GOING TO THE TABLE
TODAY'S SCRIPTURE: 2 SAMUEL 9:1, PART OF 3 AND 6-8
David asked, "Is there anyone still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan's sake?"
"There is still a son of Jonathan; he is crippled in both feet."
When Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, he bowed down to pay him honor. David said, "Mephibosheth!"
"Your servant," he replied.
"Don't be afraid," David said to him, "for I will surely show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will restore to you all the land that belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will always eat ay my table."
Mephibosheth bowed down and said, "What is your servant, that you should notice a dead dog like me?"
GOING TO THE TABLE
Vacation is over and it is back to reality. Back to office work. Back to doing laundry. Back to sleeping in our own bed. (Oh, I love to travel but it sure is nice to find that comfortable spot, fix your pillow just so and pull the blanket up the first night home.) Back to Bible Study.
While we were away, we missed two weeks of a Bible Study. Beth Moore's study "A Heart Like His." This is the study of David and I am finding out that I am like David. And sometimes I am like Saul. If you have never read 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel, try it. There are amazing parts. There are bloody parts. There are parts that are hard to understand, but these books do apply to our lives. Saul became jealous and worked to kill David. No one may be trying to take your physical life, but, as you read these books, realize that your spiritual and eternal life is always being threatened.
My blog this week will be comments I wrote in the margins as I have studied --
David was strong and tender. He could tend the sheep, play a harp and slay giants. A question was, "Do you think you possess both qualities of tenderness and strength?"
My answer: As a wife and mother, you have to be both. Actually, we all have to be both. I put on many Band-Aids, after softly cleaning the scrapes, and then demanded that jumping off the tree/the bike/or other non-safe activity would not be allowed. I did not shed a tear at my mother's funeral because I was tending our grown children and then cried when I no longer needed a "stiff upper lip." I think we use tenderness and strength as the situation demands. I can be strong during an emergency and cry at a Hallmark commercial. We just do what is required.
David and Jonathan, Saul's son, had become friends. They had a covenant between them and when Jonathan was killed, David grieved for his friend. He did not have a friend to turn to for comfort. The question was, "Have you ever experienced a loss only time could heal?"
My answer: My Grandma. I remember going to school and being told, "Why are you upset? You only lost your Grandma." What people failed to realize is that I lost my center - my guide. The one stable person in my life. Grandma led me to faith. She started me on my walk, even if she didn't realize it. Healing? I was a teenager. And a teenager in a house where emotions and feeling were NEVER discussed. The loss. The grief. They were never acknowledged.
David did grieve for Jonathan and he wanted to do something to honor him. First, he had to find someone of the house of Saul. He found Mephibosheth. A cripple. A nobody. A person of no worth since the house of Saul had lost everything. Then he told Mephibosheth that he would eat as his table. This cripple would eat at the table like one of the king's sons. (Verse 11)
This made me wonder how I will feel when called to the King's table. To sit with God.
My Dear Heavenly Father, I approach your table on feet that have walked on the path of sin. With hands that have stayed close to my sides instead of giving bread to the hungry and water to the thirsty. With eyes that have refused to see injustice and a tongue which has not defended your children. I bring ears that have not heard the cries of the needy. I come before you with a heart that reserved love for only a few. I bring a body racked with guilt over my actions. But when I arrive at your table, the only thing you see is your crippled child clean and whole. Forgiven. You see your daughter and you invite me to eat at your table. To eat at your table as the King's Daughter.
I know this is a long blog and different than most, but I have been so moved during this study. And there are four more weeks!! I wonder what we will find out about David next. We have seen David learn and grown. We have seen him run from God and turn to God. We have seen him dance in the streets and invite a cripple to his table. I know about Bathsheba, so I have a feeling we are going to see a new part of David's character.
QUESTIONS OF THE DAY
There are three questions in this blog. Go back to them. How would you answer them?
Please use this as a beginning of your prayer. Finish in your own words, words from your heart.
LET US PRAY
O Lord God Almighty, This is how David addressed you and he is correct. You are almighty. Sometimes that scares me. It makes me wonder why an Almighty God would want to make sure I come to His table. Thank you for Your Son. It is because of Jesus that I can come before you. Come before you clean and whole. Leaving my crippled self behind and taking my place at Your table. Sitting down as a child of the King. … Amen
TODAY'S SCRIPTURE: 2 SAMUEL 9:1, PART OF 3 AND 6-8
David asked, "Is there anyone still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan's sake?"
