The Dead Dog of the Bible

We can use many terms to describe ourselves, some good, some not so much. But what would you think if someone likened themselves to a dead dog?

The Bible teaches that our words have the power to bless or to curse, so no prizes for guessing the curses someone calling themselves ‘a dead dog’ is bringing upon their own head. It’s a continual injection of rejection.

A man in the Bible spoke those words over himself – his name was Mephibosheth. He played a key role in the story of David and Jonathan in 1 and 2 Samuel. They were closer than brothers, swearing an enduring oath of friendship, despite the enmity that existed between David and Jonathan’s father, Saul. When both Jonathan and Saul were killed in battle, David was determined to keep his promise and sought anyone still living from the house of Jonathan to whom he could show his heart.

Enter Mephibosheth, a son of Jonathan described as being lame in both feet.

“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.”

How did Mephibosheth respond? “Woo hoo? Jackpot? All my troubles are over?”

No.

“What would you want with a dead dog like me?”

In Jewish custom, whose son you were meant something, and not only was Mephibosheth a son of Jonathan, he was a grandson of Saul, the King! But Mephibosheth wasn’t operating as a beloved son of an honoured father. He only saw his crippled feet, and the rejection he had suffered because of it. He was operating as a rejected misfit with no more value than a dead dog.

Research shows that rejection is the most common emotional wound that we suffer, and I don’t think Mephibosheth saw himself as a dead dog because of a one-off experience of being shunned. It’s no surprise that the medical profession agrees that rejection is a wound which always brings pain, and always needs a remedy. And isn’t remedy a great word?

Remedy: ‘To cure or relieve, correct or remove an evil of any kind, to heal and to put right, restoring to natural condition’.

David provided the remedy to Mephibosheth’s rejection. He accepted him and gave him a place to belong. It had nothing to do with his lame feet, but everything to do with restoring him to his natural place, to whom he really was. A beloved son.

Everything is in the Bible for a reason. God wanted you to know about Mephibosheth today, even if his name is a trial to pronounce!