Turn with me to 2 Samuel chapter 9. This chapter, as it opens, it concerns David and Mephibosheth. And as it opens, we see a picture of how the saints, here and are blessed of God and affected by the grace and mercy of our God toward us. And it reflects in how we serve and minister the Spirit of God to our brethren, how we interact with our brethren and why. It's a when we consider what the Lord has done for us in grace, it's going to shape and affect how we are towards others. It's going to spill out. It's not gonna be hidden or contained, but his grace teaches us and we walk by his spirit and live by his spirit.

And so we're gonna see that tonight in the beginning of this chapter, and then we'll look at David's fetching of Mephibosheth to him, and to see that picture of the Lord's grace in fetching his redeemed children, in fetching those whom Christ has purchased with his own blood, and the grace that that is.

So let's begin in verse 1, and David said, there yet any that is left of the house of Saul that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake?" So David had a desire, he wanted to show kindness to Saul's house. I would imagine it had to be very hard for the house of Saul when David's house was strengthened and settled, and those that were a part of that house probably had concerns as to what things would be like for them now that David, who was persecuted by Saul, was now king. And David had an interest to show them kindness.

Some think that the way it's worded there that perhaps David was looking for opportunities to show them kindness and had already done so a number of times, and so he's looking to see if there's anyone else yet that he doesn't know of yet that he hasn't ministered that kindness to. But we don't really read of any fear or trouble or worries that they had. It's not spoken of in the scripture, but to David, What it shows us is David didn't look at the house of Saul as enemies. It actually testifies to an understanding of the grace of God for David.

It's a lot like with Joseph, who assured his brethren, don't fear. Don't fear. I'm not looking to take vengeance upon you. I understand. This was all according to the providential hand of God. This was all according to the Lord. And that's That right there is an effect of God's grace for us, that when we've been wronged or we go through some trial or some affliction or some difficulty, the Lord testifies to us and ministers his grace to us in that trial for our good. And so that gives us peace as we're going through the trial and come out of the trial, not to look at those that maybe were a part of that trial in any negative sense, because we understand and know the Lord's hand was in that. I don't want to take any vengeance on you. God did that. God did that.

And so right there, there's an impact, there's an effect of God's grace in our own hearts as we minister to others and are gracious to others out of that same grace and mercy. And so David wanted to assure their hearts. He didn't see them as enemies, but rather as God's children. the children of God, the children of Israel, and he wanted to do them good. And he didn't want to just leave them alone, because who knows where they scurried off to or what they did to hide themselves. He wanted to show them kindness and assure their hearts, come and worship the Lord.

That was a great grievance to David when he was persecuted by Saul because one of the things he said in the Psalms was, I long for that day when I could go to the house of the Lord and worship God with my brethren, with the people of God. And so if they're worried about him, then they're not coming to the temple and they're not worshiping God. And so perhaps that was on his heart too. I want them to come and worship the Lord with God's people. I want them to come and hear and worship the Lord with God's people.

So, because of this, they brought a servant from Saul's house, a known servant, Ziba, named Ziba, and he was brought to David, and it says in verse three, 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."

And that, what David says there, speaking of the kindness of God that he desired to show unto the house of Saul for Jonathan's sake, it's a really beautiful spirit. That is the spirit of the Lord that we see there in David's heart, that he was shown kindness from God and wanted to show that same kindness to his enemies. He wanted to show that same kindness to his friends. He wanted to show that same kindness to those of the house of God. It's a beautiful picture. It's a striking picture. As new creatures, that should inform us. That should warm our hearts and encourage us in the ministration of the gospel toward others.

For example, in 2 Corinthians chapter one, why don't you turn there. In 2 Corinthians chapter one, right in the beginning of the chapter in verses three and four, we're gonna read. Paul writes, Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort, who comforted us in all our tribulation, that, right, here comes that, we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. And so, We're able, we're enabled and helped by the comfort of God that we may minister that same comfort to our brethren, showing them that same comfort that we've received. Speak to them in the same spirit of comfort that the spirit of God has ministered to us through his word and through the preaching and the things that we've heard and the things that blessed us that we may say those same things and help our brethren in that same manner, with that same word of comfort.

