so very much desire, so very much pray for grace to
walk with God in that near, dear, sweet communion of His Son all
the time. But I find myself more often
than not at a distance. And I pray for you, you who know
God, that he might be pleased to give you grace to walk with
him in near sweet communion with our Redeemer. But I think I know
you well enough to say that you probably, like myself, find yourself
more often walking afar off. The one thing that God uses to
draw me to him, the one thing he uses to stir my heart to devotion
and worship and give me sweet communion with my Redeemer is
a reminder of his grace and his goodness to me in Christ Jesus. And I never tire of thinking
about, singing about, talking about, hearing about, or preaching
about God's great grace. Like Noah of old, I found grace
in the eyes of the Lord. And for 46 years, by day and
by night, he has proved his grace sufficient for me. For you who
do not know him, it is my prayer that you may find grace in his
sight and prove the sufficiency of his grace for yourselves. And now I have the privilege,
a sinner saved by grace, of preaching that grace to you. Unto me, whom
less than the least of all saints is this grace given, that I should
preach to you the unsearchable riches of Christ. Turn with me
to 2 Samuel chapter 4. 2 Samuel chapter 4. Let me show you one more time
a beautiful picture of God's grace in this man named Mephibosheth. 2 Samuel chapter 4 verse 4. And Jonathan, Saul's son, had
a son that was lame on his feet. He was five years old when the
tidings came of Saul and Jonathan out of Jezreel, tidings that
Jonathan was slain, that Saul was slain on the battlefield.
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. And his name was Mephibosheth. That's my subject. His name was
Mephibosheth. Now a lot of people who read
the Bible are very familiar with the names of Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob. They're very familiar with the
names of Moses and Aaron. Very familiar with Peter and
Paul. But if you ask them about Mephibosheth, most people would
look at you with a kind of a blank look on their face and question
marks in their eyes as if to say, who? Who is Mephibosheth? You might be surprised to discover
just how much is written in the book of God about this man Mephibosheth. This man Mephibosheth was one
specially chosen by God to illustrate His great grace and mercy toward
us in Christ Jesus. And I'm sure if God will be pleased
to speak by me and His Word to you, if He will allow me to declare
to you what I found in His Word today. You will be blessed in
the remembrance of this man Mephibosheth and God's dealings with Mephibosheth
in his good providence as this portrays his dealings with all
his own. Once David was established as
king over all Israel, he killed all the sons of Saul. All of
them were slaughtered by divine command. God ordered him to do
it. It was customary in those days
when a man succeeded another man in a kingdom to destroy all
his family, the family of the preceding king, especially the
sons, lest one should rise and seek to take the kingdom away
from him. But David didn't just follow custom. David slew every
son of Saul by divine command. But we're told in chapter 21
of 2 Samuel, just listen, the king spared Mephibosheth, the
son of Jonathan, the son of Saul. He spared Mephibosheth because
of the Lord's oath that was between them, between David and Jonathan,
the son of Saul. All the sons of Saul were slain
except this one man, Mephibosheth. There are many, many stories
in scripture that illustrate for us the marvelous grace of
our God, and we love the stories. Our Lord Jesus taught us plainly
to preach and teach folks the gospel by parables, by stories,
by taking something that we're familiar with, that we can look
at and apprehend and use that to illustrate the truth of the
gospel. He did it himself in his parables. And he gives us in the Old Testament
scriptures, many historic things that illustrate for us that marvelous
work of his grace by which we're saved. What can better illustrate
God's love for sinners than the story of Hosea and Gomer? The
Lord God says, I'm going to love you just like this. And it tells
us about Hosea's love for his harlot wife, Gomer. There can
never be a clearer picture of grace. than the portrayal given
in Luke chapter 11 of the Good Samaritan, who comes and pours
in the oil and wine and takes the man to an end and says, put
everything on my charge, I'll take care of it. That's what
our Redeemer has done for us. Nothing can more forcibly set
forth the great loving kindness of God, our Savior, in sacrificing
himself for us than the story of the Good Shepherd. The good
shepherd whom our Savior says is he who giveth his life for
