But there is a story in the book
of 1 Samuel chapter 20 that is a favorite of God's people, a
story which illustrates God's covenant of grace concerning
the salvation of His people. As Christ said of the Old Testament
scriptures, He said, They are they which testify of me. Well, this Old Testament story
testifies, is the story of God's covenant grace in and with the
Lord Jesus Christ. Now, there are two men in this
story. Two men, David and Jonathan. Two men who loved each other
dearly, and they made a covenant with each other. Read with me
in 1 Samuel chapter 20. beginning with verse 15. Now,
Jonathan knows that David will soon be on his throne, reigning
and ruling. And Jonathan says to David in
verse 15, Thou shalt not cut off thy kindness from my house
forever. No, not when the Lord hath cut
off the enemies of David, every one from the face of the earth. So Jonathan made a covenant with
the house of David, saying, Let the Lord even require it at the
hands of David's enemy. And Jonathan calls David to swear
again because he loved him. He loved him as he loved his
own soul. So David swore because of the
love he had for Jonathan, that for Jonathan's sake, when David
came to his throne, that he would show kindness to a son or offspring
of Jonathan for Jonathan's sake. Now I hope you'll turn with me
or at least listen carefully to the book of 2 Samuel chapter
9. 2 Samuel chapter 9 is the fulfillment
of this promise that David made to Jonathan of this covenant.
Now this covenant, this covenant that we're speaking of and that
we just read about. This covenant represents the
eternal covenant of grace which God the Father, God Almighty,
God the Father made with His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. A covenant they made together
before the world began in which God the Father agreed to show
mercy, to love, to show grace, and salvation or kindness to
some of the sons of Adam for Christ's sake. Mercy, love, grace,
salvation, kindness, all in a covenant the Father made with the Son
for Christ's sake. All right, now this is the story.
David is now on the throne. He's reigning. He's reigning
and ruling. Now, the house of Saul was his
Enemy. Saul was his enemy and the sons
of Saul were his enemies. Now the house of Saul has been
destroyed except for some of Saul's sons. But they will soon
be destroyed as well. All of the enemies of David shall
soon be destroyed. And David is on the throne now
and he is thinking about his dearly beloved friend, his departed
friend, named Jonathan. And David remembers the covenant
he made with Jonathan, the covenant he and Jonathan made together,
and he calls to his servants. In chapter 9 of 2 Samuel, he
calls to his servants. Let's read verses 1 through 3. 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." 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, 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." This servant
named Ziba said, Jonathan has a son, but he's lame on his feet. He can't come. He'll have to
be brought here. He's lame on his feet. Now, this
son of Jonathan, whose name We'll read in a moment, whose name
is Mephibosheth. We find out that he became lame
back in chapter 4 of 2 Samuel. Chapter 4, verse 4, it says,
Jonathan, Saul's son, had a son that was lame on his feet. He was five years old when the
tidings came of Saul and Jonathan. That is, the news came that Saul
and his sons were killed, and a nurse took this boy in her
arms and began to flee. And it came to pass as she made
haste to flee that he fell and became lame. And his name was
Mephibosheth. Mephibosheth. He became lame
by a fall. He fell and therefore was lame
or crippled from that day forward. As a result of this fall, Mephibosheth
became lame. He was unable to walk, unable
to run, unable to come and go as he pleased from that day forward. And so it is. So it was and so
it is that we fell in our father, Adam. Scripture says very clearly
in Romans 5 verse 12, as by one man sin entered into the world. Sin, that is the consequences
of sin entered into this world by one man, Adam. our Father,
and we inherited his disease called sin. And the result of
it is death, death by sin, spiritual death. We are all born dead,
yes, dead in trespasses and sin. He goes on to say, ìSo death
passed upon all men, for that all have sinned, even those it
says in verse 14, who had not sinned after the similitude of
Adam's transgression. We're all born dead in sin, even
little children. David said, in sin did my mother
conceive me. So we're born with that spiritual
lameness or death in trespasses and sin. We're born sinners,
unable to walk with God, unable to come to God, yea, unwilling
to come to God. We are born enemies. This son
of Jonathan was a grandson of Saul, and therefore the enemy
of God. The deposed king was Saul, and
so therefore the enemy of David. And so, here is this man, lame
on his feet, an enemy of the king. But the king, King David,
who is rich in mercy and love and grace, purposed to save one
of these sons of Saul for his covenant's sake, for his covenant
with Jonathan. And God Almighty, Scripture says,
rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us, that is,
God's people. In Christ, God Almighty purposed
to show his mercy, his grace, his kindness for Christ's sake. Well, look at the story. 2 Samuel
9 verse 4 said, The king said unto this servant named Ziba,
Where is he? Where is this son of Jonathan?
