← Back to sermon library

but it's good to be back in the house of our god you can turn in your Bibles to psalm 63 for our call to worship psalm 63 a psalm of David when he was in the wilderness of Judah oh god you are my god early will I seek you my soul thirsts for you my flesh longs for you in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water so I have looked for you in the sanctuary to see your power in your glory because your loving kindness is better than life my lips shall praise you thus I will bless you while I live I will lift up my hands in your name my soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness and my mouth shall praise you with joyful lips when I remember you on my bed I meditate on you and the night watches because you have been my help therefore in the shadow of your wings I will rejoice my soul follows close behind you your right hand up holds me but those who seek my life to destroy it shall go into the lower parts of the earth they shall fall by the sword they shall be a portion for jackals but the King shall rejoice in God everyone who swears by him shall glory but the mouth of those who speak lies shall be stopped amen well please turn in your Trinity hymnals to him number 12 him number 12 will stand as we sing together you oh let us pray our Father in Heaven we come before you again on this lord's day we come to address you and to praise you and to worship and to glorify you for you are most high and you are great in your being and in your works we come to acknowledge these things by singing and by praying and by looking to Holy Scripture and we pray that in all of this Lord God you would be exalted the psalmist says may you be enthroned upon the praises of Israel may you indeed be glorified in this glad our and may you help us to focus and help us to approach you in an acceptable manner a man are defined by you in Holy Scripture and may we come before you in humility and may we come before you with great joy and with great thanksgiving for certainly as we consider what a glorious God you are and as we consider how sinful we are we must praise and worship and and exalt in you because of your great grace and because of your great goodness to us how we bless you and how we praise you for the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ how we thank you that you called us out of darkness into marvelous light so that we may proclaim your praises and your Excellencies we pray tonight God that as we sing we would consider that's so great a salvation that these things would fuel our worship and that they would cause us to rejoice in you that God you would be glorified in this hour we ask that you would forgive us for all of our sins and our transgressions we confess that we don't always let our conduct be worthy of the gospel we confess our transgression against that holy law of God we know we're not justified by law keeping we know we're not saved because we merit it we know we are justified freely by your grace through faith alone in Christ alone but we know that Christ when he saves us points us to that law is a perfect rule and standard for our lives so God forgive us for our transgression forgive us for our lack of conformity unto that standard and please wash us now in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ we pray that your Holy Spirit would be at work in our minds and in our hearts we pray that he would aluminous and help us to receive with Thanksgiving your word and may we learn of your nature revealed to us in the Holy Scripture and may these things be of great benefit to us we enter into a new week may we do so with Christian dignity and with sanctity and may we indeed be good examples and in this lower world of what Christ is all about give us opportunities to speak the truth and love to those with whom we come into contact and may we indeed let our light shine before men that they may see our good works and not congratulate us but give glory unto our great God we ask our father that you would look with favor upon each and every one in this congregation we often pray for the physical means and we don't want a weary of that we commit to you all those who are suffering all those who have physical trials and challenges but God we also want to pray for each and every one of us as we all have spiritual trials and spiritual challenges we live in a sinful world we live in a world filled with temptation and God we cry out to you for the presence and the power of your Holy Spirit that we may by the spirit mortify the deeds of the body so that we may in fact live that we would as well be able to resist temptation and pursue those things which are pleasing in your sight God we do need your grace and we need you to sustain us and to empower us and to enable us so we pray that each and every day you would fill us with the spirit that you would give us fresh supplies of grace that we may indeed honor you in this world we ask our Father that you would bless the church in Seattle we thank you for that body and the fact that you have kept them together we pray for pastor Martin's wife and and and their children and we just commit them to you and pray that you would comfort them and provide for them and why over them we do pray for that church that you would provide for them and under Shepard a man of God called to the ministry that will be able to faithfully serve that flock be with Pastor Porter tonight may you own his preaching and may use that preaching for the good of souls and for the salvation of sinners we ask that you'd give him safe travel as he returns home and just continue to bless our dear brother we also pray for the church in kirkland we thank you for Dawn and Stefan we ask that you would watch over those men and continue to uphold them and bless their ministry and bless that church and use that as a place where sinners would be saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ we also pray for the church in Tacoma ask that you would watch over pastor lion for all the churches in Armco we thank you for this association we look forward to this General Assembly this week and we pray that it would be marked by peace and unity and with a genuine desire to bring glory to God may you bless the men who will preach and may you use them to feed pastors so that pastors likewise will be able to return to their homes and to their churches empowered and refreshed and revived and unable to proclaim the truth a new to their people we asked he would grant safety and and and great help to all those involved in this assembly and we pray that in all of this you would be all you would be honored we asked he would bless the the missionary enterprise we thank you that the gospel is going forth throughout the earth we thank you for the Santiago's we pray that you would grant them safety as they leave bc tomorrow grant them safety and the remainder of their furlough and return them to their work refreshed and ready to glorify you and we asked you would continue to protect them continue to watch over them continue to bless them and cause them to flourish and to thrive and may you be pleased to use them for your glory in that part of the world we pray as well God for other nations in this earth where the gospel is going forth we thank you that the kingdom of God is extending we thank you that