Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayerful attention to the portion we read to Samuel
chapter 9 and reading for our text just part of verse 3. The words on my spirit are in
the middle of this verse. The kindness of God. the kindness of God. The whole verse reads, And the
king said, Is there not yet any of the house of Saul, that I
may show the kindness of God unto him? And Ziba said unto
the king, Jonathan hath yet a son. which is lame on his feet. The kindness of God. I wonder how many of us have
really thought and considered about the kindness of God. How does it differ with the kindness
of men? Is there any difference? I hope
we'll see this evening that there is a difference. There is a kindness
that God shows that is very distinctive. Now this account here is a count
that is full of instruction, full of illustrations of the
covenant of God. We would remember the history
here of how King Saul sought again and again to kill David. But David had a great love and
a bond to Saul's son Jonathan. And King Saul, he knew full well
that David was to be appointed king in his place and not Jonathan,
his son, which was one of the main reasons why he was against
David. The other reason was that God
had said through Samuel that he had rejected Saul. and that
he would raise up another in his place that did obey him,
that did do his will, because Saul had been given those tasks,
especially against Amalek, to go and destroy, but he failed
miserably and did not obey the word of the Lord. And there are
many things in King Saul's life and especially his relentless
pursuing of David showed the Lord his spirit was departed
from him. David had a very different spirit. And we can see it in those covenants
or agreements and promises that David made, which now this is
the culmination of him. We have in 1 Samuel and chapter
20, where a covenant agreement was made with Jonathan, who's
between David and Jonathan. In verse 14, we have Jonathan
saying to him, and thou shalt not only while yet I live, show
me the kindness of the Lord, that I die not, but also thou
shalt not cut off thy kindness from my house forever, no, not
when the Lord hath cut off the enemies of David, every one from
the face of the earth.' So Jonathan made a covenant with the house
of David, saying, Let the Lord even require it at the hand.
of David's enemies. And Jonathan caused David to
swear again because he loved him, for he loved him as he loved
his own soul. And this is the time that Jonathan
was going to test his father, King Saul, the time of the new
moon and the well-known time of when David was hiding in the
field and Jonathan takes his artillery, his bows and arrows,
And he shoots the arrow beyond the lad and the sign was that
if he was to then shoot an arrow further and say to the lad, make
haste, the arrows are beyond thee, then David would know that
he had to flee away. a sign was given because Jonathan
did not know that he might be followed and might not be able
to speak directly to David in the event they were. And then
that the covenant then, which was made beforehand, was further
ratified. But it wasn't just with Jonathan
here that the agreement was made. It is later on with with Saul
himself in 1 Samuel chapter 24. This is when Saul was pursuing
after David and David's men were hiding in a cave and Saul came
into the cave with his men. And David crept up to Saul while
he was asleep and cut off the hem of his garment. And then
when Saul rose up and went out, David called after him. And King
Saul knew that David had him in his power at that time and
yet did not slay him. And so we read at the end of
that chapter, Saul saying, for thou hast showed
this day how that thou hast dealt well with me. For as much as
when the Lord had delivered me into thine hand, thou killest
me not. For if a man find his enemy,
will he let him go well away? Wherefore the Lord reward thee
good, for that thou hast done unto me this day. And then he
says this, and now behold, I know well that thou shalt surely be
king. and that the kingdom of Israel
shall be established in thine hand. Swear now therefore unto
me by the law that thou wilt not cut off my seed after me. and that thou will not destroy
my name out of my father's house. And we read that David swore
unto Saul, and Saul went home, but David and his men got them
up unto the hold. David rightly was not trusting
Saul even now. But we see, of course, with David's
promise to Saul that it was his seed, so that promise went down
to Jonathan, and then to Jonathan's sons as well, offspring as well. So in actual fact, David there
has made a covenant, both with Saul and with Jonathan, and it
concerns, as in the words of our text, Mephibosheth. When he made the covenant, of
course, he didn't know, and in the beginning of our reading,
he didn't know who it was. He had to inquire. But as far
