I've titled our message this
morning, Is There an Object of Mercy? I could have entitled it, Why
Would You Look on Such a Dead Dog as Me? Probably a little
long of a title, but both of them fit. Is There an Object
of Mercy? Here in 2 Samuel 9, David has
finally ascended to the throne of Israel. He was anointed by
Samuel a long time ago. Now David is king. He's sovereign
over all the land. Every enemy everywhere has been
defeated. Now normally when a new king would come to the throne,
the common practice was that he would kill all the relatives
of the old king so there'd be no more heirs. There'd never
be a threat to his throne. Now that was a very brutal practice. But nobody thought anything of
it. It was just natural. It just made sense. That's what
the new king would do. And David definitely had the
right to do that. He is God's anointed king of Israel. There
should be no threats to his throne. Saul and none of Saul's descendants
should ever be king. They shouldn't be. They don't
deserve the right. They're man's choice, God's choice. They shouldn't be put to death.
Saul had stood as an enemy of David for years and as enemy
of God too. So he shouldn't be put to death.
Isn't that a picture of Christ, the King of Kings? He's sovereign
in all of his creation. No enemy can stand in opposition
to him. And the Holy God could in absolute
justice damn every son of Adam. He could do that. That's very
brutal. Very brutal. I hate to think
about somebody being condemned to hell. I mean, it's just, it's
more horrible than the human mind could really wrap itself
around. That's very brutal if God would
do that. But nobody could say God's not
just if he damns a guilty sinner, could he? Nobody could say God's
unjust. Nobody could say that God would
be unjust in damning his enemies, because that's what they deserve.
But David, as a type of Christ, is determined to show mercy. Verse one, 2 Samuel 9, 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? David says, I want to show
mercy to my former enemies. Is there any of them left? Is
there any object of mercy left that I can show them the kindness
of God? Now the question that comes to
my mind is why? Why would David want to show
mercy to the house of Saul? After everything Saul done to
him, why would David want to show mercy to the house of Saul?
Why would he want to preserve those heirs who someday might
come back and say they have a claim to his throne? Why would he do
that? Well, it's for the very same reason that Almighty God
determined to have mercy on the sinners that he chose to save.
It's for the very same reason. And I want to give you three
reasons from our text this morning. And I've thought about this.
I've prayed about this. I prayed that maybe this morning,
there's an object of God's mercy here. Oh, I prayed so. And if there is an object of
God's mercy here this morning, God's going to be pleased to
be merciful to you this morning. I can tell you three reasons
why God would choose to be merciful to a sinner like you. The first
one is this. Why would David want to show
mercy? Why would God show mercy to sinners?
It's because of a covenant promise. Now Saul was David's mortal enemy. I mean, how many times did Saul
try to kill David? Many. Every time David had an
opportunity to kill Saul, he wouldn't do it. How many times
did Saul try to kill David? And after all of that, David
is still determined to show mercy on some descendant of Saul. David's
gonna show mercy to the descendants of Jonathan, who is Saul's son.
And you know why? because that's what David promised
he would do. Look back at 1 Samuel 20. 1 Samuel 20. David and Jonathan
were dear friends. In 1 Samuel 20, verse 11, And Jonathan said unto David,
come, let us go out into the field. Let's go take a walk together.
And they went out, both of them, into the field. And Jonathan
said unto David, O Lord God of Israel, while I have sounded
my father about tomorrow any time, or the third day, and behold,
if there be good toward David, and I then say not unto thee,
and show it thee, 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 I yet live, show me the kindness
of the Lord, that I die not, 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 of them 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 caused David to
swear again, because he loved him. For he loved him as he loved
his own soul. Then Jonathan said to David,
tomorrow is the new moon, and thou shalt be missed, because
thy seat will be empty. And thou hast stayed three days,
and thou shalt go quickly and come to the place where thou
didst hide thyself when the business was in hand, and thou shalt remain
by the stone easel. And I will shoot three arrows
on the side thereof, as though I shot at a mark. And behold,
I will send a lad saying, go find out the arrows. And if I
expressly say unto the lad, behold, the arrows are on this side of
thee, take them then, come thou, for there is peace to thee and
no hurt as the Lord liveth. But if I say unto the young man,
behold, the arrows are beyond thee, go thy way, for the Lord
has sent thee away. Now this was a covenant that
Jonathan and David made with each other. And here's why Jonathan
brought this up, this matter up. He wanted to make this covenant
because Jonathan knew something. He knew Saul, his father, was
not God's king. He knew David was God's king
of Israel. He had already been anointed
king of Israel. Jonathan knew that. And Jonathan
knew David is the rightful king of Israel. But Jonathan wanted
mercy for his children. So he entered into this covenant
with David so that David would show mercy to Jonathan's children
after David became king. And it's very interesting, Jonathan
and David entered into this covenant when Jonathan didn't have any
children. There were no children born yet, but he entered into
this covenant with David. Now that's such a good picture
of God's covenant of grace. God would be just if he damned
the entire human race. He would be just. Adam's fallen
race doesn't deserve any mercy from God. Any more than Saul's
house deserved mercy from David. We don't deserve mercy from God.