Jesus Christ shall have dominion from sea to sea me and we thank you Lord God that we get to witness your handiwork in the salvation of souls and in the sanctification of the people of God certainly our Lord was was absolutely positively correct when he said he would build his church and the gates of Hell itself shall not prevail against it we thank you for that for if it were left up to men it would certainly fall and crumble but because it's in the hands of our Blessed Christ it will prosper it will flourish and a great multitude will come to know him as Lord and Savior continue with us now we pray and we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord amen well please take your Trinity Salter and turn to Psalm 113 you'll notice that the tomb that we use will repeat the last line in each stands us so number 113 will stand as we sing together Oh we can turn to the prophet Ezekiel for our scripture reading this evening as zekiel chapter 12 Ezekiel chapter 12 chapters 8 to 11 record the departure of God's glory from the temple remember that the nation of the people of Israel engaged in gross idolatry even in the temple itself so the Lord God most I would execute the curses of the Covenant upon these people and bring great judgment upon them and that's what this section begins chapters 12 to 24 deal with an explanation of the judgment that is to come upon Jerusalem specifically upon the temple upon the nation as a whole for the rebellion against God beginning in Chapter 12 at verse 1 now the word of the Lord came to me saying son of man you dwell in the midst of a rebellious house which has eyes to see but does not see and ears to hear but does not here for they are a rebellious house therefore son of man prepare your belongings for captivity and go into captivity by day in their site you shall go from your place into captivity to another place in their site it may be that they will consider though they are a rebellious house by day you shall bring out your belongings in their sight as though going into captivity and that evening you shall go in their site like those who go into captivity dig through the wall in their site and carry your belongings out through it in their site you shall bear them on your shoulders and carry them out at twilight you should cover your face so that you cannot see the ground for I have made you a sign to the house of Israel so I did as I was commanded I'd brought out my belongings by day as though going into captivity and that evening I dug through the wall with my hand I brought them out at twilight and I bore them on my shoulder in their site and in the morning the word of the Lord came to me saying son of man has not the house of Israel the rebellious house said to you what are you doing say to them thus says the Lord God this burden concerns the prince in Jerusalem and all the house of Israel who are among them say I am assigned to you as I have done so shall it be done to them they shall be carried away into captivity and the prince who is among them shall bear his belongings on his shoulder at twilight and go out they shall dig it through the wall to carry them out through it he shall cover his face so that he cannot see the ground with his eyes i will also spread my net over him and he shall be caught in my snare I will bring him to Babylon to the land of the Chaldeans yet he shall not see it though he shall die there I will scatter to every wind all who are around to help him around him to help him and all his troops and I will draw out the sword after them then they shall know that I am the lord when I scatter them among the nations and disperse them throughout the countries but I will spare a few of their men from the sword from famine and from pestilence that they may declare all their abominations among the Gentiles wherever they go then they shall know that I am the lord moreover the word of the Lord came to me saying son of man eat your bread with quaking and drink your water with trembling and anxiety and say to the people of the land thus says the Lord God to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the Land of Israel they shall eat their bread with anxiety and drink their water with dread so that her land may be emptied of all who are in it because of the violence of all those who dwell in it than the cities that are inhabited shall be laid waste the land shall become desolate and you shall know that I am the lord and the word of the Lord came to me saying son of man what is this proverb that you people have about the Land of Israel which says the days are prolonged and every vision fails tell them therefore thus says the Lord God I will lay this proverb to rest and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel but say to them the days are at hand and the fulfillment of every vision for no more shall there be any false vision or flattering divination within the house of Israel for I am the lord I speak and the word which I speak will come to pass it will no more be bit be postponed for in your days Oh rebellious house I will say the word and performant says the Lord God again the word of the Lord came to me saying son of man look the house of Israel is saying the vision that he sees is for many days from now and he prophesies of times far off therefore say to them thus says the Lord God none of my words which will be postponed anymore but the word which I speak will be done says the Lord God amen just a couple of brief observations in the first place notice what God the Lord says through the Prophet notice in verse 1 now the word of the Lord came to me saying son of man you who dwell in the midst of a rebellious house which has eyes to see but does not see and ears to hear but does not here that's language that ought to be familiar with all those who read the Old Testament in psalm 115 in Psalm 135 for instance we see that description given of the idols idols of the pagans have eyes but they do not see they have ears but they do not hear they have mouths but they do not speak and in psalm 115 very specifically after that description of idols it then says in verse 8 all who worship them become like them and that is precisely what we find in this particular instance the nation of Israel had become idolaters they had worshiped things that had ice but didn't see that ears but they didn't hear they had mouths but they didn't speak and now Israel has become like that which they worship that is the specific crime or the specific offense by which or for which God would bring judgment to bear upon them and then just one other brief brief observation we often think that God is seen and God is glorified God is honored through the salvation of and that is a right affirmation and a right conviction when the Lord saved someone it magnifies his grace it magnifies his mercy it magnifies his goodness and his kindness but God is also seen in his judgments notice that several times in this particular chapter after God brings judgment to bear and then you will know that I am Yahweh then the nations will know that I am Yahweh you see the Apostle Paul says that when the Word of God is preached it is an aroma to both those who hear and believe and to those who reject and do not believe it's still a fragrance to the Lord God most high the preaching of the gospel itself brings glory to God