I want us to begin this morning
by looking at some history on David. I asked Brother Chris to read 2
Samuel 9, and that is our text. We're going to work our way up
to 2 Samuel 9, but I went back and I read and studied some history
on David. And it was a great blessing to
me. It was such a blessing to me. And I thought it would be
a blessing to you. So we're going to read it together.
We're going to do some reading this morning. Sometimes we do
more and sometimes we do less. We're going to do more today,
okay? Turn with me to Ruth chapter 4. It's before 1 Samuel. Ruth chapter 4. Now, we know the story of Ruth. She was a poor, widowed woman
from Moab who gleaned scraps in the field,
just what was left over, until this man Boaz her kinsman
redeemer, found her, and bought her, and married her. It all changed after that. Now look at chapter 4, verse
13. So Boaz took Ruth, and she was
his wife, And when he went in unto her, the Lord gave her conception,
and she bare a son. Now look at verse 17. And the women, her neighbors,
gave it a name, saying, There is a son born to Naomi, and they
called his name Obed. He is the father of Jesse. And Jesse is the father of David. That beautiful story of Ruth, the line of David. All right,
now go with me to 1 Samuel chapter 16. 1 Samuel 16 and look at verse 1. And the LORD said unto Samuel,
now Samuel was the priest. The LORD said unto Samuel, How
long wilt thou mourn for Saul, who was the king of Israel at
the time, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel?
Fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse,
the Bethlehemite, for I have provided me a king among his
sons." All right, so verse 6 says, and it came to pass when they
were come that Samuel looked on Eliab, Jesse's oldest son,
and said, surely the Lord's anointed is before him. But the Lord said
unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height
of his stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord seeth
not as man seeth. For man looketh on the outward
appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart. Then Jesse called
Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, Neither
hath the Lord chosen this, Then Jesse made Shammah to pass by,
and he said, Neither hath the Lord chosen this. Again Jesse
made seven of his sons to pass before Samuel. And Samuel said
unto Jesse, The Lord hath not chosen these. All your boys,
the Lord hadn't chosen them. Hadn't chosen them. Hadn't chosen
them. They're not chosen. It's God
who decides. Verse 11. And Samuel said unto
Jesse, Are here all thy children? And he said, There remaineth
yet the youngest, and behold, he is keeping the sheep. And
Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and fetch him, for we will not
sit down till he come hither. And he sent and brought him in.
Now 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." He's the one. Then Samuel took the horn
of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brethren. And the
Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up and went to
Ramah. The Spirit of the Lord left Saul. Saul was the king of Israel.
And the Spirit of the Lord left Saul and went to David. Alright, look at verse 14. But
the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit
from the Lord troubled him. Now a lot of people don't have
problems with evil spirits. The problem they do have is thinking
that the Lord is in control. It says, an evil spirit from
the Lord troubled him. It's God that does everything.
Everything. So what happened to Saul was,
This evil spirit troubled him. Troubled. He was troubled, troubled. And his servants said, let us
find you somebody who can play a harp. And when this evil spirit comes
to you, he'll play this harp for you and it'll settle your
soul. And it'll quiet everything down for you. And Saul said,
yeah, that sounds good. Go find me somebody who can play
a harp. Alright, now look at verse 18. Then answered one of the servants,
and said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse, the Bethlehemite,
that is cunning in playing, and a mighty, valiant man, and a
man of war, and prudent in matters, and a comely person, and the
Lord is with him. Wherefore Saul sent messengers
unto Jesse, and said, Send me David thy son, which is with
the sheep. And Jesse took an ass laden with
bread, and a bottle of wine, and a kid, and sent them by David
his son unto Saul. And David came to Saul, and stood
before him, and he loved him greatly. And he became his armor-bearer,
And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, Let David, I pray thee, stand
before me, for he hath found favor in my sight." That's what
Saul said. This boy David has found favor
in my sight. And it came to pass when the
evil spirit from God was upon Saul that David took in harp
and played with his hand. So Saul was refreshed and was
well, and the evil spirit departed from him. Alright, so David is
born. He's a keeper of sheep. He's
a shepherd. He's anointed by the priest to
be king. King of Israel. And he's brought
into Saul's house. A direct servant of Saul. Alright,
now look at chapter 17. Now the Philistines gathered
together their armies to battle. and were gathered together at
Shoko, which belongeth to Judah, and pitched between Shoko and
Azekah in Ephesdamim. And Saul and the men of Israel
were gathered together and pitched by the valley of Elah, and set
the battle in array against the Philistines. And the Philistines
stood on a mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on a mountain
on the other side, and there was a valley between them. So these Philistines line up
on a mountain. A whole mountain ridge. And Israel
lines up on another mountain. And there's a valley in between
them. Okay? Verse 4. And there went out a
champion out of the camp of the Philistines named Goliath. You ever heard of him? Goliath. whose height was 6 cubits
and a span. Now a cubit is 18 inches. It changed over the course of
time. They said it was 17 and a half
inches to 21 and a half inches. But about this time, it was 18
inches. And he was 6 cubits and a span.
