Now, 2 Samuel chapter 9, and
let's read verse 1. And David said, Is there yet
any that is left of the house of Saul that I may show him kindness,
that I might show him kindness for Jonathan's sake? For Jonathan's
sake. Now, it is true that the Old
Testament gives us the history of God's dealing with this national
people we call Israel. But never forget, all Scripture
was given by God to teach us and to show us the way of salvation
in Christ Jesus. That's what this is all about.
To Him give all the prophets witness. Moses wrote about Christ
and the Gospel in the Lord Jesus Christ. To Him give all the prophets
witness. This is the way the early church
preached the gospel in Paul through the book of Acts. They took the
Word of God and showing by the Scripture and proving and declaring
that Jesus Christ is Lord, that He is the appointed Savior, the
anointed Savior sent to save those covenant people. Now this
story, this story of David showing mercy to Mephibosheth, it's an
interesting story. just on the surface of reading
it. But it's given to teach us the
way God saves sinners as David had mercy on Mephibosheth for
Jonathan's sake, even so the Lord Jesus Christ has mercy toward
us, and the only reason that He has mercy toward any of us
is because of the gospel sake, the Lord Jesus Christ's sake.
We are taught in Scripture to love one another, to forgive
one another even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven us. And that's the only reason for
forgiveness is that covenant of grace in Christ Jesus. Now this message has five points.
The first one is this. We see the design of mercy. Secondly,
we see the object of mercy, verse 2 down to verse 4. Thirdly, we
see the application of mercy in verse 5. Fourthly, we see
the response of mercy in verse 6, 7, and 8. And then lastly,
in the fifth point, in verse 7, 8, and verse 13, the results,
the result of mercy, the result of mercy. Now, let's look at
these, each one, for a few minutes. First of all, the design of mercy,
the design of mercy. Again, 2 Samuel 9, verse 1, and
David said, David said, is there yet any that is left of the house
of Saul that I may show, that I may give kindness, mercy for
Jonathan's sake. David is determined to show mercy
because of the love that he has for his dear friend, Jonathan. Now turn to 1 Samuel 18. Let's
read a couple of places here. 1 Samuel 18. when David had slain the Philistine
giant. And they all inquired, well,
who is this young lad? And Saul finally found out that
it was David, the son of Jesse, and he invited him to his home,
said, you come and live with me. He adopted him into the family. Well, King Saul had a son about
the age of David, Jonathan. In 1 Samuel 18, verse 1, 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 David loved him as he loved, excuse me, with the soul of Jonathan,
and Jonathan loved him as he loved his own soul. And Saul
took him that day, would not 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, gave it to David, his garment,
even his sword, his bow, and his girdle. He said, David, take
it all. And their hearts were knit together
in love. Mercy was determined to extend
to Jonathan's family because of the covenant of love between
David and Jonathan. Mercy was purposed before it
was ever imparted and enjoyed by Jonathan's son, the Phibosheth. And here is a picture of mercy
revealed in Christ Jesus. The Father loveth the Son. The
Father loveth the Son, hath given all things into His hand. He that believeth on the Son
hath life. He that believeth not, the Son
shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on Him. The salvation we enjoy as sinners
are the result of the eternal covenant made within the Godhead,
the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, of which the Lord Jesus is called
the surety, the guarantor of the blood of the everlasting
covenant. Let's turn and read that in Hebrews chapter 13. The
Lord Jesus is the guarantor, the surety, the covenant sacrifice,
of that everlasting, eternal covenant of grace, of which the
Lord said, All that the Father hath given to me, they will come
to me, and those that come to me I will in no wise cast out. All that the Father hath given
him, they shall be saved by this blood covenant arrangement."
