In 2 Samuel chapter 9 verse 8
we read this, What is your servant that you should notice a dead
dog like me? Now this is from a delightful
and familiar story. David has become the king of
Israel just as God had purposed and revealed through the prophet
Samuel. It was customary in those days that a new king would kill
all the descendants of the former king in order to assure that
there would be no rivals to his throne. The Bible tells us that
the war between the house of Saul and the house of David was
long and hard, but in time, the household of David won. However,
David had been very close friends with Jonathan, King Saul's son.
He had made a promise to Jonathan that he would not destroy Jonathan's
household when he became king. At the end of his war with the
house of Saul, David asks if there is any left of Saul's household
that he may show him mercy for Jonathan's sake. The only one
left was Mephibosheth. The scriptures say of him, Jonathan,
son of Saul, had a son who was lame in both feet. He was five
years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan's death came
from Jezreel. His nurse picked him up and fled,
but as she hurried to leave, he fell and became crippled.
His name was Mephibosheth. David had Mephibosheth come to
Jerusalem to live with him and eat at his table. When Mephibosheth,
the grandson of Saul, came into the presence of the king and
heard his words of kindness, he says, What is your servant,
that you should notice a dead dog like me? I would like to
look at this story from the viewpoint of Mephibosheth. How David's
goodness to him impressed him with a sense of his own worthlessness
and filled him with awe. Let us start with Mephibosheth's
description of himself. In our day, we hear a great deal
about self-image. One notable preacher has gone
so far as to say that our worst sin is low self-esteem. But Mephibosheth
rightly understood his position before the king. Mephibosheth
called himself a dead dog. Not much worse could be said
of a man. It was a universally understood sign of contempt.
Dogs were not held in high esteem in the first place. It is the
nature of dogs to eat carrion, rotten flesh, which would be
highly offensive in the Jewish economy. The only thing that
could be worse than a carrion-eating dog was a dead dog. Such an animal
is unclean on two accounts. Its actions make it unclean,
and the fact that it is dead makes it doubly unclean. This
is a good description of us. We are doubly unclean. Our trespasses
and our sins make us unclean and fit only for judgment. Furthermore,
we are not just in our trespasses and sins, but Ephesians 2 says
that we are dead in our trespasses and sins. Every one of us is
born spiritually dead, insensible to the Word of God, and emitting
the foul stench of our own righteousness, which is nothing more than filthy
rags. Why would Mephibosheth call himself
a dead dog? In 1 Samuel 24, 14, David uses
the phrase dead dog to indicate something of no value or significance,
not even worth the trouble of destroying. The only description
of Mephibosheth up to this point in the Bible is that he is a
descendant of Saul and Jonathan and is crippled in both his feet.
That makes him an enemy of the household of David and useless
to the furtherance of David's kingdom. An enemy by birth and
useless by condition. This is a description of us.
By birth we are enemies of God, being of the household of Adam.
Furthermore, because of our condition, we are useless to God. In 2 Samuel
16 verse 9, we find the phrase dead dog used to describe a rebel
against the King. Likewise, each one of us is a
rebel against King Jesus. Everyone born into this world
is a rebel against God until God reconciles his heart. Romans
8 verse 7 teaches us that the carnal or natural mind is enmity
against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed
can be. How hard it is for the religious
man to admit that he has been a rebel against God. Those of
us raised in churches may find it particularly hard to accept
the fact that we were rebels against God until He regenerated
our hearts and we believed His Word. Now when did Mephibosheth
come to an understanding of his worthlessness? It was not until
after he heard David's gracious words that he confessed his utter
unworthiness. Earlier, in verse 6, Mephibosheth
had tried to ingratiate himself to David by referring to himself
as David's servant. Likewise, all who approach God
through the law do the same thing. They try to spare their lives
through servitude to God. But God's people do not serve
him to gain his favor. Rather, they serve him because
they are assured they already have his favor. David had something
better than servant in mind. And when Mephibosheth heard it,
then, and only then, was he humbled. It is not the law that humbles
a man, but the gospel. One of the first and surest signs
of a work of God's grace is this attitude of awe and wonder that
God should take notice of a person. What is man, what is this man,
that thou art mindful of him? David gave Mephibosheth all the
rights and privileges of a king's son. Verse 11 tells us that Mephibosheth
ate at the king's table just like the king's sons. Indeed,
Mephibosheth could sing Amazing Grace with full understanding.
