2 Samuel 9: All Are Equal At the King’s Table

2 Samuel is the second part of the start of Israel’s early Kingdom. Originally, Samuel was one big book. In 1 Samuel, we see how the kingdom began and were introduced to its first king. 2 Samuel shows us the greatest king of Israel, King David.

From Chuck Swindoll on how to apply 2 Samuel, “David is known as a “man after [God’s] own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14) because, though he sinned greatly and made mistakes, he acknowledged those failures and repented before God. Repent means to turn away from sin and turn toward righteousness. Our Father knows we are not perfect. So His Son, Jesus Christ, paid the price for our sins so that we can become righteous in God’s sight through faith. And although our salvation is secure, our daily sins can hinder our relationship with God. When we confess our sins, turning to the Lord in humility, He will forgive us and restore our relationship with Him.

The apostle James has written what might be an appropriate epitaph for David. It can be yours, too: “Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you” (James 4:10).”

Overall Theme: God Qualifies the Called

Key Verse: 2 Samuel 7:16, “Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.” (God establishes an eternal covenant with those who are His. He is with us always.)

Let’s read it together.

Contact us-

Ask a Question
Send Encouragement

Take a Next Step-

SOAP Bible Study Method.
Bible Reading Plan.
Free Weekly Newsletter.

Socials-

Facebook.
Instagram.
X.
YouTube.

The More We Dig. The More We Find.

Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation (NLT).
Copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Chapters

• 0:01 Welcome and Series Setup
• 0:24 Today’s Focus: 2 Samuel 9
• 0:46 Community and Call for Support
• 1:04 Names, Humor, and Setup for Mephibosheth
• 2:43 David’s Unexpected Kindness
• 3:59 The Royal Restoration Decree
• 6:06 Equal at the Table: Core Metaphor
• 7:33 From Story to Practice: Serve Others
• 9:03 Prayer and Covenant Reminder

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:01

Hey everyone and welcome to the Bible Breakdown Podcast. In this podcast, we will be breaking down the Bible one chapter a day. Whether you are a new believer or have been following Christ for a while, we believe that you will learn something new and fresh every single day. So thank you for joining us and let's get into breaking down the Bible together.

