I'm going to try to preach this
morning out of 2 Samuel. I'm going to start reading some
out of 1 Samuel chapter 17, but my text will actually be out
of 2 Samuel and it's the account that's given of a young man named
Mephibosheth. the mercy that was shown to that
young lad for the sake of his daddy, Jonathan. I've entitled
this message, Mercy for the Sake of Another. Now, the scripture,
if you want to turn here, you can. It's 1 Samuel chapter 17,
just to kind of hold, because we're going to stay Kind of in
this area right here, 1 Samuel 17 into 2 Samuel, so stay right
there. 1 Samuel chapter 17, and I'm
going to begin reading in verse 55 here. David, as a young lad,
a shepherd, slew a giant named Goliath. And from that battle
between David and Goliath, there was a bond of love that was born
between David and a son of Saul named Jonathan. Now let me show
you that. 1 Samuel 17, verse 55, and I'm
going to read into the first verse Chapter 18, it says 1 Samuel
17, 55, and when Saul saw David go forth against the Philistine,
he said unto Abner, the captain of the host, Abner, whose son
is this youth? And Abner said, as thy soul liveth,
O king, I cannot tell. And the king said, inquire thou
whose son the stripling is. And as David returned from the
slaughter of the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him
before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand. Now
just imagine, now he's walked up to the king and he's got Goliath's
head in his hand. He's just hanging on. And Saul
said to him, whose son art thou, thou young man? And David answered,
I am the son of thy servant Jesse, the Bethlehemite. And it came
to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that
the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan
loved him as his own soul." Well, according to the good pleasure
and eternal counsel of God, Saul, Jonathan's daddy, would not be
king. David would. And with that knowledge,
Jonathan and David made a covenant. 1 Samuel chapter 20, just turn
over a few pages, chapter 20. And David was going to be the
king and Jonathan knew it. 1 Samuel 20 verse 14 to 17, it
says Jonathan speaking to David and he said, and thou shalt not
only while I 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. Well, in the process of time,
they made this pact together, made a covenant. And Jonathan
said to David, said, listen, now I know God's going to put
you on the throne. And I'm going to ask you something.
I'm going to ask you, not only while I'm living, that you show
mercy. You know, the tradition was that
when a new king came into power, he would kill all the former
king's family. He didn't want any rebellions.
And Jonathan asked him. Jonathan said, listen, I'm asking
you now. When you sit on the throne, and I know you will,
will you show not only kindness to me right now, but to my family? Will you promise me that? And
David said, I promise. Well, turn over to 1 Samuel 31. And in the process of time, Jonathan and his daddy, Saul,
did die. 1 Samuel 31 verse 1 to 4. Now the Philistines fought against
Israel. And the men of Israel fled from
before the Philistines and fell down slain in Mount Gilboa. And the Philistines followed
hard upon Saul, upon his sons, and the Philistines slew Jonathan
and Abinadab, and Mauchashua, Saul's sons. And the battle went
sore against Saul, and the archers hit him. He was sore wounded
of the archers. Then said Saul unto his armor-bearer,
draw thy sword and thrust me through therewith, lest these
uncircumcised come and thrust me through and abuse me. But
his armor-bearer would not, for he was sore afraid. Therefore
Saul took a sword. and fell upon it. Saul killed
himself. Now Jonathan is dead. And his
daddy, the king, is dead too. But Jonathan had a son. Turn over now to 2 Samuel chapter
4 and verse 4. It says that, and Jonathan, Saul's
son, had a son that was lame on his feet. He was crippled. And he was five years old when
the tidings came of Saul and Jonathan out of Jezreel. And
his nurse took him up and fled. It came to pass, as she made
haste to flee, that he fell and became lame. And his name was
Mephibosheth. OK, now David's king. He made
a pact with Jonathan. Show mercy. And according to
the sources that I tried to find, I wanted to know how old was
Mephibosheth when this event that we're going to read in 2
Samuel, you can turn over to chapter 9 now, 2 Samuel chapter
9. I know how old he was when he
fell and became lame on both his feet. Scripture said he was
five years old. Well, I looked, and to the best of my ability,
the sources I have, Mephibosheth was probably somewhere around
13 years old. It was about 8 years now has
passed. But in those 8 years, David unaware of any, as far
as Jonathan is concerned, any, but the 8 years has not caused
David to forget the covenant. that he made with his friend,
his beloved friend, Jonathan. Scripture says in 2 Samuel 9
verse 1, And David said, Is there yet any that is left of the house
of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake? Oh, that blessed picture. Now let's just fly. to the blessed glory of our Lord. David here is a picture of the
Father. He's a picture of the Father.
And here's a blessed picture set forth of the remembrance
of a covenant. Jonathan here is a picture of
Christ. Picture of the Lord Jesus. Mephibosheth
is a picture of us. It's a picture of God's elect.
