It is such an honor, oh, what
an honor, to be here, to be with you, a people that I'm convinced
the Lord has blessed, greatly blessed. I'm thankful for your
pastor. I pray that God bless here in
this congregation, in this day in which we're living, to the
calling out of his sheep. I pray that tonight the Lord
will bless all of us through his word. I need to hear from
God. I need to hear from the Lord.
I want to. I'd ask your pastor to read that
particular passage of scripture in 1 Samuel. And there was something
that especially caught my eye, my heart, and it was whenever
David had come back from the Lord's deliverance of Goliath
into his hand, and it was inquired by the king,
King Saul, who is this young man? And the scripture says that
Abner told the king, I don't know, I don't know. So he said,
well, get him and bring him and I want to talk with him. And
he came and stood before the king, and scripture says in the
57th verse of 1 Samuel 17, David returned from the slaughter of
the Philistines. Abner took him, brought him before
Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand. And he asked him,
who are you, young man? And he told him in that last
part of the 58th verse, I'm the son of thy servant, Jesse, the
Bethlehemite. And the scripture says, and it
came to pass, verse one, when he'd made an end of speaking
unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan, Saul's son, was knit with the
soul of David. The Lord just blessed it. It blessed it. He got through
speaking and the very heart of Jonathan was knit with the soul,
with the heart of David. And Jonathan loved him as he
loved his own soul. In verse three, then Jonathan
and David made a covenant because He loved him as his own soul. There was a promise that was
made, a covenant, a pledge. And the foundation of that pledge,
that covenant, was love. It was love. This is what has
knit us together. different families, different
parts of the country. But the Lord blessed those two
men and gave each of those men a love for the other one. And the scripture declares that
that bond, that covenant, David would come to love Jonathan and
Jonathan to love David more and more. And it was a bond that
just God kept. And then the scripture says over
in 1 Samuel chapter 20, turn over, 1 Samuel chapter 20, Things are appearing to be as
Jonathan knows they are. And in 1 Samuel 20, verse 14,
it says, Jonathan is speaking to them, they're out in the field
and Jonathan has told him, he said, I'm gonna talk to my dad
tomorrow and I'm gonna see how he feels. And whichever way it
goes, Jonathan is seeing and David knows that things between
David and Saul are not well. But love that has bound those
two boys together, Jonathan tells David, He said, I'm going to,
I'm going to let you know, I'll let you know what my dad says. He said that in verse 13, the
Lord do so and much more to Jonathan. If it pleased my father to do
the evil and I'll show with thee, send thee away that thou mayest
go in peace and the Lord be with thee as he has been with my father. And he said this, and thou shalt
not only while yet I live, show me the kindness of the Lord that
I die not. Jonathan knew. Jonathan knew. This is the way things are. It's
apparent that the Lord's gonna make you the king. And I'm gonna
ask you something. I'm gonna ask you something.
I'm gonna ask you that when the Lord does, I'm going to ask you
not only to show me kindness, the way that things were was
when a king would come in, a new king, come into power. The old
king and all of his family was destroyed. All rebellion's going
to be put down. He said, now, I'm asking you.
that thou shalt not only, verse 14, while I live, show me the
kindness of the Lord, that I die not, but also that 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 required at the hand of David's enemies.
And Jonathan calls David to swear again because he loved him for
he loved him as he loved his own soul. Jonathan said, David,
you're my friend and I love you. I know you love
me, and I'm gonna ask you something. When the Lord puts you on the
throne, would you remember me and remember my family?" And David said, I will, I will. Well, process of time, 1 Samuel 31, First Samuel 31, process of time,
Saul and Jonathan are killed. First Samuel 31 verses one to
six, 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 Malchashua, Saul's sons. And the battle went
sore against Saul. and the archers hit him, and
he was sore wounded of the archers. Then said Saul unto his armor-bearer,
draw thy sword, 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. And when the armor bearer saw
that Saul were dead, he fell likewise upon his sword and died
with him. So Saul died and his three sons
and his armor bearer and all his men that same day together. Now, David has become king. And the scripture says over in
2 Samuel, 4.4 that Jonathan had a son. 2 Samuel 4.4 it says, and Jonathan,
Saul's son, had a son that was lame of 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. Now, the passage I'd like to
deal with is 2 Samuel 9. I'd like to look at These 13
verses for just a few minutes. That's the history of what's
happened. That's how these two young men met each other. That's
how the Lord providentially caused their paths to cross. That's
how the Lord blessed the slaying of Goliath. God knit their hearts
together. These boys loved each other.