the sheep. And God's covenant faithfulness,
how beautifully it's displayed in the story of the prodigal
son. That son who ran from his father and wasted all of his
father's substance and riotous living, and when he was at last
brought to nothing, he came to himself and arises and goes back
to his father. And when his father saw him yet
a great way off, he ran and fell on his neck and kissed him and
kissed him and kissed him. Marvelous pictures of God's grace,
but none is more instructive than the story we have here of
Mephibosheth. I'm going to try one more time
to deal with this. I've been working on this message
all day long. Got over here this morning and
knew exactly where I was going. Now may God be pleased to speak
by his word. Let's begin in chapter 9 of 2
Samuel. This is where we'll find the
message. This man, Mephibosheth, was Jonathan's only son. the last living survivor of the
royal house of Saul. And when the news came that Saul
and Jonathan had fallen on the battlefield of Gilboa, his nurse
heard about it. Mephibosheth was just five years
old. And she picked him up and ran
from the king's palace carrying Mephibosheth. When she did, the
boy fell. And he fell and broke both of
his legs and from that day on was lame on both his feet. Now it's been 16 years since
David made his covenant with Jonathan back in 1 Samuel chapter
20. David, you know, met Jonathan
in the field, and Jonathan made David swear to him. He said,
swear to me that you will not destroy my family. Swear to me
that you will be gracious, merciful, and kind to my family. And David
swore to him. And Jonathan loved David, and
David loved Jonathan as his own soul. They made a covenant together
on behalf of this boy, Mephibosheth, though Mephibosheth knew nothing
about it. Jonathan understood that David was God's anointed. Jonathan was the next in line
to be king. He was the man who would have
ruled had he lived. But Jonathan knew that David
was to be king. He knew this was God's purpose
and God's will. Jonathan was a believing man,
unlike his father. And Jonathan knew that he must
die for David to be king. And he was delighted to do so.
He was delighted for God's will to be accomplished, even if it
meant the sacrifice of his own life. And he met David and said,
Now, David, swear to me. And they made this covenant.
Now, 16 years later, David's established as king over all
Israel by the hand of God. And he's determined to fulfill
his covenant obligation. I chose my words deliberately.
He's determined to fulfill his covenant obligation to Jonathan. You see, to a man of honor, his
word is his obligation. To a man of honor, his word is
his obligation. It's not that somehow he's going
to be forced to do something. He's given his word and that
becomes his obligation. So our Lord Jesus, before the
world was, stood forth as our surety and gave his word as our
surety to redeem and save our souls. And that word which he
spoke to the Father became his obligation because of his honor
as God our Savior. So David, the picture, the type
of our Redeemer, determines to fulfill his obligation, the obligation
to which he had obliged himself by his own word. And he seeks
out one of Saul's house to whom he might be gracious. He finds
this man Mephibosheth. And when Mephibosheth first learned
that David the king had found him, I can imagine what must
have gone through his mind. I could just imagine how terrified
he must have been. His other brothers, his other
kinsmen in Saul's house were all strong and valiant men. Mephibosheth
was a cripple. Mephibosheth was poor. Mephibosheth
had nothing by which he could do anything to placate this mighty
king, David. And he thinks to himself, now
David has found me. I've been hiding all these years,
but now David's found me and surely I must meet the same fate
as my brothers. But David showed nothing but
kindness and mercy to Mephibosheth and received him into the palace
and seated him at the king's table as one of the king's own
sons. Now, follow me along as we look
at this beautiful picture of Mephibosheth, a picture of God's
grace to us. I'll call your attention to just
four things. First, Mephibosheth was in a very poor miserable
condition, a helpless man when the king sought him out. He was
an utter wretch, altogether unworthy of David's attention, totally
unworthy of David's regard or David's favor. But David freely
showed him kindness, tender mercy for Jonathan's sake. This man,
Mephibosheth, like you and I, was an unworthy man, unworthy
to receive anything from God. Nevertheless, the Lord God has
been gracious to us. Mephibosheth means shame, shameful,
a reproach. This man through his fall had
been brought to poverty and he had lost everything. And he now
is but a reproach of a man, a shameful man. He was poor. destitute and