6 cubits is 9 feet plus. So he's almost 10 feet tall,
this man. Verse 5, And he had a helmet of brass upon his head,
and he was armed with a coat of mail. And the weight of the
coat was five thousand shekels of brass, and he had greaves
of brass upon his legs, and a target of brass between his shoulders.
And the staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam. And his
spear's head weighed six hundred shekels of iron, and one bearing
a shield went before him. And he stood and cried unto the
armies of Israel, and said unto them, Why are you come out to
set your battle in array? Am not I a Philistine, and ye
servants of Saul? Choose you a man for you, and
let him come down to me. If he be able to fight with me,
and to kill me, then will we be your servants. But if I prevail
against him, and kill him, then shall you be our servants, and
serve us. And the Philistine said, ìI defy
the armies of Israel this day. Give me a man that we may fight
together.î When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the
Philistine, they were dismayed and they were greatly afraid. Saul and all of Israel was greatly
afraid, greatly afraid of this enemy. He said, ìSend one man, one man. to fight with me. And if you
lose, you belong to us. And if we lose, we belong to
you. Alright, now look at verse 32. And David said to Saul, David
said to Saul, let no man's heart fail because of him, Thy servant
will go and fight with this Philistine. And Saul said to David, Thou
art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him.
For thou art but a youth." You're just a kid. And he, a man of war from his
youth. And David said to Saul, Thy servant
kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion and a bear,
and took a lamb out of the flock. And I went out after him, and
smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth. And when he arose
against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew
him. Thy servant slew both the lion
and the bear, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of
them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God. David
said, Moreover, the Lord that delivered me out of the paw of
the lion and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me
out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go,
and the Lord be with thee. Saul said, You can't do this.
And David said, You watch me do this. Saul said, okay, go. George Whitefield
used to come to America and preach. And Benjamin Franklin used to
go listen to George Whitefield preach. And one of Benjamin Franklin's
friends said, why do you go hear that man? You don't believe what
he says. He said, you're right, I don't. But he does. He believes it. He's confident
in what he believes. He said, I'll listen to a man
like that. Saul told this man, David, you can't do this. David said, you watch me do this.
Saul said, okay, go. All right, look at verse 38. Saul
armed David with his armor, and he put a helmet of brass upon
his head. Also he armed him with a coat
of mail. And David girded his sword upon
his armor, and he assayed to go, for he had not proved it. And David said unto Saul, I cannot
go with these, for I have not proved them. And David put them
off. He loaded all this armor on David, and this sword on David. And David said, I've never used
these things. And he took it all off. I don't need all this. All right, verse 40. And he took
his staff in his hand. I'm going to take the staff to
this battle. He was a shepherd. He had a shepherd's
staff. Thy rod and thy staff. And he
chose him five smooth stones. And you know what I think those
five stones were? Total depravity. He brought unconditional election
with him. Limited atonement. Irresistible
grace. And perseverance of the saints.
He put them in his bag. He said, I'm going out with the
staff. And he took five smooth stones out of the brook, and
put them in a shepherd's bag which he had, even in a script,
and his sling was in his hand. And he drew near to the Philistine.
And the Philistine came on and drew near to David, and the man
that bare the shield went before him. And when the Philistine
looked about and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but
a youth and ruddy and a fair countenance. And the Philistine
said unto David, Am I a dog that you come at me with a staff,
with a stick? And the Philistine cursed David
by his gods. And the Philistine said to David,
Come to me and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air
and to the beasts of the field. I'm going to tear you apart. Then said David to the Philistine,
thou comest to me with a sword and with a spear and with a shield,
but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God
of the armies of Israel whom thou hast defied, this day will
the Lord deliver thee into my hand. And I will smite thee,
and take thine head from thee, and I will give the carcasses
of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the
air, and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth
may know that there is a God in Israel. Verse 47 says, And all this assembly
shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear, for
the battle is the Lord's. The battle is the Lord's. And He will give you into our
hands. And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose and came
and drew nigh to meet David, that David hasted and ran toward
the army to meet the Philistine. And David put his hand in his
bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine
in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead, and he
fell upon his face to the earth. So David prevailed over the Philistine
with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine and
slew him, but there was no sword in the hand of David." Now, David's a mighty man, isn't he?
