Seeking once again the Lord's
help, I'd like you to turn with me to 2 Samuel chapter 9 and
the text you'll find in verse 13. So Mephibosheth dwelt in
Jerusalem, for he did eat continually at the king's table, and he was
lame on both his feet. Many of you will know that David
had a good friend in Jonathan. We know that Jonathan was the
son of Saul. Saul was the king. We know that
David had been appointed to be king. And there was that friction
between King Saul and David. And there was that time of pursuing
where Saul was after David. And then David was aware of all
that was taking place. And David sensed that all was
not well and so he was going to run away. And so we read Samuel
20 when Jonathan and David have a conversation with each other
and they devise a plan to work out what is really going on in
the heart of King Saul. And so they make this plan that
it was a new moon, a time for the feast and David and Jonathan
and the family would be sitting around the table of Saul as they
had that feast over the beginning of the month. And they decided
that they would make a plan that if Saul realised that David was
not there and he became angry then this would be a sign that
there was enmity in his heart, hostility in his heart towards
David and David should run away. And they made this promise between
each other that if Saul got angry then Jonathan was to shoot the
arrow and say to the lad it is beyond you it is beyond you and
David would know that that Saul was angry with him and we read
at the end of chapter 20 that this took place In verse 41,
as soon as the lad was gone, David arose out of the place
towards the south and fell on his face to the ground and bowed
himself three times and they wept, kissed one another and
wept one with another until David acceded. And Jonathan said unto
David, go in peace for as much as we have sworn both of us in
the name of the Lord saying the Lord be between me and thee and
between my seed and thy seed forever. And he arose and departed. Jonathan went into the city and
so their plan came about that David then left but before they
made this plan they entered into a covenant one with another. Such was their friendship between
each other that it is described that Jonathan loved David as
he loved his own soul. And they enter into this covenant
with each other that David would show favour to Jonathan as he
became king. And even if Jonathan died, that
David would continue to show favour to the house of Jonathan
or the family of Jonathan. And we read that covenant that
they made with each other in verse 12. It goes on, and Jonathan
said unto David, O Lord God of Israel, when I have sounded or
tested my father about tomorrow, any time, or the third day, and
behold, if there be good towards David, then I send not unto thee,
and show it thee. The Lord do so, and much more
to Jonathan. But if it please my father to
do the evil, and I will show it thee and send thee away that
thou mayest go in peace and the Lord be with thee as he has been
with my father and thou shalt not only while 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 for ever. No, not when
the Lord has 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 ever 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 so David and Jonathan entered
into this covenant together, that David, as he was to succeed
to the throne, that he would show Jonathan kindness. And Jonathan
understood that even if I die also, that he wanted that preservation
for his own family. And we know as we turn over the
pages that Saul was killed and Jonathan
also. In chapter 31 as they were fighting
against the Philistines that the Philistines followed hard
upon Saul and upon his sons and the Philistines slew Jonathan
and Abinabab and Melchizedek, Saul's sons. Normally when the kings were
killed then their sons were killed also so that there would be no
follow-on, there would be no heir to the throne. And we know
that David had been anointed king by Samuel and that God was
working out his purposes to get David onto the throne. and Saul had to be killed and
Jonathan also removed. But we read that Jonathan had
had a son and that son's name was Mephibosheth. After hearing
that Jonathan had been killed, the maid that was looking after
Mephibosheth is nervous is scared because she knows what normally
takes place when the king is killed the whole line of men
is destroyed and so she flees for her life and flees for the
life of Mephibosheth and as she flees she drops the boy 2 Samuel 4 and verse 4. And Jonathan's
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 and it came to pass as she
made haste to flee that he fell and became lame and his name
was Mephibosheth. And so through the purposes of
God, this child that was born healthy had an accident. And he is now, we could say,
probably broke his back or something like that. And he's now lame
on his feet and under care of somebody else. He's an orphan.
His father has been killed. His grandfather has been killed. And he is now lost at right to
the throne because of his family, his descendants, his ancestors
have been killed. But David comes to the throne
and he remembers the covenant that he made with Jonathan and
so he asks the question, is there any Is there yet any of the house
of Saul that I may show the kindness of God unto them? If you remember what Jonathan
had said to David back in chapter 20, And thou shalt not only while
yet I live show me the kindness of the Lord that I die not. And David says that I may show
the kindness of God unto him. And so the search is made and
they find that there is a servant of King Saul called Ziba. And Ziba comes to David and he
tells him that there is Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son
of Saul, and he was still alive. And David calls for him. And so they go and fetch him. You can understand why Mephibosheth
is very nervous. He could be thinking to himself,
this is it. My life is about to be over. I'm the last remaining heir to
the throne and I am unable to fight. I'm unable to do anything. I'm a dependent. I'm an orphan.