irrespective of the results whether men are converted or whether men continue in rebellion God is nevertheless glorified and exalted through the faithful proclamation of his truth we need to understand God will be glorified either in your salvation or in your damnation and I would plead with all of you who are not saved to flee to the Lord Jesus Christ because it is far better for you that he be glorified in your salvation will let us pray our Heavenly Father we thank you for the written word and we thank you for the lessons that we learn from Old Covenant Israel god help us as a new covenant Israel help us as the local church to take to heart these realities to to understand that Christ threatens to with draw the lampstand in the book book of Revelation may we see our specific responsibilities to be faithful to be those who do what the Lord God has called us to do give us grace give assault give us perseverance give us faithfulness Lord God that we may honor you to the very end and we pray through Christ our Lord amen well please turn with me in your Trinity hymnals to him number 21 him number 21 again will stand as we sing we can turn in your Bibles to 2nd Samuel chapter 9 be a bit of review for those who attended the Wednesday night Bible study two weeks ago 2nd Samuel chapter 9 will read verses 12 13 and then look at the kindness shown to mephibosheth second Samuel chapter 9 i'll begin reading in verse 1 now David said is there still anyone who is left of the house of Saul that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake there was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was zeba so when they had called him to David the king said to him are you zeba he said at your service then the king said is there not still some one of the house of Saul to whom I may show the kindness of God zeba said to the king there is still a son of jonathan who is lame in his feet so the king said to him where is he and ziba said to the king indeed he is in the house of mccure the son of a meal in lo debar then king david sent and brought him out of the house of mock here the son of a mile from lo debar now when Mephibosheth the son of jonathan the son of Saul had come to David he fell on his face and prostrated himself then David said mephibosheth and he answered here is your servant so David said to him do not fear for I will surely show you kindness for Jonathan your father's sake and will restore you restore to you all the land of Saul your grandfather and you shall eat bread at my table continually then he bowed himself and he said what is your servant that you should look upon such a dead dog as I and the king called to trzeba Saul servant and said to him I have given to your master's son all that belonged tous all and to all his house you therefore an your sons and your servants shall work the land for him and you shall bring in the harvest your masters son may have food to eat but mephibosheth your master's son shall eat bread at my table always now ziba had 15 sons and 20 servants then ziba said to the king according to all that my lord the King has commanded his servant so will your servant do as for mephibosheth said the king he shall eat at my table like one of the king's sons the fibbies chef had a young son whose name was Micah and all who dwelt in the house of ziba were servants of Mephibosheth so mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem for he ate continually at the Kings table and he was laying in both his feet a man let us pray God we come to this passage now looking to learn something about God and we pray to that end that your spirit would guide us and instruct us and help us as well god help us to learn what it is to be faithful before our God grant us grace to receive these things and to put them into practice again forgive us of all of our sin and our transgression cleanse us in that precious fount that is open for sin and uncleanness and we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord amen well for those who have not been attending the Wednesday night Bible study shame on you now I'm just kidding just kidding for those who have not though there is a particular outline that we have been operating according to in our studies in second samuel essentially what we see in its major breakdown is that we see the commencement of david's rain at Ebron in chapters one two four next is the consolidation of david's reign over all of israel in chapters five to eight so he moves not only from being the king over the south but he's also the king over the north the entirety of Israel consolidated under david's rain chapters Phi I'm sorry the consequence of David sent is recorded for us in chapters 9 to 20 and then the close of David's rain in chapters 21 to 24 so as we come tonight to look at second Samuel chapter 9 I want to do so under two observations the first place the intention of David to show kindness to a descendant of solve the intention of David to show kindness to a descendant of Saul and secondly the execution of that kindness to that descendant of Saul and I think that there is great lesson in this passage first and foremost concerning our Lord Jesus Christ remember that David functions in a typical manner he is a type of the Lord Christ David's greater son is how we refer to our Lord Christ and so when we look at the greater son we also see something of his earthly father in terms of faithfulness in terms of godliness in terms of righteousness in fact if you look back in chapter 8 I think verse 15 in chapter 8 gives a good general description of the overall tenor of David's rain it says so David reigned over all Israel and David administered judgment and justice to all his people now certainly David didn't do this perfectly in fact when we get to chapter 11 and chapter 12 we will see how imperfect David was indeed but the general overarching character of David's rain is successfully summarized there in chapter 8 verse 15 as we have had cause to note many times in our studies in the Old Testament Israel had her heroes but all of those heroes ultimately fell short all of those heroes were men at best and they true they proved to the nation that there was a need for a greater one a need for a hero that wouldn't fall that wouldn't stand that wouldn't commit adultery that wouldn't commit murder so David as far as he went did a most excellent job though imperfectly but he did in fact successfully point us to the Lord Jesus Christ so let's look at this particular chapter note first the intention of David to show kindness says in verse 1 now David said is there still anyone who is left of the house of Saul that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake and we've seen this word and our studies in the Old Testament Ward cassette it's a Hebrew word that does mean kindness but it has a bit of a deeper range it has more significance than you know me just opening the door for you or showing you some sort of a general kindness one commentator defines hesed in this way it is a covenant term wrapping up in itself all the positive attributes of God love covenant faithfulness mercy grace kindness loyalty he says in short it refers to acts of devotion and loving kindness that go beyond the requirements of duty and that is precisely what we'll see in this display of Hesed David wants to show this to