Let's look at 2 Samuel 9 this
morning. When Frank called Friday, he
said, if it'd be all right, he said, just bring your Sunday
school lesson that you'd have for the young ones. So I'm here
to teach the little ones, and everybody else can just sit in
and enjoy this, OK? Beginning in 2 Samuel 9, and
I'll tell you, by way of introduction, this is one of my We're looking
at the Old Testament pictures, and I had told myself we wouldn't
skip around, that we would go straight through those chronologically,
but this is certainly one of my favorites. I think it's easy to identify
with Mephibosheth, that one that was laying on his feet. But let's
look at this together this morning, beginning with verse 1. We'll
read the entire chapter. And David said, is there yet
any that is left to the house of Saul that I may show him kindness
for Jonathan's sake? And there was 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 any,
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 Lodabar. And king David sent and fetched
him out of the house of Makar, the son of Amel, from Lodabar.
Now when Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul,
was come unto David, he fell on his face and he 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 the land of Saul thy father, and
that thou shalt eat bread at my table continually. And he
bowed himself, and he said, What is thy servant, that thou should
look upon such a dead dog as I am? And the king called Ziba
Saul's servant, and said unto him, I've given unto thy master's
son all that pertain to Saul and all his house. Thou therefore
and thy sons and thy servants shall till the land for him.
Thou shall 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. Ziba had fifteen sons
and twenty servants. Ziba said 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. 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 his feet. Now, to understand this
chapter, I believe it's essential to understand this, who's speaking
here, who's speaking here. This isn't just anyone speaking,
this is the king speaking. When I read this, frequently
I want to get down to verse 12 and 13, there where Mephibosheth
is sitting at the king's table eating. We can't get there. We can't
get there without these first few verses. See, this is David
speaking. And David's not just anyone.
David is the king. David is the king. And by nature,
this goes right over our heads. King. One in authority. One in
power. In our day, there's little. There's little, if any, respect
given to those in authority, those who rule. We question. It's not uncommon for us to question
those who rule, whether it's rulers of this country, whether
it's parents, teachers. Sean, I'm just sure you get phone
calls every now and then of people that say, not what did my kid
do, But how did the teacher, what's this teacher done? The
respect for those in our authority, we've lost that. We've lost that
in our time. We question, again, our teachers.
We question those who enforce the laws of our country. And
that's a terrible problem. It's a terrible problem. But
we have a problem that's far greater than that. far greater
than that. Why should we expect people to
recognize people on this earth who are in authority when they
fail to recognize Him, when they fail to recognize a sovereign
God who rules and reigns over all? It's God, it's Almighty
God that places those folks in authority. We read that over
in Romans 13.1, Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers,
for there is no power, there is no power but of God. And the powers that be, they're
ordained of God. He puts these people in authority. So on this subject of authority,
turn to Matthew 8. Matthew 8. Look beginning in verse 5 of
Matthew 8. It says here, when Jesus was entered
into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him
and saying, Lord, my servant lies at home sick of the palsy,
grievously tormented. Jesus said unto him, he said,
I'll come and heal him. And the centurion answered and
said, Lord, master, I'm not worthy that thou shouldest come under
my roof, but speak the word only and my servant shall be healed.
For I'm a man under authority. He says, I know something about
authority. I'm a man under authority. Having soldiers under me, I say
to this man, go and he goes. Or I say to another, come, and
he cometh. And to my servant, do this, and
he does it. And when Jesus heard this, he
marveled. He marveled and said unto them
that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great
faith, no, not in Israel. He said, speak, just speak the
word. You're one in authority. You
speak the word and it'll happen. So back here in our text, back
here in 2 Samuel 9, this one that speaks, this isn't
just anybody. This isn't just any common person.
This is David. This is King David. This is David
the king. And when the king speaks, when
he speaks, his subjects, those of his kingdom, they listen. They obey him. David is God's
king. He's sovereign. He's sovereign.
And that points to our God. That points to Almighty God.
Our God is a sovereign God. He's sovereign in creation. He
has total authority, total authority in heaven and earth. Back in
Genesis 1, we read in the beginning, in the beginning, God created
the heavens and the earth. He set it all in motion. He orders and He directs it.
And then if you looked at verse 31, He looked back. He looked
back there on the sixth day at everything He made. He said,
it's very good. It's that which He created. God is sovereign in creation. He's sovereign in providence.
We read in Ephesians 1.11, in whom we have obtained an inheritance. being predestinated according
to the purpose of him who worketh all things, all things after
the counsel of his own will. Not a few things, not some things,
not most things, all things. He worketh all things after the
counsel of his own will. Spurgeon said, he said, the path
of that dust mite that floats in the air, it's as sure It's
as sure as the orbit of the planets. Our God's sovereign. He's sovereign. And then Jonah said this, and
it's repeated throughout God's Word. He's sovereign in salvation.
