A Seat at the King’s Table

The Story

When news came that King Saul and his son Jonathan had been killed in battle, Jonathan’s little boy, Mephibosheth, was only five years old. His nurse grabbed him and ran, fearing the new king would wipe out Saul’s family. In her hurry, she dropped him. Both of his feet were injured, and he was lame for the rest of his life.

Years later, David was king. And he remembered a promise he had made to his best friend, Jonathan, to show kindness to his family. “Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul,” David asked, “that I may shew him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?”

A servant named Ziba told him there was one: a son of Jonathan, lame in his feet, living in a place called Lo-debar, a name that means something like “no pasture,” a nowhere town.

David sent for him. Mephibosheth came and fell on his face, terrified. In those days, a new king often killed the old king’s heirs. He called himself a “dead dog.”

But David said, “Fear not.” He gave him back all the land that had belonged to his grandfather Saul. And then he gave him something more: “Thou shalt eat bread at my table continually.”

From that day on, Mephibosheth ate at the king’s table, like one of the king’s own sons.

Reflection