SPEAKER_01: 0:23

Hello, everybody. Welcome back to the Bible Breakdown Podcast with your host, Pastor Brandon, today, 2 Samuel chapter 9. And today's title is All Are Equal at the King's Table. All Are Equal at the King's Table. This is one of the greatest stories in the entire Bible. I love it so much. And it's about a guy with a really hard name to say, and I cannot wait to share it with you. But before we do that, as always, if you like what we're doing here, make sure you like, share, and subscribe to the YouTube channel. Make sure you leave us a five-star review on the podcast. And as always, where we gather together is the Facebook group, Bible Breakdown Discussion. And I'm gonna tell you something, the more we dig, the more we find. And this story right here is just one of my favorites. And so if you have your Bibles, want to open up with me to 2 Samuel chapter 9. This has got nothing to do with it except for this guy's name, it's really hard to pronounce. But I was talking about the other day. I love words and names, I think they're just interesting. And we were talking about different people's names, especially in our families, and how hard they are to say. And somebody once said that I heard someone's name one time and their name was Absida. And I was like, Can you say that again? Yeah. Absida. One more time. Absida. How do you spell that? And they said, that that's just it. You're never going to believe how this was spelled. You spelled Absida A B C D E. Absede. Absidah. It's like you are lying through your teeth. You need to repent before Jesus. And they said, no, no, no. It really is true. And it was, there was a classmate, and that classmate's name was Absida. And I was like, okay, that one wins. Well, in the Bible, this name right here, I think it wins. Other than the name Methuselah, it doesn't hardly get better than Methuselah, but the name Mephibosheth, like practice that right now. I'm going to say it and I want you to say it after me, okay? Here we go. Mephibosheth. One more time. Mephibosheth. Ladies, if you're listening to this or if you're watching to this, if you're going to have a baby and you don't have one picked out yet, Mephibosheth, you could either call him male, phibee, or shef. Or just go Mephibosheth. But anyway, Mephibosheth is an amazing story in the Old Testament because of what's going to happen right here. And what I love about this is the heart of David. You know, remember we're saying the overall idea is that God qualifies the called. You know what happens when you go through hard times? You know what happens when you run in caves and you hide and you have this guy named Saul who's supposed to be a spiritual father to you, but instead he's trying to chase you and he's trying to kill you. You know what happens? You could, if you don't have Jesus, grow bitter and cold. Or if you've got God in your life, you grow soft. You grow where you understand. You understand what hurt feels like. So when you have the opportunity to bless somebody else, you're willing to do it. Well, watch what happens as God has now qualified the called to be a source of healing in somebody else's life. Let's read this and enjoy it together. 2 Samuel chapter 9, verse 1. One day David asked, Is anyone in Saul's family still alive? Anyone to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan's sake? Now pause. Now normally it was the exact opposite. Whenever one dynasty would take over another, the first act that they would do is they would kill all the family of the preceding dynasty. Because they never wanted to have anybody else to come forward and say they had a rightful claim to the throne. So it's very irregular for David to say, Is there anyone left from Saul's family? unless he would have said, So I can kill them. But instead, he said, I want to show kindness to them. So you can already see the heart that God has put in David. Here we go, verse two. He summoned a man named Zeba, one of Saul's servants. Are you Zeba? The king asked. Yes, sir, I am, Zeba replied. The king then asked him, Is anyone still alive from Saul's family? If so, I want to show God's kindness to them. Zebra replied, Yes, one of Jonathan's sons is still alive, but he is crippled in both feet. Where is he? The king said. He is in Lodabar, at the home of Mikar, son of Amilo. So David sent for him and brought him from Mikar's home, and his name was Mephibosheth. He was Jonathan's son and Saul's grandson. When he came to David he bowed low to the ground in deep respect, and David said, Greetings, Mephibosheth. Mephibosheth replied, I am your servant. 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. Mephibosheth bowed low respectfully and exclaimed, Who is your servant that you would show such kindness to a dead dog like me? Then the king summoned Saul's servant, Zeba, and said, I have given your master's grandson everything that belonged to Saul and his family. You and your sons and your servants are to farm the land for him to produce food for your master's household. But Mephibosheth, your master's grandson, will eat here at my table. Zeba had fifteen sons and twenty servants. Zeba replied, Yes, my lord the king, I am your servant, and I will do all that you have commanded. And from that time on Mephibosheth ate regularly at the king's table, like one of the king's own sons. Mephibosheth had a young son named Micah, and from then on all the members of Zeba's household were Mephibosheth's servants. And Mephibosheth, who was crippled in both feet, lived in Jerusalem and ate regularly at the king's table. Wow. Isn't that amazing to see what God can do? That God has empowered us to be a blessing and to bring healing to others. You know what I love about this? Is the Bible says that the reason why Mephibosheth was crippled was because when Saul died and when Jonathan died, the nurse that would take care of Mephibosheth was worried that someone was going to come and kill this little boy. And so she picked him up, and as she was carrying him out of the house, he fell and it broke both of his feet in some kind of way so that he was now crippled in both of his feet. And so the rest of his life, if everybody was looking at him, he wasn't able to be like everybody else. But when he sat at a table, his feet were under the table. And so when we sat at the table, he looked like just another one of the king's sons. And he looked like equal like everybody else. Do you know what God wants to do? He wants to restore broken things. He wants to restore things. Now, there's still a brokenness in their past. There's still going to be scars in their life, but in his eyes, and in the eyes of those who see them clearly, they're the same as everybody else. All are equal at our heavenly father's table. All have the opportunity to be loved by God. And the great thing is, the greatest blessing ever, is that God gives us the opportunity of connecting these people to God. David got the honor of being used by God to bring healing, dignity, and honor to Ephibosheth. One of the greatest things that God gives us the chance to do is he gives us the honor to bring people to his table, to bring dignity and honor to people. It's so easy to go through life, constantly thinking about ourselves, thinking about what we can get out of life, and think about what we can accomplish. But the greatest thing we can accomplish is to serve others. I think you're never closer to the heart of God than when you're serving somebody else. As a matter of fact, what ministry is, is serving God by serving others. And the wonderful thing that God has given us the opportunity to do is to bring healing to somebody else. What would it look like in your life if you honored God by honoring somebody else? And that can happen in so many different ways. Sometimes it can happen by giving a financial gift, by giving the gift of time, by giving the gift of opening up your home to have dinner, or opening up your ear to hear a conversation, or just walking with someone through a difficult place. And sometimes one of the greatest gifts you can give somebody is just to say, I'm sorry. I'll sit and listen as long as you want to talk. But what an opportunity we have to be a blessing to others. And the greatest blessing we can is to bring other people to the king's table. Because in the king's presence, all are equal. No one is exposed, no one looks like a victim, no one is broken in the king's presence. And we have the opportunity to bring people to him. Let's pray. God, thank you so much. Because there was a time in our life when you used somebody else to bring us to you. Now you give us the opportunity to be the source of hope for somebody else. I pray we will seize that opportunity today. We will allow you to use us to make a difference in somebody else's life. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. And amen. Well, don't forget, God's promise to David is the same promise to us in 2 Timothy, chapter, 2 Timothy, 2 Samuel chapter 7, where it says, Your house and your kingdom shall endure before me forever. God wants an eternal covenant with you to live forever with him in heaven. God's got a plan for your life, and it is to make a difference and to be with him forever. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow for 2 Samuel chapter 10.