And now here David is a picture of the Father. He asks this question,
is there yet any left of the house of Saul that I may show
him kindness for Jonathan's sake? Now you think about this blessed
picture. Here's a picture of the Father.
And I understand, like what Brother Henry said one time, he said,
don't ever think that the picture is ever the perfection of the
reality. But the Father who never forgets,
you know, is that one for Christ's sake that remembers God's elect. Is there any? Listen, Deuteronomy
7, I know therefore that the Lord thy God, He is God, the
faithful God which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love
him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations. Is there any of the house of
Saul that for my friend's sake, what I've entered into with covenant,
in a covenant, in a pact, bam, yeah, I gave him my word, gave
him my word. So David remembered that covenant
he'd made with his friend. Jonathan was on his heart. I don't doubt once that he never
forgot Jonathan. That was his friend. That sweet picture, Jonathan,
that sweet picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, the one in whom
all the elect have been chosen, the one for whom he stood as
the surety And the scripture says that after that question
was asked, verse 2, there was one that was found. And there
was of the house of Saul a servant whose name was Ziba. Ziba was
there. Ziba was in the household of
Saul. And when they had called him
unto David, the king said unto him, Art thou Ziba? And he said,
Thy servant is he. He's going to make sure that
I'm talking to somebody that can answer my question. I want to talk to somebody with
some knowledge here. And David makes this inquiry. But I want
you to notice, now he's going to make this inquiry again in
verse 3, but I want you to notice the difference in the wording
here. The difference in verse 1 and verse 3. He said in verse
1, is there any that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake?
Listen to verse 3, and the king said, Is there not yet any of
the house of Saul that I may show the kindness of God unto him? Is there any that I may show
mercy for God's sake, for the Lord's sake? And Ziba said unto
the king, Jonathan hath yet a son which is lame on his feet. David was a man that knew something
about God's mercy. He was shown the mercy of God. He had killed a giant. This is
not yet. He's not taken by Sheba yet. God has been merciful to him.
He knows. And God moved upon his heart
to remember as a glorious picture of the remembrance of our God
that never forgets. He said, I'll never, never forget. He moved upon him to show mercy
to the house of Saul. David, because of his love for
Jonathan, looked past that resentment that Saul had for him. This was
for Jonathan's sake, for my friend's sake. David loved him, scripture
says, gonna show mercy, but listen to Luke 6.36, be you merciful,
even as God your father is merciful. You know, when we've received
mercy from the Lord, our hearts ought to be softened, to have
mercy and show mercy to others, mercy. You know what mercy insinuates? Guilt, guilt. Somebody's guilty. He's guilty. But mercy is not
giving them what they deserve. Have mercy on me. Have mercy. But here was the problem. Is
there yet any? Yes, there's a young lad and
he's got a son. But here's the problem, last
part of verse 3. He's lame on his feet. He does have a boy. But he's
a cripple. He's unable to do anything for
himself. He's virtually helpless. He's a cripple. Oh, what a picture
of us. All that God has everlastingly
loved in Christ, who fell in Adam's rebellion. And now here
we are. We're spiritual cripples. We're
dead. He talks about unable, dead in
trespasses and sins, spiritually impotent, helpless to walk before
God in love, helpless. Has he got a boy? He does have
a boy, but I'm going to tell you, here's his problem. He's
lame on both his feet. Oh, the blessing of being taught
our helplessness. That boy right there, What's
he going to do for the king? What's he going to do for David? You think David just needs somebody
to, you know. This right here is for Jonathan's
sake. This is for my friend's sake. I remember what he asked. My friend asked me, will you
have mercy on me? David said, I'll be. Oh, I will. I promise you, I promise. And
with the revelation of Jonathan's lame son, here's what scripture
says. Verse 4, the king said unto him,
where is he? And Ziba said unto the king,
behold, he is in the house of Macher, the son of Amiel in Lodibar. Mephibosheth is without, I got
a map, went to the back of my Bible right here and started
looking at the maps and I tried to figure out where is Jerusalem
in relationship to Lodibar? I found it, I found it. About
60 miles away, 60 miles. That's kind of irrelevant but
It was a little piece. But here's the thing. Mephibosheth
was obviously in a place where he might be hidden from harm
from David. He knew. He was quite aware. He knew who he was. Saul was
his granddaddy. Saul tried to kill David. I'm
sure he knew every bit of it. But now the king now sits on
the throne. And here's what he wants to know.
Where is he? Where is he? Well, here's where
he is. He's in Mature. That word Mature, it means sold. S-O-L-D. Sold. Sold as merchandise
or as a slave. It's from a word that means sold
as a slave. A picture of all of us. Here we are. What are we, lame
on both our feet? Helpless? Sold as slaves. Paul the Apostle says, for we
know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal. Sold under sin. Sold as a slave to sin. That's what I did. That's what
I am. So Mephibosheth, where is he? He's in the house of nature.
