2 Samuel chapter 9, I haven't preached
on Bephibosheth in a long, long time. But it's one of my favorite
scriptures, the story of Bephibosheth. I call this message Covenant
Mercies. And you may be thinking now,
well, he's preached on this before, so I won't hear anything new.
But let me tell you, we never preach the same message twice.
And when you get After you've preached a while, every time
you read, you learn something new. And I've learned some things
today from Mephibosheth that is brand new to me and such a
blessing. But if you haven't heard the
message... Now, Brother Norbert preached
on Mephibosheth a year ago here, something about a year ago. But
if you're not familiar with Mephibosheth, some people are here tonight,
If you're not familiar with Mephibosheth, you'll be amazed, absolutely
surprised, at the large amount of Scripture that is devoted
to the story of this man Mephibosheth. How much Scripture! And the story
begins of Mephibosheth back in 1 Samuel. So let's turn to 1
Samuel, chapter 20. You remember the Lord had anointed
David. He'd rejected King Saul. The
Lord had rejected Saul. And he anointed David as king
of Israel. And Saul became a great enemy
to David. He tried to kill David on several
occasions. But David was running as a fugitive
out of his own country, over which one day he'd be king. But
for a long time he was a fugitive from his own country. Saul was
after an army and a lot of enemies. But Saul had a son. King Saul had a son named Jonathan.
And Jonathan loved David. They were good friends. And Jonathan
knew that his dad, King Saul, would be rejected by God, thrown
out of the kingdom. And David, one day, would be
king. So here in 1 Samuel 20, verse 11, Jonathan asked David
to meet with him. in 1 Samuel 20, verse 11. And
Jonathan said unto David, Come, let's go out in the field. And
they went out, both of them, into the field. And Jonathan
said to David, O Lord God of Israel, when I have sounded my
father Saul about tomorrow, any time of the third day, and behold,
if there be good toward David, and I then sin not to thee, and
show it to thee, that the Lord do so, and much more to Jonathan. But if it please my Father to
do thee evil, that I show it to thee, and send thee away,
that thou mayest go in peace, and the Lord shall be with thee,
as he hath been with my Father. And thou shalt not only while
yet I live show me the kindness of the Lord, that I die not,
but also Thou shalt not cut off thy kindness from my house forever."
Jonathan was married and had children. And he's making a covenant
here with David on behalf of his children. And he said, now,
when I die and you become king, you remember my children and
show kindness to them. All right. When the Lord had
cut off the enemies of David, every one 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." So they made a
covenant, Jonathan with David on behalf
of his family. And David hears surely a picture
of the father, and Jonathan making a covenant with the father on
behalf of his children. And Christ talks about the brethren.
My brethren, which the Lord gave me, my sheep, making a covenant
on behalf of them, kindness to them after my death. All right,
now let's turn over there to Genesis chapter 17 and see this
first mention of the everlasting covenant in Genesis chapter 9. And I preached on this not so
awful long ago, talking about the everlasting covenant. Several
scriptures talk about the everlasting covenant, and this is another
picture here. Genesis 9, verse 16. Verse 15, God said to Noah,
I will remember my covenant which is between me and you and every
living creature of all flesh. The water shall no more become
a flood to destroy all flesh, and the rainbow shall be in the
cloud, and I will look upon it that I may remember the everlasting
covenant. between God and every living
creature of all flesh that's upon the earth, that everlasting
covenant. God's going to destroy the earth.
He destroyed it by water and someday by fire, but never by
water again. This is the everlasting covenant
that's hold back the wrath of God. Now Genesis 17. And this is the one I want you
to look at here. Genesis 17, verse 19. Verse 18. You know,
Abraham had this son, Ishmael. And in Genesis 17, 18, Abraham
said unto God, O that Ishmael like might live before thee.
