I want to invite your attention
tonight to the book of 2 Samuel chapter 9. 2 Samuel chapter 9. As I said in our opening reading,
the title of this message is God's Merciful Kindness for Sinners. I had Brother Stan read that
Psalm 31. Mainly because of this one verse
in that psalm, Psalm 31-21, where the psalmist in his prayer, his
prayer of trust, his prayer of faith, rejoicing in the mercy
of God, he says, Blessed be the Lord, for he hath showed me his
marvelous kindness, his marvelous kindness in a strong city. And I thought about David. David
was in a strong city now. He was on the throne of Israel
in Jerusalem, the fortified city. And he showed marvelous, merciful
kindness to a sinner here in 2 Samuel chapter 9. Now, many of you have been anxiously
awaiting preaching on this passage because you've heard quite a
few messages from this from Brother Mayhem. I know he preached on
it quite often. In fact, when we first moved
to Georgia, some of the folks that came into the church down
there had originally heard the gospel from Brother Mahan at
a conference, a Thanksgiving conference out in Madisonville,
Kentucky, Brother Maurice Montgomery's, where he pastored. Her brother
Mayhem preached a message entitled, Fetching Grace, from 2 Samuel
9. Of course, his title is taken
from verse 5 of 2 Samuel 9, where David sent and fetched him out
of the house of Macher, the son of Amiel, from Lodivar. Fetched
him. Fetching Grace. That's a good
way to look at salvation. That's what God does to his children. That's what Christ does to his
sheep. He fetches them. And that word fetch, it's not
like playing fetch with your dog. You know, go fetch the stick. That's not what that's about.
I'll show you in just a moment. This is a marvelous type here
of how God brings a sinner into the kingdom. And it's based upon
covenant mercies. And so we're going to look at
this. This is an actual historical event under the reign of David.
And that's a marvelous thing, too. And that's the thing about
a type. It has to be a historical event
or person or a thing such as the tabernacle, such as David
himself as king of Israel, or such as this episode in his life
as God led him this way to typify how God brings sinners into the
kingdom. And he does it by merciful kindness. And I want to talk to you a little
bit about that, so let's just jump right into these verses,
13 verses in this chapter, this one little episode in the history
of David's reign. And this is a pinnacle, a height
of glory in his reign. And the first thing we see here
is a type of the everlasting, eternal covenant of grace. David remembers a covenant that
he made years before this with Jonathan. And that's a type of
how the Lord remembers His covenant made before the world began.
So it's a type of the covenant of grace. Look at verse 1. It
says, And David said, Is there yet any that is left of the house
of Saul? Now remember, Saul is the fallen
king. And he said, That I may show
him kindness. For Jonathan's sake. For Jonathan's
sake. That's important. Now go back
to 1 Samuel chapter 20. Let's go back and see what he
means by that term, for Jonathan's sake. And in 1 Samuel chapter
20, this is the account of when David and Jonathan made that
covenant. The covenant of love. And it
says in verse 14 of 1 Samuel chapter 20, And this is when
Jonathan said unto David, he said, And thou shalt not only
while yet I live, show me the kindness of the Lord. Jonathan
speaking to David. While I live. Now, you remember,
Jonathan recognized that David was God's anointed king and not
Saul, his father. And he symbolized that in his
actions. He gave David his armor, his
outer coat, he gave him his sword, and he was submitting to the
rule of David. Just like when we come to Christ,
we submit to Christ as the anointed king, the anointed redeemer.
And we submit to him and his righteousness as the only way
of our salvation. We submit to his word. We submit
to his will. By the power of the Spirit we
do this. Not on our own power. Not of our own wills, but by
the power of the Spirit who brings us to Christ. And so Jonathan
did that, and now there's this covenant between Jonathan and
David. He says in verse 14, Thou shalt not only while yet I live
show me the kindness of the Lord that I die not, but also 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 of
them, 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. So Jonathan made provision in
that covenant for his household, for his future family. Now, we're
going to be talking about, as you know, a man named Mephibosheth,
one of Jonathan's offspring, one of his sons. We're going
to be talking about how David blesses, in the kindness of the
Lord, with merciful kindness, this man named Mephibosheth.