And Ziba said unto the king, Behold, he is in the house of
Maker, the son of Amul in Lodibar. Now, the name Maker means a seller. Salesman. The name Amiel means
people of God. And the name or the town of Lodabar
means without pasture. Or it is as a sheep or cattle
who are without pasture. Now, can you picture this poor,
lame fellow in your mind's eye? Can you picture this poor, lame
fellow? He's in exile. He's one of the king's enemies.
And he's living in someone else's house, a man named Maker. He's living in a place called
Lodibar. Now, this is all of God's people
by nature. This is where God finds His people. This is what sin has done to
us. This is where sin brings us.
We're born lame, enemies of God, as Adam. supposed to be God's
people, and yet we have sold ourselves into sin. Living as
sheep without pasture. Yes, all God's people are His
sheep until they are His sheep, and always have been because
Christ was the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world.
He was a shepherd before there were sheep, and His people are
sheep But yet, until he finds them, they are without pasture,
as that prodigal was eating husks. So do his people live in sin
until he finds them. Now, Mephibosheth was not seeking
David. He was not calling on David for
mercy or kindness. He should have been, but he wasn't.
Maybe he didn't even like David. Well, he will when this story
is over. Maybe Mephibosheth, probably
Mephibosheth, thought he should be on the throne since he was
one of Saul's grandsons. But now David, David who is all-wise,
David who is loving, who is merciful, who is gracious, who is true
and faithful, David who is true to his word to Jonathan, true
to his covenant with Jonathan. David seeks him. David is the
one doing the seeking here, so it is with God Almighty, He does
the seeking. We don't call Him until He first
calls us. We don't love Him until we find
out He first loved us. We don't come to Him, He comes
first to us. God finds us. Verse 5, it says,
David sent and fetched Him out of the house of Maker, the son
of Amul from Lodibach. Fetched Him. We get some of our
old southern terms from scriptural words like this. Fetch Him. Now,
the word fetch means to take, to seize, to bring, to carry
away. That's what it means. And David
sent two of his mighty servants. David had many, but he sent one
or two of his mighty, powerful servants to fetch this man, bring
him to it. What if one of the servants said
to David, King David, what if the man's not willing? Fetch
him, I said. Well, what if he won't cooperate
with us? Now, can you imagine one or two
or even three of the mighty men sent by the most powerful king
on earth having trouble fetching one lame man? Huh? Not at all. That's foolishness. So they came
to where Mephibosheth was. It doesn't say they knocked on
his door. It doesn't say they asked anybody. But they laid
hold on him and fetched him and said, Mephibosheth, you're coming
with us to appear before the king. Now, salvation, people,
is in a word. Salvation is to be fetched by
order of the King. David said in the psalm, Thou
hast given commandment to save me. Salvation is for the sovereign
God to send His Word through His Spirit, who is His all-powerful
servant, to lay hold on, to fetch His people. Now, if Mephibosheth
didn't fear the King before, he does now. If he didn't know
King David before, he does now. And he brought in, in verse 6
says, Mephibosheth fell on his face and did reverence. None
of this talk about, I've decided to accept you, King David. I'm
going to make you my own personal king. Can you imagine such blasphemy? What would happen to him? His
head would roll. And so this man who feared the
king and bowed to him, this man who was fetched by the mercy
and grace of the king, David says to him, verse 7, Fear not,
I will surely show thee kindness for Jonathan thy father's sake,
and restore all the land of Saul thy father, and you will eat
bread at my table continually. To all who fear the Lord, the
gospel says, Fear not, I will show you kindness for Christ's
sake. Yes, everything is for Christ's
sake, and everything we lost in our father Adam is restored
to us for Christ's sake. That covenant God made with Christ
concerning his people before the world began. Well, I hope
this story was a blessing to you for God's glory. Amen. I don't know.