You may find it hard to allow yourself to hope for things because of how often you’ve been disappointed. You may live in an environment where hoping for more is frowned upon. No one around you may have had a thriving marriage so you are discouraged from trying. No one around you may have had emotional stability or financial security so people look at you like you think you're better than them when you try to go for more. You may have gotten bullied whenever you’d dream because no one around you was allowed to hope for more. You may have felt attacked when you tried because no one around you made it out of those cycles. You may feel alone when you want better for yourself. You may feel ostracized. Mephibosheth got this too. But there’s hope.
The Bible gives examples to show you a picture of what God wants to do holistically in your life. While you might see a shadow of yourself in Mephibosheth, I want you to see a picture of Jesus in David. God is using David in this story to renew your mind regarding how you view your Heavenly Father.
While Mephibosheth is at his lowest, the king comes down from his throne to seek out people in low places. In 2 Samuel 9:1, King David gets up and asks if there is anyone alive from Saul’s family that he can show the kindness of God to for Jonathan's sake. While most kings would seek out members of the ex-royal family so that they could kill off anyone who could threaten their throne, David is seeking them out with kindness. And I want you to get this. All indicators would point Mephibosheth to be David’s enemy. Mephibosheth’s family was literally trying to kill David. David was on the run and living in caves for years out of fear for Mephibosheth’s grandfather. But instead of condemnation, David is valiantly seeking out Mephibosheth with love. This is what God does for us. While we are at our lowest, God is actively searching for us. While we are His enemy, God is fighting to love us.
Can I point something else out? This attack of love wasnt based on Mephibosheth or anything he did or said. It was based on a decision David made with his friend Jonathan before Mephibosheth was even around. God’s love for you has nothing to do with you and everything to do with Him. Because of Abraham's relationship with God, all of his children were loved and blessed regardless. Because of Jonathan’s relationship with David, his children were loved and blessed. And because of Jesus’ relationship with the Father, you are loved and blessed. We are told that we have been grafted into the family of God. We have been adopted and now we are heirs to all that Christ has possession over. We have claim to every spiritual blessing not because of us but because we have been brought into the right family. Look at what David promises:
““Don’t be afraid!” David said. “I intend to show kindness to you because of my promise to your father, Jonathan. I will give you all the property that once belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will eat here with me at the king’s table!””
2 Samuel 9:7 NLT
There are at least three great things that are promised here:
There's no need to be afraid. David will show kindness because of Jonathan. That means that these promises aren’t dependent on Mephibosheth. They are dependent on his father. Now I'm trying not to get up and start running at this point, but this open door policy with God isn't dependent on how good you are. It’s based on our father whose character is unchangeable. He made the decision to love you before you. Ephesians tells us that before He made the world, He made the decision to adopt you.
David promises to give Mephibosheth all the property that belonged to his royal grandfather. Mephibosheth isnt shopping at the discount store anymore. His net worth just quadrupled with a sentence. We have access and provision because of our father. It doesn’t stop there. Further down in the chapter he is even given 35 workers. Yes, you heard me correctly. 35 grown men are given to Mephibosheth to farm his new fields. Remember he is crippled so he couldn’t work if he wanted. But the king provides. This isn't just about finances. You’re thinking too small. God has a wealth of emotional, spiritual and relational resources that He wants to pour out onto His children. Mephibosheth has a promise of provision, regardless of his ability and you do too.
But point three may be the most impactful for you because it was for me. David promises that this waterfall of love will be consistent and constant. Accepting these truths seems to be the unlearning process of a lifetime. They say the next relationship after an abusive one takes the most work. It’s going to be hard for Mephibosheth to trust again. But David promises that Mephibosheth will eat at his table. Let me explain to you why this is significant.
This is a serious identity shift. Years of hopelessness, abuse and isolation do something to the mind. You can attest. Many of your insecurities, fears and idiosyncrasies are responses to the hurts and pains of your childhood. This is going to take a lot to unlearn. This life of trauma affected Mephibosheth to the point that he referred to himself as an unworthy dead dog when David came to love on him.
Many of us are uncomfortable with this identity of being fully known and fully loved. We are uncomfortable with being naked before God and accepting that He knows everything wrong with us but still loves us. It's hard to trust that He will catch you when you’ve been dropped so many times. It’s hard to trust that He will be a good father when you haven’t seen a good father in your life. But what I love about God is that He is patient and resilient.
I don't think this healing process for Mephibosheth would work if there wasn't a continual reminder that he was still loved and provided for. This promise to eat with the king wasn’t a one time gig. It was a continuous connection point to remind Mephibosheth of his new reality. You will have times where you need to be reminded. You will have times where you need reassurance. But you can always go to the king’s table. Breaking down years of feeling alone or helpless or worthless won't happen in a day. But the king is inviting you to his table daily so that His love can heal. The king I'm talking about is God. God is inviting you to come to his table daily to be reminded of your safety in Him. Go to the kings table. Let Him love the parts you hide. Let Him into the wounds and traumas.
Verse 13 makes me want to shout. “And Mephibosheth, who was crippled in both feet, lived in Jerusalem and ate regularly at the king’s table (2 Samuel 9:13 NLT).”
While Lo-debar means no pasture, Jerusalem means city of peace. I want you to get this. While Mephibosheth was still crippled and in no position to sustain himself, the king transferred him from a place of pain to a place of peace. And all Mephibosheth did was stay at the table. God wants to turn your trauma into triumph. God wants to step into what was a burden and leave a blessing. This transfer from a place of pain to a place of peace is possible. I just need you to commit to the journey of regularly sitting at the king's table. Sit at the feet of Jesus and allow Him to reveal and heal. It’s a process. But it will definitely be worth it.
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