He had gone from rebel slave to king's son with just a word
from the king. Now, let us look at the blessing
that David gave to Mephibosheth. For they are like the blessings
that God gives to each of His unworthy elect." Note carefully
David's words. He says, don't be afraid. How
often did the Lord Himself have to say these words to His disciples?
Mephibosheth likely thought he was being brought to David to
be condemned. But David inasmuch says, I have
not brought you here to kill you, but to do you good. God's
first word of grace to our hearts is this, fear not. Any form of
religion that does not remove fear is not the gospel. Only in the gospel do we find
the truth of God's holiness and the truth of our sinfulness joined
in such a way that we no longer need to fear the wrath of God.
Now when and where did this joining take place? On Calvary's cross. When the soul of our Lord Jesus
was made a sin offering, God's holiness and our sin met in one
person. And there the holiness of God
was satisfied and our sin put away. As it is written, mercy
and truth are met together. Righteousness and peace have
kissed each other. I will surely show you kindness,
says David. Kindness comes from the same
Hebrew word that God used in the prophet Isaiah when he spoke
of the sure mercies of David. David showed mercy to Mephibosheth,
for he himself had been shown great mercy by God. The same
sort of mercies is shown to every blood-bought sinner. Then David
says, for the sake of your father Jonathan. David's merciful decree
was not because of anything to be found in Mephibosheth. Rather,
all the goodness David showed to Mephibosheth came from the
love and favor that David had for Jonathan. David goes on to
say, I will restore all that was lost. During David's war
with the house of Saul, all of Saul's possessions had been taken
as spoil. David restored it all to Mephibosheth. And all the inheritance of Adam
was lost when he declared war on God. Thus we are likewise
deprived of life and fellowship with God. But God restored to
us everything that we lost in Adam and adds to that the blessing
of eternal sonship. David says, you will eat at my
table. To eat at the king's table was
to be highly favored and well nourished. David wrote that God
prepares a table for us in the presence of our enemies. It is
the table of Christ. Figuratively speaking, we eat
of the flesh and blood of the Lord Jesus when, by faith, we
receive the benefits of His sacrifice. David goes on, you are like one
of my sons. David made his enemy into a son. God does the same thing when
he redeems us from the law by the death of his son and we go
from being rebel slaves to willing sons. How did David's kindness
affect Mephibosheth? We have seen that Mephibosheth's
status was changed. He went from being under a sentence
of death to being blessed at the king's table. He went from
slave to son. but he was still the same Mephibosheth
by nature the story starts like this there is still a son of
Jonathan he is crippled in both feet the story ends like this
and Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem because he always ate at the
king's table and he was crippled in both feet Mephibosheth's status
changed but his self-condition did not There is a devilish lie
taught to many who trust the Lord, a subtle form of legalism
by which false prophets bring poor sinners back under the bondage
of the law. It goes like this. Salvation
changes a man's desires so that he no longer wants to sin, and
therefore his lifestyle will be much improved after he is
saved, or he has not, indeed, been saved. This is merely the
hiss of that accuser of the brethren who has sought to bring God's
people under the bondage of the law ever since Christ made them
free of it. Here is the truth. Everyone who
has believed Christ has all the same fleshly desires he ever
had. and will discover that temptation
is as much a trouble to him now as it ever was. And he will also
discover that he has no more self-power to overcome it than
before. He is still crippled in both
feet. However, despite his continued
weakness and inability, the believer lives in the king's city and
he eats the king's food and sits at the king's table. May God
teach each of us that we are like Mephibosheth, the son of
Saul by birth and nature, but like Mephibosheth, the son of
David, by grace.