Let's take our Bibles and turn
back to 2 Samuel chapter 9. 2 Samuel chapter 9. I'm going to actually look at 13
verses here in chapter 9 of 2 Samuel. Scripture says in verse 1, 2
Samuel 9, 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? That question was asked because
of a covenant that was made between two men that loved each other. the son of Saul and David. Now the history of their friendship
started a long time before that question right there was asked.
Hold your place right there, mark it. Turn back and I'm going
to look at a few verses out of 1 Samuel. Look at 1 Samuel 8.
1 Samuel chapter 8. It's just a little history of
what led up to that question. 1 Samuel 8, Israel wasn't satisfied
to have the Lord rule over them and wanted a king just like everybody
else. 1 Samuel 8, verse 5, the scripture
says, Well, chapter 8, verse 4 and 5. All the elders of Israel
gathered themselves together, came to Samuel unto Ramah, and
said unto him, Behold, thou art old, thy sons walk not in thy
ways. Now make us a king to judge us
like all the nations. And here's the sad thing. God
gave them what they wanted. Look at verse 6, 1 Samuel 8,
verse 6 to 9, but the thing displeased Samuel. When they said, Give
us a king to judge us, and Samuel prayed unto the Lord, the Lord
said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all
that they say unto thee, for they have not rejected thee,
but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them,
according to all the works which they have done since the day
that I brought them up out of Egypt, even unto this day, wherewith
they have forsaken me, served other gods, so do they also unto
thee. Now therefore, hearken unto their
voice, howbeit yet protest solemnly unto them, and show them the
manner of the king that shall reign over them." The Lord told
Samuel, go ahead. They've rebelled against me.
You go ahead and let them do just exactly what they want to
do. But he said, you tell them what they're going to get. You
tell them what they want. You tell them what they're going
to get. You're going to get a man, he's going to abuse you and your
family, he's going to take your lands, he's going to give it
to his people. And he said, I'll tell you what,
after he's done all of this, after he's done this to you,
because that's what you wanted, Samuel told him. He said, this
is what you want? That's your attitude? That's
what you want to do? Okay. I'm going to give you just
exactly what you want. You and your attitude, both.
I'm going to leave you to it. And you're going to suffer for
it. Look at 1 Samuel 8 verse 18. Samuel told him, and you shall
cry out in that day because of your king, which ye shall have
chosen you. And the Lord will not hear you
in that day. Boy, what a frightening thought.
I'm going to give you what you want. And whenever you've reaped
all the havoc of what you wanted, you're going to cry unto me,
and I'm not going to hear. Almighty God, leave a man, a
woman, to themselves, And after Samuel told him what God said,
he said, I'm going to give you what you want. You're going to
smart for it like you've never known smart before. And you're
going to cry unto me and ask me to have mercy. You're going
to cry unto me because of all the stuff. And I'm not going
to hear you. And look at the next verse, verse
19. Nevertheless, The people refused to obey the voice of
Samuel. And they said, no, no, no, but
we will have a king over us. So God put Saul there on the
throne. In time, everything came to pass. Turn to chapter 15 of 1 Samuel.
Everything came to pass, just like God said it was going to
do. And Saul raised up and abused him. And then the Lord instructed
Samuel to tell Saul this, 1 Samuel 15 verse 3, Now go and smite
Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them
not. But slay both man and woman,
infant, suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass, Kill them all. Kill all of them. Kill everything
that pertains to them. And this is what Saul did. Verse
8 and 9, 1 Samuel 15. He took Agag the king of the
Amalekites alive and utterly destroyed all the people with
the edge of the sword. But Saul and the people spared
Agag and the best of the sheep, of the oxen, the fatlings, the
lambs, all that was good and would not utterly destroy them.
But everything that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed
utterly. kept the king and all the good
stuff. And the Scripture says in verse
13-15, Samuel came to Saul. Saul said unto him, Blessed be
thou of the Lord, I have performed the commandment of the Lord.
And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleeding of a sheep
in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I heard? Now
listen to the wording. I mean, hold it. Look at verse
8 again. He's talking about Saul here. And he took Agag, the king
of the Amalekites, alive and utterly destroyed all the people. Who did that? Saul did that. Saul did that. Verse 15, Saul said, They, they
have brought them from the Amalekites. But the people, spared the best
of the sheep, the oxen, to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God, and the
rest we have utterly destroyed. I'm not guilty. They are. I tried to do the best I could,
I just couldn't control them. We, we, you know. Saul was rejected by God. Look at verse 26, 1 Samuel 15.
Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee, for thou
hast rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord hath rejected
thee from being king over Israel. He wasn't dethroned that moment,
but it was done. It was over. And the Lord was
going to raise up another king. 1 Samuel 16 verse 1, the Lord
said unto Samuel, see Samuel, read the rest of 15, I'll tell
you what Samuel did. Samuel grieved over Saul. He grieved on him. Until the
day Saul died, he grieved over him. God removed him. The Lord
said unto Samuel 16 verse 1, How long wilt thou mourn for
Saul? Saying, I have rejected him from
reigning over Israel. Fill thine horn with oil, and
go, and I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have
provided me a king among his sons." So what they did was,
he sent him to Jesse's house. Samuel said, I need to see your
boys. And all his boys started passing before Samuel. Verse
11 of 1 Samuel 16, verse 11, Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here
all thy children? He said, Well, there remaineth
yet the youngest. Behold, he keepeth the sheep.
Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and fetch him, for we will not
sit down until he come hither. And he sent and brought him in,
and he was ruddy, and with all of a beautiful countenance, and
goodly to look to. And the Lord said, Arise, anoint
him, for this is he. Then Samuel took the horn of
oil, and anointed him. In the midst of his brethren,
the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward.
So Samuel rose up and went to Ramah. Alright, David is the anointed
king. Saul is still sitting on the throne, but he's rejected
of God. Well, before Saul is actually
killed and taken out of this world, a friendship is going
to be established between two men. Saul had a son. Saul had a son and his name was
Jonathan. And Jonathan and David became
good friends, dear, precious friends. And Jonathan, knowing
that David was anointed, going to be raised up, going to be
the king, turned to 1 Samuel 20. He asked a great favor because
he knew. I told you last Wednesday night,
custom. Whenever a king was dethroned
and a new king took over, the custom was, you go in there and
you kill them all. You kill them all. There's not
going to be any loose ends. No nephew is going to come up
and say later, well, you know what, my uncle, really ain't
nobody left but me. But I'm really, you kill them
all. And Jonathan knew that. And Jonathan's
daddy is Saul. And Saul has been rejected of
God. And David has been anointed. And Jonathan and David are good
friends. And so Jonathan gets David off and he's going to ask
him a question, go ask him a favor, 1 Samuel 20, verse 14 through
17. And he says, 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. That's what he said.
David, now he turned back to 2 Samuel 9. He said, David, now
listen. I know, I know my dad's going
to be taken out. I know God's rejected my dad.
And you're going to be the king. And when you become king, I want
you to give me your word. This is all I've got, David.
All I've got is your word. I want you to make covenant with
me that when you are put in a position as the king, that you'll not
only show me kindness. Jonathan knew. He knew. He said,
not only me, but would you show kindness to my house? I love
you, David. I know you love me. Been kind of a go-between there,
trying to protect David from his dad. Saul had been trying
to kill him, throw spears at him and stuff like that. Jonathan
was a buffer for David, protected David. He said, David, I'm going
to ask you to have mercy. Have mercy on me and my kin now. I'm asking you that. Now, years
have passed. Jonathan's dead. Saul's dead. David's sitting on the throne.
David being king now, he remembers, remembers a promise that he had
made with his friend, Jonathan. And he asked 2 Samuel 9.1, 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? David, his heart was knit with
his friend. And he knew that of all the house
of Saul, if there was any left that had not been killed, not
had died, is there any left that I can show mercy for Jonathan's
sake? Not them. Not them. for my friend's
sake. I gave him my word. Oh, how our
hearts are immediately drawn to consider that everlasting
covenant that we just considered a few minutes ago. That covenant
of mercy that Almighty God made with Himself, Father, Son, Spirit,
on the behalf of His elect in Christ. Hear the words of David
speaking, yes, but listen to the Father. Is there yet any
of the house of Adam, that fallen race, that deserves in themselves
nothing but death, condemnation? That's what they deserve. When
Adam fell, we all fell in Adam. We were all in his loins. And
we rebelled against God in Adam. By one man's disobedience, many,
all have sinned, come short of the glory of God. There's none
that does good. None. Not one. Not one. All have
sinned. All of our righteousness is a
filthy ranch. Is there any of the house of Adam that I may
show him kindness for Christ's sake? For Christ's sake. Oh, behold the faithfulness of
God. That story right there, David asking about Jonathan's,
his friends' household, can I show mercy to any of them for Jonathan's
sake? If God shows mercy to anybody,
I'm telling you it's for Christ's sake. It's not for our sake.