But listen to this. The son of Amiel. I looked that
up too. You know what it means? The people
of God. Where is he? He's sold under
sin. He's sold as a slave to sin,
but he's one of mine. He's one of mine, my covenant. I gave my word for that boy. Here he was, just like all the
vessels of God's mercy, born in sin, born in a state of bondage,
but still an object of God's mercy. He's living in Lodibar. What does that mean? Without
a pasture. Pastureless is what it means.
No shepherd. No shepherd. Oh, but listen to the word of
the king. Verse five. David sent and fetched him out
of the house of nature. the son of Amiel from Lodibar. What'd he say? You go get him.
You get him. Don't go try to get him, you
fetch him. Fetch him. You get that boy and you bring
him here. You bring that boy to me. Oh, here's David again,
type of the father, made his will and good pleasure known
according to the covenant that he had made with Jonathan. He
sent someone to fetch him. That's what the Spirit of God
does, the Spirit of Christ. He blows as the wind. Almighty
God's got a people that He's everlastingly loved in Christ.
God knows who they are. And when He pleases God, you
know what He does? Fetches them. makes them willing
in the day of His power. Draws them to Himself. This is
how the Lord, He came to seek and to save that which was lost.
To save His people from their sins. He came and He finished
the work. Why? That none of them will be
lost. This is the Father's will which
has sent me. That of all that He's given me, I should lose
nothing. I should raise them up again
last day. All that He's given me, they're
going to come to me. And that's what He did. He sent
Him. Look at verse 6 and 7. Now when Mephibosheth, the son
of Jonathan, son of Saul, was come unto David, he fell on his
face and did reverence. And David said, Mephibosheth. And he answered, Behold thy servant.
And David said unto him, Fear not. David knew what he thought. For I will surely show thee kindness
for Jonathan thy father's sake, and will restore thee all the
land of Saul thy father. And thou shalt eat bread at my
table continually. The Lord said, I know my sheep. I call them by name. Can you
imagine when David uttered his name? I can't even imagine. I think of the Father that has
everlastingly loved me in Christ. But He would know me and call
me by name. Marvin? Marvin Mephibosheth? Don't be
afraid. Don't be afraid. I'm going to
show you kindness. I'm going to show you mercy for
your daddy's sake. I'm going to do this for your
daddy. I love your daddy. I love my friend. Marvin, I'm
going to show you mercy for my son's sake. My son has ever stood
as your surety. He lived for you. He bore all
your debt. in His own body. He was made
sin for you. And I judged Him. And I put away
your debt. And I'm going to show mercy to
you for His sake. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Mephibosheth and Verzeh,
he bowed himself and said, What is thy servant? that thou shouldest
look upon such a dead dog as I am." What is it about me that
you should show mercy to somebody like me? How is that? I love your daddy. I love your
daddy. That's what it is. I love your
daddy. I love your Lord. He's my son. I love him. He loved you, and
I love you. David's heart was stirred. He
looked at that boy. He couldn't put his hand on that
boy and not feel Jonathan. He couldn't talk to that boy
and hear that boy. He said, you know what? You sound just like
your daddy. You have the blessed resemblance
of your daddy. robed in His righteousness. We
stand before God accepted and the Beloved. You look just like
your daddy. Verse 9, Then the king called
to Ziba, Saul's servant, and said unto him, I have given unto
thy master's son all that pertain to Saul to his house. Thou therefore
and thy sons and thy servants shall till the land for him,
Thou shall bring in the fruits that thy master's son may have
food to eat, but Mephibosheth, thy master's son, shall eat bread
all way at my table. Now Ziba had 15 sons, 20 servants. Then said Ziba unto the king,
according to all that my lord, the king, hath commanded his
servant, so shall thy servant do. As for Mephibosheth, said
the king, he shall eat at my table as one of the king's sons,
and Mephibosheth, had a young son, his name was Micah. And
all that dwelt in the house of Ziba were servants unto Mephibosheth. So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem,
for he did eat continually at the king's table, and was lame
on both his feet. Before Mephibosheth was fetched,
he was lame on both his feet. And after he was fetched, He
was too. It never changed. As long as
he lived, he was always a cripple. But for Mephibosheth, the scripture
declares that he sat at the king's table. I just imagine that his lame
legs weren't even an issue. They weren't even noticed. They
were under the king's table. I'm going to feed you. I'm going
to take care of you. You're one of my sons. He dealt
with him as one of his own sons. Oh, the mercy of God that would
show mercy onto a helpless, lame, spiritually lame cripple. Worthless in himself. But for the sake of the Lord
Jesus Christ, that he would show mercy, fetch him, bring him. He said, you're gonna be with
me. You're gonna be with me all the days of your life. I'll take
care of you. My God shall supply all your
need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Lord,
bless this word in our hearts for Christ's sake. Amen.