helpless. We may all, as the sons of Adam,
be called Mephibosheth, a shameful thing. In fact, the scripture
says we are all as an unclean thing. From the sole of the foot,
even to the crown of the head, there's no soundness in us but
wounds and bruises and putrefying sores. The psalmist says man
at his best estate is altogether vanity. That's man. That's you. That's me. Altogether vanity. Altogether empty and useless. Were it not for sin, there would
be nothing to us. Were it not for corruption, there
would be nothing in us. Were it not for iniquity, we
would be nothing at all. That's what we are, iniquity,
transgression, and sin. Shameful, reproach, empty, helpless,
and vain. Like the leper. We have an incurable
disease. Like the harlot, we're defiled. Your name and mine is Mephibosheth,
reproach, a shameful thing. In my heart, by nature, in my
deeds, by my words, by my thoughts, nothing but shame. That's true
of Bill Raleigh, and that's true of your pastor. My name is a
shameful thing, a reproach. a shameful thing, a reproach. Not only was he shameful, Mephibosheth
was the king's natural enemy. He was one of Saul's sons. Saul
had sought to destroy David all these years. He persecuted David. He pursued David. He sent his
house to destroy David. And Mephibosheth knew that David
was a man who had slaughtered his brothers. And now he's in
hiding from David in fear of his life. But David wasn't his
enemy at all. David had long before sworn that
he would be gracious to this man if ever he should find him
by nature. You and I, the sons of Adam,
are God's enemies, children of wrath, even as others. I recognize,
I'm fully aware, there never was a time when God was angry
with his own. He's always accepted us in his
son. There never was a time when we
were the objects of God's wrath. We were always under the blessing
of his covenant, accepted in his son, made the righteousness
of God in his son from everlasting. But in our experience, we live
with a sense of God's wrath upon us, and we live with our fists
shoved in God's face as God's enemies. The natural mind is
enmity against God. It's not subject to the law of
God, neither indeed can it be. And we were hiding from God like
Mephibosheth when he came and saved us by his grace. But God
is not an enemy to his people, though We knew nothing of it. Through his son, the Lord Jesus,
God reconciled us to himself when his son died in our stead
at Calvary. Turn to Romans chapter 5 for
a moment. Romans chapter 5. I want you to see this. We'll
look at two texts in this regard. Reconciliation was accomplished
for us in eternity when Christ the Lamb was accepted as our
Redeemer before the world began. We're told that plainly in Romans
chapter 8. Here in Romans 5, the apostle explains to us what
the Lord Jesus did in time when he died at Calvary. Romans 5
verse 5, hope maketh not ashamed because the love of God is shed
abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us.
For when we were yet without strength in due time, Christ
died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous
man will one die, yet peradventure for a good man some would even
dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward
us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. While we were yet sinners, Christ
died for us. Much more then, much more then,
if he died for us when we were sinners, being now justified
by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. If he
died for us when we were sinners, now that we're justified, there's
no possibility we're going to die. For if when we were enemies,
when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death
of his son, much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
We were enemies to God all the days of our rebellion. But even
in our rebellion, we were reconciled to God in his soul. And then
he comes in his grace and causes us to be reconciled in our hearts
to him. Now, this is our security. He who reconciled us to God will
keep us everlastingly. Look in second Corinthians chapter
five. The apostle stating the same thing, verse 19. This is the message God's given
us to proclaim. To wit, that God was in Christ,
reconciling the world unto himself. Now, obviously, that does not
mean that he was reconciling everybody in the world to himself.
If that's what it says, then everybody in the world is saved.
Obviously, that is not what he's saying. He's reconciling his
elect scattered throughout all the world, his elect among every
nation, kindred, tribe, and tongue, reconciling the word of his elect
unto himself. How is that? Not imputing their
trespasses unto them, not charging them with sin, and hath committed
to us the word, the message of reconciliation. And here it is.
Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ. As though God did
beseech you by us, we pray you in Christ's stead Quit fighting
God. Quit fighting God. Quit. That's what sin is. That's what
unbelief is. That's what your rebellion is.
It is fighting God. Quit fighting God. Put down your
little pot gun. You're going to lose this battle.
Quit fighting God. Be ye reconciled to God. Kiss the son, lest he be angry
when his wrath is kindled but a little. Well, on what basis,
on what basis do we call for men to be reconciled to God?
For he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that
we might be made the righteousness of God in him. All right, back
in 2 Samuel chapter 9. This great God, the God of all
grace, is ever beseeching lost, lame, languishing sinners to
be reconciled to him. This man, Mephibosheth, had become
lame through a fall. We're told in verse 3, 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. That's our condition. Spiritually lame. Dead in trespasses
and in sins, but here portrayed as lame. Dead in trespasses and
in sins, but often portrayed as that one who has a withered
head. Dead in trespasses and in sins, and yet portrayed as
one with a diseased heart. Because all of those things portray
our depravity and our helplessness. We bid sinners come to Christ. Come to Christ. I bid you now
come to Christ. Oh, come to Christ. Come to Christ
and live forever. I promise you, you come to Christ
and life eternal is yours. But you're lame. You're lame. You can't come. You can't come. You're not willing
to, but you can't. You don't want to, but you can't.
You can't come. unless God does something for
you. The king, we're told in verse
4, made this statement. He said, where is he? And Ziba
said unto him, the king, behold, is in the house of Maker. That's
a long ways off. The son of Abel in Lodibar. Mephibosheth was far away from
the king, far away from Jerusalem, far away from the place of blessing,
far away from the place of worship. He was down in the house of Maker,
one sold. He was down in Lodibar, where
there was no bread for him. This is our condition by nature.
In Lodibar, where there's no bread, far off from God, sold
into bondage and lame on both our feet. And then the king says,
fetch it. Fetch it. Fetch it. Now this is just our condition
when God saved us by his grace. We were helpless, far off, without
God, without Christ, without hope. Aliens from the commonwealth
of Israel, strangers from the covenants of promise, lost in
this world. And the Lord Jesus sends his
spirit to fetch us. So secondly, I want us to see
how this man, Mephibosheth, this shameful reproach was called
to the king. Verse four. The king said unto
him, where is it? And Ziba said unto the king,
behold, he's in the house of Maker, the son of Amul and Lodibar. Then the king sent and fetched
him. Fetched him. Now that's a good
southern word not used much anymore. Some of you folks who are a little
younger probably never heard anybody use it unless you read
it in scriptures or heard me or somebody else preaching from
this passage of scripture. Fetch. When I was a boy, I'd
go visit my grandparents up in the mountains of North Carolina
or down along in the flatlands of eastern North Carolina. They'd
send me to fetch water. They didn't send me to invite
some water to come home with me. They didn't send me to offer
the water an opportunity to get in my bucket. They sent me to
fetch water. And my responsibility was to
go get the water and bring it in. Fetch it. Fetch it. The Lord Jesus sends his spirit
in fetching grace to call his elect, his lame ones, his helpless
ones. As he came to Lazarus, who was
dead in the tomb, and said, Lazarus, come forth. He fetched him out
of the tomb. So thy people shall be willing
in the day of thy power. Blessed is the man whom thou
choosest and fetchest unto thee. That's exactly what he's saying
in Psalm 65 or 64 verse 5, and causes to approach unto thee.
He fetched him out of the house of Maker, the son of Amul in
Lodibar. David sought Mephibosheth. Mephibosheth didn't seek David. So it was with you. So it was
with you. I remember the first time I saw
Brother Tom Bryce. God came seeking you, you didn't
come seeking Him. He chose you, you didn't choose
Him. He calls His own with a personal call. So, Brother Don, how do
you know if the Lord's called you? You know. You know. You know. The Lord calls his own, his sheep
by name, and they hear his voice, and they follow him. They know
the shepherd's voice. They know his voice. He calls
personally, he calls each one individually, and he calls irresistibly. So that those who are called
by his grace come to him, made willing in the day of his power.