And David's purpose of blessing Mephibosheth of the house of
Saul, the son of Jonathan, illustrates and typifies the eternal purpose
of our great God and Savior in our own salvation. He shows the
kindness of a covenant, and that's important. And it's the kindness
of the covenant through Jonathan, for Jonathan's sake. In other
words, this kindness here, and I want you to see this. Go back
to 2 Samuel 9. He says that I may show him kindness. Now, this kindness here is not
incidental. It's not even the compassion
of a moment. It's just like if you happen
to come upon somebody who's in need, and you might give them
a little money to get them a meal. And that's not bad now, but that's
not the kind of kindness that he's talking about here. This
is kindness that's based on a covenant made before, and it's kindness
with a purpose. And the purpose is to bless that
person who is the object of the kindness. It's the kindness that
would not just give the beggar a few bucks for a meal, but it's
the kindness that reaches down to an unworthy, rebellious beggar
and lifts him off the dung heap and cleans him up and brings
him in and makes him part of your family and provides for
him forever and ever and ever. Now, that's the kind of kindness
that we're talking about here. This is God-merciful kindness.
This is the kindness of a covenant that was made before this event
took place. David, in the scriptures, is
usually a type of Christ. But here David is a type of God
the Father. He represents the supreme authority
of the Godhead. God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Spirit. But now Jonathan here is the
type of Christ, because this kindness was shown for Jonathan's
sake. Christ, who is the mediator of
the covenant of grace, Jonathan, who in essence was the mediator
of this covenant. And so it's for Jonathan's sake.
And the Bible teaches very plainly from Genesis to Revelation, in
fact it's the whole theme of all of inspired scripture, that
our whole salvation from in eternity past, present, future, even unto
glory, is for Christ's sake alone. Not even for our sakes, even
though we're the recipients of all the merciful kindness that
God has to give. We're the recipients of all the
benefits and blessings. But it wasn't for our sake, and
the reason it could not be for our sake is because we were an
undeserving people. We're sinners who don't deserve
anything but eternal death. But for Christ's sake, For the
glory of God in Christ, God saves sinners like us. Mephibosheth,
he represents you and me. Sinners upon whom God has shown
merciful kindness. Sinners saved by the grace of
God in Christ. And I'll tell you what, let's
never forget that our salvation is the product of God's covenant
of redemption made before time between the Father and the Son
and the Spirit. It is all based upon the work
of Christ that He would do and as we see that He has done. Before
the world was created, think about it, before we fell in Adam,
before we were born dead in trespasses and sins, God had a purpose of
merciful kindness for sinners like us. That's an amazing thing. I tell you, I hope we never get
over it. It's never a whimsical or a nonchalant thing. It's marvelous. It's amazing. I think about these
scriptures that we read so often. 2 Timothy 1-9, when the Apostle
Paul, in giving glory to God as he instructed Timothy in the
ministry, and he spoke of that salvation and that God who has
saved us and called us with an holy calling, not according to
our works, but according to his own purpose and grace which was
given us in Christ Jesus before the world began." Isn't that
amazing? How in the world could that take
place only by an eternal God? It's not a God of the moment.
It's not a God who's reactionary, but it's the true and living
God of the Bible. Titus spoke of it. He said, "...in
hope of eternal life, which God that cannot lie promised before
the world began." The gospel is the preaching of the terms
of an eternal, everlasting covenant. Therefore, it's an old, old message,
isn't it? But it's an old, old message
that never gets old. It's always new to His people.
You notice there in 1 Samuel chapter 20 and verse 15. Let
me just read that to you again because this is something I want
you to see. When Jonathan made that covenant with David in verse
15, He says, but also thou shalt not cut off thy kindness from
my house forever. You see that don't cut that thou
shalt not cut off. Thy kindness from my house forever
and that term cut off, if you'll turn to Daniel, turn over to
Daniel, chapter nine. Daniel, chapter nine. And there it's a prophecy of
Christ. And he speaks of the time of
Christ on this earth and the time of his sojourn up unto the
cross. In verse 24, 70 weeks are determined,
that's 70 weeks of years, upon the people, thy people and upon
thy holy city. And here's what the Messiah would
do. He would finish the transgression. He would make an end of sins.
and He would make reconciliation for iniquity and bring in everlasting
righteousness, seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the
Most Holy. How would He accomplish all that?