In Hebrews 13, 20, now the God of peace that brought again from
the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep to
the blood of the everlasting covenant, God chose a people
unto salvation from eternity and gave them to Christ, and
He died for their sin, worked out a perfect righteousness for
them. It's the blood of the everlasting covenant. It'll make you perfect
in every good work to do His will, working in you that which
is well-pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ, to whom
be glory forever and ever. Amen. This is that covenant of
grace we read of all through the Scripture. Find Ephesians
chapter 1. All spiritual blessings given
to us flow out through this covenant mercy, through this covenant
of grace in Christ Jesus. Ephesians chapter 1. Ephesians
chapter 1, notice verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ who had blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly things or heavenly places, all spiritual
blessings, according as He has chosen us in Him before the foundation
of the world that we should be holy." He didn't choose us because
we were holy. He chose us that we should be
holy in Christ, without blame, before Him in love, in Christ,
having predestinated us under the adoption of children by Jesus
Christ to Himself according according to the good pleasure of His will,
to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made
us accepted in the Beloved. All covenant blessings flow out
to us because of this covenant arrangement guaranteed by the
blood sacrifice and satisfaction of the Lord Jesus Christ. Mercy,
salvation, and all spiritual blessings were eternally purposed
in Christ Jesus before the world began, before they were ever
imparted to us in grace. They were purposed of God in
that covenant of grace. Now find II Timothy 1.9. Just as mercy was purposed before
Mephibosheth was ever born. Even so, this covenant of grace
in Christ Jesus, mercy was purposed to give to us, grace was purposed
to give to us before we were born in that covenant of grace. 2 Timothy 1.9, look at this.
Verse 8, Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our
Lord, this is 2 Timothy 1.8, nor of me his prisoner, but be
thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the
power of God, who saved us, called us with a holy calling, not according
to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, now
watch this, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world
began, but is now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior
Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and has brought life and
immortality to light through the gospel, through the gospel
of Christ. Our blessed Lord, who is the
surety of this covenant, honored all covenant obligations for
us. The law of God had to be honored,
had to be satisfied. God's not going to just wink
at our sin and pass over our sin without His justice being
honored, without His law being satisfied. The Lord Jesus Christ
redeemed us from the curse of the law being made a curse for
us. He did honor the law. He did magnify the law for us. Our Lord said, I didn't come
to destroy the law, I came to honor it. He did establish a
perfect righteousness for His people. And He gives that unto
them, freely imputes that unto them by His grace. And He put away sin by the sacrifice
of Himself. As the high priest, He didn't
bring the typical animal sacrifice, did He? He didn't bring the blood
of bulls and goats. He entered once into the holy
place, having obtained eternal redemption for us with His own
blood." You see, He satisfied all the terms of that covenant
of grace. Therefore, God can be a just
God, a loving Father, and a just God, and show mercy to us, be
just, and justify the ungodly through Jesus Christ. That is, my friend, the design
of mercy in Christ. It's a story again, 2 Samuel
9.1. So there's the design of mercy, purpose of God in eternity,
before we were ever born, and we were given to the Lord Jesus
Christ in that covenant of grace. And in time, in the fullness
of time, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the
law to redeem them, and in the fullness of time, He sends the
gospel our way through God's servant, in the power of the
Holy Spirit, and He sends that Word, the Word of grace, through
that covenant of mercy, and quickens us. Of His own will beget He
us with the Word of truth. Now, the second point in this
message is this. We see the object of mercy. The
object of mercy in verse 2 and verse 4. And there was of the
house of Saul a servant whose name was Ziba. And when he 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 kindness of God unto him? And Ziba said unto
the king, Jonathan hath yet a son which is laying on his feet. And he said, Where is he? Verse
4, where is he? He's down in the house of a slave,
down in Maker's house, living in the land of Lodabarth, a low
place. He was a low life, living in
a low place. Here's the object of mercy, King
Saul's family. Now, this was a former king.
He had some kind of earthly reign and earthly glory, but King Saul's
family had been reduced to a lowly cripple, and his name was Bephibosheth. Well, how did he become lame?
Turn over here to 2 Samuel 4. When there was a mighty battle
in Israel, and tidings came out from Jezreel that the tide had
turned against Israel, and their king, King Saul, had been slain,
the generals had been slain, Jonathan had been slain, and
when the nurse heard the news thinking that Mephibosheth's
life was in danger, she took up the young man, And we see
here in 2 Samuel 4, verse 4, Jonathan, Saul's son, had a son
that was lame. Lame on his feet. He was five
years old when tidings came of Saul and Jonathan out of Jezreel. They were dead. They were killed.
And the nurse took him up and fled and it came to pass as she
made haste that he fell and he became lame. And his name was
Mephibosheth. Ruined, ruined in a fall. Ruined in a fall. Where does
he, how did he become lame? Ruined in a fall. Where does
he live? In the house of bondage. Down in Maker's house. In a low
place of lowly bar, no pasture. My friend, David was determined
to show mercy to this one who was nobody. He was a nobody. But for that covenant's sake,
he made Mephibosheth an object of his mercy. And God is determined
to show mercy to who? Ruined sinners. This is a faithful
saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the
world to save sinners. How were we ruined? Ruined in
a fall. In Adam all died. In Adam all became sinful. By one man's disobedience, many
were made sinners. Death passed upon all men in
whom all sinned in him. When Adam stood, I stood. When
he fell, I fell. He was my representative. We
live, not only are we ruined by a fall, but like Mephibosheth,
we live in a house of bondage, under the curse of God's law.