And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed,
and thou shalt call his name Isaac. And I will establish my
covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after
him. Who is that? My covenant, the
everlasting covenant, will be with Isaac. and his seed after
him. All right, turn to Galatians
chapter 3. My covenant, the everlasting
covenant, shall be with Isaac and his seed after him. Galatians 3 verse 16. Now to Abraham and his seed,
Isaac, where the promise is made. And he saith not unto seeds,
as of many, but as of one. Who came through thy seed? To
thy seed which is Christ. That's the everlasting covenant.
See this? The word of God takes salvation of his people back
before the world began. The everlasting covenant. God
mentions it about the rainbow, not destroy the earth again.
Mentioning that to Abraham here, my covenant is not with Ishmael,
it's with Isaac and his seed, Christ Jesus. And that's what
we have a picture of when these two men stand out there, David,
Jonathan, making a covenant on behalf of Jonathan's sons. And David swore to it, just like
God took an oath that his covenant shall not fail. Now, let's look at 2 Samuel 8. See, another part of this story. In 2 Samuel 8, verse 14, And David put garrisons in Edom,
throughout all Edom put he garrisons, and all they of Edom became David's
servants. And the Lord preserved David
with us wherever he went. And David reigned over all Israel. And David executed judgment and
justice unto all people. He's the king. Reigning over
all Israel. The promise has come to pass.
David will be king. This is what Jonathan knew. This
is what Jonathan is saying to David. Show kindness when you
become king. David reigns. You know, I saw
that, and David will execute judgment and justice in all the
earth. Turn with me to Jeremiah 23. He's talking here about David
who is a picture and type of the son of David. Judgment and
justice he'll execute unto all people. In Jeremiah 23, verse
5, "...Behold, the day is come, saith the Lord. I raise up unto
David a righteous branch, and a king shall reign and prosper,
and shall execute Judgment and justice in all the earth. Who
is this talking about? Son of David, in his days Judas
shall be saved, Israel shall draw safely. This is his name
whereby he shall be called, the Lord our righteousness. Pictures
of Christ, types of Christ. All right, let's read now chapter
9. Chapter 9. Verse 1, and David said, he'd
just become king now, I've just read that to you in a previous
chapter, he's king now on the throne, he's reigning over all
of Israel, promise of God fulfilled. First thing, one of the first
acts of David, and David said, is there any that is left of
the house of Saul, Jonathan's father, Saul the king, is any
left, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake? I'm going
to show kindness to the house of Saul for Jonathan's sake."
Now, the house of Saul is the enemy of David. But he's going
to show him kindness for Jonathan's sake. And there was of the house
of Saul a servant whose name was Ziba. And when they called
him unto David, the king said to him, Are you Ziba? Evidently,
David never met him. He's from that... You see, Ziba
was a servant to Saul and Jonathan. And now David's the king. And
this man Ziba is moved over under David's leadership. He's David's
servant now. So he comes in. The king said
to him in verse 3, Is there not yet any of the house of Saul
that I may show the kindness of God to him? And Ziba said,
Jonathan hath yet a son. Jonathan hath a son. This is
what David's looking for, Jonathan's son. It's going to show kindness
to him. But Jonathan said, he made a
covenant, made a promise, which is lame on both his feet. Now
how'd this boy get to be lame? It's amazing how this pictures
us. David's the father, God the father. Jonathan is Christ. For Christ's
sake, God shows mercy to us. And the Phibosheth is us. And
he's lame on both his feet. Well, let's see how he got lame.
Turn to 2 Samuel, back just a few. a few chapters. 2 Samuel chapter
4, we find out how he got lame and see a good picture of ourselves.
In verse 1 of 2 Samuel 4, And when Saul's son heard that Abner
was dead in Hebron, and his hands were feeble, and all the Israelites
were troubled, Saul's son heard that the general was dead, and
Saul's... Well, let's read on down verse
4. Go to 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 that they were dead out of Jezreel.
Five years old now. And his nurse took him up and
fled. And it came to pass as she made haste to flee, she fell,
that he fell, and became crippled on both his feet, and his name
was Mephibosheth. This is Saul's son. He's five
years old. He wasn't born crippled. He's
five years old. He's a healthy baby until he
got five, and that's when his granddaddy was dead, the king,
and his daddy was dead, the prince, and now the nurse picks him up,
and every day they put him on a horse or a camel or something.
