And Jonathan knew that God had
rejected his father Saul because of his sinful ways, and that
David would finally be the king of Israel. He knew that David
would be king. And he had a meeting with David,
knowing that his father would be killed, and his throne taken
away and David would someday sit on the throne of Israel.
Jonathan had a meeting with David and I want you to read about
it over in 1 Samuel 20. You see that scripture I read
to you a moment ago dealing with the mercy of God toward Jonathan's
crippled son Mephibosheth. Undeserving. Mephibosheth was
undeserving. Yet David showed great mercy
to him because of his father Jonathan. Well, this agreement,
this covenant took place years before. Here in 1 Samuel chapter
20 verse 11, Jonathan said to David, come, let us go out into
the field. And they went out, both of them,
into the field. And Jonathan said unto David,
O Lord God of Israel, when I have sounded or searched my Father
about tomorrow, any time, or the third day, and behold, if
there be good toward David, and I then sin not unto thee and
show it to thee, in other words, I'm going to talk to my Father,
I'm going to find out what his attitude toward David is. And
if it's good, I'll tell you. And verse 13, the Lord do so
and much more to Jonathan. But if it please my father to
do you evil, if my father is intent upon killing you, David,
I'll show it to you. And I'll send you away that you
may go in peace. And the Lord will be with thee
as he has been with my father. Now what's this? He makes this
agreement with David. And thou shalt not only while
yet I live. He had some understanding that
he would be killed. He's the heir to the throne.
Jonathan is. His father. But God's rejected the whole
household of Saul and chosen David. So Jonathan said, while
I live, show me the kindness of the Lord that I die not. But
also, listen, thou shall not cut off thy kindness from my
house forever. No, not when the Lord has cut
off the enemies of David, every one of them, from the face of
the earth. I want you to show mercy to my house. This is a
covenant. 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 calls David to swear again, because he loved him. He loved him as he loved his
own soul. Now that was back sometime before David became king. And
that's a picture, that's the mercy of David. Jonathan said,
I want your mercy to dwell upon my household, for my sake, because
you love me. because we're friends. And the
scripture teaches us that God's mercy to us, we're children of
God. We have restored to us what we lost in Adam. And we sit at the king's table.
We're sons of the king. And all of this was purposed
and determined by God before the foundation of the world in
a covenant in an everlasting covenant of mercy with Christ,
our Lord, our King. This covenant was made. Now,
you know that's true. Turn to 2 Timothy chapter 1. You see, these Old Testament
stories are not just stories or given to brag on men. They're
types and pictures of God's redeeming will and purpose in Christ, and
they're given to brag on God, to glorify God. And here in 2
Timothy 1 verse 9, He had saved us and called us with a holy
calling, not according to our works, not because of what we
deserve, but according to His own purpose and grace which was
given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. Mephibosheth
has been sent by and fetched and brought to the kingdom, to
Jerusalem, to have restored to him everything he lost in his
father and to sit at the king's table because David made a covenant
with Jonathan many years before to do this. And you and I have
been called, we've been chosen by God in Christ, we've been
called We've had restored to us what we lost in Adam. We're
sons of the King. We feed on the bread and the
wine at the King's table. Because God purposed to save
us before the world began. Covenant. Covenant. Look with
me at 2 Thessalonians 2. Just back a few pages. 2 Thessalonians 2. It says here that we are bound
to give thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved of
the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation
through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the fruit.
Not all the sons of Adam, but you. Not all the sons of Saul
were restored to their heritage. You'll see that in a little while.
But Mephibosheth was, son of Jonathan. So, let's go now to
2 Samuel 8. David became king. And some of
you who read, you know he was king of Judah first and then
he became king over all 12 tribes, over Israel and Judah. It says here, now this is when
that took place, when David became king over all of Israel. Verse
15, 2 Samuel 8. And David reigned over all Israel.
And David executed judgment and justice unto all the people. Now, chapter 9, verse 1. The
first order of business. When David became king over all
of Israel, when David ascended to the throne, his first order
of business to declare His throne as a throne of mercy. A throne
of mercy. Our Lord Jesus Christ is King
and Sovereign. Sits on a throne of justice.
