2 Samuel 9:1-8 NASB
[1] … Then David said, “Is there yet anyone a left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?” [2] Now there was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was Ziba, and they called him to David; and the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?” And he said, “I am your servant.” [3] The king said, “Is there not yet anyone of the house of Saul to whom I may show the kindness of God?” And Ziba said to the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan who is crippled in both feet.” [4] So the king said to him, “Where is he?” And Ziba said to the king, “Behold, he is in the house of Machir the son of Ammiel in Lo-debar.” [5] Then King David sent and brought him from the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, from Lo-debar. [6] Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan the son of Saul, came to David and fell on his face and prostrated himself. And David said, “Mephibosheth.” And he said, “Here is your servant!” [7] David said to him, “Do not fear, for I will surely show kindness to you for the sake of your father Jonathan, and will restore to you all the land of your grandfather Saul; and you shall eat at my table regularly.” [8] Again he prostrated himself and said, “What is your servant, that you should regard a dead dog like me?” …
Amos 6:13 NASB
[13] You who rejoice in Lodebar, And say, “Have we not by our own strength taken Karnaim for ourselves?”
In the Old Testament when two people entered into covenant with each other it was basically a great exchange. The exchange went something like this; if I were entering into a covenant with you, I would say to you, “what is mine is yours, and all of your enemies are my enemy,” and if you remain a faithful friend and something should happen to you and you should die then your offspring would stand in the same position with me that you do. All that belongs to me would be theirs, and all of their enemies would be my enemies. You would then make the same commitment to me. This is the kind of covenant that David had entered into with Jonathan, and when Jonathan died on the field of battle, any offspring would be the recipient of David’s covenant with Jonathan, because they were part of Jonathan, or they were of sorts “in Jonathan.” As Jonathan lived out his faithful relationship with David he was also representing all the offspring that would come after him. In a way, mystically, they were “in Jonathan,” and when Jonathan died they were to receive all the blessing of David, as if they were Jonathan, because of what Jonathan earned, and because of what Jonathan deserved. In that passage in 2 Samuel 9, David is looking, and I believe he had been looking, for any offspring of Jonathan that he might show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake. In other words he wanted to give everything that Jonathan deserved and Jonathan earned to his offspring. It wasn’t going to be because the offspring had done anything to achieve it, but the heir was simply to receive what Jonathan had achieved. There is so much in the story. We might spend a few days here, but there’s one particular thing that I want you to see you today. The offspring that David found was Jonathan’s son whose name was Mephibosheth. He was crippled in both feet, because when he was five years old, the nurse who was taking care of him fled the house they were in when she heard of Jonathan’s death, and as she and Mephibosheth fled the house, he unfortunately fell and suffered some kind of injury that left him crippled in both of his feet. I’m sure that he knew about his father’s covenant with David but somehow, maybe because he thought he was disqualified with two crippled feet, he had lived outside of the blessing of David’s covenant for many years. He lived in a place called Lo-debar, and the word Lo-debar means “no pasture,” or “famine.” Notice that verse in Amos chapter 6 where he describes what takes place in Lo-debar. It says they were doing things “by their own strength.” This is a great description of what it looks like for a Christian who lives in a place of spiritual and emotional famine. Living by their own strength. Ever since Jonathan’s death, everything that belonged to David belonged to Mephibosheth, and yet, instead of taking possession of all that was his “in Jonathan,” he lived in a place of famine, living by his own the strength, and the weakness and limitation of his crippled feet.
“In Christ” we have everything that belongs to Jesus because of what he accomplished. It has got nothing to do with what we deserve, or have earned, it is simply ours because of what Christ did. This is living by his provision and His power. Everyone of us are born into this world crippled spiritually, which cripples us in so many other ares of our lives. Because of a Fall. The fall of Adam crippled all of us born into this fallen world. The great tragedy is that even though every Christian is in Christ, and therefore already possess everything supernatural in Christ to live the Christian life, so many live in Lo-debar, the place of spiritual famine, because they are living by their own strength, and therefore being dominated by their crippled feet, instead of knowing what it’s like to be liberated from the limitations of their own strength and crippled feet by resting in, and receiving all the limitless provision of Christ.