He's a mighty man. All right, now we're getting
to 2 Samuel 9. This sets up 2 Samuel 9, okay? Verse 55. 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. And Saul said unto 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..." That's Saul's son. "...the soul of Jonathan
was knit with the soul of David. And Jonathan loved him as his
own soul." And Saul took him that day, and would let him go
no more home to his father's house. Then Jonathan and David
made a covenant. That's what happened after he
slew Goliath. And Jonathan saw this great man. His heart was knit to him, and
those two men made a covenant. Verse 3 says, Then Jonathan and
David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul.
And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him,
and gave it to David, and his garments even to his sword, and
to his bow, and to his girdle. He gave it all to David. Everything goes to David. Jonathan, Saul's son, his soul
was knit to David. Alright? This mighty man of God, But Saul became jealous of David
because they went back and all the people were so happy that
they beat the Philistines and they sang, Saul has slain his
thousands, David has slain his ten thousands. Saul was angry. He was jealous. All Israel loved David. So turn
to chapter 19. Verse 1 says, Saul spake to Jonathan
his son, and to all his servants, that they should kill David. But Jonathan, Saul's son, delighted
much in David. And Jonathan told David, saying,
Saul, my father seeketh to kill thee. Now therefore I pray thee,
take heed to thyself until the morning, and abide in a secret
place, and hide thyself. And I will go out and stand beside
my father in the field where thou art, and I will commune
with my father of thee, and what I see, that I'll tell thee." You go hide. You go hide. I'm going to talk
with my father about this and I'm going to tell you every single
thing he says. Everything he says. If any man loved father, mother,
husband, wife, daughter, son more than me, he's not worthy
of it. Not worthy of me. Chapter 20, verse 4 says, Then
said Jonathan unto David, Whatsoever thy soul desireth, I will even
do it for thee. Not my will, thine be done. Not my will, whatever you desire,
I'll do it. Verse 11, And Jonathan said unto
David, Come and let us go out into the
field. And they went out, both of them,
into the field. And Jonathan said unto David,
This is what Jonathan said unto David, O LORD God of Israel, When I
have sounded, or that means searched, my Father about, tomorrow, any
time, or the third day, and behold, if there be good toward David,
and I then send not unto thee, and show it thee, the Lord do
so, and much more to Jonathan." If my Father means you well,
and I don't tell you about it, then the Lord do more to me than
we thought was coming to you. Verse 13, the Lord do so, and
much more to Jonathan. But if it please my Father to
do thee evil, then I will show it thee, and send thee away,
that thou mayest go in peace, and the Lord be with thee, as
He hath been with my Father. And thou shalt not only while
yet I live show me the kindness of the Lord, that I die not.
Jonathan says, this is my covenant. I'll tell you everything He says.
And in return, I don't want you to kill me. Verse 15, But also
thou shalt not cut off thy kindness from my house for ever. 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 calls David to swear again, because he loved him,
for he loved him as he loved his own soul. Here's my covenant. I will tell you all that my Father
says. And in return, I'm asking that
you spare my life and spare the life of my family, my seed." So here's what he said he was
going to do. I'm almost done reading. I promise. Here's what
he said he was going to do. He told David, Three days. What a number. Three days. You go high. And there's going
to be a feast that you're supposed to attend, David. And when you're
not there, when your seat is empty, and my father asks where
you are, I'm going to tell him that you came and asked if you
could go to your father's house and worship. And if he's okay
with that, then I'll let you know. And if He's not okay with that,
if He gets angry, then we'll know He's going to kill you.
And here's how I'm going to let you know. I'm going to shoot
three arrows, and then I'm going to send a servant to go get them.
And when that servant runs out, if everything is okay, I'm going
to holler to that servant, the arrows are on this side of you.