He fell and crippled both his feet, and he couldn't walk. That's what happened to us. We were laying through a fall.
By one man, sin entered this world, and death by sin, so death
passed upon all men. And we all became lame. See,
Mephibosheth had feet, but he couldn't walk. And you and I,
that describes our condition. We have eyes, but we can't see.
We have ears, but we can't hear. We don't hear God. We have hearts,
but we don't understand. And we have minds, but we don't
think on God. We think on the flesh. So this
man is a picture of us. lame on both his feet. All right,
verse 4. Verse 4, chapter 9. And the king
said, Where is he? Now, this is interesting. It's
a good, powerful point here that I've never seen before. The king
said, Where is he? And Ziba said unto the king,
Behold, he is in the house of Mater, the son of Amel in Lodibah. And all I've ever looked at there
was lo de bar, and looked it up in the Hebrew, and it says,
pastureless, land with no pasture, lo de bar, no pasture, no bread,
poor land. But this man, Mephibosheth, was
in the household of a very wealthy man. This man, Mature, the son
of Amul, is a very, very wealthy man. You see, this boy, his grandfather
was king of Israel. His father was the prince, the
heir to the throne. He was five years old before
this thing fell apart. He'd been to the palace with
his grandfather. His daddy lived there, and mother. He had friends in high places.
And this man, Mature, was under the reign of Saul for years.
He was an older man. He had a great household like
Philemon down there where he was. And this man, Mephibosheth,
lived in his household. He was married and had a child.
Mephibosheth was married and had a child and lived under the
auspices and in the household of a very, very wealthy man.
How do you know that, Pastor? Well, turn over to 2 Samuel chapter
17. Chapter 17. Now, we're covering
a lot of ground, but this is so interesting here. 2 Samuel 17. You know, now here
David, this is years later, and David is running from Absalom.
Absalom took over the kingdom, David's running. David's got
a bunch of people with him, a pretty good-sized army. And in 2 Samuel
17, verse 27, it came to pass when David and all those people
with him, would come to Mahanaim, that three men met him. One of
them was Shubai, the son of Nahash of Rabah, of the children of
Ammon. The other one was Macher, the
son of Amiel of Lodibah. This man, years later, Mephibosheth
is in the house of Macher, son of Amiel of Lodibah. Years later,
when David was in trouble, running from Absalom, had a host of men
with him. This man, Macher, and a friend
of his, and another man called Bezalelah of the Gileadite of
Rogillum, they met David and they brought beds, they brought
cups, basins, they brought earthen vessels, they brought wheat,
they brought barley, they brought flour, they brought parched corn,
they brought beans, They brought lentils, that's edible seeds,
and they brought parched pulse, that's pottage. They brought
honey, and you talk about caterers, these are wealthy men. They brought
honey, they brought butter, they brought sheep, they brought cheese
of cows for David, and for the people that were with him to
eat. For they said the people's hungry, weary, thirsty in the
wilderness. That's who nature is. In whose house Mephibosheth
lived with his wife and son. Verse 12 in chapter 9 says Mephibosheth
had a son named Micah. So let me tell you something.
Mephibosheth wasn't all that impressed when David brought
him up to the palace. He wasn't all that impressed
with the material things. He had material things. He wasn't
all that impressed with the glitter and glamour of the palace. He had been there. His granddaddy
was king. His daddy was a prince. He wasn't
all that impressed with the materialism because he wasn't a poor man
materially. What impressed Mephibosheth when
he came there was the mercy of David to him. The mercy of David. That's what most people miss
when they teach this here. This man was not in rags. He wasn't in dirty clothes. He
was lame, but he wasn't dirty. He was in the wrong kingdom.