Every last one of us are natural born enemies of God. But it's
God's character to be merciful. It's God's character. God is
going to be merciful to someone. Since it's God's character to
be merciful, He must be merciful to someone. Because His character
is merciful. And when God's going to be merciful
to somebody, I'll tell you why He's going to do it. It's because
He promised to do it. Because of His covenant mercies.
A covenant is a promise. And before time began, God made
a promise that he would save a sinful people by his mercy
and by his grace. And God, being wise, did not
leave it to chance to say, well, who will be worthy of my mercy?
Who will accept my mercy? Who will accept my son? God knew
if he left it to chance, nobody would be saved. So the father
chose a people to save. If he didn't elect a people to
save, nobody would be saved. He elected a people to save and
he gave them to his son. And the father made a promise
to his son, I'll accept these people. If son, if you suffer
and die for their sin, you make them righteous and I'll accept
them. That was the father's promise to the son. And the son's promise
to the father was, I'll do it. I'll do everything that it takes
to save these people from their sin. Now that's the covenant.
That's the promise between the father and the son. That's a
picture pictured by the covenant between David and Jonathan. And
this promise of grace, this covenant of grace between the Godhead
was made long before any of the objects of God's mercy and grace
were ever born. He made this covenant of grace
before he created anything. This is the eternal covenant
of grace. Now this covenant between David
and Jonathan is a covenant that's between David and Jonathan only. This isn't a covenant between
David and Mephibosheth. This is a covenant between David
and Jonathan. Jonathan promised, David, I'll
show you if my father intends to kill you. And David promised,
Jonathan, I'll be merciful to your children. See, the covenant's
all David and Jonathan. It's between David and Jonathan.
It's dependent upon David and Jonathan to fulfill their end
of the bargain, isn't it? Mephitosheth didn't know anything
about this. Never even heard of it. Mephibosheth
didn't have to do anything to ratify the covenant. No. Mephibosheth
is purely a recipient of the grace of the covenant that was
between David and Jonathan. It was all dependent upon David
and Jonathan. When God's covenant of grace,
that covenant is dependent upon the Father and the Son. They
are the ones who must ratify this covenant. The father chose
a people and he gave them to his son to save. And the son
did what he promised he would do. He did everything that it
took to save those people from their sin. He was made flesh
so he could be their representative, so he could be the second Adam,
and he obeyed the law for them. He did for them what they couldn't
do. He obeyed the law for them. His obedience is their obedience.
And he took their sin and his own body upon the tree, and he
put it away by his bloody, awful, horrible sacrifice. He put their
sin away and justified them so that the father would accept
them. The son did everything that he promised the father he
would do. But now here's the thing about
David and Jonathan's covenant. This covenant, it cannot be in
effect until Jonathan dies. Jonathan has to die before David
could ever be king. If Jonathan is still living after
Saul's dead, Jonathan's there. Jonathan will take the throne
because he's his father's son. David never will be king. and
be able to fulfill his promise until Jonathan dies. There's
got to be death to fulfill this covenant. Well, same thing's
true of God's covenant. In order for the father to show
mercy to his people, the son had to die. The son had to die
and the father had to be the one to put him to death. At least
David didn't have to kill his dear friend. The father had to
put his son to death. The father had to do it in order
for his covenant to be ratified. The son must die under the wrath
of his father for the sin of his people. Now I'm telling you,
that's mercy. That's mercy, that the father
would give his son what you and I deserve so his people could
be saved. That's mercy, all the depths
of God's mercy. And here's how important it was
for the father to keep his promise. The father promised he would
do this. It was so important to the father for him to keep
his promise, he slaughtered his son. You parents, can you think of
anything that would make you slaughter one of your children? Not one, can you? is so important
to the father, that he keep his promise to save his people from
their sin by his mercy and grace, he's the very one that slaughtered
his son. He made his soul an offering for sin. Now that's
God's salvation. It's done in justice, isn't it?
