If you would, turn with me to
2 Samuel 9. Very familiar passage. 2 Samuel
9. And it's probably going to be
a familiar message. 2 Samuel 9 verses 1 through 3 to
start with. And you might as well just keep
your finger there and keep that one marked. 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. So we read in verses one and
three where David the king wants to show kindness to someone of
the family of Saul for Jonathan's sake. We read of this knitting
together of David and Jonathan in 1 Samuel 18. If you would
turn back over to 1 Samuel 18. I don't have it marked, but I
think I can find it. 1 Samuel 18. And this was the next chapter
after we left off. My last message here. So 1 Samuel
18 verses 1 through 4 I want to read. And it came to pass, when he
had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that 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 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 girl. We see here that Jonathan and
David's soul were knit together as it says here. We can see that
Jesus Christ made himself a little lower than the angels. He gave
up all because his soul was knit together with the Father. Christ
tells us himself that he and the Father are one. The Father
promised him he would take care of those that follow him. Him
being the firstborn among many brethren. We read in Genesis
where we are told by God, and that is by Jesus Christ, him
being the one who walked in the garden in the cool of the day.
Genesis 3.15 says, and I will put enmity between thee and the
woman, and between thy seed and her seed. It shall bruise thy
head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Here we are told of the
covenant made of the three in one, which was made from before
the foundation of the world. Here is where we read the first
manifestation of God's purpose for creation. Jesus Christ, where
all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily, is prophet. Deuteronomy 18.15 says, the Lord
thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet from the midst of thy
brethren, like unto me. Unto him ye shall hearken. Jesus
Christ has come as priest, Joe, to offer his own self as sacrifice
for his chosen people's sin. Hebrews 9, 11, and 12 says, but
Christ being come in high priest of good things to come by a greater
and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is
to say, not of this building, Neither by the blood of goats
and calves, but by his own blood he entered once into the holy
place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. Jesus Christ
has come as king over his kingdom and all of his heritage. Psalm
47, 2 reads, For the Lord Most High is terrible. He is a great
king over all the earth. David and Jonathan made a covenant. and I'm so glad that they did.
This covenant they made to one another pictures the covenant
made of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
This covenant being made from before the foundation of the
world because Christ is the Lamb slain from before the foundation
of the world. This covenant being made for
those who are of the house of Saul. And I told you previously
that I see Saul as a picture of the law, that king that would
only take and not give anything. Those for whom this covenant
was made were of the house of Saul. This is where they would
be found. But we read of that time when
the covenant made by the three of one, but specifically here
it is talking about the father and the son and the typification
as David the father and Jonathan the son. But what we are told
in Scripture about those whose home was under sin, where do
we see this covenant being manifested first? Galatians 4, verses 4
and 5 we read. But when the fullness of the
time was come, God sent forth his son, made of a woman, made
under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that
we might receive the adoption of sons. So as we are about to
see in this account in 2 Samuel 9, God came down where we are
to make sure he showed kindness to us for Christ's sake. Christ
comes to us and shows us this kindness. David wanted to show
kindness to the house of Saul for Jonathan's sake. And that's
my title, For Jonathan's Sake. He promised the son a bride.
So let's look at today. The condition of those who were
shown kindness. The king moving toward them and
continual bread. So number one, the condition
of those who were shown kindness. We see in 2 Samuel 9 that the
one that was being shown kindness was worthless. He is lame on
both his feet. He cannot do anything for the
king. He in fact cannot even come to
the king. 2nd Samuel 9 3 says, 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 both his feet. But let's look at where he is
from. Maybe his surroundings can help him out to get him where
he needs to be so that kindness can be shown to him. Second Samuel
9.4 says, 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 Amiel in Lodabar. He is in the house of Maker.
The word means sold. Those who are the ones that are
to be shown favor are in a place where they are sold under sin.
There's nothing they can do to get out of this situation. They
are lame on both their feet. If they tried to get out of their
situation, it would only result in death because they cannot
care for themselves being lame on both their feet. Where is
this place? It's in Lodabar, a place of no
bread. These who the king wants to show
kindness to are those who are sold, who are under, who reside
in a place of no bread. They are those who are hungry,
They need something to eat, they just may not know it yet. We
sometimes become accustomed to our poverty so that we do not
even recognize that we are poor. There are some who fit this description,
but not all fit this description. Just ask them. The only ones
that fit this description are those who are the son of Ammiel. And that word means my kinsman
is God. Those who have a near of kin
who is God himself, they are the ones who fit, just as God
says they are. But this is a son of Jonathan,
it says in verse three. They know they are in poverty.