Through His death on the cross, through the shedding of His blood
as the complete and full payment for all our sins, all the sins
of His people, by being made sin. He who knew no sin, that
we might be made in the righteousness of God in Him. So he says in
verse 25, "...know therefore, and understand, that from the
going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem
unto the time of the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks,
and threescore and two weeks the streets shall be built again,
and the wall even in troublous times." Look at verse 26, "...when
that time is ended," that's the time of the Messiah on earth
and his sojourn, it says, "...after threescore and two weeks shall
Messiah be," what? "...cut off." Now, that's the
same term. that Jonathan used here about
his house over in 1 Samuel chapter 20, that you will not cut off
my house. Now, you know the reason we're
not cut off. You know what that word cut off means. That means
exactly what it says, cut off. That means alienated, separated
from God. That's what he's talking about.
And you know the reason that we're not cut off. The reason
we're not cut off is right here in Daniel 9 in verse 26. And
after three score and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but
not for himself. Do you see that? He didn't do
it for himself. He didn't do it for his own benefit.
Who did he do it for? He did it for his sheep. He said,
I laid down my life for the sheep. He was cut off from the land
of the living, scriptures, for his sheep. And therefore we're
not cut off. Now the reason Mephibosheth was
not cut off was because of that covenant that David made with
Jonathan, and Jonathan made with David. And what a great and beautiful
and wonderful picture that is of Christ, our substitute. So all this was for Jonathan's
sake now. Jonathan's sake. Jonathan was
the one David loved, and Jonathan loved David. God the Father said
of the Son, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.
You hear him. He sent forth his Son to be the
Savior of his people. Now back here in 2 Samuel 9,
here David reigns on the throne in that strong city, and you
know what he does? He remembers the covenant with
Jonathan. Never forgot it. Christ right
now reigns on the throne as God-man. And you know what? He remembers
that covenant. He remembers his people. The
Scripture says in Psalm 105 and verse 8, He hath remembered his
covenant forever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations. And he'll never forget. James
sings that song, The Lord Remembers Me. And here's what it's taught. David remembered John. And that's
the way it is in our salvation. Turn to John chapter 17. All
of this, you see, the result of God's merciful kindness towards
sinners. In John chapter 17, in the high
priestly prayer, it says in verse 1, our Lord praying unto the
Father, it says, These words spoke Jesus and lifted up his
eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify thy
son. that thy son also may glorify
thee." How was that going to be accomplished? Through the
cross. The way into his glory as mediator, as God-man, was
through the cross. Look at verse 2, "...as thou
hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal
life to as many as thou hast given him." Now what's significant
about that? And I'll tell you, if you're
honest, I know with myself, You know, when I get in trouble and
I go through trials and I hurt, you know who I think about? I
think about me. I've got the me syndrome. I got
a huge dose of me right up here in myself. And I have to fight
and struggle not to think of me, not to fret over me, not
to feel sorry for me. Not to say, Lord, why me? I have to do that, don't you?
But you know, when the Lord was getting ready to go to the cross
to suffer like no human being has ever suffered, He wasn't
thinking about Himself. Oh, He said, glorify themselves,
but for what purpose? That He should give eternal life
to as many as the Father had given. Now, that's an amazing
thing. When the Lord suffered on the
cross, his thoughts were towards me. His thoughts were toward
you, his children, all for whom he died. That's an amazing thing. And here back in 2 Samuel 9,
we see David's thoughts. He's on the throne. He could
have, listen, you know, he could have just as easily forgotten
Jonathan, forgotten that covenant, and nobody would have said a
word to him. Nobody would have come. In fact, I don't know that
anybody else knew about it. There's no record in the scripture
that David said, you know, I just got through making a covenant
with Jonathan. What do you think of that? We don't know if anybody
else knew about it. I know this. Mephibosheth didn't
know about it. Now, did you know anything about
an everlasting covenant of grace before God the Holy Spirit revealed
the gospel to you? I didn't. You mean I was on his
mind in eternity past? My name was on his breastplate
and upon his shoulder amulet? That he promised me something
before I was ever born? I didn't know that. But David
Sheth didn't either. But David could have just as
easily forgotten that and nobody would have said anything to him.
