August 27, 2017 – Psalm 23 – From the lives of David and Jesus – A Table Before Me

“Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies” KJV Psalm 23:5a

2 Samuel 9:1-11 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ David asked, “Is there anyone still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?”

² Now there was a servant of Saul’s household named Ziba. They summoned him to appear before David, and the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?”

“At your service,” he replied.

³ The king asked, “Is there no one still alive from the house of Saul to whom I can show God’s kindness?”

Ziba answered the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan; he is lame in both feet.”

⁴ “Where is he?” the king asked.

Ziba answered, “He is at the house of Makir son of Ammiel in Lo Debar.”

⁵ So King David had him brought from Lo Debar, from the house of Makir son of Ammiel.

⁶ When Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, he bowed down to pay him honor.

David said, “Mephibosheth!”

“At your service,” he replied.

⁷ “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 at my table.”

⁸ Mephibosheth bowed down and said, “What is your servant, that you should notice a dead dog like me?”

⁹ Then the king summoned Ziba, Saul’s steward, and said to him, “I have given your master’s grandson everything that belonged to Saul and his family. ¹⁰ You and your sons and your servants are to farm the land for him and bring in the crops, so that your master’s grandson may be provided for. And Mephibosheth, grandson of your master, will always eat at my table.” (Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.)

¹¹ Then Ziba said to the king, “Your servant will do whatever my lord the king commands his servant to do.” So Mephibosheth ate at David’s table like one of the king’s sons.

Why did David ask if there was anyone still “left of the house of Saul” (verse 1)?

What was Ziba (verse 2)?

How is Jonathan’s son described (verse 3)?

Where is Jonathan’s son (verse 4)?

What did King David do (verse 5)?

Why did Mephiboseth bow down when he came to David (verse 6)?

What did David do “for the sake of your father Jonathan” (verse 7)?

In your opinion, why did Mephibosheth say “what is your servant, that you should notice a dead dog like me” (verse 8)?

What did David give to Mephibosheth (verse 9)?

Where will Mephibosheth eat (verse 10)?

In your opinion, why is there the comment about Ziba having 15 sons and 20 servants (verse 10)?

How did Mephibosheth eat at the king’s table (verse 11)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

John 6:32-40 - New International Version (NIV)

³² Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. ³³ For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

³⁴ “Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.”

³⁵ Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. ³⁶ But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. ³⁷ All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. ³⁸ For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. ³⁹ And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. ⁴⁰ For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”

Who did not give the “bread from heaven” (verse 32)?

Who gives the “true bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world” (verse 32)?

What is the “bread of God” (verse 33)?

In your opinion, why did the listeners say “always give us this bread” (verse 34)?

What does Jesus declare (verse 35)?

Who will never “go hungry” (verse 35)?

In your opinion, why does Jesus say “you have seen me and still you do not believe” (verse 36)?

Who will Jesus “never drive away” (verse 37)?

What did Jesus come to do (verse 38)?

What is the will of “him who sent me” (verse 39)?

Who will have eternal life (verse 40)?

What will Jesus do for those who have eternal life (verse 40)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, how is David taking care of Mephibosheth in 2 Samuel 9:1-11 similar to Jesus giving the “bread of life” to all who come to Him in John 6:32-40?

1 Corinthians 11:23-26 - New International Version (NIV)

²³ For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, ²⁴ and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” ²⁵ In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” ²⁶ For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

What did Paul pass on (verse 23)?

What did Jesus take “on the night he was betrayed” (verse 23)?

What did Jesus do before He broke the bread (verse 24)?

In your opinion, what does Jesus mean when He says “do this in remembrance of me” (verse 25)?

What will “proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” (verse 26)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what do Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, reveal to us about the “bread of life” that Jesus promises to those who believe in Him in John 6:32-40?

In your opinion, how is a Christian participating in the Lord’s Supper as instructed in 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 similar to Mephibosheth eating at David’s table in 2 Samuel 9:1-11?

Revelation 3:14-22 – New International Version (NIV)

¹⁴ “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:

These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. ¹⁵ I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! ¹⁶ So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. ¹⁷ You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. ¹⁸ I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.

¹⁹ Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. ²⁰ Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.

²¹ To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne. ²² Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

Whose words are sent to the “angel of the church of Laodicea” (verse 14)?

In your opinion, why does Jesus wish the Laodicean Christians were either hot or cold (verse 15)?

What will Jesus do because they are lukewarm (verse 16)?

What do the Laodiceans, who think they are rich, not realize (verse 17)?

Why does Jesus counsel them to purchase “gold refined in the fire” (verse 18)?

Who does Jesus “rebuke and discipline” (verse 19)?

Where is Jesus (verse 20)?

What will Jesus do if “anyone hears my voice and opens the door” (verse 20)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, how does the image of Jesus standing at the door and knocking before coming in and eating from Revelation 3:14-22 add a rich and wonderful dimension to the eating of the bread and drinking of the cup that Paul talks about in 1 Corinthians 11:23-26?

In your opinion, how are those from John 6:32-40 who saw Jesus and “still do not believe” similar to the people from Laodicea in Revelation 3:14-22?

In your opinion, what do Mephibosheth, who calls himself a “dead dog” in 2 Samuel 9:1-11 and the Laodiceans of Revelation 3:14-22 have in common?

In your opinion, how do these passages from 2 Samuel, John, 1 Corinthians, and Revelation help us understand today’s passage from Psalm 23 “Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies”?

In your opinion, how can these passages help us to have a greater appreciation of the Lord’s Supper?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)