Says down here, David executed judgment and justice for all
the people. Judgment and justice. And our
Lord's throne is a throne of majesty and judgment and justice. But bless your heart, it's a
throne of mercy. Aren't we Mephibosheth glad of that? It's the throne
of mercy. And so one of the first orders
of business, David said, is there any that is left of the house
of Saul that I may show him kindness and mercy? What's this? For Jonathan's
sake. He didn't even know Mephibosheth,
but he knew Jonathan. So one of the servants says here
in verse 2, there was of the house of Saul a servant whose
name was Ziba. And when they had called him
unto David, and the king said, Are you Ziba? He said, Thy servant.
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 to the
king, These are magic words when the king's ears heard this. Jonathan
has a son. Christ has a people. Christ has
a family. Christ has a church. Jonathan
has a son. That's the name. Don't come to
the throne without that name. When Zabla said that name, Jonathan
has a son. Jonathan has a son. That's the
name that David loved. That's the person David loved.
That's the person they said they loved as his own soul. And that's
the name. There's none other name under
heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. Whosoever shall
call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. And when Ziba
said that, Jonathan has a son. But he's lame on both his feet.
He's in a mess. He can't walk. What happened
to him? Well, turn back to 2 Samuel 4 and I'll show you what happened
to him. He was lame by a fall. Through a fall. That sounds like
us, doesn't it? Lame through the fall. Cursed and wounded by the fall. 2 Samuel 4 verse 4, And Jonathan,
Saul's son, had a son that was lame on his feet. He was a five-year-old
boy when the tidings came of Saul and Jonathan out of Jezreel. Five years old. news came of the death of Josau. His nurse took him up and fled. I don't know how she fled, whether
on a camel or a donkey or in some kind of, but they were,
see, back in when a king, back in those days when a new king
took over, the household of the other king was annihilated, wiped
out, killed. His close servants and and his
family because they didn't want anybody remaining as a threat
to the throne that could raise the people up against the new
king. And that's the reason. When they
found out Saul was dead, she grabbed up his grandson, five
years old, grabbed him up. And in trying to flee, trying
to get out of wherever they were, came to pass as she made haste
to flee, he fell. and crushed his legs or something. Something, accident. His name
was Mephibosheth. And as a result of that fall,
he was lame on both his feet. That's what happened to us. When Adam fell, we fell. When
Adam fell, we became lame. See, Mephibosheth had legs, but
he couldn't walk. And you and I, as a result of
the fall of Adam, we have eyes, but we can't see. Not spiritually. We have ears,
but we can't hear. Christ said they have eyes, but
they do not see. They have ears, but they do not
hear. We have hearts, but we don't understand. We don't love
God. We love the world. We have minds,
but we don't know. No man knoweth the Father save
the Son, he to whom the Son will reveal Him. Here's Mephibosheth. He's got legs, but he can't use
them. They're useless. You and I are in the same shape
as in Adam all died. By one man sin entered the world,
and death by sin. So death passed on all men. We
are not dead physically. I am alive physically. You are
too, everybody else. But men are born dead spiritually.
Having eyes they see not, having ears they hear not, having hearts
they understand not. And that was a problem with this
man, with Thebeshev. He had legs but he couldn't walk.
Helpless. Somebody else had to take him
wherever he went. Well, verse 5, David's determined
to show mercy to him. I will show mercy for Jonathan's
sake. And God's determined to show
mercy to lame, helpless sinners for Christ's sake. Then David
sent and fetched him. He didn't say he sent and invited
him. He didn't send somebody down there to ask him if he'd
like to come up to Jerusalem and have a conference with the
king? I don't see where Mephibosheth was seeking the king either.
He was hiding. He and all of his people were
hiding from David. Fleeing. All we like sheep have
gone astray. We've turned everyone to his
own way. There's none that seeketh after God. There's none that
understandeth. Christ said, you will not come to Me that you
might have life. But David sent for him. He sent
his servants and told them to fetch him. That's an old southern
word. That's fetching grace. Go fetch
him. Bring him here. Bring him here. See, David remembered his promise
to Jonathan. And he's going to show mercy
to this boy. And he sent his servants to go fetch him. And
if you're on his own, he'll fetch you. He'll call you. He'll send
His servant, His preacher, His Holy Spirit. And you'll be made
willing. When the King commands you to
come, you'll come. When the King sends for you,
you'll come. When He calls you, you'll answer. For whom He foreknew,
He predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son. Whom
He predestinated, He called. And whom He called, He justified.