Nobody said, well, you're not a good king. But you see, it
was on his heart because he loved Jonathan. That's God's merciful
kindness to his people. He loved us with an everlasting
love. He never quit, never gave up,
and He always remembers His people. That's the covenant of grace.
That's how Mephibosheth got into the king's palace. That's how
we get into the kingdom of God. Now Christ, when He came to the
earth and obeyed unto death, what was He doing then? He was
fulfilling the terms, the conditions, the stipulations, the requirements
of a covenant. And what were those terms? Well,
God had to be just when he justifies the ungodly. That's why Christ
had to be made sin for us, Christ who knew no sin, because God
cannot accept and commune and receive a sinner unjustly and
unrighteously. The soul that sinneth must surely
die. That's why he had to be cut off. That's why he had to
die. That's why his blood had to be shed. That's why righteousness
had to be established. so that we might enter into the
kingdom by the grace of God, by his merciful kindness." When
I look on, here in the second part, he says in verse 2 of 2
Samuel 9, it says, "...there was of the house of Saul a servant,
whose name was Ziba. And when they called him unto
David, the king said unto him, Art thou Ziba? And he said, Thy
servant is he." I'm thy servant, that's what that means. I'm your
servant, O King. Verse 3, And the king said, Is
there not yet any of the house of Saul, that I may show the
kindness of God, as a covenant kindness unto him? And Ziba said
unto the king, Jonathan hath yet a son, which is lame on his
feet. And the king said unto Ziba,
Unto him, where is he? And Ziba said unto the king,
Behold, he is in the house of Makar, the son of Emel, in Lodibar. Now, Mephibosheth was in bad
shape, wasn't he? Lame on his feet. You know the
story about how his nurse picked him up and started to run with
him when they were being attacked, and she dropped him. And he was
lame on his feet for the rest of his life. And that's a picture
of our own fall in sin and Adam, isn't it? Mephibosheth was the
son of a fallen king. So were we. Adam, you might say,
was the king of the world, because God gave him dominion over all
the earth. And so when Adam fell, we fell.
Adam was a fallen king, and we were ruined by his fall. Wherefore,
as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin,
so that death passed through unto all men, for that all sinned,
Adam was our representative. we were ruined by that fault.
And it says here that Mephibosheth was lame on his feet. Now someone,
I was reading one commentator, said someone said that this type
doesn't go far enough because we're not just lame, but we're
dead in trespasses and sin. Well, granted you can't take
the types too far. The type is never as good as
the reality, or the anti-type as we call it. You look at the
glory of the tabernacle. And how marvelous that is, and
it's really instructive, isn't it? And it's comforting to study
the tabernacle. But my friend, there's no comparison
with that earthly tabernacle to the Lord of Glory Himself.
No comparison with the blood of an animal, with the blood
of the Lamb of God, you see. The antitype, the fulfillment,
Christ, is always much, much greater than the type. But let
me tell you something about Mephibosheth. As far as walking was concerned,
Mephibosheth was dead. His legs were dead. And he couldn't
walk. Just like we can't walk with
the Lord in our natural state. We can't walk after the Spirit
while we're nothing but flesh. That's why we must be born again
by the Spirit. That's why we must be given life.
