And Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, because he always ate at the king’s table; he was lame in both feet. – 2 Samuel 9:13

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 20, 2016): 2 Samuel 9

In 2009, Susan Boyle burst onto the public stage. To be honest, she was unexpected. None of the judges expected her to be anything. Simon Cowell later admitted that on the day he found Susan Boyle he was jet lagged and frustrated and had listened to way too many bagpipes during the previous auditions. By the way that Boyle walked out on the stage, Cowell was sure that she was a comedienne. When she said she was a singer, he had already formed his opinion. And he wasn’t the only one.  The rest of the judges and pretty much all of the audience were sure that she was the next contestant to crash and burn on “Britain’s Got Talent.” Cowell gave the frumpy singer five seconds, his hand was already on the buzzer. It was simply time to get this over with. 

Then Susan sang “I Dreamed a Dream” from “Les Miserable.” The audience cheered, the judges noticeably relaxed, Simon‘s hands moved from the Buzzer to the sides of his face as he watched this unexpected song emerging from this unconventional package, and Amanda Holden began to measure the notes wondering if she could possibly hit the higher ones. Susan Boyle had arrived, even though none of us were expecting her.

The story of Mephibosheth is really just an ancient form of the Susan Boyle story. Mephibosheth was the son of David’s childhood friend Jonathan. But the David that was befriended by Jonathan and the David that reigned as King were two very different people. There may have been a friendship between the Son of Saul and David at one point, but that was a long time ago. Mephibosheth had heard the stories of David’s rise to power, most of them told by David’s enemies. He knew that his grandfather had hated David and that his Uncle Ish-bosheth had been the rightful king of Israel. But Ish-bosheth had lost to David, the upstart. And now David ruled the land with an iron hand.

So, at the death of his uncle, Mephibosheth simply faded away into the background. He was lame, an injury that extended back to a fall he had taken on that awful day that his father and grandfather had been killed by the Philistines. There was little that he could do. But he knew that, as the last remaining descendant of Saul, if the evil David that he had heard about in stories ever found out about his existence, he would die. Mephibosheth hid fearing David, he lived in poverty with no way to support himself and his family and suffered from his disability which further hampered his efforts to live.

All that changed on the day that David found him. Mephibosheth had been sure that the day that David would finally catch up with him would be the final day of his life, but it wasn’t. Instead, David restored Mephibosheth. Mephibosheth no longer was hidden and unknown, he lived in Jerusalem openly and everyone recognized him. He was no longer poor but was given land and servants and privilege of eating at the king's table. He was still lame, but unexpectedly that no longer seemed important. He was who he was, and the king had accepted him for who he was. Mephibosheth’s outer look did not reflect his inner value. And while Mephibosheth was not defined by the outer package, neither was David defined by the stories he had heard about him. David’s generosity changed Mephibosheth’s life in a way that he could not have imagined before the day that David had found him.   

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 2 Samuel 10