This is why I'm saying salvation begins with God. He takes the
initiative. Man goes astray. Man hides from
God. But God seeks and finds his own. The Lord Jesus declares, I am
found of them that sought me not. God Almighty sends his spirit
by his word and fetches his own to him. He sent down to Ur of
Chaldees and fetched out Abram. He sent to Midian and fetched
Moses. He sent up. He came to Zacchaeus
who was up a tree and said, Zacchaeus, come down for today. I must abide
at thy house. And Zacchaeus made haste and
came down. He came to Lazarus and said,
Lazarus, come forth. He came to Saul in the desert
and Saul was converted by his grace. He sends his servant Philip
to the Ethiopian eunuch and the eunuch is converted by his grace.
Mephibosheth Comes before the king then being fetched by him
and when he's fetched to the king he comes in reverent submission
look at verse 6 Now when Mephibosheth the son
of Jonathan the son of Saul was come unto David he fell on his
face and did reverence He fell on his face and did reverence
That's a picture of a sinner coming to the Savior Most of
you have seen religious meetings on television. Most of you have
probably been to some, and they'll get to the end of the closing
service, and they'll have what they call an invitation, an altar
call, and folks will come. They'll come forward laughing
and chewing gum. blowing bubbles and then they'll
go through what's called a Romans road and they'll sign a decision
card and say I believe in Jesus and they walk out smacking their
gum and blowing their bubbles and laughing. Cause nothing serious. They don't know God any more
than a billy goat. Had no knowledge of God and all
that stuff. You ever come to Christ knowing
who you are, you will fall before him on your face. You find mercy
when God puts your mouth in the dust before his throne. And unless
you fall before him, you will never be lifted by him. Unless
he abases you, he will never raise you up. Unless he strips
you, he will never clothe you. Unless he wounds you, he will
never heal you. Unless he slays you, he will
never make you alive. He fell on his face and did reverence. He's come to the king. And David
said, Mephibosheth, And he responds, behold, thy servant. Here I am. Here I am. You're the king. I'm your servant. You can do with me what you will.
When he first came before David, he reverenced him with fear and
trembling, not knowing what David had in mind. So he throws himself
at the king's feet. But David broke his fear. He called him by name and spoke
peaceably to him. He said, Mephibosheth, don't
be afraid of me. Mephibosheth, fear not. Fear
not. I place no confidence on any
past experience. But I do thank God for the memory
of some experience in his grace. by which he graciously forced
me to bow at his throne with fear and trembling, and spoke
peace to my soul through his darling son, saying, Don Fortney,
you've got nothing to fear from me. You've got nothing to fear. Fear not, for I will surely show
thee kindness. Have you ever thrown yourself
at the feet of the throne of grace? At the feet of the sovereign
Christ? That's the way to obtain mercy.