All right, let me give you another one. This is from Ephesians 4, verse 29. This may not seem as clear as that last one, but I believe that you'll get it once we see it. Ephesians 4, 29, Paul says, let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. And so we're given the Spirit of God. We're given the Spirit of God that speaks according to what we have seen and heard. So there is a sense there, as we saw back about the comfort, there is a sense that delights and happily ministers that same grace, that same effectual word of grace that blessed our hearts, that is ministered to others with that same grace that we've received. when we're delighted, when we're encouraged, right? If you read a daily portion of that word and it blesses your heart, you share it, right? You share it. And if you've heard a message of someone, something they said, you share it. You minister that word of grace to others, just as it's blessed you. And it blesses them, it edifies them. And then one more from John 13, verse 34, John 13, 34, so this will be the Lord Jesus Christ, who says, a new commandment I give unto you, John 13, 34, a new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

with that sacrificial love that lays down my own self for the life, for the benefit of another, that we think of and care for the needs of others. And we do so having that same spirit of Christ that didn't minister and labor for himself, but ministered and labored for the salvation of his bride, of his people, to do them good, even his enemies, to heal many who we don't even know if many of them ever even came back to him. And yet he ministered to them and bore their infirmities for them to remove them from them.

In these different things here, we see a beautiful picture of how we've been ministered to by the Lord and how then we have that same desire to minister to others, and that's a very different spirit than what the Pharisee has, than what the one in religion who hears by word only, that's a very different spirit. Some people make it their business to go and fix and correct everyone, whereas the spirit of God gives us a spirit that makes it our business to owe no man anything, not to correct him, to owe him nothing but love.

love him. That's what Paul said, oh no man anything save to love him. And so we want to show that kindness of God. And if you set your heart on on the comfort of God, on the grace of God for you, on the love of God for you, that same spirit is gonna be ministered to others that you come in contact with, that comfort, grace, and love, that kind spirit, that kind and gentle spirit.

All right, let's move on now back in our text. Let's go back to 2 Samuel 9, pick up in verse 4, and let's read down to verse 8 together. And the king said unto him, Where is he? And Ziba said unto the king, Behold, he is in the house of Maker, the son of Ammiel in Lodabar. Then king David sent and fetched him out of the house of Maker, the son of Ammiel from Lodabar. Now When Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the 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, for I will surely show thee kindness for Jonathan thy father's sake, and I will restore thee all the land of Saul thy father, and thou shalt eat bread at my table continually. And he bowed himself and said, what is thy servant that thou shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I am?

Now, I wanted to just first read these verses together because we can see here a picture of the grace. We see in David a beautiful type of the Lord Jesus Christ. And at the same time in Mephibosheth, this dead dog, we see a picture of us. And so as we see this kindness and this grace of David being ministered to this dead dog, Mephibosheth, from the household of his enemy, we see a beautiful picture of grace.

And so verse three, first in considering us in Mephibosheth, verse three tells us he was lame on his feet. He wasn't able to do the typical work of the day as men would do in providing for themselves and working their own land and in harvesting their own food. He couldn't do that. He was either a beggar, perhaps, and I don't know, I wasn't able to confirm this, but perhaps he sold himself as a bond slave to this fellow maker, the son of Amiel, in the land of Lo Debar. And so this man couldn't do anything to provide for himself. This man was in trouble. If that was the house of a friend, he was dependent upon his kindness to provide for him.

And so when we consider this in the spiritual sense, we have a man here who can do no good work. He can't bring forth any good, profitable work. And our Lord tells us, when we've done that which is our duty to do, we haven't been profitable to our master in any way. We've only done that which we're supposed to do. Why do you think you're going to get a reward for doing what you're supposed to do?

And so we see a man who can do nothing good. He cannot please God. He cannot provide for himself. He cannot provide satisfaction for himself. He can do nothing to strengthen himself. He has no gifts, no abilities, no talents, no nothing that can help him. And that's us before the true and living God. That is us by nature. We're the ones who are lame of foot. We are entirely dependent upon the grace and mercy and kindness of God.

And then even if we take into consideration where he's living, where they have to go in and find him, there's a spiritual meaning in this. We're told that he's in the house of Maker, the son of Amiel in Lodabar. Now, Maker means sold. Sold. Sold. That's why I say maybe he sold himself. This was a man who would hire people that would sell themselves to him for their keeping and for their provisions. It means sold.

Well, in Adam, we're sold into slavery, to sin, and death, and ruin. We're sold into the house, into the kingdom of darkness here. And then the son of Ammiel. Ammiel means my kinsman is God. My kinsman is God. And there's a blessed sight in this, because here's one who is of the family of God, who was sold into slavery, who can do nothing for himself, But thanks be to God, my kinsman is the kinsman, redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ, who by his blood, according to his grace and power and faithfulness unto the Father, came and redeemed me.

