Feed At The King's Table Continually

Now David said, "Is there still anyone who is left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake?"

-2 Samuel 9:1

The Meaning of Machir, Ammiel & Lo Debar

There is a significant reason that the Lord chose to have these names mentioned as well as the place mentioned.  All scripture is God-breathed (2 Timothy 3:16), so any time you see a name mentioned, any time you see a place mentioned, it means something.   

The name Machir means bartered, and it can also mean sold.  Ammiel means one of the people of God, my kinsman is God.  The Lord picked a man to be king and sent him to Samuel.  Before Saul became king, he was a man of humility. (1 Samuel 9:21)  And after he was anointed by Samuel his life was immediately marked by the Lord.  In fact, it says that the Spirit of the Lord came upon him and he prophesied among the prophets!  (1 Samuel 10:10-12)  Saul knew the presence of the Lord.  He knew it within the very chambers of his heart.  Our Bible says that the Lord gave him a new heart.

But something happened after he became king.  Saul forsook humility and adopted a heart of pride.  He forgot to wait upon the Lord and to wait for the Lord to move, and he began to take action himself.  How many of us have done that?  Instead of being still with the Lord, listening for the Holy Spirit to tell us when to move and when to stay, we forge ahead and try to make our own path?  Saul does this. 

After Saul decides to move without the Lord the line of kingship is taken away from his house forever.  In essence, Saul bartered away his family line from the throne of the people of God by refusing to listen to the Word of God or to wait on the Lord. 

Saul's grandson is living in the house of Machir the son of Ammiel because Saul bartered away his children's inheritance by trying to do life his own way.  He chose to not be one of the people of God and he sold his children into a place called Lo Debar.

Lo Debar means 'No word, without a place to feed'.  Saul literally bartered away the very Word of God by deciding to make his own decisions instead of waiting on God to speak.  But we're going to break this word down even further so that you can see the fullness of it.

Lo - (lo'): means prohibition.  The word serves as an absolute non-negotiable when it's paired with other words.  For example, when we see the word (lo') in context, it would take a simple phrase 'not my people' to 'absolutely totally not my people'.  It's a very strong negative non-negotiable word!  So, in essence, the Lord is saying here, "there is absolutely no word, absolutely no place to feed on my word in the house of Machir the son of Ammiel." 

Because Saul chose to not listen to the words of the Lord at all, he cut off his entire line from feeding on God's Word. 

Debar derives from two different words, dabar (noun and verb) and deber.  Dabar in the verb form means to deliberately establish and pronounce something.  When you deliberately pronounce something, it causes the thing to become "real" in the mind of whoever understands this word, name or definition.  It explains how God 'spoke' and then all things came to be.   

(Dabar) means: if you see yourself healed in your mind, and you speak it out with your mouth, you will be healed.  Before the world came into being, God had a picture of how He wanted it to look in His mind, then He spoke and out of His mouth came the mental picture He had thought.  This is why wherever we see Jesus doing a miracle in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John all we see Him do is speak.  That's it.  Sometimes He prays to the Father, and then speaks. 

We never see Jesus deliberate in His head regarding someone's healing.  We never see that!  Why?  Because in His head, in the eyes of Jesus, all people everywhere ARE healed!  He bought the right for every. single. person. to be healed.  So when Jesus spoke healing, He was able to see it clearly in His mind, and then He spoke what He saw.

Today, we have the same right.  When you speak, you have the same authority as Jesus.  If you see it in your mind, then speak it with your mouth.  If you're believing for a baby, then picture yourself pregnant and speak it over yourself.  If you need healing, then see yourself healed and speak healing with your mouth.  Speak it!  (Matthew 16:19 & Matthew 18:18)

The noun form of (dabar) means word.  It can also mean "thing" since the naming of a thing (words) causes the actual reality of the "thing".  God saw the "thing" in His mind, and deliberately spoke it out of His mouth.  That is how the noun and the verb work together.

The second word that comes out of Debar is (deber): and it describes any deadly pestilence, which is a "word" that breaks unstable things apart.  Now isn't that interesting?