others to this descendant of Saul the New King James margin renders it covenant faithfulness I notice an Alec mo tears translation of the songs he renders that Hebrew word with the with the phrase committed love I think the ESV gets it as steadfast love so it is love it is kindness it is goodness it is graciousness but it's all those wrapped up into one package underscored by a dose of the Covenant to give it this rock solid sturdy foundation and that is what David wants to express to a descendant of Saul now note the coven ental background of David's desire verse 1 again is there still anyone who is left of the house of Saul that I may show him kindness now notice for Jonathan's sake look again at verse 7 when he sees or when he meets Mephibosheth do not fear for I will surely show you kindness for Jonathan your father say this is the covenantal background that is in view as to why David wants to express this pet said to this descendant of Saul now the covenant with jonathan is given to us in several places you can turn back to 1st Samuel 18 First Samuel chapter 18 you'll remember that David and Jonathan were good friends and in First Samuel 18 it's really quite significant it comes on the heels of chapter 17 yes Butler knows that 17 then leads into 18 but 70 is the battle in the valley of ayla where David beheads Goliath and David is victorious in the name of the God of Israel and David returns from the battlefield and of course the the ladies are dancing and praising that God had given grace to David to slay this this these ten thousands and what Jonathan does at the return of David is very significant Jonathan takes off his royal robes and gives them to David don't miss the significance of that Jonathan is in essence saying that David deserves to be the the heir apparent to the crown David deserves to sit upon the throne in Israel jonathan is is self effacing jonathan is is giving jonathan recognizes that david truly is of God and so Jonathan wants to give him those royal robes as we saw when we worked through 1st Samuel jonathan is a stellar human being do you ever want a good character study in the Bible go to Jonathan but note specifically this covenant that they engage it 1st Samuel 18 3 then Jonathan and David made a covenant because he loved him as his own soul notice in chapter 20 in chapter 20 specifically in verse 8 this whole idea of covenant is refreshed for us therefore you shall deal kindly with your servant that's hesed you shall deal kindly with your servant for you have brought your servant into a covenant of the lord with you notice in chapter 28 verse 42 2042 then Jonathan said to David go in peace since we have both sworn in the name of the Lord saying may the Lord be between you and me and between your descendants and my descendants forever the word covenant is absent but the concept is there they had sworn in the name of the Lord and then notice in 2318 the last time that David and Jonathan meet together 2318 so the two of them made a covenant before the Lord and David stayed in the woods and Jonathan went to his own house now the specific feature that is in view when David wants to express this kindness to a descent of Saul is noted for us go again back to chapter twenty First Samuel chapter 20 specifically verses 14 to 17 in other words you see here the nuts and the bolts of the Covenant we've seen where they've sworn a covenant together but what is the substance or what is the promise or what is the binding aspect or element of this covenant that they have entered into notice in 20 verse 14 Jonathan says and you shall not only show me the kindness of the Lord while I still live that I may not die but you shall not cut off your kindness from my house forever no not when the Lord has cut off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth the writing was on the wall as far as Jonathan knew David was going to be the king of Israel now what was true of the kings of that particular day is that when they took the throne they killed any rival to the throne in other words when David occupied the throne it would have been kind of in keeping with kings of that day for him to utterly eliminate any any air or any any uh descendant from Saul that's the way you secured your throne you killed any rival dynasty and so you see what Jonathan is saying promise to me covenant with me David that when you occupy the throne of Israel that you won't kill me that you will preserve me and then that descends down or that rather applies to his descendants which of course mephibosheth is a son of jonathan so going back to second Samuel chapter 9 we ought to appreciate with reference to the Covenant here David had made this promise to Jonathan probably 15 to 20 years prior now I realize that we've just looked at several passages and you might be wondering what's in this for me well there's a lot in it for you teaches us something about fidelity to our word teaches us something about faithfulness to our promises David had made this promise to Jonathan probably 15 to 20 years previously remember that mephibosheth according to 2nd Samuel chapter 4 was five years old when his when he was dropped on his feet and that's what lamed him or maimed am and now in this particular passage mephibosheth has a son a young son but a son called my cup so probably 15 to 20 years had transpired something you need to understand the passage of time does not invalidate your word when you make a promise to someone as David did with Jonathan you ought to keep it you didn't say well you know I did that or I swore that Allegiance or I said that you know 15 or 20 years ago certainly no one's expecting me to keep my promise yes they are God the Lord is and the person that you have promised to the passage of time did not nullify David's promise as well the consolidation of the kingdom did not nullify David's promise you could see the temptation David might have concluded you know I've eliminated the household of Saul don't have to worry about any descendants that may come after because I'm the king over the entirety of Israel but he doesn't reason that way chapter 9 verse 1 is David itching to fulfill his promise David hankering to make good on his word David activated by the reality that he had entered into this covenant with Jonathan all those years past so we learned from this brief observation that the promise of covenant is perpetually blinding Ralph Davis says here is the power covenant exercises the promise made in the past directs fidelity in the present again you may not have sworn to Jonathan to do good to him and to his descendants but you swore to your bride or you swore to your bridegroom you swear to your creditor when you sign the dotted line so you're not supposed to default on the loan you swear when you are ordained a gospel ministry you swear it when you testify in a courtroom you all make covenant you all enter in the Covenant you all have binding agreements upon you and you need to realize that the passage time does not nullify your word the the better circumstances that you find yourself in now does not nullify your word the reality is is that when we make these promises we need to keep them and then notice also the reception of blessing from God leads David to give blessings to others will tease this out in a few minutes but there is it a link