as Mephibosheth knew, David, through the means of his servant,
or Saul's servant, Ziba, had come to the attention of David. And so David knew who was to
be the beneficiary of this covenant, of this agreement. And so I want
to look at the word that is upon my spirit here, especially in
the way that the kindness of God is seen in the treatment
of Mephibosheth. And I want to just look at it
in several points, seven or so points, that we can see in this
passage the kindness of God, not to one like Mephibosheth
as a person, but to all God's children. This is a type, this
is an example. Remember David, David has all
of the promises of the Messiah met in him. David's son Solomon
is in the line to Joseph. David's son Nathan in the line
to Mary. Truly our Lord is said to be
the Son of David, and we find here David showing mercy and
showing kindness, the kindness of God. And I want to look at
the way the kindness of God is actually shown, is illustrated
here. And the first point is this,
that it is a covenant kindness. The whole of what David is about
to do here, even before Mephibosheth has any knowledge of it, when
David is inquiring, who is the beneficiary? Who shall receive
this blessing? It all flows from this covenant
which was no doubt made even before the Mephibosheth was even
born. And yet out of this is stemming
this blessing. Now one thing that we must say
in this, of course types do not follow through in every particular
at all. They are illustrations. Our Lord gives very clearly that
Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, that as Jonah was three days
and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of Man
be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. But
we would never say then that Jonah is a time of the Lord in
every particular, in his disobedience, in his running away, in his anger,
But we can see very clearly our Lord says that teaching that
we may rightly look upon what happened to Jonah as pointing
to what would happen to our Lord. So when we have here a covenant
and we think of the covenants in the Word of God, After the
flood, God set the bow in the cloud. He made a covenant, made
an agreement that he would never again destroy the earth with
a flood. That was a covenant. And God
says that when he brings the rain upon the earth, he says,
I do set my bow in the cloud, and I will look upon it, and
I will remember my covenant. And in one sense, it has nothing
to do with you and I, nothing to do with our sin and how we're
behaving. It is all centering on God's
promise and what God is looking at and God is bringing about. So when we have David saying
that he's going to show the kindness of God unto him, and we have
the kindness exhibited in this very first instance being a covenant
kindness. The promised seed of the woman
that should bruise the serpent's head, but we've got to go back
further than that to a covenant, an agreement. The Lord speaks
of a people given by the Father to Himself. And why were they
given? To redeem and that He would save
them. That is the agreement. My father
gave me a commandment, what I should say and what I should do. I lay
down my life to take it again. This commandment have I received
of my father. He came with the name Jesus to
save his people from their sins. And he came because of agreement,
because of the covenant, because his people are chosen in him
before the foundation of the world, because of the relationship
that they have with him. This is a covenant kindness here. And it hung on the fact that
Mephibosheth, he was a descendant of Jonathan and of Saul. He fulfilled those both, he came
right into where that agreement was. It had to be of the house
of Saul. David says, is there yet any
that is left of the house of Saul? Of that house. Now I know that we all, we are
all fallen sinners, we are all fallen in Adam. But there is
a people that is loved with an everlasting love. There are those
that are chosen in Christ. There are those that the Lord
has made that covenant between God the Father, God the Son and
God the Holy Spirit as an agreement that that people should be saved,
rescued and saved from the fall. So when we think of God's kindness
and the covenant kindness, There are several things that flow
out from this. One is that it is a kindness
that is looking to eternal things rather than temporal. Man's kindness
often is measured in very short-term measures. But the Lord always
has a view to what is for the real long-term eternal blessing
of the people of God. not just in a short term. He
cares for the souls of his people. He cares that their sins are
put away and blotted out. He cares that they are brought
to a true faith in Christ, that they are not deceived, they're
not left to an imitation faith or religion. He aims at that
which is eternal and that's why we have in Romans 8 and verse
28. We know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them that are the