It's for His sake. Look at God's faithfulness. David
was the king. David was sovereign. He's sovereign
in his kingdom. But I tell you this, the sovereign
of the universe speaks. And he, as this type right here,
David a type, he didn't ask counsel of anybody. David didn't go around
and say, well, what do you guys think? Y'all think this is okay? You think I'm opening up a can
of worms here? You think if I do this, somebody's
going to say, well, you know. Is there yet? any of the house
of Saul that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake." The king was in charge, and I'll
tell you this, he who rules in heaven and earth is in charge. If he's going to show mercy,
he's going to show mercy for the sake of his son. I will have
mercy on whom I'll have mercy. I will have compassion on whom
I'll have compassion. So then it's not of him that
willeth, him that runneth. It's not up to you, not up to
me. It's God that shows mercy. He
made a covenant, David did, with Jonathan concerning the safekeeping,
preservation of Jonathan's house. And God Almighty, according to
His mercy, has made an everlasting covenant with some. As I said,
scattered throughout all of this earth, through all of time. God's
always had an elect. In every age, He's always had
a people. And He has purposed, according
to His covenant, to show mercy. He's going to preserve them for
Christ's sake. Christ is going to be honored.
Not them! They're not going to be the reason.
Oh, they're going to be honored, but they're going to be honored
in Him. I know that that surely went
through David's mind. That covenant that he made with Jonathan. This is 2 Samuel
9. 2 Samuel 23 was where we were. That's years later. He'd be the
last word. He's the latter words. And I
guarantee you this went through his mind right here. Mephibosheth
had one hope. One hope. That David showed him
kindness. That was the only hope he had.
David showed him kindness. And David did it for Jonathan's
sake. Years later that's when David said, Though my house be
not so with God, yet he made with me An everlasting covenant. Order all things. Sure. Eternally,
the thrice holy God covenanted to show mercy. Electing grace,
redeeming grace, regenerating, quickening grace, keeping grace.
Is there any? Well, secondly, behold the sinner's
condition. This is who He's going to show
mercy to. Verses 2 to 4. There was of the
house of Saul a servant whose name was Ziba. When he had called
him unto David, the king said unto him, Art thou Ziba? He said,
Thy servant is he. 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 laying on his feet. And the
king said unto him, Where is he? Ziba said unto the king,
Behold, he is in the house of Macher, son of Amiel, in lo Debar."
Jonathan, hold your place right there, just turn back to 2 Samuel,
2 Samuel 4.4. Jonathan had a boy. Boy said,
David, make me a promise now, remember, show kindness to me. Jonathan had a boy, 2 Samuel
4.4. And this is what happened to
him when he was little, five years old. Jonathan Saul's son
had a son that was lame on his feet. 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. Now here's what happened. This
boy was five years old. Problems are coming. His nurse
grabs him up. She drops him, stumbles. Something
happened. And he hit the ground, broke
his legs, couldn't walk. Lame on both his feet. Stumbled
because of the fall of another. What happened? Where is that boy? Ziba, where
is that boy you're telling me about? You said Jonathan's got
a boy? Yes sir, he does. Where is that boy? Well, he's
in the house of nature, sold. It's what mature means, souled,
fit picture of all of us, the objects of God's mercy. Fallen
in Adam, souled under sin, carnal. Our iniquities, our transgressions
have separated us between God. Spiritually dead, can't walk. Where is He? He's in nature in
the Son of Amiel. House of Macher, son of Amiel. Amiel means my kinsman is God. Here's where Mephibosheth was. He was in a place where God was
sovereignly watching over him, keeping him, protecting him.
Out in this place, somewhere out there, in Lodibar. What does
that mean? No pasture. No place of rest. No place to relax, no comfort,
just scattered. Well, behold the mercy of Almighty
God in this type, David himself. Look at the mercy of God. Verse
5, then David sent, 2 Samuel 9, 5, then David sent and fetched
him out of the house of Macher, the son of Amiel from Lodibar. I love that. He fetched him and got him. How long do you think it would
have taken Mephibosheth to walk to the king? He's lame. He's lame. He's of the house of Saul. You know what the custom was? What do you think is going to
happen to him if he did get there, in his mind? In his mind. He's in a mess. You go get him. You go fetch that boy. But Phibosheth
was not looking for David. And neither is any object of
God's mercy. There's none that seeks after
God. You leave it up to a rebel against God and God leaves him
alone, you know what's going to happen, Jeff? He's going to
hell. That's what's going to happen
to him. He's going to hell. Where is he? He's in the house
of nature, in Lodibar, where you go get him. You go get that
boy. And so the servants of David,
picture of the Spirit of God, went and got him. and told him,
David wants you. David wants you. Here, beautiful picture of the
wind, the spirit that blows whether so ever he will. Take the preaching
of the gospel of God's grace. When it pleases God, it's got
you. Fetched him. And the Scripture says in verse
6, Now when Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul,
was coming to David, fell on his face, did reverence, and
David said, Mephibosheth, and he answered, Behold, thy servant.
