3 And the king said, “Is there not still someone of the house of Saul, that I may show the kindness of God to him?” Ziba said to the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan; he is crippled in his feet.” 4 The king said to him, “Where is he?” And Ziba said to the king, “He is in the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, at Lo-debar.” 5 Then King David sent and brought him from the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, at Lo-debar. (2 Samuel 9:3-5)
Through the Bible: 2 Samuel 8-9, 1 Chronicles 18
The story of Mephibosheth is one of the most beautiful pictures of grace in the Old Testament.
David honors his covenant with Jonathan by seeking out someone from Saul’s fallen house to whom he can show kindness. And the kindness he shows is staggering. Mephibosheth, crippled and helpless, is invited to eat at the king’s table “always” (2 Sam. 9:7).
The gospel echoes all through this chapter.
Others have written well about those themes, so I won’t repeat them here. But there was one detail in the story that caught my attention this morning: Mephibosheth’s address.
When David asks where Mephibosheth is (and I’m going to call him Bo from here on out so autocorrect will leave me alone), Ziba answers: “He is in the house of Machir… at Lo-debar.”
Debar is a Hebrew word that means either word or thing. And in Hebrew, Lo is a negating prefix, placed in front of a noun to indicate the absence of something. So Lo-Debar means either “No Word” or “No Thing.”
This is Bo’s address. Without a word.
As far as Bo knows, this is where he will die: at the dead end of Skid Row, in the town of Nothing.
Lo-Debar only appears a handful of times in Scripture, but one of those appearances comes in Amos 6:13, where God rebukes Israel for rejoicing in Lo-Debar. There may even be a play on words there: Israel boasts in conquering a town whose name essentially means “Nothing.” God’s point seems to be, “You are proud of conquering nothing.”
Then two chapters later comes one of the most haunting prophecies in Scripture:
11 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord God,
“when I will send a famine on the land—
not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water,
but of hearing the words of the Lord.
12 They shall wander from sea to sea,
and from north to east;
they shall run to and fro, to seek the word of the Lord,
but they shall not find it.
Sounds like there were a whole lot of people in Amos’ day who were living in Lo-Debar. There was a famine of hearing the words of the Lord. They wandered to and fro, seeking God’s word, but didn’t find it.
So back to Bo. When we find ourselves in Nothingville, crippled in both feet, and with No Word from the Lord, we can’t get out of it ourselves. Like Bo, who needed King David to bring him out of Lo-Debar, we need Jesus, the Son of David, to BE the Word when we have no word. To BE our everything when we have nothing.
Mephibosheth went from nothing to everything when the king came and got him. Praise God, we can do the same.
This blog will always be a free resource for anyone who wants to grow in their love for God’s Word. If it has blessed you and you would like to support the ministry of 66in52, please consider a one time or recurring donation. Thank you!
Leave a Reply