He gave his son justice. And it's done in mercy. Mercy
that he gives to his people is purchased by the blood of Christ.
So now, the father shows mercy to his people. And you know why
he does? Because he promised his son he'd
do it. He promised his son. God's elect. See, God's covenant
of grace is not between you and God. It's between the father
and the son. God's elect don't do anything
to ratify this covenant. God's elect don't do anything
to make this covenant apply to me. We don't deserve mercy from
God. Christ did all that for us, didn't
he? God's elect are purely recipients of God's mercy and grace. And
God did it for his glory. For his glory. I can show you
that in the book of Ezekiel. Ezekiel chapter 36. God did this
for his glory. And boy, he makes it clear to
us now. Ezekiel chapter 36. God's been talking about how
his people, when they go into idolatry, he'll judge them and
he'll send these countries in to scatter them abroad, take
them captives in their different countries and stuff. He says
in verse 20, when they entered into the heathen, the heathen
came and captured them, took them to their country as slaves.
When they entered into the heathen, whether they went, they profaned
my holy name. When they said to them, these
are the people of the Lord, and are gone forth out of his land.
But I had pity for mine holy name, which the Lord of house
hath profaned among the heathen, whether they win. Therefore say
unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God, I do not
this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy
namesake, which you have profaned among the heathen, whether you
win. And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among
the heathen, which you profaned in the midst of them. And the
heathen shall know that I am the Lord, saith the Lord God,
when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes. For I'll
take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all the
countries, and will bring you into your own land. Then will
I sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean. From
all your filthiness and from all your idols will I cleanse
you. A new heart also will I give unto you, and a new spirit will
I put within you. And I will take away the stony
heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
And I will pour my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in
my statutes, and you should keep my judgments and do them. And
you should dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers,
and you should be my people, and I will be your God. Now why? Why would God do all that for
such a sinful, rebellious people that quit worshiping God and
started worshiping idols? Why would God do all that? He
said in verse 22, I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel,
but for my holy namesake. I'm doing this because this is
what I promised that I would do. See, God's going to do everything
that he promised. He's going to save his sinful
people from their sin. They're going to be so vile.
They're going to be just such lost cases. And God's going to
save him anyway, so that his name is glorified. God promised
he'd do it. If God breaks his promise, he
loses all his glory. If God casts out even one that
he gave to his son, he'll lose all of his glory. Not just a
little bit of it. His glory just won't be tarnished. He'll lose
all of it. God's gonna glorify his name
in saving his people from their sin, because that's what he promised
he would do. And the salvation of God's elect
is sure, because it's based upon the promise of God. All right,
number two, why would David show mercy? Why would God show mercy
to sinners? It's for Jonathan's sake. for Jonathan's sake. Look
back in our text here, 2 Samuel 9, verse one, he says, is there
any left of the house of Saul that I may show him kindness
for Jonathan's sake? In verse seven, David said unto
Mephibosheth, fear not, I will surely show thee kindness for
Jonathan's sake, for Jonathan my father's sake. Mephibosheth
is not for your sake, it's for Jonathan's sake. Now, when David
came to the throne, he didn't even know Mephibosheth existed.
He had to ask about it. He didn't know. He didn't know
Mephibosheth. He didn't even know anything
about him. He didn't know where he was, didn't know anything about him.