Carried that boy in there, he can't walk. Carried him in there,
brought him before the king, sat him down, And that boy hit
the floor with his face. He is in the presence of the
king. He's in the presence of the one
that his granddaddy tried to kill. He's in the presence of
the one that was raised up after his grandfather was dethroned. And Mephibosheth no doubt knew
the rules. He fell on his face and did reverence. And I doubt if he moved. I'm going to stay right here.
I'm not moving. He knew what could happen. He didn't have
any bargaining chips. He had no strength. He couldn't
run. He's captured. And David said, Mephibosheth? I wonder how fast his heart rate
was. I wonder what his blood pressure was. And he answered, Behold thy servant. You're the king. You're the king. And David knew just exactly what
that boy was thinking. Because he said in verse 7, David
said unto him, Fear not. He knew Mephibosheth was scared.
Fear not. 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." I can't believe what I'm hearing. I cannot believe my ears. He knew my daddy. You knew my dad. Don't be afraid, Mephibosheth. I know what you're thinking,
but you're not going to die. I don't owe you, and I don't
owe you anything. I don't owe you anything, Mephibosheth,
except that I gave your daddy my word. And I promised your
daddy that I was going to show mercy to him and to his family. And I'm going to show you mercy,
Mephibosheth, for another's sake. Not you. Not you. David loved
Jonathan. And this was Jonathan's boy. He said, I'm not going to kill
you because I loved your daddy. And I promised your daddy that
I would show mercy. And Mephibosheth in verse 8 bowed
himself and says, What is thy servant? that thou shouldest
look upon such a dead dog as I am. What is thy servant that you
should, I'm doing this for your daddy's sake, not yours, your
daddy's sake. I'm going to give you everything
that you lost in the fall. I'm going to give you all your
land. I'm going to give all of that
back. I'm going to give all of it back to you. I'm going to
restore thee, verse 7, for your father's sake. All the land of
Saul, you're going to eat bread at my table. You're going to
sit here with me. You're going to be with me for
the rest of your life. And I'm going to take care of you. And
I'm going to do it for your daddy's sake. Every time I look at you, Mephibosheth,
I think about your daddy. Every time Almighty God looks
upon the one object of His mercy, He sees the blood. I'm doing
this for Christ's sake. Every time Almighty God sees
us, in Him. We're told this is for Christ's
sake. You want to know why you're not in hell right now? It's for
Christ's sake. If you know Him, He's yours. Oh, before there was ever a Mephibosheth,
there was a Jonathan and a David. Before that boy ever fell right
there, there was a covenant. That boy right there was eternally
secured, a picture of us who is eternally secure in Christ. David was sovereign and could
do whatever he wanted, but he chose to show mercy for his daddy's
sake. My friend, think not that God
owes us anything. outside of Christ except condemnation. Verse 9 to verse 13, 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 shalt bring in the fruits, that thy master's
son may have food to eat. But Mephibosheth, thy master's
son, shall eat bread all the way at my table. Now Ziba had
fifteen sons, twenty servants. Then said Ziba unto the king,
According to all that my lord the king hath commanded his servants,
so shall thy servant do. As for Mephibosheth, said the
king, he shall eat at my table as one of the king's sons. I'm
adopting him. This boy is going to be my boy. I'm doing this
for his daddy's sake. God Almighty predestinated us
unto the adoption of sons, for Christ's sake. Made us to be
his sons, for Christ's sake. And Mephibosheth had a young
son whose name was Micah. And all that dwelt in the house
of Ziba were servants unto Mephibosheth. I think about, you know, All
that we needed. What all did Mephibosheth need? Everything he needed, the king
supplied through all these servants. You go out there, you till the
land, you get those fruits and vegetables, you bring them in
here so this boy eat. So Mephibosheth, verse 13, dwelt
in Jerusalem, for he did eat continually at the king's table.
Now listen to this, and this is where we always remember where
we are. And was lame on both his feet. We're going to go through this
world rejoicing in Christ Jesus. Blessed be His holy name. But
I'm going to always remember, till the day I die, I am what
I am by the grace of God. I'm going to always remember,
Jeff, I'm a sinner. I'm a sinner. That's what I am. Christ Jesus
came to this world to save sinners. He was lame on both His feet.
He never forgot the fall. Oh, the grace of God that is
exalted when it is magnified with a backdrop such as this
right here. Lord bless these words to our
heart for Christ's sake. Amen.