For me his precious blood he
shed, for me his life he gave. I need no other argument, I need
no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died,
and that He died for me. Y'all may be seated. I don't see any new folks here,
so Brother Dave, it's so good to have you with us. I pray the Lord will bless the
preaching this morning. Turn with me, if you would, to
2 Samuel 9, where our brother just read. 2 Samuel 9. As we just saw a moment ago, David and Saul's son, Jonathan,
their souls were knit together. God that knit the souls of those
two men together. One in heart, one in purpose,
one in soul. And they made a covenant with
each other to preserve the life of their house. And that's exactly what God the
Father and God the Son did for their house. They made a covenant. They made
a covenant unto life. This covenant that David and
Jonathan made, it was made privately between the two of them. Just
between the two of them. And it was made long before a
man named Mephibosheth, who was Jonathan's son. It was made long
before he was ever born. So naturally, he didn't know
anything about it. It was made privately and long
before he was ever born. The same thing happened between
God the Father and God the Son concerning their covenant. They
made it privately. It was between the two of them. And they made it before the foundation
of the world, before any of their house was ever even born. Don't
turn over there, but Ephesians 1 tells us that. Verse 4 says,
according as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation
of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before
Him in love. 2 Thessalonians 2 tells us that. Verse 13 says, God has from the
beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the
Spirit and relief of the truth. Hebrews 13 tells us that. Verse 20 says, Now the God of
peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that
great shepherd of the sheep, Through the blood of the everlasting
covenant. Everlasting in both ways. So just like all of God's people
before they are notified. The gospel message, here's the
reason we preach the gospel. Why do we preach the gospel?
It's because this is the notification of good news. That's what the
gospel message is. The gospel is good news. Now, for sinners, the truth is
horrible news. But the Gospel is good news. And just like all of God's people
before they are notified, Mephibosheth is a vessel of mercy and he doesn't
even know it. He has no idea. Verse 1 says,
and David said, Is there yet any that is left of the house
of Saul that I may show him kindness." That word kindness translates
mercy. 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. And the king said unto him, Where
is he? And Ziba said unto the king,
Behold, he is in the house of Makar, the son of Emel in Lodebar. David is now the king on the
throne. God has made him to be the sovereign
ruler of the kingdom. And it was the custom back then,
most all the commentaries said that it was the custom back then,
this was the common practice, if a king took over who was not
of the current family, If it was not the son of the reigning
king, when the new king came in, if it was a new family name,
a completely new family, the new king would slay all of the
men in the family line of the old king. All the sons, grandsons,
nephews, he would slay them all. So that no rebellion could be
started. No one could come up and say,
no one could go through the kingdom and start telling people, I'm
the rightful heir of this throne. You're not happy with how things
are being run? I'm really the rightful heir of this throne.
I'm sure Mephibosheth knew of that practice. I know he did. There's a verse of Scripture
after I wrote, I'm sure Mephibosheth knew of that practice. I read
a verse of Scripture that told me I know he did. That's probably
why he was sitting down in Lodibar. Mephibosheth's grandfather was
the king. His father was the heir to the
throne. That made him second in line. But now he's lost it all. He's
completely broke and he's down in a place called Lodibar. That
name means not a pasture. Pastureless. That's where this
man is. He's lost. He's empty. And not only that, he is lame
on both of his feet. He is such a picture of you and
me. He's such a picture of us in
the flesh. We are lost. If God leaves us
to ourselves, we're so lost. If He takes His hand off of us
for one moment, we're so lost. And all of us know we're empty.
If we belong to Him, we do. In this flesh, we're so empty.
We're so unable to do anything to change our condition. We're
lame before God. We cannot come to Him. This is
what He said, Come unto Me, all you that labor and are heavy
laden, and I'll give you rest. There's not a soul in this room
who can come to Him. Not on His own. Not in the flesh. We are completely lame before
Him. How did Mephibosheth become lame? Look with me at 2 Samuel
4. 2 Samuel 4, verse 4. And Jonathan, Saul's son, had
a son that was lame of his feet. And here's how it happened. 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. He became lame through a fall.