So why would David choose to be merciful to a man he didn't
know? Maybe Mephibosheth didn't deserve it. Maybe Mephibosheth
wasn't anything like his father. I mean, if he's like his daddy,
sure you want to be kind to him, but what if he's not like his
daddy? Maybe I don't want to be merciful to this guy. Maybe
I wouldn't even like Mephibosheth. You know, if I bring Mephibosheth
up here and maybe we have a personality conflict, we don't even like
one another. Why would David be merciful to Mephibosheth? It's because David loved Jonathan. David loved Jonathan as his own
soul. That's why David entered into
this covenant with Jonathan in the first place, because he loved
him. He loved him, they loved each other. God the Father has
an elect people. The difference between David
and God is this, God knows them. He knows those people. He knows
what they're like. He knows their nature. He knows
their character. He knows where they're at. He knows they're
vile sinners. He knows they're his enemy. He
knows they're the opposite of him in every way. And I promise
you this, God knows it better than we do. They're not worthy
of the least of his mercies. They're not worthy. They're not
innocent bystanders in this thing scene. No, it's just not like,
well, you know, Adam's him, he represented him and blessed the
heart. You know, they didn't mean it. No, they meant it. They
meant it. They're the leaders of the pack in this rebellion
against God. Then why on earth would the father be merciful
to those people? Because he loves his son. Because
he loves Christ and those people are in his son. Why would the
father be merciful to his sinful people? It's for Christ's sake. It's for Christ's sake. It's
because what Christ has done, not because of anything they've
done, it's because of what Christ has accomplished for them. Salvation. from its beginning to its ending
is all for Christ's sake. It's all for Christ's sake. It's
all because of what Christ did for his people. It's all because
of who Christ is. Salvation of sinners is all because
the Lord Jesus Christ did what the Father loves. He is what
the father loves and he did what the father loves. The only reason
David would be merciful to Mephibosheth is for Jonathan's sake. There's
no reason found in Mephibosheth. Mephibosheth couldn't do anything
for David. When you think about a new king coming into power,
kind of like a new president or whatever, what do they do? They fill their cabinet with
their cronies, with people they think can help them do this or
that or the other, you know, Is David going to fill his cabinet,
his inner circle, with only people who can help him? Well, David,
if you're going to do that, Ziba says, you don't want Mephibosheth
in your inner circle. David, he's lame. You got to
carry him everywhere he goes. He can't do anything for himself.
He can't do anything, surely, for you. Verse two says, there
was the house of Saul, a servant whose name was Ziba. And when
they called him unto David, the king said to him, Archduke Ziba,
he said, thy servant is he. And the king says, is there not
yet any at the house of Saul that I may show the kindness
of God unto him? And Ziba said unto the king,
man, Jonathan hath yet a son, but now he's lame on his feet.
He's lame on his feet. Now look back at 2 Samuel chapter
four. How'd this happen? He wasn't just born this way.
How'd this happen? Mephibosheth became lame in a fall. 2 Samuel
4 verse four. And Jonathan, Saul's son, had
a son that was lame on his feet. He was five years old when the
tidings of Saul and Jonathan came out of Jezreel. Saul and
Jonathan were killed in battle in Jezreel. The news came back
home and his nurse took Mephibosheth up and fled. And it came to pass
that she made haste to flee, that he fell and became lame. She dropped him, he fell. He
became lame and his name was Mephibosheth. Now I point this
out because Mephibosheth, he's a picture of you and me. You
and I became dead in the fall of Adam. We became dead. We didn't just become lame, but
we can still move our arms. No, we became dead in the fall
of Adam. And since we're dead, we don't
have the capacity to do anything to help God. We can't do anything
that God wants because we're dead. We don't have that ability. So if we're gonna be saved, Somebody
else is gonna have to do it for us, aren't they? We can't do
anything to please God. So if God's gonna accept us,
it can't be on our account. It has to be on the account of
somebody else. Look at Titus chapter three. That someone else
is the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation is never because of
anything that we do, never for our sake, it's always for Christ's
sake. Titus chapter three. Verse five, not by works of righteousness,
which we've done, but according to his mercy, he saved us. By the washing of regeneration
and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which he shed on us abundantly
through Jesus Christ, our Savior. Every part of salvation is for
Christ's sake. Every part of it. God's elect
are righteous for Christ's sake. based on his obedience to the
law, not ours. It's for Christ's sake. God's
elect are holy, for Christ's sake. He is our sanctification. God's elect are forgiven. They're
forgiven of all their sin, for Christ's sake. Y'all forgive
one another, Paul said, as God, for Christ's sake, has forgiven
you. God has forgiven his people for
Christ's sake, because of the blood of Christ, because of the
sacrifice of Christ. God's elect are accepted before
God's throne of grace. Why? Because we're accepted in
the blood. It's all for Christ's sake. David
sent and fetched Mephibosheth. And I don't know this, but my
suspicion is Mephibosheth was a site. Don't you reckon? Here
he is, he's out hiding in this place, you know, and I just reckon
he was a sight. Maybe he was kind of dirty, unshaven,
just hair not combed. That's just the way I picture
him. That might not be so, but that's the way I picture him.