as He's looking for them. That'll tell you it's okay to
come out of hiding. Come on in, all is well. But
if He's going to kill you, I'm going to holler to that servant,
the arrows are beyond thee. And that means run. He's going
to kill you. Alright? So they get to the feast. David's seat is empty. Saul says,
where's David? And Jonathan said, I let him
go to his father's house to worship. Verse 30, 1 Samuel 20, verse
30. Then Saul's anger was kindled against Jonathan. And he said
unto him, Thou son of the perverse, rebellious woman, do not I know
that thou hast chosen the son of Jesse to thine own confusion,
and unto the confusion of thy mother's nakedness? For as long
as the son of Jesse liveth upon the ground, thou shalt not be
established, nor thy kingdom. Wherefore now send and fetch
him unto me, for he shall surely Die. He's going to die. Verse 35, And it came to pass
in the morning, that Jonathan went out into the field, at the
time appointed with David, and a little lad with him. And he
said unto his lad, Run, find out now the arrows which I shoot. And as the lad ran, he shot an
arrow beyond him. And when the lad was come to
the place of the arrow which Jonathan had shot, Jonathan cried
after the lad and said, Is not the arrow beyond thee? And Jonathan
cried after the lad, Make speed, haste, stay not. And Jonathan's
lad gathered up the arrows and came to his master. But the lad
knew not anything, only Jonathan and David knew the matter. And
Jonathan gave his artillery unto his lad and said unto him, Go,
carry them to the city. And as soon as the lad was gone,
David arose out of the place toward the south and fell on
his face to the ground and bowed himself three times. And they
kissed one another and wept one with another until David acceded. And Jonathan said to 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, and
Jonathan went into the city." Now do we understand the life
of David? The covenant that was made between
his seed and Jonathan's seed. Saul spent the rest of his days
trying to kill David. And I'm not going to have you
turn anymore. But it says in 2 Samuel 1 that, verse 2 says, It came to
pass on the third day that, behold, a man came out of the camp. And
David said unto him, From whence comest thou? And he said, I'm
escaped out of the camp of Israel. Verse 4 says, And David said
unto him, How went the matters? I pray thee, tell me. And he
answered that the people are fled from the battle, and many
of the people also are fallen and dead. And Saul and Jonathan
his son are dead also. Jonathan is dead. Jonathan died. And it says in verse 11 that
David took hold on his clothes and rent them and likewise all
the men that were with him and they mourned and wept and fasted
until even for Saul and for Jonathan his son and for the people of
the Lord and for the house of Israel because they were fallen
by the sword. David loved Jonathan. And Jonathan
loved David. And their hearts and their souls
were knit together. And they had a covenant with
each other. And now, David, Jonathan, is dead. Jonathan is dead. Alright, now let's go to 2 Samuel
9. Wars have taken place, and wars
have taken place, and David has been now appointed king of Israel. Now look at this. You ready?
Here's the gospel. I've been preaching. I started
31 minutes ago, and I have not preached the gospel yet. Okay? Have not preached the gospel
yet. I've told you the truth, but
I haven't preached the gospel yet. Here's the gospel. Chapter 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? Saul was my enemy. Saul hated
me. Saul wanted nothing more in his
life than to kill me. Are there any of my enemies left
in his house that I may show kindness to for Jonathan's sake? Because I love Jonathan so much. Oh, I miss him. I love him. I love him. Verse 2, 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, Thy servant is he.
And the king said... David is now the king. The king said. There's no doubt
he's the king. He was declared to be the king.
He was anointed to be the king. He earned it. He deserves it. He's owed it. And the king said,
where the word of the king is, there is power. There's authority. There's sovereignty. There's
no council. There's no conference. There's no board of approval.
Whatever he says, it shall be done. 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? And Ziba said unto the king,
Jonathan hath yet a son which is lame on his feet. He's got
a son, but he's lame on his feet. He can't walk. He can't walk. He has a son,
but he can't come, King. He's lame on his feet. He can't do anything for himself.
He's worthless. He's useless. How'd he get that
way? When Jonathan and Saul died,
his nurse found out about it and fled, ran, and she dropped
him. He fell. That's how he became lame. He
fell. That's what happened to you and
me. We fell. In Adam, we fell. And now we
can't walk. We can't come. We can't do anything
for ourselves. We're useless. We're worthless. Look at verse 4. 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 Amael, in Lodibar. He's in the house of Maker. That
name means sold into slavery. That's what it means. He's sold
into slavery. He's held captive by another.
He's in the house of Maker, the son of Amael. He's down in Lodibar. That name means pastureless. There's no pasture there. Wednesday
night we looked at Psalm 23. Green pastures. Green pastures. Rest. Rest. He's in a place where there is
no rest. He can't do anything. He's sold into slavery. There
is no rest for him. No rest. Verse 5, Then King David
sent and fetched him out of the house of Maker, the son of Amael
from Lodabar. David said, You go get him. He
can't come. Go get him. The Lord told Moses,
I am come down to deliver thee out. I'm coming to where you
are. I'm coming to get you. He can't come. I'll go get him." Now picture this. Mephibosheth, bless his heart,
he's a bum. He's a bum. He's just sitting in a house.
He's crippled. He's crippled. He can't do anything.
He knows who he is. He knows he's the son of Saul.