And so did we. So did we. By one man, sin entered
the world. And death by sin. And so death
has passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. When Adam
fell in the garden, every son of Adam and every daughter of
Adam fell in him. In Adam, all died because of
that fall. Mephibosheth fell. That caused
him to be a lame, broken, empty outcast in a pasture-less city
called Lodibar. Well, unbeknownst to Mephibosheth,
David the King said back in our text, if you go back to 2 Samuel
9, verse 1, David said, Is there yet any
that is left of the house of Saul that I may show him kindness
for Jonathan's sake? Not his own sake. For Jonathan's
sake. And if any lost, broken, empty,
outcast sinner Receives mercy from the king on the throne.
It will only be for Christ's sake. Not for the sinner's sake. Only for Christ's sake. Look
with me at Romans chapter 8. Romans 8 verse 29 says, For whom
He did foreknow, that word means elect, He also did predestinate
to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be
the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom He did predestinate,
them He also called, and whom He called, them He also justified,
and whom He justified, them He also glorified. What shall we
then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? He that spared not His own Son,
but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also
freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies. Who
is He that condemneth? It is Christ that died. Yea,
rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand
of God, who also maketh intercession for us." Verse 1 says, There
is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. Why not? It's because He fulfilled
His covenant to His Father. He died. Who is He that condemneth? It is Christ that died. Christ fulfilled His end of the
covenant. Therefore, His Father will too. Look with me to Ephesians 4. Ephesians 4 verse 32 says, And be ye kind one to another,
tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's
sake hath forgiven you." God has not forgiven us for our
sake. He has forgiven us for Christ's
sake. It's for His covenant's sake.
It's because of what he swore by. He has forgiven us because
of what he swore by. What did he swear by? Turn with
me over to Hebrews 6. Hebrews 6. I love this verse
of Scripture. Verse 13. For when God made promise to
Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he swore by himself. He swore to himself. We don't
do that, do we? We don't do that. We don't say
that. Because we can't keep it. But
he can. He said, I swear. He swore by himself. Verse 14,
saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I
will multiply thee. And so after he had patiently
endured, he obtained the promise. For men verily swear by the greater,
and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. You want peace? A covenant is
made. Verse 17, wherein God, willing
more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability
of His counsel, the unchangeability. He will not change it. Being
willing to show that, He confirmed it by an oath. that by two immutable
things, unchangeable things, in which it was impossible for
God to lie, we might have a strong consolation who have fled for
refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us, which hope we
have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and
which entereth into that within the veil, whither the forerunner
for us is entered, even Jesus, made in high priest forever.
after the order of Melchizedek. He swore by himself. Therefore,
he can't go back on it. It cannot be undone. It must
be fulfilled. David said, because Jonathan
has died, the one whom my soul loves and is knit to, the one
whom I made a covenant of mercy with, because he has died, mercy
is going to be shown. Go back with me to 2 Samuel 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? 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. And the
king said unto him, Where is he? And Ziba said unto the king,
Behold, he is in the house of Makar, the son of Amel, in Lodibar. Then king David sent and fetched
him out of the house of Makar, the son of Amel, from Lodibar. And that's what God does for
all of His lame, broken, empty people. Every one of them. He sends His Spirit to go get
them. Every one of them. He sends His
Spirit out and He calls them to Himself. Verse 6, Now when
Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, was come unto
David, He fell on his face and did reverence. The fear of the
Lord is the beginning of wisdom. That is such wisdom. Mephibosheth
thinks he's about to be slain. So he falls down on his face
crying for mercy. That's what all recipients of
the covenant do. You want to know how you can
tell who is a recipient of the covenant? All of them fall down
on their face crying out for mercy. All of them. They know what they are by nature. They know that they are the natural
enemy of the king. They know that. They know that
he has the ability and the right to do with them whatever he's
pleased to do with them. Therefore, they do not lift so
much as their eyes unto heaven, but they smite upon their breasts,
crying, God, be merciful to me." Verse 6, 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, the call from the king is a very,
very, very particular call. How will I know if God ever calls
me? Oh, you'll know. Yeah, you'll
know. This is not a general call. This is a very particular and
very personal call. He said, Mephibosheth, I'm speaking
directly to you. The end of verse 6, 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." Can you see that man? He won't lift up so much as his
eyes. He has his head down and he's listening to this thinking,
what? What? I thought you were going to kill
me. Would you please say that again?