"There is still a son of Jonathan; he is crippled in both feet."
When Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, he bowed down to pay him honor. David said, "Mephibosheth!"
"Your servant," he replied.
"Don't be afraid," David said to him, "for I will surely show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will restore to you all the land that belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will always eat ay my table."
Mephibosheth bowed down and said, "What is your servant, that you should notice a dead dog like me?"
GOING TO THE TABLE
Vacation is over and it is back to reality. Back to office work. Back to doing laundry. Back to sleeping in our own bed. (Oh, I love to travel but it sure is nice to find that comfortable spot, fix your pillow just so and pull the blanket up the first night home.) Back to Bible Study.
While we were away, we missed two weeks of a Bible Study. Beth Moore's study "A Heart Like His." This is the study of David and I am finding out that I am like David. And sometimes I am like Saul. If you have never read 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel, try it. There are amazing parts. There are bloody parts. There are parts that are hard to understand, but these books do apply to our lives. Saul became jealous and worked to kill David. No one may be trying to take your physical life, but, as you read these books, realize that your spiritual and eternal life is always being threatened.
My blog this week will be comments I wrote in the margins as I have studied --
David was strong and tender. He could tend the sheep, play a harp and slay giants. A question was, "Do you think you possess both qualities of tenderness and strength?"
My answer: As a wife and mother, you have to be both. Actually, we all have to be both. I put on many Band-Aids, after softly cleaning the scrapes, and then demanded that jumping off the tree/the bike/or other non-safe activity would not be allowed. I did not shed a tear at my mother's funeral because I was tending our grown children and then cried when I no longer needed a "stiff upper lip." I think we use tenderness and strength as the situation demands. I can be strong during an emergency and cry at a Hallmark commercial. We just do what is required.
David and Jonathan, Saul's son, had become friends. They had a covenant between them and when Jonathan was killed, David grieved for his friend. He did not have a friend to turn to for comfort. The question was, "Have you ever experienced a loss only time could heal?"
My answer: My Grandma. I remember going to school and being told, "Why are you upset? You only lost your Grandma." What people failed to realize is that I lost my center - my guide. The one stable person in my life. Grandma led me to faith. She started me on my walk, even if she didn't realize it. Healing? I was a teenager. And a teenager in a house where emotions and feeling were NEVER discussed. The loss. The grief. They were never acknowledged.
David did grieve for Jonathan and he wanted to do something to honor him. First, he had to find someone of the house of Saul. He found Mephibosheth. A cripple. A nobody. A person of no worth since the house of Saul had lost everything. Then he told Mephibosheth that he would eat as his table. This cripple would eat at the table like one of the king's sons. (Verse 11)
This made me wonder how I will feel when called to the King's table. To sit with God.
My Dear Heavenly Father, I approach your table on feet that have walked on the path of sin. With hands that have stayed close to my sides instead of giving bread to the hungry and water to the thirsty. With eyes that have refused to see injustice and a tongue which has not defended your children. I bring ears that have not heard the cries of the needy. I come before you with a heart that reserved love for only a few. I bring a body racked with guilt over my actions. But when I arrive at your table, the only thing you see is your crippled child clean and whole. Forgiven. You see your daughter and you invite me to eat at your table. To eat at your table as the King's Daughter.
I know this is a long blog and different than most, but I have been so moved during this study. And there are four more weeks!! I wonder what we will find out about David next. We have seen David learn and grown. We have seen him run from God and turn to God. We have seen him dance in the streets and invite a cripple to his table. I know about Bathsheba, so I have a feeling we are going to see a new part of David's character.
QUESTIONS OF THE DAY
There are three questions in this blog. Go back to them. How would you answer them?
Please use this as a beginning of your prayer. Finish in your own words, words from your heart.
LET US PRAY
O Lord God Almighty, This is how David addressed you and he is correct. You are almighty. Sometimes that scares me. It makes me wonder why an Almighty God would want to make sure I come to His table. Thank you for Your Son. It is because of Jesus that I can come before you. Come before you clean and whole. Leaving my crippled self behind and taking my place at Your table. Sitting down as a child of the King. … Amen
1 comment:
Mary, great stuff. I love your spirit, thanks for sharing.
Cathy French
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