Well, when Phibosheth came and fell down at David's feet, you know what David saw? He didn't
see a dirty beggar. He didn't see a man lame on both
his feet. David saw Jonathan. David saw Jonathan. The man he
loved is his own soul. And David's love for Jonathan
was poured out on Mephibosheth. Not because of who Mephibosheth
is, for Jonathan's sake, because David loved Jonathan. Now that's beautiful, isn't it?
That's beautiful. Want me to tell you something
better? When God the Father looks at
His people, He doesn't see a sinful, vile,
wretched, rebellious people. You know who He sees? He sees His Son. And that's all
He sees. He sees His Son. And all of the
Father's love for His Son is poured out on His people. Not
because we did anything good for the son's sake, because the
father loves the son. And he loves his people for Christ's
sake, because of who Christ is. Thank God that the salvation
of sinners is because the father loves the son. Because you and
I are unlovable, and we can't do anything to make God love
us. But if the salvation of our soul is based on this fact, that
the father loves the son, salvation is sure, because the father will
never stop loving the son. Then number three, why would
David show mercy? Why would God show mercy to sinners?
Because mercy is the only hope that Mephibosheth had. When David
gets Mephibosheth and brings him before his throne, Mephibosheth
asks the same question that David asked. Remember when David sat
before the Lord, the Lord promised him the Messiah. David is coming
through you. I'm gonna establish your throne
forever. The Messiah's gonna sit on the
throne of David. And David sat before the Lord and said, who
am I? And what is my house that you'd be so merciful to? Who
am I? Mephibosheth's asking the same
thing in verse eight. What is thy servant? That thou
shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I am. Now I want to ask
you, is there anything more useless than a dead dog? Is there anything
more useless than that? Is there anything more offensive
looking? Is there anything worse smelling than a dead dog? That's who he is. And Mephibosh
says, why me? Why me? Well, David's gonna show mercy
to Mephibosheth because mercy is Mephibosheth's only hope.
Without mercy, Mephibosheth's gonna be put to death. Mephibosheth,
he'd been put in a place where there was no life and there was
no hope of getting life. If Mephibosheth's gonna have
anything, somebody's gonna have to give it to him. Look at verse
four. The king said unto Ziba, where
is he? And Ziba said unto the king,
behold, he's in the house of Makar, the son of Amiel in Lodabar. Now that word Makar means sold. And the word Lodabar means no
pasture, no bread. But Phibosheth, he's in a place,
it's a picture. It's a picture of us, we're sold
under sin. We're sold. And we're in a land
where there's no pasture for God's sheep. There's no green
grass. There's no bread of life. We're in a place where there
is no life and there's nothing to sustain life. There's nothing
we can get to give us life. Mephibosheth is in a place where
he can't get anything. It's a picture of being dead
in sin. What a horrible, horrible place to be. He's got no hope
but the kindness of somebody else. It's the only hope he has.
Now it seems hopeless, but there's hope. There's hope. If you're in a place where you're
sold under sin, you're in a place where there's no bread, there's
no life, there's hope. Because you know where else Mephibosheth
is? He's in the house of Maker, the
son of Amiel. You know what that name Amiel
means? My kinsman is God. Mephibosheth
can't save himself. Mephibosheth can't give himself
life, but there's hope. He still has hope. Somebody can
save him, and it's God. Somebody can redeem him, and
it's God himself. Mephibosheth can't redeem himself,
can he? But there's one who can. And in a way, David acted as
the kinsman redeemer for Mephibosheth. He restored to Mephibosheth everything
that Saul lost. It was all given back to him
freely. He restored all the land. He restored all the money. He
restored all the servants. Everything that belonged to Saul
now belonged to Mephibosheth. David restored everything Saul
lost, only better, only better. Mephibosheth got back everything
that Saul lost and he got something else. He got to eat at the king's
table as one of the king's sons. Now he's not the son of Saul.