Cursed is everyone that continues not in all things which are written
in the book of the law to do." We are born in sin, shape and
iniquity. That's how I'm born into this
life. Ruined and in bondage, a bondage
and slave to sin and self, not to God. Paul describes the unbeliever
this way in Ephesians 2, without God, without hope, without help,
and without Christ. That's pretty poor shape. But
that's us. in bondage to the sin, in bondage
to death, in bondage to the law of God, loving darkness rather
than light, in the house of no pastor. That's low. Yet David made him an object
of mercy and God Almighty is pleased because of that covenant
to show mercy to such as we are, dead, defiled, guilty, filthy
sinners. Is that you? The Lord Jesus Christ
died for who? The ungodly, the ungodly. Well, here's the third point
to this message. The application of mercy, the
application of mercy. Look at verse 5 in the text.
Verse 5, Then King David sent, he sent and fetched him out of
the house of bondage, out of the place of no bread. This is
where we get that term Fetching grace. Fetching grace. King David
commands that Mephibosheth be brought to him. The king sent. You reckon it's going to be done?
Ziba said in verse 11, to all that my lord the king commandeth
his servant, so shall thy servant do. David commands that he be
fetched out of the house of bondage and brought before the king.
We read in the Psalms where the word of the king is, there's
power. David didn't say, now Mephibosheth, would you go down
to the house of Makar down there and would you invite old Mephibosheth
to come up here? Would you ask him if he would
come up here and help us? We need his help. He didn't do
that. He said, you go down and fetch
him, bring him. No invitation was given. No conference was
held. No committee sent. What the king said was carried
out. God spake and it was done. God
commands and it stands fast. Whatever God says, it will be
done. He said, I purposed it, I'll
bring it to pass. I purposed it, I will do it.
And here's a beautiful picture of effectual grace, irresistible
grace, fetching grace in the call of God. Our God is not a
beggar. God doesn't beg sinners to repent. He commands all men everywhere
to repent. Is that what the Word says? That's
right. Repentance and faith are both
the commands of God. God's not a beggar. What God
has decreed shall be done. God is not trying contrary to
what men are saying in our day, God is not trying to save all
men everywhere. He is graciously calling out
His covenant people with the gospel and His sheep will hear
His voice and they will follow Him. His people shall be willing
in the day of His power. That's why we don't stand at
the end of the service and sing 14 verses of Just As I Am and
beg beg sinners to let God have His way. That's nonsense. Show
me that in the Word of God. It's not in there. We stand and
preach the gospel and we command sinners to bow to Christ. His
people will. My sheep hear my voice. I know
them and they follow me. He's the captain of our salvation
that's bringing many sons unto glory. The just one died for
the unjust that he might do what? Bring us to God. He said, no
man can come to Me except the Father which sent Me. Draw him. And this is the irresistible
power of God in the Gospel. And He makes us willing in a
day of His power. Well, that's the call. That's the call of grace. The
irresistible call of grace. And we see God applying mercy
to this young man. And God shows mercy to whom He
will. It's sovereign mercy. He will
have mercy. And notice this. He called Mephibosheth
by name. You go get Mephibosheth. It wasn't
a general call, was it? It was a specific call to this
one of the covenant. You go get Mephibosheth and bring
him to me. Well, what's going to happen?
Is Mephibosheth going to show up? What if he doesn't want to?
He doesn't have a choice. There's no option here. Failure
is not an option. Here we see the response of mercy,
verse 6, 7 and 8. Now, when Mephibosheth, the son
of Jonathan, the son of Saul, was come, he fell on his face
and did reverence. And David said, here, the Lord
knows his sheep by name. He's acquainted with them from
eternity. Mephibosheth! This is a call
of the king. David said, Mephibosheth. Oh,
he answered. When God calls, you answer. You
answer. You answer that call. And the
response, behold, I serve it. Behold, I serve it. Here's the
response to mercy. Mephibosheth fell on his face. He fell on his face. See verse
6? When he was come, he came at
the call of God, at the call and the command of the King.