Did I hear you correctly? You're going to show mercy to
me? You're going to show kindness to me? David said, yes, I am. Not because of you. Not because of anything you've
ever done for me. Not because of anything you ever
could do. But because of a covenant I made
with one man, one particular man. Because of this one man,
for his sake, I'm going to show kindness to
you. For His sake, I'm going to restore to you everything
you lost. And I'm going to reserve you
a spot at My table, and I'm going to feed you all the days of your
life. And is that not God's gospel
message? To every one of His chosen sinful
people, for His sake, I'm going to show kindness to you. Do you
ever hear the gospel and think, this is too good to be true?
What? A joint heir with Him? I'm going to show kindness to
you. I'm going to restore everything
you lost to you. And you have a reserved seat
with your name on it at my table for all of eternity. Verse 8, And he bowed himself
and said, What is thy servant, that thou shouldest look upon
such a dead dog as I am? That's what this sinner right
here says concerning God's covenant of
mercy toward me. That's what all of God's people
say who hear of this covenant. What is thy servant? that thou
shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I am. Verse 9, Then the king called
to 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. Now
therefore in 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 was lame on both of his feet." Still lame. It started out saying he was
lame, and it ended saying he's still lame. At the end of the
day, he's only a sinner saved by grace. That's it. Never did he forget who he was. Never did he forget where he
came from. Never did he forget on whose
right it was that he was there. Never. You've heard the story
so many times. Someone asked a man named John
Jasper, if you find yourself standing at the gates of heaven
and the question is asked to you, what right do you have to
be here? What will be your answer? John
Jasper said, my answer will be, I have no right to be here. I'm
not here on my right. I'm here on the right of another.
Christ Jesus, my Lord. I'm just a sinner under the covenant
of His blood. That's all I am. My only plea
is that He loved me and washed me from my sin in His own blood. The only thing I have to say,
my only plea, is that He bought my right. Bought my inheritance. Made me to be a joint heir with
Him. Mephibosheth sat at that table as one of the king's sons.
A joint heir. And I'm done, I promise. Just
one more second here. After all that kindness was shown
to him, How do you think that caused him to feel toward David? What do you think was in his
heart every time he looked at David? What do you think he felt? What do you think David meant
to him? Do you think all of that kindness
and all that mercy caused him to love David? After Absalom, David's son, I'm
sure you know that Absalom rebelled against his father, David, and
he caused all of Israel to turn against David. David had to flee
for his life. And as David was packing up,
Mephibosheth told Ziba, I want you to get food, I want
you to get wine, and I want you to saddle me a horse. I'm going
with my king. If he's leaving, I'm leaving. Ziba did everything Mephibosheth
told him to do, but he didn't take Mephibosheth. He left him. And he went with all that stuff
to David. Look at chapter 16. 2 Samuel 16. And when David was a little past
the top of the hill, behold, Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth
met him with a couple of asses saddled, and upon them two hundred
loaves of bread, and a hundred bunches of raisins, and a hundred
of summer fruits, and a bottle of wine. And the king said unto
Ziba, What meanest thou by these? And Ziba said, The asses be for
the king's household to ride on, and the bread and summer
fruit for the young men to eat, and the wine that such as be
faint in the wilderness may drink. And the king said, And where
is thy master's son? Where's Mephibosheth? And Ziba
said unto the king, Behold, he abideth at Jerusalem, for he
said, Today shall the house of Israel restore me the kingdom
of my Father." Ziba lied and said, He turned on you. Verse 4, Then said the king to
Ziba, Behold, thine are all that pertaineth unto Mephibosheth.
Everything he has, you can have it. I'm giving it to you. And
Ziba said, I humbly beseech thee that I may find grace in thy
sight, my Lord, O King. And they left. And David was
in hiding. And David was at war. And he
was gone for quite a period of time. But when David finally
came back, it says in chapter 19, Chapter 19, verse 24, And Mephibosheth,
the son of Saul, came down to meet the king, and had neither
dressed his feet, nor trimmed his beard, nor washed his clothes
from the day the king departed until the day he came again in
peace. He was so heartbroken. He'd lost
his all. He'd lost his everything. And he was in such mourning for
the one he loved, he just couldn't bring himself to dress his feet,
trim his beard, or wash his clothes. He was just too sick with love. Verse 25, And it came to pass,
when he was come to Jerusalem, to meet the king, that the king
said unto him, Wherefore wentest not thou with me, Mephibosheth?