A man lame on his feet who could do nothing for God, yet he came and redeemed me, plucked me out of that death and ruin and slavery. He did that by his willing sacrifice unto the Father to obtain the pardon for my sins, to satisfy my debt, and to set me free from my bondage and ruin. He did that.

In Lodibar, means without pasture. Without pasture. And that is us in our estate in Adam, we may be the chosen sheep of God, chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world, but until he fetches us, we are in a place of no pasture. We're in a barren wilderness, a barren land with nothing good to feed upon, nothing to help us, nothing to do us any good.

Now, verse five says, then King David sent and fetched him out of the house of Maker, the son of Amiel, from Lodabar. And this is a picture of the grace of God and what he does in removing his lost sheep, who were redeemed by the blood of the lamb, willingly on the cross there, shedding his blood to atone for their sins, to purge us of our sins, to put them away forever. And he fetches us and brings us out of that kingdom of darkness and brings us into the kingdom of light of his dear son, where there's abundant pasture for the sheep. There's much to feed on in the Lord Jesus Christ. And then he is our shepherd. He leads us. He provides for us all that we need.

Now, when Mephibosheth was called of David, you can imagine how afraid he was. You can imagine he was terrified when he heard, David's calling you. Get your things, let's go. We're going up to Jerusalem. David's calling you. And he started getting things ready. And you can imagine the terrors and the thoughts that were going through his mind because he was of the house of Saul, an enemy, one who persecuted David.

And verse six says, now when Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the 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 it is a reminder of when the Lord deals with us. That first time, and when we go astray, and the Lord calls us to himself. And the fear that we have, that holy God has now turned his eye on me, and I'm a sinner. I'm the wretched sinner. I've rebelled against him. What's he going to say to me? Surely he's going to cast me in hell. Surely I don't deserve anything but hell and death and destruction. And we're made afraid. We're terrified. We're afraid of what the Lord might do because we know if he just looks in my heart, I'm a dead man. I'm a dead man. If he just proves me, what can I do? He's going to know all my sin. He's going to find me out to be a fake and a phony and a hypocrite and a liar and a deceiver.

and we're afraid. We're afraid, that is, until we hear the voice of the Son of God speak to us, speak peace to our hearts. Verse 7, David said unto him, fear not, fear not, don't be afraid any longer, Mephibosheth, for God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. That's why Christ came. That's why God deals with his lost sheep. It's to give them life. It's to cleanse their conscience of the guilt and shame of sin. It's to deliver us from that walk of death and darkness in the valley of the shadow of death, and to bring us into the light of his dear son.

where we will confess by his spirit and grace, God hath done this, God hath brought this in me, this hope in his son and given me a good hope and a sure foundation and a certain inheritance in his darling son, Jesus Christ.

And David gives him in speaking to him, three points, three promises here. First he said, I will surely show thee kindness for Jonathan thy father's sake. Well, like Mephibosheth here, brethren, we are received not for our sakes, not for our righteousness, but for Christ's sake, because he obtained forgiveness. He obtained our salvation. He has made us righteous by himself.

And second, he says, I'll restore thee all the land of Saul thy father. In other words, all that was lost in Adam, all the blessings, that fellowship with God, that peace with God and joy that Adam had when God created him, all that enmity is removed from us. It's been put away, and we are blessed to have that fellowship and peace restored unto us in and by the Lord Jesus Christ. We're reconciling him.

And he says, thou shalt eat bread at my table continually. Once we hear the voice of Christ, we follow him. It's his grace. It's his work. When He plucks us out, we are His, and we begin to follow Him, and He leads us in the way that we should go. He brings us into the inn of his people, of his house, and there he pours in the oil, and he cleanses the wounds, washes the wounds, and heals us, and feeds and nourishes his people continually who feed upon the body and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, where we are strengthened in the new man, encouraged, and have fellowship with one another, and are blessed in and by his spirit and giving of grace there to our hearts. Now, after that, there's a pure and a humble response. There's a sincere response wrought in us of his grace. and power here. And so we see this in Mephibosheth who upon hearing the gracious words of promise spoken to him from David says in verse 8 that he bowed himself and said what is thy servant that thou shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I am.

When Christ ministers that grace. When he pours his spirit upon us and ministers this grace in our hearts and shows us this kindness, this grace, this mercy, this love, we're in awe and amazement when we think of it. When we consider how kind, how merciful he is to us, and it brings out from us praise and worship of God. There's a true spirit in a right heart, and we thank him for all that he's done for me. Lord, what is man that thou dost take thought of him? What the son of man that thou considerest him? Like, who am I that you should think on me, on me?