And that's how we come. He was come unto David, and we
come unto the King. He's the one who's calling. King
Jesus, the Lord Jesus. And He fell on His face. And
we do fall on our face, and we do reverence the King. We own
the King. We worship the King. As King
of kings and Lord of lords. Bethesda fell on His face before
the King and worshiped the King. He bowed to His rule. He said,
Behold, I'm your servant. I'm your servant. What a high
title. for any sinner to be called a servant of God. Put that on
my tombstone, will you? A servant of God. A bond slave,
a willing, loving bond slave of Jesus Christ. He fell on his
face in reverence to the King, worshiped the King, he bowed
to His rules, said, I'm your servant. I'm your servant. Thirdly,
he owned his condition. Look what he says in verse 8,
he bowed himself and said, what am I? Who am I that you should
show mercy to such as me, that thou shouldest look upon such
a dead dog as I am? I'm a dead dog. I'm as good as
dead. Those who are called by the gospel,
they do come. They do come to Christ in faith,
and they do reverence Him as King. They do own Him as King
of Kings. Holy and reverent is Thy name.
They take their place before Him as Lord. Saul of Tarsus,
when he was unhorsed and put in the dust, you remember what
he said? Lord, what would you have me
do? A servant of the Lord, a bond-slave of the Lord. And sinners called
by God's grace, they take their place before Him as Lord. Secondly,
they own their true condition, I'm a dead dog. I'm a dead dog. Isn't that what the publican
said? God be merciful to me, be my sacrifice. The sinner. The sinner. You remember the
story of Job. Job said, I have heard of thee
by the hearing of the ear, but now my eyes see of thee wherefore
I abhor. I hate myself. I repent in dust
and ashes. Repentance is a good thing. Conviction
of sin is a good thing. If you're never convicted of
sin, you'll never have any esteem and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Faith and repentance go together. They grow together. They appreciate
one another. As I grow in conviction and the
deep conviction of my sin, as it drags me down, faith is exalted
in our heart. And we see that the Lord Jesus
Christ puts away all our sin. True Holy Spirit conviction.
shows us our sin, but it doesn't leave us there, it shows us the
remedy for our sin. Christ and Christ alone. You
remember that woman of Canaan? She came seeking mercy for her
daughter? You remember that story? And
the disciples, she came to the disciples and they said, Master,
send her away, she's bothering us. And the Lord said, I'm not
sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. You remember
what she said? She took her place before the
master and said, yet the dogs eat the crumbs which fall from
the master's table. She said, I'm your dog and I'm
going to bow at your feet and eat what crumbs God is pleased
to send us. And that's what we do. We get
a crumb here and a crumb there. But thank God we do eat that
true manna from heaven. Well, lastly, we see the result
of mercy. The result of mercy in verse
7. The result of mercy. David said
unto him, Fear not, fear not, I will surely show kindness. Mercy, 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. He says this
several times here, that you eat bread at my table as a king's
son." The last part of verse 11, "...as for Mephibosheth said
to the king, he shall eat at my table as one of the king's
sons." Verse 13, "...so Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem, for he did
eat continually at the king's table, and he was lame on both
of his feet." Now, lastly, the result of mercy. "...David restored
unto Mephibosheth all that he lost." David fulfilled every
covenant promise, adopted him into his own family, provided
bread for him at the king's table. In Christ Jesus, we have restored
to us all that Adam lost and much more. Where sin abounded,
grace does much more abound. And Adam all died, even so in
Christ shall all be made alive." In Christ, God has given to us
all grace now and all glory hereafter based upon that covenant. He
meets all our need. Notice that singular. He meets
all our need according to His riches in glory through Christ
Jesus. And we eat bread at the King's
table and we eat the bread of life, Christ Himself. In Christ
we have been made sons of God. Sons of God. Turn to 1 John chapter
3. Beloved, he says, now, now are
we sons of God. We eat at the king's table by
the king's command, being adopted into his family, being made heirs
of God and joint heirs with the Lord Jesus Christ. 1 John chapter
3 verse 1 says, Behold what manner of love The Father hath bestowed
upon us that we should be called sons of God. Therefore the world
knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now, now are
we sons of God. And doth not yet appear what
we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear we shall
be like him, for we shall see him as he is. In Christ we've
been made sons of God. Turn to Galatians chapter 4 and
look at this here. Have you ever noticed this carefully? Galatians
chapter 4 quoted a part of this a moment ago. In Romans 8 he
calls us heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. Galatians
chapter 4 verse 4, when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth
His Son, made of a woman, Galatians 4 to redeem them that were under
the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because
you are sons, sons of that covenant, sons of grace, 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. And if a son is an
heir of God, the inheritance is something that's given to
you. We've been made an heir of God through Christ Jesus. In Christ we have a continual,
everlasting blessing, just as Mephibosheth set at the king's
table continually, in Christ Jesus being made heirs of God
and joint heirs with Christ, being made and having an everlasting
inheritance. We have an inheritance that's
incorruptible, undefiled, that fadeth not away, that's reserved
in heaven for His people who are kept by the power of God
through faith. In Christ we have continual everlasting
blessings, not temporary. He saves us with an everlasting
salvation. He gives unto us eternal life,
and we shall never perish. In Christ our wounds are covered.