He was the son of an evil man, Saul, like we're sons of Adam. We might have materialism and
physical blessings and all these things, but we're in the wrong
kingdom. And the mercy of God translates us from the kingdom
of darkness to the kingdom of his dear Son. And David, instead
of killing Mephibosheth, had mercy on him. And that's what
impressed him, not the other things. Because, listen, when
David gave him all the land of his father and the servants and
Ziba and his fifteen sons and all these things, Later on, David
took it back, took it away from him. I'll show you that in a
minute. And you know how he felt about it? He said, that's all
right. Do what you want to. I'm in love with my king. I love
my king. He's been merciful to me. I didn't
deserve anything, and he made me one of his sons. And that's
what impressed him. So I see something here that
I hadn't seen before. That this man, Mephibosheth,
had materialism. But he was a lame man in the
wrong kingdom, under the cloud of judgment and death, because
a new king reigned. A new king reigned. And with
this new king, let's see what happens. So David, verse 2 Samuel
9, the king said, Where is he? And Ziba said, Well, he's in
the house of Matron, the son of Amiel and Lodabar. And David
sent And King David said, and fetched him out of the house
of Matre, the son of Amul from Lodibach. And when Mephibosheth,
the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, don't forget who he
is, he's the son of Saul, like we're the son of Adam. When he
was come to David, he fell on his face. He thought, this is
it. I'm gone. This is it. And did reverence. And David said, Mephibosheth,
he said, behold thy servant. David said, don't be afraid.
He had every right to be afraid. Who shall stand in his presence?
We have every right to be afraid. Sons of Adam. David said, don't
be afraid. I'm going to show you kindness.
But I want you to remember this. I'm showing it for Jonathan's
sake. I'm showing you kindness for Jonathan's sake. That's what
the Word of God teaches us, that God's kindness and mercy toward
us is for Christ's sake. Because of a covenant he made
with Christ on our behalf, back before the world, the everlasting
covenant of grace in which he gave Christ to people and showed
mercy for Christ's sake. And I'm going to restore, verse
7, he restored my soul. I'm going to restore unto thee
all the land that saw thy father and watch it. You're going to
eat bread at my table continually. You're going to be in the kingdom
of David. You're going to sit at my table. That's what impressed me with
Phibosheth. I'm no longer an enemy. I've been reconciled.
I'm no longer in the other kingdom. I'm in David's kingdom. I'm no
longer under the reign and sentence of death with my grandfather,
but I'm in David's kingdom. He restored my translated me
from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of his dear Son.
And he bowed himself, verse 8, and he said, What is thy servant?
That you should look upon such a dead dog as I am. Not a dead
dog because he was ragged. Not a dead dog because he was
physically poor. A dead dog because he belonged
to the wrong family. Enemies of David. You see that?
It's so clear to me. So clear. So clear. All right, let's read a little
bit down here in chapter 9 again, verse 9. Then the king called
to Ziba, Saul's servant, and said to him, Now I have given
to your 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, and thou shalt 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. My son, my son, my
table. And Ziba had 15 sons and 20 servants. Then said Ziba unto the king,
according to all that my lord the king hath commanded his servant,
so shall our servant do. You're going to find out this
man is such a hypocrite, this Ziba. Oh, such a false, false
friend. As far as Mephibosheth said to
the king, he shall eat at my table as one of the king's sons. Now that, my friend, is what
won the heart of Mephibosheth, the mercy of David, the kindness
of David, the grace of David. And that's what wins our hearts
to our lovely Lord, his kindness, his mercy, his grace to us dead
dogs. Brought us into his family, made
us sons of God. All right, well, turn with me
now to 2 Samuel 16. Now that's not the end of this
story. That's not the end of the type
and picture. Mephibosheth is now a son of David, son of the
king, now in the king's house, eats at the king's table. He
still bore the scars of his past, he was still lame on both his
feet, but he was a son of the king. Like we are, we're lame
in a lot of areas, but we're sons of the king. But trials
come to Mephibosheth. 2 Samuel 16. Now, let me give
you a background of this. David, David's son Absalom, had
won the hearts of the people of Israel away from his father.