Salvation. Jonah said this. He says, I'll
sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving. I will
pay that which I have vowed. Salvation. Salvation is of the
Lord. And we're going to read through
this chapter I don't mean to give away the end. We read it.
Spoiler alert here, okay? God's going to show, David's
going to show mercy to Mephibosheth. But let's read through this together
here. And he can only, listen, one
more point, he can only do that if he's absolutely sovereign.
Okay? Don't lose that. Second here,
look at verse one. David said, is there any left? Is there yet any that is left
of the house of Saul that I might show him kindness, that I might
show him mercy? King's gonna show mercy. The
house of Saul is an enemy of King David. Yet David, David's
gonna be merciful. Our God is merciful. See, look at, Turn to Psalm 130.
Let's begin in verse one. Out of the depths have I cried
unto thee, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice. Let thine
ears be attentive to the voice of my supplication. If thou,
Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who should stand? There's
forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared. I wait for
the Lord, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope. My
soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the
morning. I say more than they that watch for the morning. Verse
seven, let Israel. Let Israel hope in the Lord,
for with the Lord there is mercy. We thank God for his mercy, that
he's a merciful God and with him is plenteous redemption. Next point, still here in verse
one, back in our text. David said, is there any yet,
is there any yet that is left to the house of Saul that I may
show him mercy For Jonathan's sake. For Jonathan's sake. Not that Mephibosheth is deserving
of mercy, but for the sake of another one. For the sake of
another one. Back in 1 Samuel, we won't turn
there, but we read of a covenant. We read of a covenant between
Jonathan and David. And David's going to show mercy
here because of that covenant, because of that promise he made
to Jonathan. For Jonathan's sake, we read
that, we read this, think of this, David loved Jonathan. You
know, there's nobody we love, there's nobody we love more than
ourselves. I'm convinced of that. We probably
put a good show on, but at the end of the day, we talk about
this in our Sunday school class, there's nobody we love that we
consider more than number one, right? David said this, it says
that David loved Jonathan as he loved his own soul, as he
loved this covenant. This covenant is a covenant of
love. It's a covenant of love. And
David, again, he's going to show mercy for Jonathan's sake. And
God shows mercy to his people. Why? For Christ's sake. For Christ's sake. For his love. Now quickly, quickly, let's review
what we read here in verse one. David's the king, David's sovereign. If he's not the king, if he's
not the king, he has no power, does he? He's helpless, but he
is the king. Listen, he's going to show mercy
and he's going to show mercy for the sake of another. He's
going to show mercy for the sake of another. With these things
in mind, let's look at the rest of this chapter and what time
we have here. Back to our text. Verse two,
there was in the house of Saul a servant whose name was Ziba.
When they had called him unto David, the king said unto him,
art thou Ziba? And he said, thy servant. And
the king said, is there not yet any? Listen here again, this
is the king speaking. Is there not yet any in the house
of Saul that I may show thee kindness of God unto him? Ziba
said unto the king, Jonathan hath yet a son which is lame
on his feet. You can turn back and read this
later today, but back in 2 Samuel 4 and verse 4, when Mephibosheth
was about five years old, a nurse picked him up to flee. And in
that process, there was a fall, and as a result, Mephibosheth
was lame. Is that lame because of a fall? That sounds familiar, doesn't
it? Isn't that us? Isn't that what
happened to us? We read in Romans 5, Wherefore,
as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin,
and so death passed upon all men for all have sinned. When Adam fell, I fell. When Adam sinned, I sinned. Blame because of the fall. And
the king said unto him, verse four, where is he? And Ziba said
unto the king, behold, he's in the house of Maker, the son of
Amul and Lodabar, down there in that land of no pasture, that
land of no bread. The king David sent and he fetched
him. Fetched him out of the house
of Maker, the son of Amul and Lodabar. David sent and he fetched
him. I looked up that word and it
means to to go after somebody and bring them back. You play
this with your dog. You roll the ball out there,
and the dog, most of us as dogs do this. Arthur just sits and
just stares at it and waits for us to go pick it up. It'd be
a horrible example, I guess. But the dog, when it plays fetch,
you throw that ball out, and the dog runs and gets the ball,
grabs it, and brings it back. David's going to do here from
Ephesians. He's going to send somebody down there, one of his
men, one of his servants, to go down there and fetch him and
bring him back to him. Isn't that what our Lord's done
for us? Isn't that exactly what He's done for us? Luke 15.4,
that parable over in Luke 15, that parable of the lost sheep.
Turn over there, Luke 15. Here we read in verse 4. What
man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he lose one of them,
doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness and go
after that which is lost until he find it? Until he find it. And when he's found it, he lays
it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he cometh home, he calleth
his friends together and his neighbors, saying unto them,
Rejoice with me. for I have found my sheep which
was lost." Don't we rejoice? Don't we rejoice when God is
pleased to call out one of His sheep, to fetch Him and bring
Him back? Let's read on. Let's read on
here. David says, fetch Him. Go bring Him in. Bring Him back.