called according to his purpose. And if we measure that in short
term, well, dear Jacob, when he viewed things short term,
he said, all these things are against me. But looking back
and in the long term, he could see that they were working together
for good even while he was saying that they were against him. Often
that is the case with us. But the kindness of God, and
we need to remember this, the Lord is looking for eternal blessing. We think also that it is a kindness
or loving kindness that is described in Psalm 107. Many different changes are pictured
for the people of God in that psalm. And we read each time,
they were brought down, there was none to help. Then they cried
unto the Lord in their trouble and he saved them out of their
distresses. And we read at the end of the
psalm that, who so is wise and will observe these things, even
they shall understand the loving kindness of the Lord. It is a
loving kindness that needs to be understood. And the kindness
of God is a kindness, a loving kindness, that also needs to
be understood. Dark our way may be, perplexing
it may be, What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know
hereafter, may many times be said. But where the Lord has
made an engagement, and David's life was on line on this. We read in that covenant that
David would pay for it through his enemies if he didn't keep
that covenant. And so we know this, Everyone
that is saved is saved not because of anything good in them, but
because of this covenant, because they are in this agreement, they
are chosen in Christ, they are bound up in him. The same reason
is why this all started with Mephibosheth, because of this
covenant, and it all started You might say, without Mephibosheth's
knowledge, he didn't know about it. It was David that began,
or God that began it, through David and Saul and Jonathan.
And Mephibosheth, though it was him that was to be the beneficiary,
no one could say of this Mephibosheth. All that happened to you, all
the blessings you had, it was because you, you first sought
them and you brought them about. No, it was not him at all. And every child of God must know
that as well. The second thing that we have
here in the kindness of God, remember David is saying he wants
to show the kindness of God unto him. So if we look at what David
is doing and how he is doing it, we may reasonably say what
we are looking at is the kindness of God because David is showing
this to Mephibosheth. He's showing the kindness of
God to him. So how does he show it then?
Firstly then it is in calling, he calls Mephibosheth. Yes, he finds him out, he identifies
him and then he is called and he is called by name and called
to stand in the presence of the King. Every one of God's children
that are chosen in Christ are called. We know our election
by our calling. For calling we could put being
born again, conversed, changed, regenerated. But it is a calling, a heavenly
calling. My sheep, they hear my voice
and they follow me and God's children. They hear the voice
of the Lord. Of course, David here, he made
inquiry with the servant. And so then it was the servants
that fetched him, that brought him from where he was to go to
the king. And we'd always remember this,
that God uses servants. He uses his servants. This is
so evident through the Word of God itself. The inspired Word
of God, the Lord has used men as his penmen to write the very
words that he'd have written. He has servants to do that. He
had his servants the prophets. You've only got to think of the
account of the leper Naaman. It was a servant girl that had
said, oh that her master might know or go to the prophet that
is in Samaria, he would heal him of his leprosy. And when he goes and he goes
to the king, then it is his servants that direct him again to Elisha. When Elisha sends word to Naaman,
it is by a servant. When Naaman is angry and offended,
and went away in a rage, it is his servants that pacify him. And all the time we have these
servants are featuring in these accounts, God is using them. And in the gospel day, the Lord
uses his servants. through the preaching of the
word, through the ministry of the word, to call his people. But they're not called to the
servants, they're called to God. They're called to the one who
has called them through the means and through the servant. And
so Mephibosheth, he goes from where he is and he goes into
David's presence. Now we know what it is. to have
the kindness of God shown unto us in that we are called of God,
that we are brought to hear his voice, be born again, come unto
him. The third thing is that the kindness
of God is seen in calling him in spite of Mephibosheth being
lame. And he wasn't just lame on one
foot either. We read that he was lame on both
his feet. And the account, it finishes
with this. So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem,