He had put himself in a different position to win their affection
and their hearts, and finally he led an uprising. He led a
coup, and David had to leave. David got a whole bunch of people
and left. That's when this man met him with all the provisions,
this Micah, Macher, son of Abel. was when he was fleeing from
Absalom. But now listen to this. Verse 1 of chapter 16, when David
was a little past the top of the hill, behold, Ziba, the servant
of Mephibosheth, met him out there where he was running. He
had a couple of ashes saddled upon these ashes, two hundred
loaves of bread, a hundred bunches of raisins, a hundred of summer
fruits and bottles of wine. And the king said to Ziba, What
meanest thou by these? Ziba said, The ashes be for the
king's household to ride on, the king's wives or children,
and the bread and the summer fruit for the young men to eat,
and the wine that such be as be faint in the wilderness may
drink. And King David said, Where is Mephibosheth? Where's our
master's son? Where's Jonathan's son? Where's
this fellow I showed so much mercy to? Where is he? Now listen to Ziba. Ziba said
to the king, Behold, he stayed in Jerusalem. He said, Today
shall the house of Israel restore me the kingdom of my father,
Jonathan, and grandfather Saul. And King David was angry. You
know, every parable or story It's a parable, a type, is an
earthly story with a heavenly meaning. But it can't perfectly
illustrate the heavenly because it's earthly. And David is a
picture of God the Father who gave the people to Christ for
Christ's sake, had mercy for Christ's sake, but God's all-knowing,
but David's not. And David believed Simon. He
believed him. You know what he did? He said,
Ziba, behold, thine are all that pertain to Mephibosheth. Everything
I've given Mephibosheth, I hereby take it away from him and give
it to you. He couldn't say that Ziba was a crook. And Ziba said, Oh, I humbly,
oh boy, I humbly beseech thee that I may find grace in thy
sight, my Lord, O King. I'm glad that's not the end of
the story. Let's turn over to chapter 19. So David comes back to the kingdom. Saul was killed, his army routed,
and David came back. In 2 Samuel 19, verse 15, so
the king returned and came to Jordan. And Judah came to Gilgal
to go to meet the king, to conduct the king over Jordan back into
Jerusalem. David's coming home. Now look
who comes to meet him in verse 24. And Bethphishah, the son
of Saul, came down to meet the king. And he had neither dressed
his feet, nor trimmed his beard, nor washed his clothes. from
the day the king departed unto the day the king came again in
peace. This man grieved over the absence of his lord, his
king. It just broke his heart. He didn't
trim his beard, didn't wash his feet, didn't clean his clothes,
until he found out the king was coming home. And he went out
there to meet him somehow. He rode a horse or something
out there. Verse 25, And it came to pass,
when he was come to Jerusalem to meet the king, the king said
to him, Wherefore, when is not thou with me, Mephibosheth? Why
didn't you go with me? My friends went with me. Why
didn't you go with me when I left thee, when Absalom took over?
Why didn't you go with me? And he answered, My lord, O king,
my servant deceived me. For thy servant said," he's talking
about himself now, Mephibosheth said, I said, I'll saddle me
an ass that I may ride thereon and go to my king, because thy
servant is lame. I'm lame, O king, thou know'st
that. But I wanted to go with you,
and I told Ziba to get me an ass and saddle it so I can go
with my king. What did Ziba do? Verse 27, He slandered me, thy
servant, unto the Lord the king. He slandered me to you. He went
out there and told David, put all this stuff together, and
Ziba and Mephibosheth stayed home because he thought they'd
make him the king. In verse 27, He slandered thy
servant unto my lord the king, but my lord the king is as an
angel of God. Do therefore what's good in your
eyes. Whatever you do to me will be all right, because you're
like an angel to me in my eyes. Far, this is our, we go through
trials. But the Lord's sovereign will
be thankful. Philbishop's in a bad spot here. He's in a real
trial. But he puts this thing, the Lord doesn't owe us anything.
David didn't owe Mephibosheth anything, and he knows that.
Listen to what he says to David. For all my father's house, verse
28, 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
impressed Mephibosheth? David's mercy. Boy, you showed
mercy to me. I was like a dead dog to all
my family, but you showed mercy. What right, therefore, have I
to cry any more to the king? What do I have to demand of him? He's given me life. He made me
a son. All right, David still doesn't
see through this thing. David's not omniscient. David
makes another bad mistake, another bad decision. But he doesn't
have the facts. He's heard two different stories.