He's eating at David's table as a son of David. Look at verse
seven. Now that's such a good picture
of God's elect, what Christ has done for us. Christ restored
everything to his people that we lost in Adam. Everything. Only better. Only better. Adam had a righteousness,
but he could lose it, couldn't he? And he did. He lost it by
his own obedience, or disobedience, excuse me. In Christ, God's elect
are made righteous. Not given a righteousness you
can mess up. They're made righteous, so they can never be unrighteous
again. Adam had a life. but he could lose it. And boy,
he did. The moment he ate that fruit, he died, didn't he? They
died. God's elect are given life, eternal
life, so they can never perish. There's an article, you go home,
read it carefully. I think it's on the back of the
bulletin by Pastor Donnie Bell, pointing out how Adam is better
off clothed in Christ outside the garden than he ever was in
the garden. Chew on that for a while. That's so. We're better
off in Christ than we would be innocent in the garden. Because
in Christ, that life can't be lost. Mephibosheth received everything
he had as a free gift of David's grace. David had to give him
everything he had. It's the only way. David says
in verse nine, and the king called to Ziba, Saul's servant, and
said unto him, I've given unto thy master's son all that pertain
to Saul and his house. He gave it. Doesn't that God's
elect? Everything we have. is because
God gave it to us. God gave it to us. Why do you
even live in a place where you can hear the gospel of Christ?
How is it you ever even heard of the Lord Jesus Christ? God
gave you that opportunity. He gave it to you. Why is it
you see Christ and you believe Him? Why don't you go off some
free will place? Why don't you go off some Pentecostal
place? I promise you they're more exciting to me. Why don't
you? Because God gave you faith in
Christ. He gave you faith in Christ.
Why don't you go to some free will place? I mean, buddy, they're
going to pump you up a whole lot more than I will. Tell you
how great y'all are, how good y'all are, all this stuff you
can do. Why don't you go get pumped up like that? Because
God's given you a view of yourself. God's given you a need of Christ. God's given you the righteousness
of Christ. God's given it to you. He's given
you grace and mercy so that you cannot leave him. Everything
we have is by God's grace. Wouldn't you a whole lot rather
be saved by God's grace than your own works? You know why
you want that? God's gave you that desire. He
gave it to you. And Mephibosheth received it. He didn't earn it. He received
it. Now David, he determined to have
mercy on Mephibosheth, and he didn't leave it up to Mephibosheth
to come get it. David made sure he came and got it. David sovereignly
brought him. Verse five. Then King David sent
and fetched him out of the house of Maker, the son of Amiel from
Lodabar. Now fetched, that's a good Eastern
Kentucky word isn't it? I like they use that word, because
you know what that tells me? Hillbillies can understand the
gospel. Hillbillies can understand grace.
Hillbillies can be brought to Christ. We all know what it means
to be fetched. When you fetch something, you
go get a dead inanimate object that can't come on its own, and
you bring it to where you want it to be. That's what God does
for his people. He fetches them. Mephibosheth
had to be fetched, didn't he? He couldn't come to David on
his own. He would never dare come before David's throne on
his own, because he just figured he'd be killed. God has to fetch
his people to Christ, because we'll never come on our own.
But he fetches them. God sends the Holy Spirit, and
he fetches them. He fetches them to Christ. And
there's no doubt he'll do it. Remember what the Savior said?
All that the Father giveth me, They shall come to me. They shall. The human coming to me, I don't
know why he's cast out. How can you be so sure they're
all gonna come to Christ? The Holy Spirit's gonna fetch them.
He's gonna fetch them and bring them to Christ. He's gonna fetch
them and draw them to his son by his eternal love for them.
David fetched him and brought Mephibosheth to that place where
he could be an object of David's mercy and grace. But one more
thing. Here's one more way Mephibosheth
is a picture of a believer. Verse 13. So Mephibosheth dwelt
in Jerusalem, for he did eat continually at the king's table
and was lame on both his feet. Mephibosheth never got stronger
and could walk on his own. David didn't find the best doctors
and here's a miracle cure. Now Mephibosheth can walk on
his own. Now he can do all this stuff for David. No, Mephibosheth's
still lame. on both his feet. He still lived
out the rest of his days completely dependent on King David. Well,
that's a believer. God saved us. He's been merciful
to us. He's caused us to be born again. He's given us a new nature.
But we still got that old man we carry around with us everywhere
we go. We still can't walk on our own. We still can't. We still
need the Lord to carry us everywhere we go. We still need the Lord
to do everything for us. We still live completely dependent
upon God's grace. And God still gives us everything
we need. He still brings us to his table and says, eat freely. You know why? It's for Christ's
sake. That's what the story about Mephibosheth
is all about. If God will ever show us how
much like Mephibosheth we are, Maybe we'll be an object of God's
grace too. All right, let's bow together.