for he did eat continually at the king's table, and was lame
on both his feet. What a description, really, of
the people of God. How often it is our walk, and
we're ashamed of it. We stumble, we fall, we sin,
we go out of the narrow way, go into error, into troubles. What a description it is. Lame
on both his feet. You might this evening, you think,
yeah, well, the Lord has called me, but oh, my poor following,
my poor life, my poor profession, how stumbling I am, how often
out of the way How often need to be lifted up again, not whole
at all, cannot run like others do, lame on both his feet. And yet the kindness of God was
shown unto him. You know the Lord calls his people
not by any good that he sees in them, And he calls them and
he knows their sins, he knows their besetting sins, he knows
their faults, their failings, he knows their stumblings, he
knows their lameness. The kindness of God is shown in how the kindness
was shown to Mephibosheth and Mephibosheth is set before us
in this way. The next thing I'll bring before
you is the kindness of David in giving him a fear not. Now when Mephibosheth came and
David assured that it was him, we don't know what had been said
to him before but Knowing that Saul was such an
enemy of David, Mephibosheth would have had every
reason to fear and tremble for the reason why he was called
in this way. Perhaps if we just think of how
it was with Joseph's brothers, you know, when they were called
to eat meat with Joseph, when they're all put in the age order. The things that were done, they
marveled, they trembled, they were fearful of it. How much so here? But as soon
as Mephibosheth comes, David said unto him, fear not. For
I will surely show thee kindness for Jonathan thy father's sake. Immediately he's putting wine
away. It's a very humbling thing. He
doesn't say I'm going to show you kindness for your sake or
for what you've done. It's for your father's sake. And we see it again and again.
Going back too, I believe it's said to Jacob, it's said to Isaac,
of blessings that they had for Abraham's sake. In a way, it's
a very humbling thing. We like to have it told us that
we're being blessed and favoured for our sake, for something we've
done, not for our fathers or forefathers. But the fear not was very needful
here. And again, what a A blessing
to have set before us, there are many fear nots in the word
of God, implying God's children need those fear nots. They need those reassurances. They have many fears. But here
in the kindness of God, being shown to Mephibosheth, David
doesn't lose any time saying fear not. and another mark of
the kindness of God and God's fear nots. It always has a backup
to it. Now we might try and tell our
brethren and friends when they're faced with terrible things that
they're to fear not. We don't give them any reason.
We don't give them any backup, any substance to it. But the
Lord always does. He gives them a reason why. And
so we have here, for I will surely show the kindness, thee kindness
with Jonathan thy father's sake. Do you need a fear not this evening? The Lord to speak to your soul,
to take away your fears. Creatures of fear we drag along,
says the hymn writer, and fear where no fear is. But many times
there's things we can point out, we can think of our sins of our
youth, our lives and the way we've spent them and how we've
walked and how we've thought and how we've talked and what
we've done, the catalogue of sins. And we realise if the Lord
was to open all of that up to us, we would shrink from the
sight of it. And sometimes we see a little
bit of it and it brings real fears. But David said unto him,
fear not. Do we know the kindness of God
unto us? Have you a fear not? Have I a
fear not? You say the Lord has shown kindness
to me, the kindness of God to me to take away my fears. But then we have another of the
kindness of God in bringing Mephibosheth to dwell with the king. Again, we have a difference with
man. Man might show kindness to another
person. There's one thing to show kindness
to someone, there's another to have them in your own home, especially
if they're lying in both feet. How marring the king's table
it would have been to have such a one there. And yet this is
what the kindness of God does. He doesn't just save his people. He doesn't just suffer for them,
bleed for them on Calvary. He doesn't just make a covenant
to save them, an agreement to save them. But his will is that
they be with him where he is, that they behold his glory. They are his inheritance and
they are to be partners with his throne. and to be with him
forever. And there is the kindness of
God. Not just dealing with like with
Abraham. Abraham, the blessing was on
Isaac. And all of the covenants, all
of the promise and all with the land of Cain and it all went
and the line to Christ all went to Isaac. But we read that He
gave many gifts to Ishmael, but he sent him away. He sent him