Right? You know he was told the fact
that his grandfather was the king of Israel for a time. I thought about Prince William. Prince William. What if Prince
William was just William? In a gutter somewhere. And they
told him, son, there was a time when your grandmother was the
queen of England. You had it all. You ever seen
the crown jewels? And you lost it. You had it all
and you lost it. You know he was told that his
grandfather tried to kill the current king. He spent his days trying to kill
the current king. And he knew because of his flesh
and blood, the line he was born into, he was an enemy of the
king. That's who he was, an enemy of
the king. He was afraid of the king. Had
to be. This was a mighty king. And all
of a sudden, the king's soldiers barge into his house, and they
pick him up, and they say, you're coming with us. The king demands
to see you. The kingdom of David is at hand. At a time when he least expected
it. You're going to have to stand
before David. Now we are all sons of Adam. Adam had it all. We know what he did in the garden
to the high king, don't we? And we know because we're born
in Adam, because we're in His bloodline, we are by nature's
enemies of the King. Right? It is appointed unto men once
to die and then the judgment. The Kingdom of Jesus Christ is
at hand. We're going to have to stand
before this King. Well, verse 5 says, Then King
David sent and fetched him out of the house of Maker, the son
of Amael, from Lodibar. Can you imagine the terror he
was feeling? Can you imagine the terror he
was feeling? They got him, they pulled him
out, and now he's riding on the road to see David. He knows what's
coming. Can you imagine how confident
he was? David's going to kill me. David's
going to kill me. The whole ride over, one thing
consumed his mind. I'm an enemy of the king. What's going to happen to me
when I stand before this king? What's going to happen to me?
Verse 6 says, Now when Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son
of Saul, was come unto David, he fell on his face and did reverence. He fell down before this king.
That's the only hope a sinner has before this all-powerful
king. You know all those things that
happened to Job? All those things that happened to Job. It says
Job arose and rent his mantle and shaved his head and he fell
down upon the ground and worshipped. He fell down prostrate at the
king's feet. That's the only hope an enemy
of the king has. That's it. Verse 6 says, Now
when Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, was
coming to David, he fell on his face and did reverence. And David
said, Mephibosheth, and he answered, Behold thy servant. Speak, Lord,
thy servant heareth. You're high, I'm low, my life
is in your hands. The fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom. David said, Mephibosheth, and
he answered, Behold thy servant. And David said unto him, Fear
not." Fear not. Fear not. Mephibosheth, you're
of no use to me. You're no good to me. You've
done nothing for me, and I don't owe you anything. But, verse
7 says, I will surely show thee kindness for Jonathan thy father's
sake. Surely for Jonathan's sake. You have been accepted. for Jonathan's
sake, in the Beloved. Fear not. It's all because of
Jonathan. You are the recipient of mercy
because I made a promise to somebody else and his seed. It happened long before you ever
existed. You had no part in this. No part at all in this. Don't
be too proud of yourself. If you're going to glory, you
glory in Jonathan. Your life is spared for Jonathan's
sake. Do you know that every person
in the Lord Jesus Christ will hear the same words from the
High King of Heaven? Son of Adam, worthless enemy
of the throne, behold thy servant. Please don't kill me, Lord. Please
don't kill me. Fear not. I will surely show
thee kindness for Jesus Christ's sake. Don't you know Mephibosheth was
pleading Jonathan? Everywhere he went, everywhere
they took him, he said, I'm Jonathan's son. Yes, Jonathan. What right do you have to be
here? I'm Jonathan's son. Jonathan. When he came in the
room, Jonathan. You see, there was a covenant
made. There was a promise made. between my Father and the King. And the King is a man of His
Word. It will not return void, and
it shall not fail. I've received this reward on
the merit of another. You didn't do anything to earn
this? No. It was already done for me. It
was just freely given to me. I was just notified. They came
and got me and they picked me up and brought me here and I
stood before the judge and I was notified. Verse 7 says, David said unto
him, Fear not, 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. And
he bowed himself and said, What is thy servant that thou shouldst
look upon such a dead dog as I am? Then the king called to
Ziba, Saul's servant, and said unto him, I have given unto thy
master's son all that pertaineth to Saul and to all his house.
Thou therefore and thy sons and 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 always at my table." Now Ziba had fifteen
sons and twenty 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 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, and he was
lame on both his feet. Not only am I not going to kill
him, and not only am I going to feed him and provide for him,
But I'm going to adopt Him as my very own Son. Why, Jonathan? May we never be proud of mercy
and grace. Never. Never. As though we deserve it. Never. We're lame. We're still lame.
I'm lame. But we shall receive it. We shall. Why? Jesus Christ. That's why. It's all for Christ's
sake. It's all because of a covenant
that was made between our Father and the King. That's why. Alright,
stand together with me.