And whom He justified, He's going to glorify. So David sent and
fetched Him. And here's the spirit in which
he came. Now when Mephibosheth, the son
of Jonathan, the son of Saul, was coming to David, he fell
on his face. He knew his daddy was God's enemy.
David's enemy. And he knew that he wasn't deserving
of anything from the hand of David except to be killed. The
wages of sin is death. He fell on his face and did reverence
and appeared. He said, why would you look on
such a dead dog as I am? And David told him clearly, listen.
He fell on his face and David said, Mephibosheth, identify
yourself. Mephibosheth. He said to Jacob,
what's your name? He said, Jacob. David said to him, well, don't
be afraid. Why shouldn't he be afraid? One reason, Jonathan. Jonathan. Jonathan. Why shouldn't
I be afraid before God's throne? Christ. Christ. He loves Christ. And I'm Christ's
son. One of His people. Don't be afraid. Out of Jonathan, you better be
afraid. Because you'll see what happens to the rest of them.
But don't you be afraid. I'm going to show you kindness.
For Jonathan, your father's sake. And because of your father Jonathan,
I'm going to restore unto you all the land of your grandfather,
and you'll eat bread at my table continually. I'm going to do
that for Jonathan's sake. Turn to Ephesians chapter 4. Ephesians chapter 4. There's
so many verses that say this, but I'm just going to take one. One verse. Ephesians 4, verse
32. It says in Ephesians 4, verse
32, And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one
another, even as God, for Christ's sake, has forgiven you. That's
the only reason. Well, I've served the Lord. That's
what those people said at the judgment in Matthew. We preached
in your name. We cast out devils and did many
wonderful works. God's not going to show mercy
to anybody for the works He does, for the preaching He does, for
the buildings He built. He shows us kindness and forgives
us three words, for Christ's sake. For Christ's sake. And David made that clear to
Jonathan. I mean, David made that clear
to Mephibosheth. I'm going to show mercy to you.
You know you're a dead dog and undeserving and unworthy, but
I'm going to show mercy to you, and I want you to remember one
thing. It's for Jonathan's sake. I love you for Jonathan's sake,
but I love you because of Jonathan. He did love Mephibosheth for
Jonathan's sake, and God loved us in Christ. He chose us in
Christ, called us in Christ, blessed us in Christ. He'll keep
us in Christ. And He'll one day make us like
Christ. And look down here at verse 13. So Mephibosheth dwelt
in the king's house. Dwelt in Jerusalem. And we'll
dwell in heavenly, holy Jerusalem. He did eat continually at the
king's table. But he was still lame. He was
still lame. He still had marks of the fall.
That's us right now. We're sons. Behold what manner
of love the Father has bestowed upon us that we should be called
the sons of God. It does not yet appear what we
shall be. It appears what we are. Paul said, when I would
do good, evil is present with me. Things I would not do, I
do. I'm still lame. And every one of us have the
Spirit of God, We have the nature of flesh. And that's a picture
of Jonathan sitting at the king's table. But you know, someone
pointed this out to me one time. It says he did eat continually
at the king's table, but his lame legs were hidden. He sat
there at the table with everybody else, and you couldn't tell he
was lame. He didn't show, did he? His legs
were under the table. And how God covers us with His
mercy and covers us with His grace and His love. Love covers
a multitude of sins. A multitude of sins. Sons of God. Glad people can't
see inside, aren't you? Glad they can't see my lame legs
under the table. Under His table, they're not
to be seen. But you know, that story doesn't
stop there. Most people stop there, but I
don't. Mephibosheth, like I said, was not without lameness. He
had those lame legs still. And he was not without trial.
He was not without trouble and trial. He had a major trial coming
up. You see, David's son, years passed,
David's son Absalom rose up against David. He got a following and
took the kingdom. And David had to leave Jerusalem
with some people who were loyal to him. They left Jerusalem. And Mephibosheth knew what was
going on, that Absalom had led a rebellion against his father,
King David. And he wanted to go with him.