They know they have no bread. They know they cannot get bread
on their own. They are lame. They know they
are poor and in need of everything. They have nothing to offer God. And the worst part about it is
they are not even looking for God. Not until God moves toward
them do they even think about him and see themselves compared
to him and what they really are. So number two, the king moving
toward them. When God begins to move toward
us, we then begin to see what we are. We do this by his almighty
grace, his love. When His love comes to arrest
us and take us into custody because He's going to make sure we're
taken care of, we find it easy to bow down to Him. I imagine
that there are some who may not think it grace to come to know
you were sold under sin and without Christ and in the world. But
it is very truth that only grace can bring you to this place.
But God comes to where we are. He does not leave it to us to
come. He comes after us. We see this
in the manifestation of His love to us in Him coming down. We
read it before, Galatians 4 and 5. But when the fullness of time
was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under
the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might
receive the adoption of sons. He came to deliver us from that
place of death, that place we're sold under that has no bread.
But here specifically in 2nd Samuel 9, in this account, we
see the King coming to get us. He is coming to get us to let
us know what He has done and the results of what He has done
because of the covenant made with the Father. And we read
in John 10, if you will turn over to John 10 real quick, I'm
gonna read a couple verses there, John 10. You want to follow along. John
10, verses 26 and 28 through 28. But ye believe not, because ye
are not of my sheep. As I said unto you, my sheep
hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. and I given
to them eternal life and they shall never perish, neither shall
any man pluck them out of my hand. The father has made a covenant
with the son. The covenant involved a bride
being promised. This bride would love him. They
do not start out this way because of their condition. Born like
everyone else, that is they are born lame on both their feet,
They are lame because of a fall, and this fall was a result of
another. 2 Samuel 4 says, And Jonathan,
Saul's son, had a son that was lame of his feet. He was five
years old when the tidings came of Saul and Jonathan out of Jezreel. And his nurse took him up and
fled. And it came to pass, as she made
haste to flee, that he fell and became lame. And his name was
Mephibosheth. We know as we are born in Adam,
we are born dead in trespasses and in sin. Because of Adam,
we are all born dead. This was not of any doing on
our part, but we are lame on both our feet nonetheless. Those
who are lame will not come to him on their own. They cannot
because they are lame. But they do not even know the
king that they might look for him. But we just read that they will
hear his voice. Two things with what was said
in John 10. My sheep hear my voice and I
know them and they follow me. First, he must speak to us. We cannot hear his voice if he
is not speaking to us. This he does by his spirit through
his word. What else? If he speaks to us,
we must have ears to hear. I searched and found at least
about eight times where Christ says, he that hath ears to hear,
let him hear. Two things with that statement.
If you don't have ears to hear, you will not hear. Second, if
Christ does not command you to hear, you will not hear, even
if you have ears to hear. But we know from Scripture that
it is God who gives us the hearing ear. Proverbs 12, two, very familiar.
The hearing ear and the seeing eye, the Lord hath made even
both of them. Let's read what we have in our
text in 2 Samuel 9, verses five through eight. Verses five through
eight. Then King David sent and fetched
him out of the house of Maker, the son of Amiel, from Lodabar. Now when Mephibosheth, the son
of Jonathan, the son of Saul, was come unto David, he fell
on his face and did reverence. And David said, Mephibosheth? And he answered, Behold thy servant. And David said unto him, Fear
not, for I will surely show thee kindness for Jonathan thy father's
sake, and will restore thee all the land of Saul thy father,
and thou shalt eat bread at my table continually. And he bowed
himself and said, what is thy servant that thou shouldest look
upon such a dead dog as I am? What happens to us when God comes
to us in love, showing his kindness to us for Christ's sake? This
is something the religious world knows nothing about. What does
Mephibosheth do? Now when Mephibosheth, the son
of Saul, was coming to David, he fell on his face and did reverence. Not only do we fall on our face,
we see what we are when we see the king. When we find out that
God the Father, for Christ's sake, is going to take care of
us continually, we do not then start thinking good about ourselves. Instead we begin to see just
how corrupt we are. Verse eight, and he bowed himself
and said, what is thy servant that thou shouldest look upon
such a dead dog as I am? A dead dog. The word can mean
a male prostitute. They call it a euphemism. It's
something you use the dog instead of using a male prostitute because
it's supposed to sound better. But Mephibosheth knows himself
to be one who was a prostitute to sin. He has been sold into
this place under the law and cannot get himself out of it.
He is a dead prostitute. But what does David say? And
this leads me to number three, continual bread, in verse seven.