It's like the same thing. We have no spiritual eyes, no
spiritual ears, no spiritual heart before the new birth. And
that's why we must be born again. So Mephitosheph was dead as far
as walking. So having been ruined and put
in this condition by his fall, he couldn't do anything. He couldn't
get up and walk to the king and beg for mercy or anything. Well,
in our case, having been ruined by the fall, what was our need? Well, first we had to be redeemed
by the blood. You can look back, Jonathan did
die. This was for Jonathan's sake. He died. My friend, our
Jonathan, our Lord and Savior, he died on the cross to redeem
us, to pay the price. For we could not be saved without
the price being paid. As I said, justice had to be
satisfied. Our Savior died to redeem us. And as a result of
his death, Another need is accomplished for us. We have to be regenerated
by the Spirit. From His death comes life. From the death of Christ comes
the life given by the Spirit in the new birth. And we'll see
that here in the next thing. Look again at verse 5 now, 2
Samuel 9. Here's a picture of God's invincible
calling, effectual calling to His elect people. Look here,
it says, "...then King David sent..." and fetched him out
of the house of Maker, the son of Amel, from Lodibar." And it
says, now, when Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son
of Saul, was come unto David, he fell on his face and did reverence. Now, there's a fear there, and
he says, and David said, Mephibosheth, and he answered, Behold thy servant.
And David said unto him, Fear not, for I will surely show thee
kindness, and look at it for Jonathan thy father's sake. And
he said, I will restore thee all the land of Saul thy father,
and thou shalt eat bread at my table continually. And he, that
is, Mephibosheth, bowed himself and said, What is thy servant,
that thou shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I?" Now, there was nothing in Mephibosheth
that was worthy of the king's favor. In fact, he deserved death. Now, that was a common practice
back then. You know, when a king was conquered,
the conquering king usually killed the whole family so that he would
have no rival. But David had made a covenant,
and he was going to keep his promise because he was going
to be faithful, just like our Heavenly Father is faithful to
his covenant. But here, David said, Ziba, you
go fetch him. That's fetching grace. Fetched
him out. You know what that word fetch
means? Has many means. Translated different ways in
the Old Testament. Let me give you some of it. It
means to take. Taking. You bring it. Scripture says
in John 6, 37, No man can come to me except the Father which
hath sent me. Draw him. And that word, draw,
what is that literally? Do any of you know? Drag. Take him. We have to be drug
to the Lord. Now, that's not against our will,
because God changes our will. He makes us willing in the day
of His power. But the picture there, the lesson
is there that man will not come to Christ of his own free will.
He will not do it if left to himself. And if you believe that's
the difference between your salvation and another person being lost,
then you're just as guilty of salvation by works as a person
who would say, I'm saved because of my tithing or my baptism. To fetch him means to take him.
It means to get him. Go get him. He didn't say, now
go beg Him. He didn't say, go plead with
Him. He didn't say, stand down in front of an aisle and sing
10,000 verses of Just As I Am. He said, you go get that fellow.
Fetch Him. Lay hold of Him. That's another
translation. Lay hold of Him. You see, we
lay hold of Christ by God-given faith, but that's not, listen,
it's not our hold on Him that saves us. It's His hold on us. He laid hold of me. And I want
to tell you something. I know myself. If he hadn't laid
hold of me, I would have never laid hold on him. And then also it means to seize.
Seize him. It's almost like a battle. Seize him. Receive him. It means
receive him. Acquire him. It also, in some
context, means to buy him. Buy that gentleman. That's what
Christ did on the cross when he paid the price. He bought
us. We belong to Him, we don't belong to ourselves, we're His.
Bought with a price means to bring Him. Another context, it
means to marry Him. Take a wife. Turn to Romans chapter
7. Listen to this language, verse
4. Romans 7 and verse 4, it says,
Wherefore, my brethren, you also are become dead to the law by
the body of Christ. That means the law's justice
cannot be found against us. Who can condemn us? It's Christ
that died. There's therefore now no condemnation
to them who are in Christ. The law has nothing against me
for my sin. How did that happen? By the body
of Christ. Christ took my punishment. Christ
took my penalty. Christ satisfied justice for
me. Christ took my death that I deserved and that I earned.
My sins were charged to him. And I get his righteousness in
return by amputation. And he says, in order that you
should be married to another, who, even to him who is raised
from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God. We're
married to Christ. Not to the law. That's what this
fetch means. It means the snatching. It means
to take him away. And Mephibosheth is brought to
Jerusalem, brought by Ziba. He's brought to the king's house.
Why? For Jonathan's sake, it says.