Blessed be his name. He calls his own by name and
speaks peace to our souls. Now get this. Mephibosheth was
received in all his deformity. In all his deformity. He didn't
clean himself up. He was brought to David. He didn't
wait till he learned to walk. He was lame on his feet and received
just as he was. I tried my best with repeated
exercise and discipline, with crying and tears, literally with
crying and tears. I tried my best, Merle Hart,
to clean myself up so I'd be acceptable with God. I tried my best to make myself
better so I could come to Christ. Come to Christ as you are. He comes to save sinners, only
sinners. Just as I am, without one plea,
but that thy blood was shed for me, and that thou bidst me come
to thee, O Lamb of God, I come. He was received in all his deformity
for Jonathan's sake. Look at verse 7. David said unto
him, Fear not, for I will surely show thee kindness for Jonathan
thy father's sake. Hold your hand here and turn
over to Titus chapter 3. Are you interested in things
of God? Are you concerned about your soul? Listen to me. Listen to me. Come to Christ,
just like you are, and God Almighty will receive sinners for Christ's
sake. Not for your sake, for Christ's
sake. Not because of something you
do, not because of something good in you, not because of some
reformation you make, not because you clean your life up, but for
Christ's sake. Look at Titus chapter 3, verse
3. For we ourselves were also sometimes foolish, disobedient,
deceived, serving divers' lusts and pleasures, living in malice
and envy, hateful and hating one another. But after that,
the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man appeared,
not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according
to his mercy. According to his mercy according
to his mercy He saved us by the washing of regeneration and the
renewing of the Holy Ghost Which he shed on us abundantly through
Jesus Christ our Savior that being justified by his grace
We might be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life Paul says God for Christ's sake
hath forgiven you because of Christ's obedience, because of
Christ's death, because of Christ's person, because of Christ's acceptance,
God is pleased to accept sinners and pardon sinners, all who believe
on his son, for Christ's sake. And when Mephibosheth came to
David, and he fell on his face and did reverence before David,
and David spoke these words to him, concerning Jonathan and
his kindness, the kindness of God for Jonathan's sake. Mephibosheth
learned to view himself as he really is. Look what it said,
verse 8. He bowed himself and said, what
is thy servant? That thou shouldest look upon
such a dead dog as I am. Dog is an unclean animal. Dog
is a word used by God in his word to describe false prophets. Dog is a word used by God to
describe male prostitutes, sodomite prostitutes. Dog is forbidden
to be brought, the price of a dog forbidden to be brought into
the temple. There couldn't be a word that more describes that
which is obnoxious to God than dog, unless you add to it this
one descriptive word, dead dog. Dead dog. I spend a lot of time on the
road. As you know, most of you have seen the same things I've
seen. I may have seen a few more. I've seen a lot of bloated dead
dogs. laying on the road. And a buzzard's got to be hungry
to eat one. Nothing gets near a dead dog,
nothing, except God. David's on his throne in Bethesda. He looks at him and says, he
says, what am I? That you should look upon such
a dead dog as I If ever you come to Christ, you will find yourself
just like this. You will see what you are, and
you won't see what you are until you come to Christ. Mephibosheth
was reconciled to the king when he bowed before the king, acknowledging
what he was by an act of the king's own mercy. Look at verse
nine. Then the king called to Ziba, Saul's servant, and said
unto him, I have given unto thy master's son all that pertain
to Saul and to his house. Thou therefore and thy sons and
thy servants shall till the land for him, and thou shalt bring
in the fruits that thy master's son may have food to eat. He said to Ziba, you go out and
till the ground for Mephibosheth. People often ask, why did God
create Esau? Why did God create the sons of
Ham? Why did the reprobate live on
this earth? Alvin, they're here to till the ground for you. That's exactly right. Ziba's
purpose was to till the ground for Mephibosheth. That's the
order he had. And so it is that God uses all
things, including the fallen sons of Adam, for the benefit
of his elect to bring the fruits of the earth to his own. But
Mephibosheth, thy master's son, shall eat bread all way at my
table. Now Ziba had 15 sons. and 20
servants. David restored to Mephibosheth
everything he lost in his father Saul, and he made him as one
of the king's sons. Once again, he was made a prince
in Israel. Not only that, Mephibosheth got
more through David than he lost through Saul. So it is with you
who are gods. We fell in our father Adam, But
oh, blessed fall. Oh, blessed fall. We're better
off now than we could ever have been had Adam not fallen. We're
not only restored as princes to God and priests to God, we're
made the very sons of God so that we're accepted of God, one
with Christ, given the dignity of Christ himself. Now, under
the king's table, Mephibosheth sat. and he was still lame on
both his feet. He was still sitting there with
mangled, twisted, deformed feet. He was still a helpless, fallen
man. So it is with you. Accepted of God in Christ, given
a new nature but your own nature's not changed at all, still fallen
and mangled and sinful and corrupt, shameful and a reproach. But
I love the picture. He's sitting at the king's table and nobody saw his feet. Nobody saw his feet. They're
completely covered So it is with you and I the Lord God Almighty
himself does not look upon our sin. He sees none in us It's
not just covered. It's cast behind his back removed
from us as far as the East is from his from the West now Look
at Mephibosheth's communion his fellowship with the king The
king's house was his house He dwelt with David. Always accepted
in David's presence. So it is with us. Walking with
God. Always accepted. Always free. Always bidden to come boldly
to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace
to help in time of need. Now turn, if you will, to chapter
19. Chapter 19. 2 Samuel 19. Because of all the grace he had
received, Mephibosheth loved King David more than anything. You remember that Absalom, David's
son, led a revolt against him. David was driven out of Jerusalem. And when he went away, Shimei
came out cussing David. And then Absalom's destroyed,
and David comes back to Jerusalem. But when he came back to Jerusalem,
Ziba, Mephibosheth's servant, met David. And he said, where's
your master? And Ziba slandered Mephibosheth.