Process of time. Saul is killed, Jonathan and
David make a pact, a covenant, a pledge, promise. Love is the
foundation of their pact. And in this ninth chapter of
2 Samuel, we're gonna see a beautiful picture of the covenant of God's
grace to show mercy and compassion to some sinners chosen of God
from before the foundation of the world. Here's a beautiful
picture of this covenant of grace, this covenant of love. This is
the basis, this is the foundation. Almighty God is going to magnify
himself in showing us a glorious shadow and pictured type of what
happened with David and Jonathan's son, Mephibosheth. Now, David's become king, and
I tried to look, I wanted to know about how old was Mephibosheth. I know he was five years old,
because I just read it in 2 Samuel 4.4, he was five years old when
his nurse dropped him. legs were broken and became lame
on his feet. And just from my research as
closely as I could find, now this young man is about 13 years
old. He's just a young man, just a
young teenager. And here's David, and he's on
the throne. And it says in verse one of 2
Samuel 9, and David said, Is there yet any that is left
of the house of Saul that I may show kindness for Jonathan's
sake? Now, oh, what a beautiful picture. We cannot read that verse of
scripture except our heart fly to the covenant of God's grace
in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. And here's David, a beautiful
picture of the father. And here's the father, King David,
a picture of the father who has remembered, he remembered. How many times do you think his
mind went back to that? that feel that he and Jonathan
were in. They're out there talking, you
know, and they're talking just friend to friend, love for one
another, love to love. And Jonathan asked him, he said,
now, not only while I live, but would you show kindness to my
family? Will you remember my family? David said, I will. Now just
stop for just a minute. And let's just muse for just
a second. When the father, the father.
Here's a beautiful picture. I remember something Brother
Henry said one time, the picture, the picture, the type is never,
never perfect as the reality. And I know that, I know that. But as David remembers, I cannot
but help thinking God never forgets. He never forgets. Here's David
and he's musing, considering, is there yet, is there any? Is there any that's left of the
house of Saul that I may show him? I'm looking for one, I'm
looking for a particular family, I'm looking for a particular
child, I'm looking, is there any left of the house of Saul
that I may show him kindness for one reason, one reason. I love Jonathan. I love Jonathan. I'm gonna do
this for Jonathan's sake. And here's a beautiful picture
of the father. Is there any out of Adam's race, is there
any out of the race of Adam that I may show him kindness
for the sake of my son? who has everlastingly stood for
Him, that I've entered into a covenant of grace for a particular people,
chosen by the Father, given to the Son, and the Son who has
stood for Him, and the love that the Father has for the Son, and
the Son for the Father, and the promise and the requirements
for righteousness and justice and judgment answered by the
Son and the Father satisfied. Is there any left of the house
of Adam that for my son's sake, for my son's sake, only for my
son's sake, that I can show kindness Deuteronomy seven. I know therefore
that the Lord, thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which
keepeth covenant. That is that guards that gives
heed that observes the pledge that keepeth covenant and mercy
with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand
generations. David remembered. He remembered. I think about
that thief on the cross. I just say the word remember. I think about that thief asking,
Lord, when you enter into your kingdom, would you remember me
today? Thou shalt be with me in paradise.
David remembered a covenant that he'd made with his friend, Jonathan.