Verse 6 again, 2 Samuel 9. Now, when Mephibosheth, the son
of Jonathan, the son of Saul, was come. Do you see that? Verse
7, David said unto him, Fear not, for I will surely show thee
kindness for Jonathan thy father's sake. He was brought to Jerusalem. He was brought to the to the
city of the king, into the palace, and my friend, we're brought,
when God saves us and when he calls us into the kingdom by
invincible grace, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we're brought
to the heavenly Jerusalem. We're brought into the eternal
king's house, and all for Christ's sake. God is the first cause in all
this. David was the first cause in bringing Mephibosheth to it.
God's the first cause in our salvation. You know these names
here that you read? Look back here. It talks about
Maker. You know what Mephibosheth means.
I've told you that. You may not remember it, but
remember his name was Meribahl. And then Mephibosheth It means literally utterance
of shame. And that's what the Holy Spirit
in regeneration shows us first. He shows us our shame. You know
what our shame is? It's what we by nature think
is our best. Isn't that something? That's
how you talk about turning your world upside down. We think our
best is what is good enough to recommend us unto God, but when
the Holy Spirit shows us our sinfulness and the glory and
holiness of God, and shows us the glory of Christ in salvation
by grace through mercy, He shows us our shame, and we come just
like Mephibosheth, saying this, as he said in verse 8, "'What
is thy servant, that thou shouldest look upon such a dead dog as
I?' One message I read on this is entitled, A Dead Dog in the
King's House. Dead dogs. That's what we are
by nature. Good for nothing. That's what we are by nature,
at our best. You say, well, he may be a dog
that has papers. He's a pedigreed dog. Well, he's
still dead. They die. He may be an old curb
mongrel, Heinz 57. He's a dead dog. Either way,
good for nothing. So Mephibosheth uttered his shame. That's the words of a repentant
sinner. That's the words of the publican who beat upon his breast
and said, God be merciful to me, the sinner. The sinner. I have no claim upon your merciful
kindness. I have no claim upon your blessings. I'm a dead dog. I've earned nothing
but your wrath and I deserve nothing but your wrath. I'm begging
for merciful kindness in the Lord. This maker, look here,
he says in verse 5, called him out of the house of maker. You
know what maker means? It means sold. That's what we
are by nature, sold into the slavery of sin. It says the son
of Amiel. Amiel means my kinsman is God. Even though we were sold into
the auction block, the slave block of sin, we still had a
kinsman redeemer that was set up in the everlasting covenant
of grace before we ever were born. Christ is our kinsman redeemer. And then Lodibar. You know what
Lodibar means? That means the land of no pasture. That's where we were by nature.
The land of no pasture, no fruitfulness. Now, what did we do? to get God
to save us? Nothing. What did Mephibosheth
do to get David to remember that covenant and send Ziba to fetch
him and bring him to the king's palace? What did Mephibosheth
do? Nothing. God's the first cause. If you
look at the salvation of sinners in Scripture, you'll see this
great truth found in every one of those salvations. Abraham. It's God who spoke to Abraham
first, not the other way around. Jacob, it's God who spoke to
Jacob first, not the other way around. Moses, it's God who called
Moses. Paul, it's God who spoke to Paul.
Paul wasn't looking for God. These individuals are objects
of divine, efficacious, invincible grace and calling. It's not their
seeking Him, it's His seeking of us. All we like sheep have
gone astray, the scripture says. You know, the one person who
could truly bless Mephibosheth was on the throne in Jerusalem,
and it's he who made the first move. And the one who could truly
bless us on the throne in glory, and it's he who made the first
move. All we like sheep have gone astray. We've turned everyone
to his own way, and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity
of us all. You know it's the nature of a
lost sheep to wander farther and farther and farther and farther
away. That's what lost sheep do. If
you know anything about shepherds and sheep, you know that lost
sheep doesn't go around saying, where's my shepherd? Where's
my shepherd? They continue to wander and wander and wander
and frequently wander in such a place that they're unable,
unable to save themselves. Sometimes they'll even walk off
a cliff. Right down. You know what? Sheep never go
after a shepherd. It's always the shepherd who
goes after the sheep. And that's what this is teaching
here. Ziba didn't go down and persuade Mephibosheth to come
up. He fetched him. You might say
Ziba is a type of the Holy Spirit in effectual, invincible grace. But now look at verse 9. Now
here's the blessings of the covenant. It says, Then the king called
Deziva, 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. Mephibosheth received all the
enrichments that David had to give. He was blessed with property,
status, It says, Ziba became the estate manager. Look, it
says, Thou, therefore, and thy sons and thy servants shall till
the land for him. David talking to Ziba. And thou
shalt bring in the fruits that thy master's son may have food
to eat. But Phibosheth thy master's son
shall eat bread always at my table, eating at the king's table.