He loved David. You can imagine, you'll see in a moment, how much
he loved David. He said to his servant Ziba, Get the ashes and
saddle them. And take bread, a hundred loaves
of bread, and grapes, raisins, and wine, and let's go with David. See, he had a rich farm, fruits. And I told Ziba, his servant,
his son, Ziba's son, get these things together and get me on
a donkey and we'll go with David. Ziba didn't do that. Ziba got
the donkeys together, and the bread, and the raisins, and the
grapes, and the wine, and left Mephibosheth. And he went to
David. If you look at chapter 16, see
I told you this is a devious man. A devious man, a wicked
man. You should have turned to chapter
16 of 2 Samuel. And David is fleeing, David and
his friends. And when David was a little past
the top of the hill, chapter 16, Verse 1, Behold Ziba, the
servant of Mephibosheth met him with a couple of ashes saddled,
and upon them two hundred loaves of bread.
That ought to give you a good insight into your posture. I
didn't exaggerate that. I cut it in half. I can't take
credit for that. I forgot what I meant. Oh, they
had two hundred loaves of bread and a hundred bunch of raisins
hundred of summer fruit and a bottle of wine. And King said, Ziba,
what meanest thou by these things? And Ziba said, now listen, the
ashes be for the king's household to ride on, the bread and the
summer fruit for the young men to eat, and the wine that such
as be faint in the wilderness may drink. And the king says,
where's Mephibosheth? Where's your master's son? And
Ziba Oh, listen. He said to the king, Behold,
Mephibosheth stayed at Jerusalem, for he said, Today shall the
house of Israel restore unto me the kingdom of my Father. Isn't that horrible? See, David
is not omniscient as our Lord God. He knows these devious people
and their wicked hearts, but David didn't know. And David
said, Behold, thine are all that pertaineth to Mephibosheth. You
take the farm back, the land, the service, and the houses.
And Ziba, the wicked man, said, I humbly beseech thee that I
may find grace in thy sight, O Lord my God. I tell you, devious
men can use religious language. Devious, wicked, covetous men
can use beautiful, Religious language. Listen to him. He's
hiding a wicked heart and a wicked soul and a wicked motive. And
yet here he is talking, lying on this child of God. And yet
he's using the sweetest, religious, pretending to love David. Phibosheth
didn't pretend to love him. He loved him. This is a wicked
man. Well, these trials are necessary though.
They're necessary. Trials reveal true faith, and
trials will expose false faith. Just see them through. Now, let
me take you to the end of this trial. 2 Samuel 19. Some time passed,
and David came back to Jerusalem. 2 Samuel 19. They restored him
to the throne. 2 Samuel 19.14. And he bowed the heart of all
the men of Judah, even as the heart of one man. So they sent
this word unto the king, to David, Return thou and all thy serpents. So the king returned and came
to Jordan, and Judah came to Gilgal to go to meet the king
and to conduct the king over the Jordan." Verse 24. The king is coming home now. Verse 24, And Mephibosheth the
son of Saul came down to meet the king. Somebody brought him.
He talked somebody into taking him to meet the king who was
coming. And he had neither dressed his
feet, nor trimmed his beard, nor washed his clothes from the
day the king departed unto the day he came again in peace. There
was no joy in this true believer's heart while his king was gone. He had no joy while the king
was gone. And it came to pass when he was
come to Jerusalem to meet the king, that the king said to him,
Wherefore winnest thou, winnest not thou with me? Mephibosheth,
why didn't you go with me? And he answered, My lord, O king,
my servant deceived me. Thy servant said, This is what
I said. I said, I will saddle me, and
ask that I may ride thereon. and go to the king because I'm
lame. Thy servant is lame. But Ziba
has slandered me, thy servant, unto the Lord the king. But my
Lord the king is as an angel of God. Do therefore what's good
in your eyes. It's alright. Do what you please.
You're still the king. I still love you. Regardless
of what decision you make. He lied on me. He didn't tell
the truth. But whatever you decide, that's
alright. For, I'll tell you why, all my father's house were but
dead men. Can't you say that? And I can't
do it. Whatever God does to me, that's
alright. Isn't that right? That's alright.
Because I wasn't anything when He found me. My father's house
were dead men before the Lord. Yet, didst thou set thy servant
among them that eat at your table? You made me a son of the King
and sat me at your table. Grace, grace, grace. What right
have I therefore to cry any more to the king? I got no right.