Jonathan was written on his heart. He remembered, remembered his
friend. It's that sweet remembrance of
all that had been promised. And David's now, he's come, he's
just thinking, is there any left? Is there anybody out there? I
think about the remembrance, having Jonathan on his heart,
I was reading back in Exodus 28, and it was talking about
the breastplate of the high priest. There was four rows of three,
one, two, three, one, two, three, one, two, three, one, two, three,
12 stones, and it had the names of all the tribes of Israel written,
and that high priest would go in, and all that he represented
were accepted. That high priest being a picture
of our glorious great high priest. And we enter into the very presence
of God in him, accepted. And here's the remembrance. Jonathan's
on the heart of David, as the people of God are on the heart
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 2 says in chapter 9, and
there was of the house of Saul a servant whose name was Ziba.
And when they had called him unto David, the king said unto
him, Art thou Ziba? And he said unto him, Thy servant
is he. Now here's one. It knows the
answer. I can see Ziba is a beautiful
picture of the spirit of God. I see the type, the figure. And
so Ziba now in our scriptures standing before the king and
David makes this inquiry to this one Ziba. And here's the inquiry,
but I want you to notice the difference in the verse three. Listen to the wording, verse
three, there's a difference. In verse one, he said, is there
any that is left of the house of Saul that I may show him kindness
for Jonathan's sake? Listen to the wording, 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. Is there
not yet any of the house of Saul that I may show the kindness
of God? Not only would David not avenge
the house of Saul, but rather I'm going to show the kindness
of God for the for the glory of the kindness of God that shows
mercy to undeserving sinners. David was gonna show mercy. Whoever
it was, whoever it was that was of the house of Saul for Jonathan's
sake, I'm gonna show him mercy. David knew something about mercy.
God had shown mercy to this one. God's mercy moved him to desire
mercy for the house of Saul for the sake of Jonathan. That bond
of love just overrode. Yeah, but you don't know what
Saul has done to... You don't know what Saul did
to David. You don't know how Saul pursued him. He threw a
javelin at him. Love overrode, it just covered
a multitude of sin. It wasn't even up for consideration
what Saul had done to him. I love his son. I love Jonathan. And for Jonathan's sake, Luke
6, 36, listen to this. Be ye merciful, even as your
father is merciful. You know, when we've received
mercy from the Lord, our hearts ought to be soft and merciful
toward others, show them mercy. And he asked in verse three,
is there yet not 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. There's
one boy, one boy. There's one boy, and he's a cripple. He's a cripple. Not really good for much. He
can't walk. He's just not able to do anything
for himself. He's just a cripple. Oh, what a picture of those to
whom God shows mercy. What a picture of every child
of promise, all that God's ever loved in Christ, fell in Adam,
and from that fall, spiritually crippled, spiritually dead, spiritually
impotent, helpless in ourselves to walk before God, to please
God. And with the revelation of Jonathan's
lame son, Ziba relates where he is. It says in verse four,
and the king said unto him, where is he? And Ziba said unto the
king, behold, he's in the house of nature, the son of Amiel in
Lodibar. As I read that, I began to Think
about how exactly the Spirit of God moved upon the writer
to say exactly where that boy was. Where is he? Where is that
boy? Well, he's in nature. He's in nature. He's in the house
of nature. Mature means sold, sold as merchandise
or sold as a slave. Where is that boy? He's just,
he's a cripple and he's just all bound up. Paul says in Romans
7, 14, for we know that the law is spiritual, but I'm carnal,
sold under sin, sold as a slave to sin. Where is that boy? He's
in bondage, Obi, and he can't get out. He can't get out. Where is he? Well, he's in nature. The son of Amiel. The son of
Amiel. I looked up that word, Amiel,
and it's my kinsmen is God. My kinsmen is God. The people
of God. Where is that boy? Well, he's
bound up. He's bound up, sold in sin, crippled. He can't get out. He's bound
up. But here's who he is. He's one of God's. He's one of
God's. One of the Lord's. Born in a
state of bondage to sin, but he's still, he's an object of
God's mercy. That's where he's at. Where is
he? He's in Lodibar. Without pasture. Without pasture. This is where God finds his people.