As I was meditating on these two words, (dabar) and (deber), what God showed me is it's the picture of a righteous man and an unrighteous man.  The righteous man speaks good things over himself and his family.  Where there is brokenness in his home or life, he pronounces good things over it.  He speaks life into his very home.  The unrighteous man can't control his tongue, and he speaks curses over his life and his home.  The unrighteous man causes more strife and pain because of his words which break down the hearts and minds of those around him.

"A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks." (Luke 6:45) 

If you want to speak good things, change the picture you see in your heart.  Feed on God's Word, on His treasures, and you will end up speaking good things because you see good things on the inside.

The Meaning of Mephibosheth

 "Now when Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, had come to David, he fell on his face and prostrated himself. Then David said, “Mephibosheth?”

And he answered, “Here is your servant!”

So David said to him, “Do not fear, for I will surely show you kindness for Jonathan your father’s sake, and will restore to you all the land of Saul your grandfather; and you shall eat bread at my table continually.” (2 Samuel 9:6-7)

Mephibosheth means one who destroys shame, end of shame.  It comes from the verb (pa'a): to cleave or break apart (as by a sword), and (bosh): ashamed, (boshet): shame or humility.  His name is a coming together of the sword that breaks apart shame. 

We see this whenever we invite Jesus into our situation, He breaks apart our shame through the sword of the Spirit.  The day that you surrender your life to Christ, the Holy Spirit begins a new work in you to take you out of your place of shame and restore you to a place of honor.

Have you ever looked back at your life and thought, "Wow, I'm ashamed of the things I used to do, or the things I have said or felt?"  And you literally can't imagine making those same mistakes again?  That's because the Holy Spirit has begun a new work in you, and every time you read the Word of God, the Sword cuts through your bones and marrow and renews what is broken within you. 

David is like Jesus, he takes Mephibosheth out of his shame, ends the shame of his family line, and places him at his table.  And how does he do that?  He says, "and you shall eat bread at my table continually."  It's a picture of Jesus saying to us today, "I will take you out of your shame, you will never be ashamed again!  Come to my table, and eat my bread, continually."  What is the bread?  It's Jesus!  He says, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst." (John 6:35)

David reveals the secret of never being ashamed again.  "You shall eat bread at my table continually."  We have to physically grab our Bibles, pull up a chair, and feed continually.  Don't stop feeding! 

This doesn't mean you have to have your Bible open all day every day.  It means when you rise, read the Word for 15-20 minutes.  Then meditate on those words throughout the day, chew on them as you would food, eat them up in your mind as you're working or cleaning or running errands.  Feed on them literally by turning them over and over in your head. 

There have been so many revelations that God has given me when I just turn a passage over and over in my mind throughout the day.  I will be doing the dishes, pondering a passage that doesn't make sense to me, when suddenly the Holy Spirit will drop a word of knowledge concerning that particular passage into my heart.  That's how you eat at the King's table continually.  You don't read it and forget it, you let the Words live with you all day, every day. 

The Meaning of Micha

Toward the end of the chapter we read these words: "Mephibosheth had a young son whose name was Micha." (verse 12)

Micha means 'Who is afraid?'  But it's not the way we would think of this phrase.  Micha is a shorthand name for Michaiah, which means 'Who is like YHWH?'  Michaiah means, "who is like God?  No one is like God!"  And the shortened name, Micha means, "Who is afraid?  No one that puts their trust in YHWH is afraid!"  It's like his name is saying this: Because I trust in Him, who or what do I have to be afraid of? 

As I was meditating on his name, on the meaning of the full name and shortened version of the name, suddenly the Lord gave me this verse: "What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31) 

The man who has put his trust in the Lord, who sits and eats at His table continually all the days of his life, who does he have to fear?  No one!  What can mere man do to the one who sits with God?

In putting these names together, Mephibosheth is welcomed into the home of David, who is like Jesus welcoming us into the home of the Father and giving us a place to eat at His table.  As we feed on His Word, He ends our shame, and gives us a new future.  We will say "who is afraid?  Not me!  For the Lord God goes before me and defends me, the Lord God is my shield and my strength and my song.  The Lord God is MY GOD!"  That's what happens when we feed on His Word. 