here between chapters 9 and seven again we'll look at that in more detail later but David had received kindness from God we we heard something like this this morning didn't we we have been loved on by God the Lord we have been loved on by the holy Christ that love of Christ does what it compels us to do what to show love to others the link between seven and nine is simple God the Lord had given David great blessing David now becomes a conduit by which blessings will flow there is a reciprocity David doesn't pay back God necessarily but David shows kindness or Hess at the same sort of kindness or hesed that he received he gives this or showers it upon mephibosheth you see what we received from the Lord were not just to bottle it up or to let the love of Christ compels us we ought to let that love of Christ constrain us that we may be conduits of blessing to others now notes specifically his plan he meets with ziba to determine whether there is a successor so when they had called him to David the king said to him are you ziba he said at your service quite like that at your service that's a good way to respond to the king don't mumble don't murmur don't grumble don't complain if your boss calls you at your service is an appropriate response the King says verse 3 is they're not still somewhat of the house of Saul to whom I may show the kindness of God you see that you're showing him the kindness of God why because david has been a recipient of the kindness of God it must flow plus we have received so that we will give so the king said to him I'm sorry zeba says to the king there is still a son of jonathan who is lame at his feet and he highlights this particular fact that he is lame in his feet Robert halt to alter suggests so as to sort of qualify to David that he poses no threat to the crown he is not a threat with reference to the throne you don't have to worry about him David yes there is a descendant of Saul but he's lame in his feet he's not going to command Israel probably why he adds that particular thing tells him the location and of course then David summons him now note this the particular meeting verse 6 now when mephibosheth the son of jonathan the son of Saul had come to David he fell on his face and prostrated himself which is another good response and here's why it's a good response because Mephibosheth as far as he knew was an enemy of David imagine your archenemy assuming control of a kingdom and then calling you emailing your texting you saying I'd like to see you you would fall prostate prostrate before him you would be afraid because you would perceive that he's going to to clean up he's going to let you have it your archenemy is now the king and you're a descendant of the previous key mephibosheth may have been lame in his feet but he wasn't dim in his mind he understood the way that Kings reign and that the way to secure one's throne was to kill ones competitors so mephibosheth understanding this falls down before david robert van Noy says it is probable that mephibosheth thought his life was in jeopardy because he was a descendant of saul and it was common for the founders of nu dynasties to murder all potential successors to the throne from the royal house they display several passages give this or indicate this he says this fear however was unfounded because David was a king who did what was just and right for all his people beautiful isn't it chef knows his place he's an enemy of the king and he falls down prostrate before him and it's interesting because the way the narrator crafts this particular event or this particular story is that when David is dealing with ziba David is king when David is dealing with mephibosheth David is David it shows the intimacy it shows the relationship it shows the harmony not that it's wrong these referred to as king with reference to trzeba but our author is showing us something concerning this cassette that it does penetrate that it does bring relationship to these particular parties now that brings us to consider the execution of David's kindness to this descendant of Saul in verses 7 to 13 note first his promise verse 7 so David said to him do not fear for I will surely show you kindness for Jonathan your father's sake and will restore to you all the land of Saul your grandfather and you shall eat bread at my table continually we ought to notice again the reason for i will show you kindness for jonathan your father's sake see I think the narrator is conspicuous to make sure we understand David is operating via covenant chapter 10 David operates via covenant there is a weight going on here David receives the grace of God in chapter 7 chapter 8 is a summary of the battles and wars that David fought chapter 9 is David's expression of asset to a descendant of Saul and in chapter 10 it is an expression of David's has said in his foreign policy shows kindness to hang on of the ammonites and this sets the backdrop for chapter 11 I think what it does is exacerbates David's in the author wants us to see David in his true light so a blackburn once said chapter 11 and second samuel is a an affirmation of the divine inspiration of Scripture because you see we wouldn't write chapter 11 about our heroes we wouldn't tell that our favorite person in the world committed adultery and committed murder you see we have hashtag to the bottom of finish up in chapter 9 we have pesit to a honda in in chapter 10 and we have ruthlessness to Bathsheba and Uriah in chapter 11 so there are links going before and b and in front of but i just want us to focus here the promise know what david says to mephibosheth he says do not fear it's not beautiful we just read that and that's it no don't fear what's he telling him mephibosheth I'm not going to count you as my enemy mephibosheth do not fear you're not going to be destroyed mephibosheth you don't have to worry tonight that somebody's going to sneak into your places and cut your throat do not fear David is offering to Mephibosheth this protection the very thing that Jonathan asks in First Samuel they swear a covenant and Jonathan says when you take the throne please do not kill me Jonathan knows what's going to happen but Jonathan as well says please preserve my family and that's what David does in the beginning of verse 7 he says do not fear David doesn't stop there and this is where we see sort of the above and beyond the promise this is where we see the Covenant aspect of this kindness because right there do not fear satisfies the requirement doesn't it it satisfies the sum and substance of the promised David promised to Jonathan that he would not kill his descendants but David doesn't stop there I hope you're thinking with your new covenant brain I hope you're thinking about where we're going to take this at the end I hope you're thinking about how David typifies David's greater son he not only tells us do not fear he not only provides protection to us but he gives us provision and that is precisely what David promises to mephibosheth notice what he says in 7b he says and I will restore to you all the land of Saul your grandfather this is amazing this is a way away Kings do things mephibosheth has probably got his mind below about this particular ma what's he talking about the fact that I'm not dead the fact that he has held out protection to me the fact that he's