Two very different men sat at David’s table.
One was a son of David, and his name was Absalom. As a son of the King, he belonged at the table. He was handsome, gifted, powerful, unblemished, charming, and all the ladies loved him and his beautiful hair. Absalom did not appreciate the blessings and privileges of being at the King’s table. He was not in any way thankful for being one of David’s sons.
The other was a crippled son of Jonathan, Mephibosheth. He did not belong at the King’s table. Mephibosheth was crippled in both feet. He was a son of the former dynasty. Mephibosheth was brought to David’s home and to David’s table because of David’s grace and the covenant David had with Jonathan (see 1 Samuel 20:12-17; 2 Samuel 9). Usually when kings took the throne and started a new dynasty, they killed all the previous king’s family. But Mephibosheth was spared and given a place at the king’s table where he would continually be there as one of the king’s own sons.
Here is a comparison in mentality between Absalom and Mephibosheth. It is a night and day contrast.
Absalom:
- No blemishes, good-looking (2 Sam. 14:25,26).
- Natural born son of the King (2 Sam. 3:3).
- No appreciation (2 Sam. 16:21,22; 17:1-4).
- Arrogant, spoiled (brat), who charmed or manipulated his way through life (2 Sam. 13:22-29; 14:29,30; 15:3-6).
- Tried to steal the throne (15:10-15).
- The thing in which Absalom gloried eventually became his downfall.
Mephibosheth:
Also known as Merib-baal (1 Chronicles 8:34; 9:40)
- Lame in both feet (2 Sam. 9:13).
- Outsider, grandson of Saul; deserved to die (2 Sam. 19:28).
- Very appreciative (2 Sam. 9:8).
- Humble, servant to David (2 Sam. 9:6).
- Honored the throne of King David (2 Sam. 19:24).
As a Christian, do you see yourself as an Absalom or a Mephibosheth? Sadly, sometimes we as Christians can get pretty ungrateful and entitled. Its like we deserve a spot at the table and we don’t truly appreciate what God through Jesus has done for us to bring us to His table. We are like Mephibosheth when it comes to salvation: we are outsiders, lame and crippled and worthy of death (see Ephesians 2). But God’s grace cleaned us up and put us in a spot at His table. Forever. We are the King’s Sons and Daughters. May we truly appreciate the blessings of being God’s children at God’s banquet table. Let’s not get spoiled and unthankful like Absalom.
This attitude of Absalom is seen everywhere in life. In sports, politics, in business, in the home, and in the church. We don’t want to be Absalom’s, walking through life entitled and spoiled, do we? We want to live out our lives like Mephibosheth, where we have overwhelming gratitude for the blessings given to us that we did not deserve. And out of that gratitude, we humbly serve God and others. Like Mephibosheth was to David, we should be loyal to God’s throne because of the fact that God even allows us to sit at his table as one of His sons!