So he said to Mephibosheth, he said, well, what, what? I can
see he's upset anyway. He's been out there in the wilderness
for several years, or months, or however long, and he's upset.
And he says, well, don't talk to me about it anymore. Why speakest
thou any more of these matters? I have said, you and Ziba divide
the land. Just go back there and you two
split it up. Y'all have a big time together deciding what you're
going to have and what the others are going to have. Oh, listen,
here's a true servant. Mephibosheth said to the king,
Mephibosheth said to the king, let him have all of it. My relationship with you has
nothing to do with riches and wealth and lands and houses and
servants and those things. That's not my relationship. You
can just let him take it all. I'm not going to argue with him
over those things. Let him have it all. For as much as my Lord,
the King, is come again in peace under his own house, that is
my joy. Like John Newton said, content
with beholding his face. My all to his pleasure is I.
No changes of season or place would make any change in my mind.
While blessed with a sense of his love, a palace, a toy, would
appear, and prisons would palace his proofs, if Jesus would dwell
with me there." See, Mephibosheth, this bringing him into riches,
he knew riches. That did not. It's David's mercy,
his covenant mercy, mercy, mercy. He realizes the mercy and grace
of David to him, an undeserving wretch, son of Saul. And he was
overwhelmed by it, and it motivated everything he did. He said, let
Ziba have the whole lot of the thing. Just give me my key. I'd rather be a doorkeeper in
the house of God than dwell in the tents of the wicked, David
said. That's what I want. Was that the end of it? No, sir.
That's still not the end of this story. This man, Mephibosheth,
It's a beautiful picture of the grace of God, and it just keeps
on going. Now turn to 2 Samuel 21. 2 Samuel 21. Now this is a little
bit later. A little bit later. It's 2 Samuel 21, verse 1. Now there was a famine in the
days of David for years, year after year. David inquired of
the Lord. And the Lord answered, Lord,
why are we without rain? Why is there such a famine? And
the Lord said, it's because of Saul, King Saul, and his bloody
house, because he slew the Gibeonites. What was this? Well, let's turn
back and read it. We're not in a big hurry. I want
you to turn this back to 1 Samuel 22, way back here before David
became king. Back here when David was running
from Saul, back here after David made that covenant with Jonathan,
way back here. And Saul was chasing David, and
in 1 Samuel 22, let's read some of this, 1 Samuel 22, you got
it? David therefore departed thence
and escaped to the cave of Adullam. And when his brethren and all
his father's house heard it, they went down thither to him.
And everyone that was in distress, and everyone in debt, and everyone
discontented gathered themselves to him. He became a captain over
them, and there were with him four hundred men. And David went
thence to Mishpah of Moab, and he said to the king of Moab,
Let my father and mother, I pray thee, come forth and be with
you till I know what God will do for me. This is before he
became king. Now Saul was still king. And
he brought them before the king of Moab, and they dwelt with
him all the while that David was in the hole. And the prophet
Gad said to David, Abide not in the hole, depart, get thee
into the land of Judah. Then David departed and came
into the forest of Harith. When Saul heard that David was
discovered, and the men that were with him, now Saul abode
in Gibeah under a tree in Ramah. having his spear in his hand,
and all his servants were standing about him. And Saul said to his
servants that stood about him, Here now, you Benjamites, will
the son of Jesse, David, give every one of you fields and vineyards,
and make you captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, that
all of you have conspired against me? And there is none that showeth
me that my son hath made a league with that son of Jesse." Jonathan
made a league with Jesse, the son of Jesse. None of you that
is sorry for me, or showeth unto me that my son hath stirred up
my servant against me, to lie in wait, as at this day?" Then
answered Doeg the Edomite, which was set over the servants of
Saul, and he said, I saw David the son of Jesse coming to Nob,
to Ahimelech the son of Ahathim. And he inquired of the Lord for
him, and gave him vittles, food, and gave him the sword of Goliath
the Philistine. And then the king sent to call
Ahimelech, the priest down. Saul called the priest, the son
of Ahitub, and all his father's house, and all the priests that
were in Nob, and they came, all of them, to King Saul. And Saul
said, Here now, thou son of Ahitub. And he answered, Here am I, my
lord. And Saul said unto him, Why have you conspired against
me, thou and this son of Jesse? in that you've given him bread
and a sword, and you've inquired of God for him, this is the priest
now, that he should rise against me to lie in wait as at this
day? And the priest answered the king and said, And who is
so faithful among all thy servants as David? David was a good servant
to you. He's your son-in-law. He married
your daughter. You remember David married Saul's
daughter? And he goes at your bidding. He's honorable in your
house. He's no enemy of yours, King Saul. He's your friend.