sold me not to fear and now he's going to restore to me all the land that was my grandfather saw this this is really amazing isn't it you see David is exercising this has set it is in terms of protection and provision but he doesn't stop there in at this point mephibosheth could have got up off the ground dusted himself off and went home and then you know happy and content forever and ever he could have told mrs. mephibosheth that his son Micah boy David didn't kill me isn't that great they could have rejoiced and feasted that night that right there was was a magnificent display of the benefit of benefit of beneficence of David but he doesn't stop there so this our Lord he doesn't stop there you know he protects us but he provides for us and if that isn't enough he gives us this position of intimacy note the end of verse 7 he says and you shall eat bread at my table continually this is just too much this isn't what we ought to expect from a king whose consolidating power this isn't what we expect from a king who is going to deal with his enemies I movie just come out of chapter 8 now David in his Wars and in his battles as victorious when we come to chapter and I we have a picture of David as the mighty warrior the hero of Israel the one who takes on ammonites the one who takes on on all the all the comers the Philistines everyone and he devastates them and decimates them and destroys that we come to chapter 9 we expect to see you know David in a in a poster with you know bullets wrapped around him in a tank in the back and a helicopter you know sort of perched over his head he's ready to take on all comers we certainly don't expect the direction that chapter 9 takes us is there somebody from the house of Jonathan are from the house of Saul my enemy of whom I can show has said and he meets with mephibosheth and he says do not fear he protects him and then he meets with my febi sheth in the same thing he says I'm going to give you back everything that was Saul your grandfather others and then he says and you're going to eat at my table continually you're going to sup with me you're going to dine with the King gonna be like one of my son's isn't that what's in view here isn't that who sups with you it is your family certainly you invite people over certainly you host fellowship certainly have families in the church or families on your block that you get together with you don't count them as sons because they're not there every night but mephibosheth is going to be there every night sitting at David's table he will be counted as one of the sons of David himself this is the above and the beyond Ralph Davis says David goes far beyond any bear requirement David doesn't merely spare spare mephibosheth life but heaps goodness on him he not only protects his life but restores his inheritance he not only saves him from the shadow of death but prepares a table for him David's kindness goes beyond survival to sustenance mephibosheth is cared for by and with the king and we'll never faced destitution it takes no imagination but only faith to see that David's hesed is but a faithful reflection of Yahweh's with whom there is no such thing as bear Tessa you see God doesn't just preserve us from death but he provides he gives us this position of intimacy he not only spares us from hell but he invites us to his table he not only keeps us from the fire but he brings us to his heart this is the God whom we serve and David is typifying here specifically our beloved Jesus now no mephibosheth response which I submit is most appropriate then he bowed himself this is mephibosheth and said what is your servant that you should look upon such a dead dog as I he bowels he does OB sense he understands this transaction he knows the score at this point understand what happened and he says Who am I I'm like a dead dog I don't deserve these things you see grace will always cause us to reflect accurately upon our own condition as I said earlier the man was lame but he wasn't dim he understood the reality that was transpiring before him and he says to David what is your servant that you should look upon such a dead dog as I this imitates David go back to second Samuel 7 remember the promise of the Covenant in chapter 7 verses 1 to 17 and then we see David's response to that covenant and what does David do in verse 18 when he goes and sits before Yahweh and he prays and he says who am i Lord God you've been humbled by the grace of God they've been brought low by the grace of God you know we sang Amazing Grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me but do we feel it do we know it if we appropriated it in our own Souls is it something that causes us to throb to jump to thrive to flourish as we sing we just sort of muttering it about are we thinking about the reality Amazing Grace how great the sound that saved a wretch like me I once was lost but now I'm found was blind but now I see you see why it promotes in this hem writer the reality of the recognition of his wretchedness this is grace that brings me this protection this is grace that brings me this provision this is grace that brings me this position and I can't help but acknowledge the goodness of our God in this and this is precisely what David does incest chapter 7 at verse 18 and what mephibosheth does in Chapter 9 the recipients of grace are able to identify grace because they see themselves rightly mephibosheth understood that he was being treated much better than he deserved isn't that what grace is all about we recognize that we are being treated much better than we deserve I mean think about it brethren what does every sin deserve every sin deserves God's wrath and curse both in this life and that which is to come the fact that we're not in hell is an amazing reality the fact that we have been provided for is an amazing reality and the fact that we were being called the sup with the lamb every Lord's Day every time we have the supper he invites us to sit at his table with them this is amazing and we ought not to lose sight of that and we ought to recognize our humility before God and realize he didn't do this because we deserved it he didn't do this because we had warrant he didn't do this because we merited it any more than this lame man mephibosheth warranted or merited the very the berry benefits and blessings that david was pouring upon him it's truly a display of the grace of God now note the execution versus nine to eleven we won't spend a lot of time here basically David tells ziba to get it done and ziba gets it done praise God from whom all Ziva's flows ibas are good people in the life of the church they do what the King says and they carry it out we all ought to do what the King says and carry it out and then notice it tells us something about Mephibosheth the household of Mephibosheth in verse 12 he had a young son whose name was Micah and all who dwelt in the house of Zeebo were servants in the fibbies chef so a little detail to be sure but I think it illustrates something this grace that God pours out upon mephibosheth abounds it is profuse david says i will care for you and your family lest we leave the chapter thinking does he have a family the author tells us he does they have benefited they have been be graced they have been brought nigh they have been blessed I'm not arguing for paedo