And David said unto him, fear not, for I will surely show thee
kindness for Jonathan thy father's sake, and restore thee all the
land of Saul thy father, and thou shalt eat bread at my table
continually. That which was lost to Mephibosheth
will be restored by the king. Not for what Mephibosheth would
do, but simply for Jonathan's sake. God will come to us in
time, those who are his, the elect of God, and he will breathe
spiritual life into them. Then having life, God preparing
a feast through his servants will feed us continually. We
read in Jeremiah 29 11, and I'm reading this from Young's literal
translation, but Jeremiah 29 11. For I have known the thoughts
that I am thinking towards you, an affirmation of Jehovah, thoughts
of peace and not of evil, to give to you posterity and hope. God the Father, for those who
he has given to the Son as his bride, has no evil intended against
those for whom he loves. All are thoughts of peace. But
we are promised life and hope. That's what posterity means.
It means Christ will have a people. We have read in Romans 8, 28
where it says, and we know that all things work together for
good to them that love God, to them who are the called according
to his purpose. Although what is happening around
us may not be good, what is being done by man may be intended for
evil, and evil by those who do it. But our God, if he intends
for it to be good to his people, then it will be good. no matter
what we see or think. But he will continually send
someone to us with his gospel, that gospel of peace, which is
Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the one who has
made peace for me and for you if you're in Christ. He has made
peace to God for that offense I have done against God, which
is to disobey his holy law. Jesus Christ paid for that offense. Sin is the transgression of the
law and I am sold under sin. Turn with me to Psalm 23, Psalm
23. Psalm 23, I'm just gonna read
the whole Psalm, it's short. Psalm 23. The Lord is my shepherd,
I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green
pastures. He leadeth me beside the still
waters. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth
me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Yea, though
I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear
no evil, for Thou art with me. Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort
me. Thou preparest a table before
me in the presence of mine enemies. Thou anointest my head with oil,
my cup runneth over. Surely, goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the
house of the Lord forever. Amen. Just as Joe was saying,
in the midst of the enemies, God will serve up his table to
us. We see it all through scripture, and we see it in our text, that
God has done all the work. He does all the work, and He
shall continue to do all the work. Because of the covenant
made with the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, those who are His
will inherit His kingdom. They will inherit eternal life
all because of what He has done. He is faithful to do all that
the Father gave Him to do, and He did accomplish all of it.
Why did he have to do this as it pertains to us? We had a fall. A fall that was not because of
us, but because of our federal head, Adam. Death has passed
upon all men and that's just the way it is. Because of this,
all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Because
of this one, we are placed in a place where we were sold under
sin and we live in a place of no bread. We are prostitutes
of sin. We have sold ourselves out to
sin. When the appointed time comes, he will come get us. He
will not ask us to come, he will come get us. He will not send
his Holy Spirit to us to ask if we want to come to him. He
sends his Holy Spirit to bring us to himself. Then he will inform
us of what he will do. Being in a place of no bread,
we will gladly obey the voice of the king. From that point
forward, we will continually eat at his table. We are set
at his table, not to get crumbs, but to feast on him. Verse 13
of 2 Samuel 9 says, so Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem, for he did
eat continually at the king's table and was lame on both his
feet. We are continually, but we still
have this old man with us. We are lame on both our feet
at the same time we are feasting at his table. As it has been
said before, we are lame on both our feet, but the king nor anyone
else does not see this because sitting at his table, you cannot
see that we are lame on both our feet. We all sit at the table
of His bountiful supply. At His table, you cannot see
that we are lame. We are clothed with His table
of righteousness, that is, a God-righteousness without the law. We trust in
Him to continually sit us at His table, and by His grace,
we will continue to be fed that spiritual meat and drink, which
will satisfy us just as it did the Father. I thank God there
was a covenant made. This covenant made allowed some
to be seated at his table. I am a Mephibosheth, a dead dog,
a male prostitute that has sold out myself to sin. Being under
sin, I can do nothing to get myself from that state. But I
thank my God. He is my kinsman, my kinsman
redeemer. God give me the grace that I
may always glorify and honor your name and seat me at your
table, continually feeding me the feast of your works done
in righteousness. Amen. Dear Lord God, thank you for
allowing us to be here. Apply these words to our heart,
dear Lord, that we may come to see you, to know you. Be with
Walter as he stands here and speaks. Give him boldness to
speak the truth and to honor your name, dear Lord. And remember
Sandy and Mac, dear Lord, be with them and Moose and all his
family for D and all these things we ask in Christ's name. Amen.