And wherever God's people are, consider this, wherever God's
people are in His time, In His time, He fetches them and He
brings them back to Himself. No matter where they are. That
Ethiopian eunuch, he sent Philip. He said, he sends his servant.
There he is. Do you understand what you're
reading? No, no, how can I? How can I except some man guide
me? That woman at the well, the Lord, Sit there, ask for a drink
of water. Wherever his sheep are, he'll
send his messenger. He'll send his word to them. And then, I always think of that
Philippian jailer. What chance is there for that
man that's behind those prison walls? God sends Paul and Silas,
cast into the prison. He hears the gospel. They spoke
unto Him. They spoke unto Him. Christ,
they brought the Word through Him. Our God is a God merciful. Are we thankful that He's merciful?
Are we thankful that He'll find His sheep? They're His sheep,
wherever they are. He'll find them, and He'll fetch
them, and He'll bring them back to Himself. Let's read on here. You know, you could go through
a whole list of people. Some of you know that story. Where
did God find you? He'll find His sheep. He'll find
His sheep. He said this, He said, Of all
that the Father hath given Me, I won't lose any. I won't lose
one. Well, verse 6, verse 6 of our
text, Now when Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son
of Saul, was coming to David, he fell on his face and he did
reverence. David said to Mephibosheth, He called him by name. He said,
Mephibosheth. He answered him. He said, Behold, thy servant.
Mephibosheth, you see that he fell on his face. He fell on
his face. He's standing. He's standing
before the king. Imagine this. Imagine this. Imagine David coming to him or
Mephibosheth coming to David and saying, You know what, David,
I'm your enemy, but I've decided to make peace with you. Can you
ever imagine that? Can you ever imagine Mephibosheth
saying, King David, I've decided to take the first step? Isn't
that absurd? This is an enemy. This is an
enemy of the king. David, I've decided, I've decided
to let you show mercy on me." Isn't that just utter foolishness? That's what men say today. That's
what men have said forever. But here we read, with Bibishep,
the grandson of Saul, the enemy of the king, that one that's
laying on his feet, he falls at his feet. He falls at the
feet of the king. Mephibosheth demonstrates something
here. He knows something of who he's
standing before, and he knows something of his own condition.
He's a sinner standing before the king. And David says, Mephibosheth. Oh, he calls him by name. This is particular. He's not
talking to Ziba and his sons here. He's talking to Mephibosheth,
this one that he's going to show Mercy too. Over in John 10, verse
3, we read, to him the porter opened it, the sheep, hear his
voice, and he calls them by name. He calls them by name and he
leads them out. Well, read on here in our text.
Verse 7, and David said unto him, he speaks peace to him,
he says, fear not. Fear not, don't be afraid. Now
did he have reason to fear? Naturally speaking, yes, he had
every reason to fear. But he says, don't fear. Don't
be afraid. I'm going to show you mercy.
I'm going to show thee kindness for Jonathan thy father's sake.
Can you imagine? Mephibosheth probably started
breathing again at this point. He's going to be merciful. He's
going to be merciful unto me. And I'll restore thee all the
land that saw thy father, and thou shalt eat bread at my table
continually. He bowed himself and he said,
what's thy servant? What is thy servant that thou shouldest look
upon such a dead dog, such a dead dog as I am? The prodigal son,
he said, I'm not worthy. I'm not worthy to be called son.
Just make me a servant. Make me like a servant in your
house. Then the king called Ziba, Saul's
servant, and he said unto him, I have given unto thy master's
son all that pertain to Saul and all his house. Thou therefore
and thy sons and thy servants shall till the land for him.
Thou shalt bring in the fruits that thy master's son may have
food to eat. Mephibosheth thy master's son
shall eat bread always at my table. Now Ziba had fifteen sons
and twenty servants. Ziba said unto the king, He said,
According to all that my lord the king hath commanded his servant,
So shall his servant do. As for Mephibosheth, said the
king, he shall eat at my table as one of the king's sons. 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 his feet. Mephibosheth, this one that was
lame on his feet, this one that was fetched by the king. It's one that was called by name.
Mephibosheth, who was shown mercy for the sake of another, he now
sits at the king's table. One more thing. One more thing. Look back at verse 11. I think we can all agree it would
be a It'd be a great blessing to eat, to eat at the king's
table. Just to eat as a guest at the
king's table. But he says, as for Mephibosheth,
he shall eat at my table as one of the king's sons. He's not
just, he's not a guest. He's a son. He's a son. He's seated. Just like one of
the king's sons. Because he is. Because he is. One more Scripture. Turn to Galatians
4. Look beginning with verse 4 of
Galatians chapter 4. 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. And because ye are sons, God
has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying,
Abba, Father, wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a
son, a son, and if a son, an heir of God through Christ. Mephibosheth, he's not a servant,
he's a son and an heir through Jonathan. And we, God's people,
are no more servants, but sons, heirs of God, in, by, and through
our Lord Jesus Christ.