I got no right to complain. The king said to him, well, why
do you... David's kind of embarrassed that
he didn't believe that he received the word of Ziba. I think he's
kind of embarrassed here. He said, well, let's just don't
talk about it anymore. That sounds like me, doesn't it to you? Let's
just don't talk about it anymore. I messed up. Let's just don't
talk about it. Don't bring it up anymore. You
and Ziba divide the land. Now David's compromising. The
Lord doesn't do that, but David's a man. You say, well, divide
it. That won't work, will it? If
Ziba's a liar, he can't walk with a believer. And a believer
can't be partners with Ziba. So Mephibosheth said to the king,
let him have all of it. If he wants the land, let him
have it. It's all going to fade away anyway. If he wants the
servants and the trees, let him have them. Here's what I want. Let him take
all of it. For as much as my lord the king
has come home in peace unto his own house, that's all I'm interested
in. in knowing Him, sitting with
Him, fellowshiping with Him. Let Him have that stuff. He said, well surely that's the
end of the story and live happily ever after. Whoop! Turn to 2 Samuel 21. 2 Samuel 21. Isn't this a tremendous
story of God's grace to us? How He deals with us? Mercy for
Christ's sake. And how through trials, still,
our love for Him is proven. It's proven. Whom have I in heaven
but Thee, and whom have I on earth but Thee? Whatever I have
materially or physically, it doesn't make any difference as
long as I have Christ. Me to live is Christ, to die
is gain. And that's where trials bring the believer to that place
where these things don't amount to much. Chapter 21, verse 1,
Then there was a famine in the days of David three years, year
after year. And David inquired of the Lord,
and the Lord answered, David, this famine is because of Saul
and his bloody house. Because he slew the Gibeonites.
That was 85 priests Saul killed. He came to a place and wanted
some word about David and they wouldn't tell on David and he
killed every one of them. Priests of God, 85 of them, he
murdered them. And the king called the Gibeonites
and said to them, verse 2, Now the Gibeonites were not of the
children of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorites, and
the children of Israel had sworn unto them, made a covenant with
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 atonement,
that you may bless the inheritance of the Lord? The king of Israel,
Saul, has terribly dealt with you. Now what can I do to make
everything right between you and Israel, the servants of God? What can I do to prove my loyalty
to you? And the Gibeonites said to him,
we will have no silver or gold of Saul. We don't want any of
his riches. We don't want his house. Neither
for us shall thou kill any man in Israel." Well, he said, what
shall I do? What shall I, what that I shall
do for you? And they answered the king, the
man that consumed us and killed 85 priests, that devised evil against us,
and we should be destroyed from remaining in either coast of
Israel, let seven of his sons be delivered unto us. And we'll
hang them. We'll hang them up unto the Lord
in Gibeah. Gibeah of Saul, whom the Lord
did choose, and the king says, I'll give them to you. I'll give
you seven of Saul's sons and grandsons to be hanged because
of this terrible deed. But, but God. who is rich in
mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us even when we were
dead in sin had quickened us together with Christ but 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 he spared him
and God will spare us Because he spared not his own son. Delivered
him up for us all. How shall ye not with him freely
give us all thing? Now if we are not in Christ,
judgment and wrath is going to fall. But the Lord, the King
spared Mephibosheth because of his love for Jonathan and his
covenant. And when David came to die in
chapter 23, now close, David came to die He cast himself on
a covenant. 2 Samuel 23, now these are the
last words of David, son of Jesse. Verse 5, here they are. Although
my house be not so with God, my nation, my community, name
it, yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant. You know, Paul wrote about that
in Hebrews. Brought again from the dead,
our Lord Jesus Christ, that great shepherd of the sheep through
the blood of the everlasting covenant. God made with me an
everlasting covenant. Ordered in all things and sure,
and this is all my salvation and all my desire, although he
make it not to grow. And in simple, plain words, I
say unto all of you, to be again to all our young people, The
love of God is in His Son, Christ. The grace of God is in His Son,
Christ. The mercy of God is in His covenant
which He made with Christ. And to us, because we're joint
heirs with Christ, because we're in Him, we believe on Him. We
fled to Him. We fled to Him our refuge. We
built on Him our rock. We accepted in Him our substitute. And that's when the world's destroyed
under the judgment of God. That will be our deliverance.
That was Mephibosheth when all of his kinfolks were dying, hanged
on a tree. He was the son of the king, because
the king made a covenant. And God will be merciful to whom
he will be merciful. Be merciful to me. Lord, be merciful
to me. Be merciful to me, the sinner.