cripples, spiritual cripples, sold under sin, objects of his
mercy, without a shepherd, without a pasture. Verse five, David sent and fetched
him. You go get him, you go get him. He can't come, he can't come
himself. He's bound up, crippled, but he's an object of my mercy
for the sake of my friend. All of God's sheep, they're bound
up in the bondage of sin, they're spiritual cripples, they can't
get out, they're not getting out, and the only way they're
gonna get out is God fetches them. God gets them, they're
mine. and love for my son demands that
they be brought. You go get him, go get him. Here's a beautiful picture of
the father making his goodwill and pleasure known according
to his covenant, covenant of God's grace. When it pleases
God, The Lord's gonna send a preacher and he's gonna preach the gospel.
The gospel that's the power of God. And there's that, the fetching
power of God. To get his own. He knows who
they are. He knows where they are. He knows
the state that they're in. But they're here, they're mine,
they're mine. My son paid for them. Bought them. Shed his blood
for them. and my love for my son and my
love for them because of my son. Go get him. He sent him and he
fetched him. I looked up fetch. I knew what
it meant. I just wanted to see it. He seized
it. Captured him. This is what the
Lord does for his own. He came to seek and to save that
which was lost, to save His people from their sins, came to finish
the work that the Father had given Him. This is the will of
my Father, which has set me, that of all that He's given me,
I should lose nothing, but should raise it up the last day. In
the Spirit of God, when it pleases God, the Holy Spirit comes where
they are. Where are they? They make you bound up. In Amiel, they're objects of
my mercy. You get them. That without a
shepherd in a pastorless place, the Spirit of God crosses their
path, removes that heart of stone,
gives them a heart of flesh, gives them a new spirit, makes
them willing in the day of God's power. brings him to himself. All that
the Father giveth me shall come to me. And him that cometh to
me, I will in no wise cast him out. Verse six and seven. 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 will restore
thee all the land of Saul thy father, and thou shalt eat bread
at my table continually. This is what David did when he
received that boy. I love when he did the first
thing to call his name. I know my sheep, that's what
the Lord said. I call them by name. I know them and they follow
me. Mephibosheth. He fell on his face. He did reverence. And David told him, said, don't
be afraid. Don't be afraid. Listen, I will surely show thee
kindness For your father's sake. I knew your father. I know who
your father was. He was my friend, I loved him.
He loved me. And we were knit together. The
heart of a believer when he realizes and contemplates And truly, we
don't know how to be thankful. I don't know how to be thankful.
How many times have I said this? I don't know how to be. I want
to be thankful. I want to be appreciative. And
I don't know how to be. And then just trying to be. Lord, I am thankful. Like Peter, Lord, you know all
things. Lord, ask him three times, you
love me. feed my sheep, you love me, feed my lambs, you love me,
feed my sheep. Ask him that third time and Peter
was grieved because he asked him and he said, Lord, you know
all things, you know I love you. I'm gonna be kind to you, I'm
gonna show you mercy and kindness for your father's sake and I'm
gonna restore all the land of Saul thy father and I shall eat
bread at my table continually. all that Mephibosheth had lost
when his grandfather was killed, all that we lost in Adam's fall, David was going to restore. The
Father, for the sake of Christ, was going to give back all that
we lost in the fall In Adam's fall, what did we lose? We lost
the glory, the beholding of the glory of God. Adam walked with
God, talked with God. There was fellowship. And when
he ate of that fruit, that forbidden fruit, he hid himself. He was
where Mephibosheth was. He died. The Lord told him in
the day, you're gonna die. lost his innocence, lost his
happiness, his peace, his fellowship, lost his life. He died. All that he lost. And David said,
for your daddy's sake, for Jonathan's sake, the father says, for Christ's
sake, I'm gonna Restore all that was lost. The Lord Jesus Christ
said this in Psalm 69, for they that hate me without a cause
are more than the hairs of mine head. They that would destroy
me being mine enemies wrongfully are mighty. Then I restored that
which I took not away. He's the foundation of restoration
of what we have. In him, everything that you lost,