Why didn't you go with me? And he answered, My lord, O king,
my servant deceived me. For thy servant said, I will
saddle me an ass, that I may ride thereon and go to the king,
because thy servant is lame. And he hath slandered thy servant
unto my lord the king. But my lord the king is as an
angel of God." He said, you're like an angel of God to me. Do
therefore what is good in thy eyes. Whatever you want to do
with me, you're right and just. For all of my father's house
were but dead men before my Lord the King." That's that verse
of Scripture. We were all supposed to be dead
men. Yet didst thou set thy servant among them that did eat at thine
own table. What right, therefore, have I
yet to cry any more unto the King? And the King said unto
him, Why speakest thou any more of thy matters? I have said,
Thou and Ziba divide the land. I have given him half of everything
you own. And Mephibosheth said unto the
king, Let him have it all. Let him take it all. For as much
as my lord the king is come again in peace unto his own house. He said, I just want you. Let
him have it all. That's what the covenant of God's
grace and God's mercy produces in the heart of the sinner. Everything
else is nothing and you are all. The last time His name is mentioned,
it proves to us that what God does is forever. It's forever. His covenant of mercy is an everlasting
covenant. Ordered in all things, ensure.
There was a three year famine in the land. And David inquired
of the Lord as to why the famine was there. And the Lord said,
it's because of Saul. It's because he slew the Gibeonites.
So David went to the Gibeonites and he said, what would you like
for me to do for you to make an atonement for this sin that
has been committed against you? Look at chapter 21. We'll close
with this. He said, what do you want me
to do that this atonement might be made? And they said, we want
seven of His sons. Sons, grandsons, whoever. We
want seven of His sons to hang before the Lord and all of Gibeah. Chapter 21, verse 6. Let seven
men of His sons be delivered unto us And we will hang them
up unto the Lord in Gibeah of Saul, whom the Lord did choose. And the king said, I'll give
them. You give us seven of his sons.
And David said, I'll give them right to you. Verse 7, But the
king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul,
because of the Lord's own that was between them, between David
and Jonathan the son of Saul. David said, not Mephibosheth.
Why not, David? He's just as deserving as the
rest of them. Yeah. But I made a covenant. I made
a covenant with Jonathan. And for Jonathan's sake, not
a hair on his head is going to be touched. And for every soul who is in
Christ, God the Father says the same thing. He says, I made a
covenant. Yes! But I made a covenant. I made a covenant with Christ.
And for Christ's sake, not a hair of their head is ever going to
be touched. In the same way that Mephibosheth
never forgot that covenant, throughout all eternity, never will we. Throughout all eternity, we're
going to be crying, thank God for the covenant. Thou art worthy. Why? Because thou was slain. That
was your part of the covenant. And you redeemed us to God by
your blood. And we say it now. And we'll
say it then. That's the believer's cry. Thank
God for the covenant. Alright, Brother John. Alright, let's all stand and
turn to number 272. 272. Sing all verses. My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest
frame, Holy League on Jesus' name. On Christ the solid rock
I stand. All other ground is sinking sand. All other ground is sinking sand. When darkness fails his lovely
face, I rest on his unchanging grace. In every high and stormy
gale, My anchor falls within the veil. On Christ the tallest
rock I stand, All other ground is sinking sand, All other ground
is sinking sand. His oath is power, but not His
blood Support me in the whelming flood When all around my soul
gives way He then is all my hope and say On Christ the solid rock
I stand, All other ground is sinking sand, All other ground
is sinking sand. When He shall come with trumpet
sound, O may I then in Him be found, Rest in His righteousness
alone, Faultless to stand before the throne. On Christ the solid
rock I stand, All other ground is sinking sand. All other ground
is sinking sand. Thank you very much. Thank you so much.