And so you can imagine them that Mephibosheth after this, when he went out, went and told everybody what he did, right? He went around and told everybody what he told David. And said, I told him, you've got to give me my lands back, David. You're going to do this, and you're going to do this for me. We're going to get this straight. No, he didn't do that. He didn't go around talking about what he did. He went out and told everybody what David did for him. And that's what the child of God, when the grace of God is wrought in us, we boast of and speak of His grace. We speak of what He has done for me, for me. Not what I do for the Lord, but what the Lord has done for me in His grace and mercy. Because I'm unworthy, unworthy of it. And yet it pleases Him to do it for Christ's sake.

And on that point, Let's look at this fruitfulness that the Lord brings forth in his people. Let's go down to verse 9 and 10. Then the king called Ziba, Saul's servant, and said unto him, I have given unto thy master's son all that pertain to Saul and to all 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 way at my table."

And so who's bringing forth this fruitfulness from the land? Was it Mephibosheth? No, Mephibosheth wasn't tilling the land. Mephibosheth didn't plant. Mephibosheth didn't harvest or bring in those fruits. It wasn't what Mephibosheth was doing, and yet there was an abundance of fruitfulness there. There was an abundance of fruits for others to eat and be fed. An abundance of them.

Well, like Ziba here, in this chapter specifically here, so it is that we see the work and grace of our God to give us His Spirit, who tills the heart, gives us a new heart, and prepares the soil and strengthens, teaches, gives a new birth to the inner man and strengthens and teaches us in the inner man, encouraging us in the Lord Jesus Christ, making us abundantly fruitful, not that we feed on those fruits, but those fruits feed others. They bless and minister to the church. and to others who have yet to hear. That's what those fruits are for, for others. But us, we sit and minister. We feed at the king's table. We feed upon Christ. And he brings forth fruits of righteousness that serve and minister to others in the church and to others who he brings in our path and brings us across there. So it's his fruit, just like Paul said, but the fruit of the spirit. He doesn't say, but your fruit, what you bring forth. No, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. Against such, there is no law. Because we don't need the law of Moses when you have the Spirit of God. The Spirit teaches you. The Spirit brings forth these blessed fruits to feed others.

And just in that chapter there in Galatians 5, going on to verse 24 and 25, and they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. In other words, this flesh is dead. Just like the lame feet of Mephibosheth, who's not out there working the land, who's not out there bringing forth the fruits by his own strength, know the spirit in you. That's bringing forth the fruits. They're not coming from the flesh, by the strength and might of this flesh.

If we live in the spirit, let us also walk in the spirit. All that this flesh does is sin. It brings forth the works of death. And Paul is saying, you, brethren, you walk by faith in the spirit. Because the spirit's bringing forth fruit. The spirit is testifying. unto your souls that Christ is all, and that he's your Lord, and he gives us that heart, which is not of the flesh, but that heart of his grace that desires to minister that kindness, that comfort, that grace, and that love which has been shown unto us in Christ.

For of him, of God are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God has made unto us wisdom, righteousness and sanctification and redemption that according as it's written he that glorieth let him glory in the Lord." We glory in our Lord and so David, I like this, he repeats at the end of verse 11 what he said at the end of verse 10, as for Mephibosheth, he shall eat at my table as one of the king's sons.

And so we see there that having Mephibosheth there at David's table, it delighted him. It obviously delighted him. He wasn't ashamed about it because he kept repeating it over and over and over again. Mephibosheth is sitting at my table eating with my sons. I've adopted him. He's one of my sons now. He's my child. He's mine and he's going to eat with me forever.

And we see in that, brethren, that we have a better country. We have a better city whose maker and foundation is of God. It's of God. And so that's what we look toward. And it says, wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he hath prepared for them a city. God's given us. It delights our God. He's not ashamed. Just like David wasn't ashamed to have that Mephibosheth lame on his feet, at his table always.

Verse 13 says, So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem, for he did eat continually at the king's table, and was lame on both his feet. Even now, brethren, we are citizens of that heavenly Jerusalem, and we do continually feed upon the body of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And though in ourselves, in this flesh, we are, this flesh is sin, this flesh is sinful, it's corrupt, it's ruined, we're lame on both our feet. It hasn't improved, it hasn't done, We haven't gotten out there until nothing. We haven't brought in the harvest or the fruit ourselves, but we see here a sweet picture in David and Mephibosheth of the grace of our God and what he does for us unworthy sinners like Mephibosheth.

And so seeing that comfort, that grace, that love, that kindness, go and minister to one another in that same spirit. Amen.