David told Mephibosheth, from your grandfather, everything
we lost in Adam's fall, the father restores in Christ and for Christ's
sake. In verse eight, the scripture
says concerning Mephibosheth, he bowed himself and said, what
is thy servant that thou should look upon such a dead dog as
I am? How is it, how is it that you
can look upon me and show kindness to me? How
is it? I love your daddy. Father says to every object of
his mercy, I love my son. This is my beloved son in whom
I'm well pleased and as he has stood for you and answered for
you and paid your debt and robed you in his righteousness. I love you. I'll show you mercy
for my son's sake. I can only imagine every time
David looked at that boy. Every time he put his hand on
that boy, he saw his daddy. Every kindness shown to every
vessel of God's mercy is for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ
only, only. How is it, how is it that you
should look with mercy and compassion on such a dead dog as I am? For the love of Christ that the
Father has. David's heart stirred for Jonathan,
for that covenant. And when David looked upon Phibosheth,
he saw Jonathan. He said, you are a picture, you're a picture of
your daddy. You look, I see him when I see
you. And I'm so thankful. that the
Father would look upon an unworthy vessel and for the sake of Christ. This is all my hope. Can you
imagine? I think about that passage over
in 2 Samuel. Just turn over. I'm almost done.
I'm going to just read a few more verses. 2 Samuel 23. And here's 2 Samuel 23. And here's
David and Jonathan. They'd made a covenant. And here's
all the covenant, Jonathan out in that field. It says as soon
as he met David, David came over there after he killed Goliath,
he had Goliath's head in his hand. And the scripture says
in chapter 18, verse three, and they covenanted together. There
was a covenant, but all the details, the details of the covenant was
made out there in that field. They made all the details. Now,
Jonathan kind of laid out, you know, this is what, not only
while I'm alive, but also after I'm gone. Would you remember
the details? It was all, you know, the covenant,
you know, was made sure. David, 2 Samuel, chapter 23,
verse five, although my house be not so with God, yet he made
with me an everlasting covenant Ordered in all things, ensure. Ordered in all things. I thought
about when Jonathan said, now you and I, we're in covenant
agreement here. But here's the, let's get all
these things ordered, ensure. Not only while I'm alive, but
also would you remember my house forever? I will. He hath made
with me. An everlasting covenant ordered
in all things and sure, this is all my salvation. Here's all my salvation. That God, for the sake of Christ,
has made a promise to me for the sake of Christ, for the honor
of his son, for the glory of his son, for the suffering of
his son, to show mercy to this dead dog like me. This is all
my salvation and all my desire, although he make it not to grow.
I'm gonna just read back in 2 Samuel 9, I'm gonna just read verses
9 to 13 and make a couple of comments, I'm done. 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 his house. Thou therefore 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
Mephibosheth thy master's son shall eat bread all way at my
table. Now Ziba had 15 sons and 20 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. And Mephibosheth had a young
son whose 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. Now I'm gonna
just stop there, just a second. Everything that Mephibosheth
needed was provided. My God shall provide all your
need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus." Everything
that this boy needed right here for the sake of Jonathan, for
the sake of Christ, all that we need. God has graciously provided
all spiritual blessings in heavenly places, in Christ, all that we
need, everything He needs. I'm restoring everything to you
and you're gonna be taken care of. You're gonna sit with me
and you're gonna eat at my table. You're gonna be right here with
me. Last part of that last verse.
and was lame on both his feet. Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem,
for he did eat continually at the king's table, and for the
rest of his life, he was still lame on his feet. He couldn't do anything. With
all the blessings, God still took care of him because he couldn't
take care of himself. The Lord's gonna bring all of
his people to see all that you need, I provide in my son, but
you're never gonna forget, you still can't do anything for yourself.
And for that, I'm thankful. I'm thankful. I pray God bless
this to our hearts for his glory and our good. Amen.