Did I then begin to inquire of God for him? Be it far from me. Let not the king impute anything
unto his servant, nor to all the house of my father. For thy
servant knew nothing of all this, less or more. And the king said,
You shall surely die. Let him elect you and all your
father's house. Listen now. And the king said
to the footman that stood about him, Turn and slay the priest
of the Lord, kill the priest of the Lord, because their hand
also is with David. And because they knew when he
fled and did not show it to me, but the servants of the king
saw, would not put forth their hand to fall upon and kill the
priest of the Lord. And the king turned to Doeg,
Turn thou and fall upon the priest, And Doeg, the Edomite, turned
and fell upon the priest and killed that day eighty-five persons
that did wear a linen ephod." Eighty-five priests. And Nob,
the city of the priest, smote he with the edge of the sword,
men and women, children, new babies, oxen, ass, sheep, with
the edge of the sword. That's what happened. And this
is what we read about here in 2 Samuel 21. I'll give you this
and try to move quickly. But this is so important, 2 Samuel
21. And that was the family. And David inquired of the Lord,
and the Lord said, it's because of Saul and his bloody house,
because he slew the Gibeonites, those priests and their children,
families. And the king called the Gibeonites
and said to them, King David called them and said to them,
Now the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel, but the
raiment of Amorites. And the children of Israel had
sworn unto them, and Saul sought to slay them in his zeal to the
children of Israel and Judah. Wherefore David said to the Gibeonites,
What shall I do for you? and wherewith shall I make an
atonement? that you may bless the inheritance of the Lord,
that you may bless Israel, not hate Israel. What shall I do?
And the Gibeonites said to him, We will have no silver, nor gold
of Saul, nor of his house. Neither for us shall you kill
any man in Israel. David said, Well, what ye shall
say, that will I do for you. Tell me what you want me to do.
And they answered the king, The man Saul that consumed us and
that devised against us that we should be destroyed from remaining
in any of the coast of Israel, let seven men of his sons, seven
of his sons or grandsons, they were called sons, grandsons and
sons, let seven of his sons be delivered unto us and we'll hang
them, seven living sons of Solomon, or grandsons, that takes in Mephibosheth. Let him be delivered to us, and
we'll hang him unto the Lord in Gibeath of Saul, whom the
Lord did choose." And the king says, I'll give him to you. I'll
give him to you. But the king spared Mephibosheth. There's judgment coming. Judgment. But the king spared Mephibosheth.
Why? He's the son of Jonathan, son
of Saul. He spared him because of the
Lord's oath that was between them, between David and Jonathan,
the son of Saul. For Jonathan is that covenant
mercy. And that's the very thing that, if you're going over now
to chapter 23 of 2 Samuel, and David utters his last words on
his deathbed in 2 Samuel 23. These are the last words of David. Verse 5. Although my house be
not so with God, he made with me an everlasting covenant, ordering
all things insured. This is my salvation. This is
my desire, although he make it not to grow. You see why I love
Mephibosheth? It's such a beautiful, beautiful
story of God's mercy to us because of Christ. Mephibosheth lives
while all his kinfolks die. Covenant mercy. All right, I
hope that was a blessing to you.