away. He wasn't to dwell with Abraham. What an illustration of the kindness,
covenant kindness of God. When the Lord would have his
people, not at a distance, but brought nigh to him. And the
dealings of God with his people are to this end, to bring them
nigh, to bring them nigh, his chastening, his correcting, his
reproofs, all his dealings, that they be a people that are holy
people and that are made and formed to be his bride and to
be with him. forever. But then we have the kindness
of God shown in fully providing for him. Mephibosheth was to
eat at the king's table, but also his servants, they had to
look after all of his land, a land that had been restored to him. And the charge was then to all
of the servants, they were all to serve Mephibosheth. Now therefore,
he says to Ziba and thy sons, thy servants shall till the land
for him. And thou shalt bring in the fruits
that thy master's son may have food to eat. But he shan't eat
it at a distance, but Mephibosheth thy master's son shall eat bread
all the way at my table. But Mephibosheth is fully provided
for, he lacked for nothing, as well as being near the king. Is not this the kindness of God
to his people? Lacked ye anything? Godliness
with contentment is great gain. The children of Israel, through
the wilderness, yes they murmured, but they never lacked. They were
given food, they were given water, their shoes did not wear out,
their clothing did not wear out. And so again, the kindness of
God is in a provision. Now we look at that in temporal
ways, but we look at it in spiritual ways. Man shall not live by bread
only, not just that provision. that by every word that proceedeth
out of the mouth of God. And in these latter days there
shall be a famine, not of bread and of water, but of hearing
the words of the Lord. It's a blessed thing for the
people of God still to be promised that provision in the covenant.
Thy bread shall be sure. The Lord shall feed his people. Surely, says the psalmist, Goodness
and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will
dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Mephibosheth could say
that. He dwelt in the house of the
king, King David, who penned that Psalm 23. He dwelt with
him all the days of his life. Then we have one last, you might
say, kindness. Later on, there was a famine
in the land, and it was because Saul had, in his zeal, false
zeal, he killed the Gibeonites, those that they'd made an agreement
with when they came into Canaan. And David asked them, what should
be done? They said, no man. should die
in Israel, but the man that killed us, the man that did the damage
to us, let seven of his sons be put to death." And we read
that David, because of this covenant, he spared Mephibosheth. And you
get a beautiful picture here. Here's all these covenant blessings,
but what if something should come like this? These blessings came because
of what had happened before Mephibosheth was even born or knew of it.
And what Saul had done to the Gibeonites as well, it was a
historical thing. We might think, what if we are
called And we have this kindness of God to us and then suddenly
something comes up like this. Is it that all this is going
to be swept away? All the benefits are going to
be taken away and I'll be slain anyway because of this that has
been uncovered? No. Because of this oath. that David, then he spared Mephibosheth. You read this in 2 Samuel 21
and verse 7, when in verse 6, but seven men of the sons, he
delivered us. The giving knight said, we will
hang them up unto the Lord in Gebera Saul, whom the Lord did
choose. The king said, I will give them.
But the king spared Mephibosheth, his son of Jonathan, the son
of Saul, because of the Lord's oath that was between them, between
David and Jonathan, the son of Saul. A covenant that will stand
at a day of great judgment is vital if it's to be any good
for us. We have a judgment day before
us. We have when accounts shall be settled, but oh, to find at
that day that that covenant made on our behalf between the Father,
Son and Holy Spirit, ratified by the precious blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary, holds good. It shall not let
us down. God shall not depart from it. This is the kindness of God. This is the kindness of God that
David showed unto Mephibosheth and whereby we can see this is
a true description of the kindness of God to his people. We may know, of course, that
kindness in many temporal, many different ways in our lives,
I've just highlighted those in this passage. May we think often
of the kindness of God to us, especially when we're mindful
of how unworthy we are, so lame on both our feet, and that the
Lord has granted us these mercies of being called and brought to
be with him and to have fellowship with him. so undeserving, so
unlooked for, and yet so blessed with the kindness of God. May
the Lord add his blessing. Amen.