Now look at this carefully. Look at verse 13. In Christ our
wounds are covered. So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem,
city of God. For he did eat continually at
the king's table, and he was laying on both his feet. In Christ
our wounds are covered. Now Mephibosheth, he's sitting
at the king's table, And his legs are under the table. His
wounds are covered. You're looking at Mephibosheth
like he's whole, and he is! But his wounds are covered by
the table of God's grace. And we sit at the king's table
and our wounds are covered by the blood of Jesus Christ. that cleanses us from all sin. Mephibosheth still hath the effects
of the fall, and we still have the effects of sin. In our body
dwelleth no good thing. In us there's nothing but sin. But in Christ I'm whole. In Him
dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and in Christ
we are complete. Well, let me tell you one more
thing about Mephibosheth. Turn over here to 2 Samuel 21.
2 Samuel 21. Later on, now I don't know how
many years had passed, but later on in 2 Samuel 21, there was
a famine. There was a famine in the land.
God sent a famine because of Saul. Old King Saul. It says
in verse 1, he was a bloody man. And he slew many of the Gibeonites.
Well, he violated an agreement that Joshua had made with the
Gibeonites. Long years before. And he violated
that agreement. Verse 3, Wherefore David said
unto the Gibeonites, What shall I do? He's trying to make up
for what happened through the house of Saul. Wherewith shall
I make an atonement? that you may bless the inheritance
of the Lord. And the Gibeonites said unto
him, We'll have no silver or gold of Saul, nor of his house,
neither for us shalt thou kill any man in Israel. Don't you
execute him. And he said, What you shall say,
that will do. Now this is David speaking to
the Gibeonites. Now what's going to happen? They answered the
king, The man that consumed us, O Saul, that devised against
us that we should be destroyed from remaining in any of the
coast of Israel, let seven men of his sons, his grandsons, his
great-grandsons, any that's left of the house of Saul, let seven
men of his sons be delivered unto us, and we'll hang them
unto the Lord in gibbet of Saul, whom the Lord did choose." And
the king said, I'll do it. Now, wait a minute. Mephibosheth
is part of that family. What's going to happen? Look
what he says here. But the king spared Mephibosheth,
the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, because of the Lord's
oath that he made between them, between David, the son, and Jonathan,
the son of Saul. David spared him. He delivered
up those other seven sons. They weren't part of that covenant.
They weren't part of that agreement. But he would not give up Mephibosheth
because of that covenant made with Jonathan. You see the picture
there? There's coming a day of judgment among the kings, among
the sons of old King Saul, among the sons of old Adam fallen. And they won't be spared. God's
justice will be swift and exact. But the sons of God in Christ
Jesus, in the Lord Jesus Christ, there is no condemnation. We'll be spared. because of that
covenant of grace in Christ Jesus. I say with David as his dying
words in 2 Samuel 23, look at verse 5, Although my house be
not so with God, yet he made with me an everlasting covenant,
ordered in all things, then sure, this is sure, for this is all
my salvation and all my desire, although it doesn't seem like
anybody else in my family is interested. Oh, Absalom wasn't,
the rest of his family, but God had singled me out and made me
a covenant child in Christ Jesus. Well, thank God, thank God for
His covenant mercy in Christ Jesus. David showed mercy to
this young cripple only because of that covenant. And God shows
mercy to us only because of that covenant. You see that? Do you
understand that? Well, I hope you do. I hope you
do. And if you don't, I pray the
Lord would teach you all the gospel according to His wise purpose.