inclusion and all that sort of thing we got to realize the temporal nature of what's happening here the point is is that David's word was good it will be for your house it will be for your people it will be for your wife and for your son there are benefits to be had in the press of the king and then notice it tells us in verse 13 so Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem create continually at the Kings table and he was lame in both his feet when I taught this at the Wednesday night Bible study a couple of weeks ago I said I didn't really understand what that meant and he was lame in both of his feet I mean I understand what it means he was slain and both his feet but what does it mean why is it there we've already been told he's lame we were told in second samuel for he was dropped and that's what lamed him or maimed him rather twice in the narrative we're told that he was lame and I kind of spiritual eyes but the more I thought about it the more this might be why it's here maybe the narrator maybe the author maybe our writer here is trying to combat what would be called the health wealth prosperity gospel you see once were protected by David and once we're provided for by David and once we have this position of intimacy with David then all of our problems will be gone no you're still lame in both your feet the blessings conferred upon you by grace do not make all of your ailments magically disappear he's still lame but he's in a much better position I mean would you rather be lame and counted as an enemy of the king living off in the distance or would you be rather be lame and being protected by the king and provided for by the king and having a position with the game well the latter obviously right the point is brethren that just because we are be graced by God or blessed by God that doesn't mean all of our physical trials and our travails will necessarily go well a couple of lessons and then we'll close first the necessity of covenant keeping the necessity of covenant keeping we ought to learn something from David here his covenant keeping is exemplary in other words it's an example for us it is a paradigm or a pattern it is an illustration of what the people of God are supposed to do you give your word you make your promise you say I do and you must that is absolutely essential he didn't let success keep him from her neck reneging or make him renege upon his covenant Jonathan he didn't pass persecution caused him to renege you see it would have been very easy for David to say Saul troubled me and saw did trouble him I mean First Samuel chapter 16 it begins all the way until Saul's dead it would be easy wouldn't it I mean we think that way don't we well the government makes my life miserable so I'm going to cheat on my taxes they deserve it those policemen they don't really catch the bad guy so I'm going to blow through this stop sign we rationalize our our sin we rationalize covenant breaking David didn't do that David did not say well you know Saul was a dirty rotten scoundrel to me so therefore I'm going to forget all about no confident I swore to Jonathan there has to be one there has to be a descendant and since there is I'm going to give him the benefits that I swore to give to him as well the covenant keeping of God or of God's people today is demanded it is demanded by God we are not to renege on our promises psalm 15 describes i think in beautiful detail our Savior it's descriptive of our Savior and it's pre-scripted for those who are joined to the savior by faith and one of the things given to us is that he swears to his own hurt and he does not change he swears to his own hurt and he does not change I mean that's truly true of Jesus alone right you'll all agree with me on that 15b psalm 15 for be rather it's a description of our Lord Christ it is descriptive but it is prescriptive in the sense that all those who are joined to him by faith are supposed to do likewise we are to swear to our own hurt and not renege I shared with the Bible study on the Wednesday night something concerning BB warfield first Davis Davis says if you're a Christian your life consists of covenant obligations times when you made sacred promises this is important sometimes we have these Wednesday night Bible studies and I think you know this is something not because I taught it but because it's in the Word of God I think everybody needs to understand these things sometimes the Old Testament gives us life lessons that we don't always get in the new I'm not saying the new doesn't give us life lessons but I see the Old Testament is the Christian life lived it is the Christian life lived the day and day out toil got it in the New Testament but you get in a heaping dose in the old Davis says if you're Christian your life consists of covenant obligations times when you made several us sacred promises he then gives several examples he and Calvin both indicate paedo baptism right in paedo baptism when you sprinkle your little one your loved one you make a vow you make a promise to bring those children up in the training and admonition of the Lord Oh brethren I like to think that even though we don't sprinkle our children there is that unspoken vow there is that covenant wherein we fall under Ephesians 6 wherein we understand that fathers are not two Broke provoke their children but they are to bring them up in the training and admonition law that is a promise that we make to do we're believers in the Living God we're not to bring up children to bail or Molech we're not to bring up children to to Mammon or sat we're to bring up our children unto the fear of God so Davis and Calvin both indicate various spheres in which we give these vows Davis goes on to say one does not keep such vows because it is dramatic but because it is faithful he says sometimes you do not keep your covenants because you feel feel like it but simply because you promised I think that's important we oftentimes are motivated by what we feel like I don't feel like reading my Bible I don't feel like going to church I don't feel you know what you got to get beyond your feelings beloved bail worship was about feelings bail worship happened from the waist down it was all about the feelings when you bowed before bail is all about the experience was all about the copulation it was all about the physical Christians are not to imitate bail worship sometimes we may not feel like reading our Bibles sometimes we may not feel like going to church but we ought not to give in to those feelings we ought not to fall prey to those desires we ought to discipline ourselves for the purpose of godliness I know that sounds a knee but Paul speaks to this in first timothy davis goes on the works of BB warfield the esteemed biblical theologian of Princeton seminary are still known in red in the evangelical church today what is not so well known as the tale of his marriage Warfield was pursuing studies in leipsic Germany in 1876 277 this time also doubled as a honeymoon with his wife Annie they were on a walking tour in the Harz mountains when they were caught in a terrific thunderstorm the experience was such a shock to Annie that she never fully recovered becoming more or less an invalid for life Warfield only left her for his seminary duties but never for more than two hours at a time his world was