I've got nothing. And now I'm being summoned by
the king to go into his presence and you can understand why he
is afraid. David says unto him, fear not. for I will surely show thee kindness
for Jonathan thy father's sake, and I will restore thee all the
land of Saul to thy father or thy grandfather, and thou shalt
eat bread at my table continually. David didn't have to do what
he did, but he did it because of the covenant that he made
with Jonathan his friend. He decided of his own back to
show mercy to an orphan. He decided to show mercy to a
crippled person who was unable to help themselves, unable to
labour and was a dependent of other people. And so he chose
to honour the covenant that he made and with Mephibosheth's
father Jonathan and he promised to take care of him and to provide
for him. He showed him great mercy and
great love and great compassion. And look at the response of Mephibosheth. And he bowed himself and said
what is thy servant that thou shouldest look upon such a dead
dog as I am. That is how he felt himself to be. And you can well imagine
how he might think that in a society in those days that didn't care
much for disability. the society as we read about
David's strong men, that strength and boldness and no fear was
what determined a man. You can understand why Mephibosheth
he was an orphan, a dependent, unable to help himself, felt
himself to be such a person of low degree in the presence of
this great king. he didn't want to portray himself
as anything other than a dead dog in front of this great king
unless the king's mind had changed and no doubt and he could have
killed him. We read how quickly David he
could change when the news came of Saul's death and right at
the beginning of 2nd Samuel chapter 1 I think
And the young men came and told him how that he had killed Saul. And David calls one of the young
men and kills him. David said unto him was thou
not afraid to stretch forth thine hand to destroy the Lord's anointed? Verse 15 and David called one
of the young men and said go near fall upon him and he smote
him and he died. Such was the authority that David
had as a sovereign king that he could arrange the death of
someone immediately and it take place and so you can imagine
how Mephibosheth thought this young or this man unable to walk
sitting at the or laying at the feet of a great king who was
a sovereign king had the power to take his life in a moment
he didn't want to present himself as anything at all says, I'm
not just a dog, I'm a dead dog, I am nothing, worthless in your
sight. And doesn't this remind us of
the Lord Jesus Christ who received sinners to himself. God made a covenant with Christ
And that because of that covenant, that promise that was made, sinners
are able to approach a holy God, not for any worth of themselves,
but for Christ's sake. those who come to Christ and
feel themselves to be in such a worthless position as Mephibosheth. We feel ourselves to be lame
on both of our feet. We feel totally unworthy that
Christ would even acknowledge us, let alone look upon us and
speak to us. We feel like we are a dead dog
in his sight. There is a promise made by David
and it's a promise that would change the life of Mephibosheth
for the rest of his life. All the struggles that he had
had prior to that would be completely transformed. His life would never
be the same again. He is told that all the land
that was owned by Saul would be given to him. He is told that
the servants of Saul, the sons of Zeba, 15 sons and the 20 servants
would labour in his fields and provide him and his family with
food and that Mephibosheth himself would eat at the king's table
for the rest of his life and so it was a promise that would
alter the course of his life forever and that promise is bestowed upon all those who
are the Lord Jesus Christ's Those who come to Christ with that
mindset that they are nothing but a dead dog in his sight are
received, sinners Jesus will receive with that forgotten never. And those who come to Christ
in that condition who know themselves to be unworthy of the least of
his mercies, their lives are changed, altered. the whole course and direction
of their life is altered. They are now followers of the
Lord Jesus Christ. They are owned by the Lord Jesus
Christ. They're invited to be seated
at the table of the Lord Jesus Christ and he promises to provide
for their every need and their care. As Mephibosheth's life
was completely different so the life of the new believer in Christ
it is completely different. They are changed and transformed. They are no longer aliens but
they are fellow heirs. Mephibosheth would sit at the
table as a son of the king. As for Mephibosheth, said the
king, he shall eat at my table as one of the king's sons. Remember what happened to David.
David was invited to sit at the king's table and he didn't want
to go and his place was noticed that he wasn't there. And so
such is the invitation to sit at the king's table. It is a
place of fellowship with the king, of closeness with the king,
being brought into that same realm as the king's family. And Mephibosheth was taken from
that despised position of an orphan, Whether he was a beggar
or not we don't know but he was taken from that place and brought
up to the highest place at the king's table and he was provided
for and he was watched over and he was given food enough to eat. And so the believers are also
brought into that position, children of the King, brought into a close
fellowship with God through the Lord Jesus Christ. Although they
feel themselves to be dead dogs and failures and lame on both
of their feet, yet they are promised. to be given strength sufficient
for the day. They are promised to be given their daily bread.