He said, my master didn't come to greet the king because my
master thought God had now restored the kingdom to him. And David
said, you take everything that Mephibosheth had, and it's yours.
Because Ziba had slandered him. Now look at verse 24 of chapter
19. And Mephibosheth, the son of Saul, came down to meet the
king, and had neither dressed his feet, nor trimmed his beard,
nor washed his clothes from the day the king departed until the
day he came again in peace. Mephibosheth was in absolute
misery David was gone verse 25 and it came to pass When he was
come to Jerusalem to meet the king that the king said unto
him wherefore when is thou? When has not thou with me? Mephibosheth
and he answered my lord. Oh king my servant deceived me
For thy servant said I will saddle me and ask that I may ride their
own and go to the king because thy servant is lame Verse 27,
And he, Ziba, hath slandered thy servant unto my lord the
king. But my lord the king is as an
angel of God. Do therefore what is good in
thine eyes. For all of my father's house
were but dead men before my lord the king. Yet didst thou set
thy servant among them that did eat at thine own table. What
right, therefore, have I yet to cry any more unto the king?
And the king said unto him, Why speakest thou any more of
thy matters? I sat and looked at that for
a long time today. There's a sermon there. Don Fortner, quit looking at
your matters, at your depravity, your corruption, and your sin,
and your failure. I have said, thou and Ziba divide
the land. Now watch Mephibosheth's response.
And Mephibosheth said unto the king, shucks, I don't want anything
Ziba's got. He said, let him take all. Let
him take all. What? All the kingdom? All the riches that Saul possessed
that David had given to Mephibosheth? He said, let him take all. For
as much as my Lord the King is come again in peace unto his
own house, I want nothing but you and your honor. Oh, God, so teach me of your
grace how we ought to imitate this man Mephibosheth. Let me
love King Jesus supremely, giving up everything to him and for
him. patiently waiting for him, desiring
nothing but Christ himself. Now, turn over to chapter 21,
verse 7. One last thing. All this was
done for Mephibosheth because of a covenant made long before
he was born. David loved Mephibosheth because
of his relation to Jonathan. That's all. That's all. He loved Mephibosheth only for
this reason. He was Jonathan's son. He was
Jonathan's son. Look at verse 7, chapter 21.
The king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son
of Saul, because of the Lord's oath that was between them, between
David and Jonathan, the son of Saul. God loves sinners for Christ's
sake. God saves sinners for Christ's
sake. God embraces you and me because
of our relationship with his son as one with his son. Merle Hart, he doesn't embrace
you because of something good in you. not because of your prayers,
not because of all the good things that I admire in you or Charlotte
admires in you, not because of all the good things your children
or grandchildren admire in you. He embraces you for Christ's
sake, because of Christ, because of his righteousness and his
blood. And he will never cast you away
until he ceases to be pleased with his son. You understand
that? Salvation is by a covenant. By
a covenant relationship with a covenant God through His Son,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, God help you now. Come to
Christ. If you come, it's because He
brought you. Otherwise, you could not come.
And coming to Him, you will find acceptance with God through his
son because of covenant mercy. Amen.