almost entirely limited to Princeton and to the care of his wife for 39 years one of his students noted that when he saw the war fields out walking together quote the gentleness of his manner was striking proof of the loving care with which he surrounded her and quote Davis concludes for 39 years that is the power covenant exercises it's a blessing brethren to know older brethren that have been married for a long long time some of you younger married say boy how do they do it ask them is it feeling driven oh I'm always just filled with these butterflies and love its covenant because I said I do that's what David does that's what David shows and the logical progression involved they can't touching on what we heard this morning I think in some senses the movement from second Samuel 7 will bypass aid because as I said it's a record of battles and Wars but in 2nd Samuel 7 brace is received by David second Samuel a 9 and 10 grace is given by David it parallels Romans 12 11 the grace of God in the gospel and Romans 12 and following therefore my beloved brethren I beseech you by the mercies of God present your bodies as a living sacrifice and then follows all of these ways that we present our bodies as living sacrifices visa vie if preference to others be kind to others be hospitable to others love one another you see when you receive the grace of God you in turn are to pour out that grace upon others the love of Christ compels us we ought to learn as well the typical significance of David in the first place he operates according to covenant so does his greater son in the second place David provides every temporal blessing to mephibosheth protection provision and privilege David's greater son and the language of the Apostle Paul has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ you see we are the mephibosheth who by the grace of God have falled prostrate before the Lord and he has built a blessed us richly with all of these things he provides David does in and above and beyond sort of way so does Christ David's greater son just two sample passages John 116 and of his fullness we have all received and grace for grace is it amazing we don't just get grace we get grace for grace we don't get just a part and parcel of Jesus we get his fullness we get every redemptive benefit we get every blessing we need the wrath of God averted Christ as our propitiation we need reconciliation friendship between heaven and earth Christ brain is reconciliation we need Redemption we need to be bought out of the slave market of sin in him in whom we have redemption through his blood we need everything and Christ delivers it and then as well we ought to note that David blesses one in this particular passage who is insignificant one who is unworthy and one who has even counted as an enemy again I hope that you're thinking with your new covenant hat on or your thinking cap remember that as a kid put your thinking caps on put your new covenant thinking Kappa doesn't that it's not like David's greater son does he blesses the insignificant he blesses the unworthy he blesses those who are counted his enemies one specimen text here Romans chapter five we're coming to a conclusion I just want you to see this that we are the mephibosheth in this particular passage of Scripture Romans chapter 5 beginning in verse 6 for when we were still without strength in due time christ died for the ungodly for scarcely for a righteous man will one die yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die but God demonstrates his own love toward us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us much more than having now been justified by his blood we shall be saved from wrath through him for if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his son much more having been reconciled we shall be saved by his life and not only that but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ through whom we have now received the reconciliation so according to the Apostle Paul what we were prior to our contact with Jesus prior to this meeting between Mephibosheth and mephibosheth and David we were helpless we were ungodly we were sinners and we were enemies and yet we have been brought nine through the blood of the Lord Jesus again Davis says the first principle for grappling with the marvel of God's love is to realize that he has no business in a sense loving whom he loves it shouldn't surprise us that the triune God loves father loved son son loves spirits on loves father that that shouldn't surprise us that the ad intra being of God in his personal relations in terms of the tri-unity that's not a surprise that the father loves the son it's not a surprise that the son loves the father not a surprise that both love the spirit that spirit allows the son and father you could probably draw out tease out and wherever however many connections just say all three love each other that's not a surprise well Davis says and I think he's right is that it's a surprise that he loves us because we were helpless we were ungodly we were sinners and we were enemies we were mephibosheth in our passage we were in that position of fearing for our wives and yet we have received protection provision and a position of intimacy and our response ought not to be well we deserved it but it ought to be why how I'm a dead dog Davis goes on what I'm saying is that we are the Lord's mephibosheth and there is absolutely no reason why we should be eating continually at the Kings table and if we have any sense we won't be able to understand it either if you're not a Mafiya sheth here tonight if you have not tasted and seen that the Lord is good take it from other Mephibosheth this God really is what he promises this God really is as good as he says this God really does deal with helpless sinful ungodly enemies in such a glorious way this God provides protection this God provides provision this God provides position so take it from the mephibosheth here tonight and flee to David's greater son do not resist do not stay back do not count yourself is so ungodly and unholy the glory of Christ is seen in the reality that he saves just that type of sinner listen to the mephibosheth here we will all testify to that we are insignificant we are unworthy and we are enemies of the crown rights of our Lord Jesus Christ and yet he by grace has conquered us he by grace has brought us night he by grace is conferred this privilege that we will eat at his table continually don't tarry don't stay don't refuse and don't resist believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved well let us pray our Father we thank you for the word of God we thank you for this grace shown to mephibosheth and what it illustrates concerning the gray show and by our Lord Jesus to us God we praise you for these things and I pray that they would make a mark in our hearts that we would sing with joy and Thanksgiving Amazing Grace how sweet the sound that we would acknowledge our wretched condition before you and the fact that you have had such kind dealings with us I pray that you would go with us now that you would continue to protect us continue to watch over us bring us together so we may worship you in spirit and truth and we ask these things through Christ Jesus our Lord amen we'll close with a brief time of meditation and then be dismissed you