There are so many pictures throughout the Old and New Testaments where people are told to eat or are fed.  Food literally gives us strength to go about our day, to keep carrying out the tasks and work at hand.  Spiritual food and sustenance are the same, they strengthen us and give us the ability to do the work the Lord has called us and asked us to do.  As we are strengthened, He changes the pictures in our hearts so that we see things the way He sees them, and we call those things forth from our mouths the way He does.

And He Was Lame In Both His Feet...

This particular passage shows up twice in this chapter, in verse 3 and in verse 13.  There are 10 verses between these two, and 10 is the Hebrew letter Yohd which means divine order, completed cycle, measure, or group (congregation) whether for good or evil, blessing or judgement.  In the case of Mephibosheth, the judgement on his family is completed when David acts as his kinsman redeemer and redeems his life.  He ends Saul's shame on his family lineage and seats him at his table.

But lameness has a very significant meaning in the Bible.  Whenever we see someone who is deaf, blind, lame or mute, it often depicts areas of unbelief, doubt and fear.

Lameness of the feet is a picture of one who is paralyzed and unable to step into the fullness of their blessings.  Those who are spiritually blind or deaf can't see or hear the truth even when it's right in front of them.  But there are believers who can see and hear, they know the truth and they have read it for themselves, but they are paralyzed to speak on it or act on it.  They are afraid of what people will think of them or say about them.

This is the picture of the lame Mephibosheth.  He was living in a place where there was no word, no place to eat.  He must have heard of how David is a kind king, and perhaps had seen others blessed by David, but he was paralyzed to act on it and see David's kindness for himself.  He was too afraid to approach David and ask for a blessing.

I was thinking about Mephibosheth's story, how his nurse was the one who accidentally dropped him in her haste to escape (2 Samuel 4:4).  As I thought on this, the Spirit showed me that it's a picture of someone else who has caused Mephibosheth to be crippled, and not something of his own doing.  He was a child when this happened to him, there was nothing he could do!  He was hurt because of the actions of someone else.

The Holy Spirit showed me that sometimes things happen in our past that has us crippled in some way.  It could be a parent, family member, or someone completely unrelated who has harmed us and we were powerless to stop it.  Whoever this person is, and however their mistakes have hurt you, you don't have to be paralyzed by it anymore.  The King has invited you to His table.  He has given you His bread to eat, so eat it continually.  Eat it until the past is a forgotten memory and it no longer has the power to keep you paralyzed and gripped with fear.

Today, Jesus' heart for you is that you would be set free from anything that keeps you from walking in the fullness of His plan and purpose for your life.  Pull up a chair at the King's table, and while you're feeding on the Word, tell Jesus about the things that have you paralyzed.  Tell your kinsman redeemer all about the hurts and pains and ways you have been betrayed, and He will bind your wounds and put an end to your shame.

Sometimes things happen to us that are totally out of our control, but how we deal with the painful circumstances and trauma are completely within our control.  So whether you are paralyzed to speak out and act because of fears in your mind, or have doubts and unbelief placed on you from a family member, if you give them to Jesus He will walk that road with you and heal you.  I know it, because He's done that for me.

"In the day when I cried out, You answered me,

And made me bold with strength in my soul."

Psalm 138:3

With joy, Jessica

Prayer

Lord Jesus, heavenly Father, I come before you

today and I ask for strength and

boldness to face the future.

Holy Spirit, I come into alliance with you and

allow you to change me and renew

a right heart within me.

I pray that where I am spiritually

blind, deaf, mute or lame

that you would reveal those areas to me,

pluck them up by the root,

and cast them into the depths of the sea!

I pray for a desire to eat always at the King's table,

and for a heart that continually seeks out the

nourishment and bread of Jesus.

Feed me and fill me up with

Your Word and Your revelations.

May I never leave my chair at Your table,

for You are my King forever and ever,

Amen