They are promised to be given help to enable them to do the
work that the Lord has given them to do. And so they are brought
to sit at the king's table. Matthew 26. we have the account of the Lord's
Supper. And verse 26, and as they were
eating, Jesus took bread and blessed it and break it and gave
it to his disciples and said, take eat, this is my body. And
he took the cup and gave thanks and gave it to them and said,
drink ye all of it for this is my blood of the New Testament,
which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say
unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine until
that day when I drink it new with you in my father's kingdom. And so as Mephibosheth was invited
to sit at the king's table, to be seated around with the king's
family, to eat of the king's food and to be provided for day
by day, so the believers are also invited to come and to sit
around the lord's table, to sit around the master's table, the
king's table. Jesus says, I will not drink
of the vine but I will drink it with you in the kingdom, my
father's kingdom, that kingdom which is to come. And so as he
laid out this ordinance of the Lord's Supper He was giving his
disciples a foretaste of the heavenly kingdom when he would
sit around the table with them to eat in his father's kingdom. Sometimes if you go to a restaurant
or in Africa they used to call it biting. They would give you
something little to tantalize your taste buds before you're
at the main course. This is something like what goes
on around the Lord's table. We have a small taste of what
it will be like in heaven to sit around the table with the
Lord Jesus Christ, with the family of God, Today it is just a small
imperfect ordinance that we take to focus our minds upon something
that will be far far greater in glory. We sit around as imperfect
believers, lame on our feet. We sit around with different
characters and different abilities and different ailments of the
body and different problems. Yet we sit around as part of
the family of God, part of the family of God on earth, the church
of the Lord Jesus Christ and we partake in a tantalising token
of heaven, thinking of the day when one day We will drink it
new with the Lord Jesus Christ in the Father's kingdom. In Corinthians
it is referred to as the Lord's table. We come to the Lord's
table. As Mephibosheth sat around the
king's table, so we sit around the king of kings table. This emblem to remind us of the
king of kings who died for us. It is an ongoing reminder, an
ongoing means of grace, of edification of the soul until the Lord Jesus
Christ comes again. It is a foretaste of what is
to come in glory. In Revelations it tells us, in
chapter 19, In verse 6, I heard, as it were, the voice of a great
multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice
of a mighty thunder, saying, Hallelujah, for the Lord God
omnipotent reigns. Let us be glad and rejoice and
give honour to him for the marriage of the lamb is come and his wife
has made herself ready and to her was granted that she should
be arrayed in fine linen and white clean and white for the
fine linen is the righteousness of the saints and he said right
blessed are they which are called to the marriage supper of the
lamb and he said unto me these are the true sayings of God and
I fell at his feet and worshipped him and it goes on that is at
the end of time when Christ will come and gather his people to
himself they will be as a bride arrayed in fine white linen the
righteousness of the saints no longer will it be an imperfect
memorial service no longer will it be that we will be there with
our sin and our uncleanness our doubts and our fears and our
lack of faith and our unbelief wondering how we should be feeling
and what we should be doing but we will see him as he is and
we will sit around the table with him and we will be at the
marriage supper of the Lamb And so Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem. We know that heaven is the heavenly
Jerusalem, a type, a Jerusalem, a type, the dwelling place of
God, where the temple of God was. And Mephibosheth dwelt there
in Jerusalem. He's taken from that orphan place
and is brought to the king's home. he's taken from that poverty
and he's been placed at the king's table and so believers are taken
from this world and they are brought to sit at the king's
table in glory with the Lord Jesus Christ and although today
we sit around as imperfect saints yet one day we will be forever
with the Lord perfected as we perfected as we enter into glory
and so Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem for he did eat continually
at the king's table and he was lame on both his feet. Amen. Our closing hymn for this service
is hymn number 1022 from Gadsby's. There is a land of pure delight
where saints and mortal reign. Infinite day excludes the night
and pleasures banish pain. Hymn number 1022 to the tune
239. In finite day excludes the night,
and pleasure vanishes. Yet like a barrowed seed divides
this heavenly land romance. ? Make our doubts removed ? ? Please
bear me doubts that rise ? ? And see the pain and laugh we love
? ? With undead-clouded eyes ? ? The dream of joy ? and may the landscape hold. Nor Jordan's stream, nor death's
dark flood, should fight us from the shore. May the grace of the Lord Jesus
Christ and the love of God the Father, with the fellowship and
the communion of the Holy Spirit, rest and abide with us each now
and for evermore. Amen.