Could you imagine that? You know, that's what you're
doing right now. You're eating at the king's table.
I told somebody, I said, preaching from this passage is like going
home and mama makes one of your favorite meals. You never get
tired of it. We're eating at the king's table. Not just anybody ate at the king's
table. You couldn't buy your way into
the king's table. It was by invitation only as
the king set forth and feshed him. He says, now Ziba had 15
sons and 20 servants. And here we can see the work
of the Holy Spirit continually indwelling God's people who brings
forth fruits. And what we're given, think about
this. Here, Mephibosheth, this lame
individual who was a son of a fallen king, he has royal privileges
now. He sits at the king's table and he does it continually. Look
at verse 11. Then says 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, just
like my son. That's what we are by redemption
and by regeneration. We're children of the King. And it says, And Mephibosheth
had a young son whose name was Micah. That means praise to God.
That's what we spend our lives doing. That's what the fruit
of the Spirit is, that we give praise to God, glory to God through
Christ. And all that dwelt in the house
of Ziba were servants unto Mephibosheth. So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem,
just like we dwell in the heavenly Jerusalem, for he did eat continually,
not just one time, but continually at the king's table. And he was
lame on both his feet. Whereas before he was in Lodibar,
land of no pasture, Now he lies down in the green pastures of
Christ, the shepherd. He feeds upon those green pastures.
Notice how it ends with that very notable little sentence,
he was lame on his feet. That emphasizes two things, I
believe. Number one, that Jesus Christ
came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. That's what
we are. Somebody said, well, we're no
longer sinners, we're now saints. My friend, we're both. Because
you know what a saint is by definition? A sinner saved by the grace of
God in Christ. And I have one holiness, one
righteousness before God, and that's Christ. And secondly,
it emphasizes that we still retain the effects of the fall while
we're in this life. We're still contaminated with
sin. If we weren't, it would have been foolish for Paul to
teach the Galatian church and the Roman church about the warfare
of the flesh and the spirit. These things of God and his glory
and his will do not come naturally to us. They're the work of the
spirit in us, Christ living in us, working in us, and it's a
struggle. But you think about when Mephibosheth
comes to the capital city here, he's elevated to a place of exalted
honor. No mere pension here. He didn't
have to do his part. He's endowed with more than he
lost. Now he's the son of David in effect. You notice that? He
was given back all the lands it sought, but he became a son
of David. Where sin abounded, grace did
much more abound. And he shall eat at David's table,
like one of the king's sons. So he who was far off, located
up in the northeastern part of the land in the house of Maker,
sold in slavery, the son of Amiel, who was purposed for eternal
life through the kinsman-redeemer, but who lived in Lodibar, the
land of no pastor, now he sits in Jerusalem, the capital, in
the palace of David, as one of the king's sons, eating at his
table continues." Those who are far off are brought nigh through
the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. And he's going to eat bread always,
continually. That's royal security for Mephibosheth. You know what we have in Christ?
Eternal, royal security. Christ said in Revelation 3 in
verse 20, Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man
hears my voice and opens the door, I'll come in to him and
dine with him and he with me. And here's Mephibosheth, who
dwelt off in the far parts of the land. Now he sits in Jerusalem
at the table of the king and joined the fellowship of King
David continually. What a blessing has become his. The gifts of God, salvation. Well, we're all Mephibosheth,
aren't we? We who are saved by God's grace. And I'll tell you
what, would you want to be anyone else than Mephibosheth? We can utter about our shame
like Mephibosheth, but we can also speak of the King's glory
and His honor and the blessings that He has bestowed upon us
for Christ's sake and for Christ's sake alone.