October 31 2011.
2 Samuel chapter 9 today.
Theme: David Befriends Mephibosheth.
Outline:
I) Triumphs of David, Chapters 1–10.
A. David Mourns the Death of Saul and Jonathan, Chapter 1.
B. David Made King over Judah, Chapter 2.
C. Civil War - Abner Joins with David but Is Murdered by Joab chapter 3.
D. Ish-bosheth, Son of Saul, Killed, Chapter 4.
E. David Made King over All Israel; Moves His Capital to Jerusalem, Chapter 5.
F. David’s Wrong and Right Attempts to Bring the Ark to Jerusalem, Chapter 6.
G. God’s Covenant to Build the House of David, Chapter 7.
H. David Consolidates His Kingdom, Chapter 8 yesterday.
I. David Befriends Mephibosheth, Chapter 9 today Lord Willing.
J. David Wars against Ammon and Syria, Chapter 10 tomorrow Lord Willing.
Theme: David Befriends Mephibosheth.
This chapter records one of the most beautiful stories in the Scriptures. It is a story that reveals what a great man David really was. We usually think of David in connection with the sin he committed, and that is probably a natural thing to do. Suppose I had a large white screen before me. On that screen is one little black spot - some ink got on the screen. As I look at it, what is the most impressive thing about it?
There is a vast area of white, but that one little black spot stands out.
Or suppose you ride down the highway and you see a couple of thousand sheep in a field. All of the sheep are white but one. Which sheep do you really see?
So it is in the life of David. We always concentrate on his big sin, and it was big.
Sadly we give sparse attention to the noble life and the exploits of David.
Someone has said,
"There is so much good in the worst of us, and so much bad in the best of us, that it behooves most of us not to talk about the rest of us."
Maybe we ought to reevaluate our viewpoint of David. There are so many bright spots in the long life of David, from that young shepherd boy who slew a giant, to an old man wise in experience who could write,
"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want."
In this chapter we shall see the gracious side of David’s character.
Chapter 9 records the story of Mephibosheth. He was the son of Jonathan and the grandson of Saul. It is important for us to recall some of the background of Saul. He had been the pitiless foe and bitter enemy of David. At the death of Saul, David began to marshal his forces.
According to oriental custom of that day, a new king would naturally put to death all contenders to the throne of a former dynasty. Any claimant would be removed by execution. That would protect the new king from any threat. According to the code of that day, David would have been justified in putting to death any of the offspring of Saul. When Saul and Jonathan had been killed in the same battle, a little son of Jonathan’s was hidden lest David find him and kill him. The name of this boy was Mephibosheth. David could more firmly establish his throne by slaying this boy and thus remove the last vestige of danger.
2 Samuel 9:1-4 "And David said, Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul, that I may shew him kindness for Jonathan’s sake? And there was of the house of Saul a servant whose name was Ziba. And when they had called him unto David, the king said unto him, Art thou Ziba? And he said, Thy servant is he. And the king said, Is there not yet any of the house of Saul, that I may shew the kindness of God unto him? And Ziba said unto the king, Jonathan hath yet a son, which is lame on his feet. And the king said unto him, Where is he? And Ziba said unto the king, Behold, he is in the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel, in Lodebar."
Ziba, a servant of Saul, betrayed the hiding place of Mephibosheth, and David could have easily killed him.
2 Samuel 9:5-6 "Then king David sent, and fetched him out of the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel, from Lodebar. Now when Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, was come unto David, he fell on his face, and did reverence. And David said, Mephibosheth. And he answered, Behold thy servant!"
When Mephibosheth was brought before David, he fell on his face before him, expecting to be executed. Instead, David spoke kindly to him, calling him by his name.
2 Samuel 9:7 "And David said unto him, Fear not: for I will surely shew thee kindness for Jonathan thy father’s sake, and will restore thee all the land of Saul thy father; and thou shalt eat bread at my table continually."
David quickly put him at ease and explained his reason that he had sent for him. He restored his inheritance to him and gave him a permanent place at his table - honoring him as one of his own sons!
2 Samuel 9:8 "And he bowed himself, and said, What is thy servant, that thou shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I am?"
Notice the reaction of Mephibosheth to all of this. Had there been another king on the throne, he would have been slain. It would have been an entirely different story. Realizing this,
he counted himself as "a dead dog."
But David did not call him that.
David said,
"You are no dead dog. You are Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan. I intend to show kindness to you."
2 Samuel 9:9-10 "Then the king called to Ziba, Saul’s servant, and said unto him, I have given unto thy master’s son all that pertained to Saul and to 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 alway at my table. Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants."
That is quite a household! So this property and land of Saul’s was turned over to Mephibosheth.
It rightfully belonged to him, and David saw to it that he received it.
2 Samuel 9:11-13 "Then said Ziba unto the king, According to all that my lord the king hath commanded his servant, so shall thy servant do. As for Mephibosheth, said the king, he shall eat at my table, as one of the king’s sons. And Mephibosheth had a young son, whose name was Micha. And all that dwelt in the house of Ziba were servants unto Mephibosheth. So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem: for he did eat continually at the king’s table; and was lame on both his feet."
What David did for Mephibosheth was wonderful, but there are some other impressive lessons with great spiritual truths which we ought no to miss.
1. The true child of God recognizes that they are a cripple in God’s sight.
We are told in Romans 3:15–16:
"Their feet are swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery are in their ways."
That is the report from God’s clinic on the human race.
Our feet lead us astray.
"All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all" (Isaiah 53:6).
Then the writer of the Book of Proverbs says,
"There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death" (Proverbs 16:25).
Our feet get us into trouble.
Remembering that David for the rest of his life had a crippled who ate at his table, listen to the words
Psalm 56:13 "For thou hast delivered my soul from death: wilt not thou deliver my feet from failing, that I may walk before God in the light of the living?"
And in Psalm 73:2 it says,
"But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped"
David knew what it was to have lame feet!
In Psalm 116:8 he says,
"For Thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling."
Dear reader, all of us are actually cripples before God.
Modern philosophy and humanism present another picture of man. I once heard a liberal say that Christ came to reveal the splendors of the human soul!
God says,
"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" (Jeremiah 17:9).
Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, and it is a mess of bad things.
We cannot expect any good from human nature.
Apostle Paul could say,
"For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not" (Romans 7:18).
Paul had no confidence in the flesh.
The Law is condemnation.
John 14:6 says, "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me."
When we come that way, He will receive us.
2. David extended kindness to Mephibosheth for the sake of Jonathan.
This is another facet of this amazing incident.
David did not know the boy. He did what he did for the sake of Jonathan whom he loved. When David looked upon this boy, he did not see a cripple; he saw Jonathan.
He had made a covenant with Jonathan.
The kindness, mercy, and grace extended to a helpless person were for the sake of another.
We have seen how much Jonathan meant to David. When the news of his death reached him, he said:
"How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle! O Jonathan, thou wast slain in thine high places. I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan: very pleasant hast thou been unto me: thy love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women" (2 Samuel 1:25–26).
Now God has saved us because of Another - the Lord Jesus Christ.
When we accept Him as our Savior, Ephesians 1:6 tells us that we are
When God sees you and me in Christ, He accepts us and He saves us.
3. David said nothing about the lame feet of Mephibosheth.
There is no record that David ever mentioned it or made an allusion to it. He never said to him, "It is too bad that you are crippled." He treated him like a prince. He sat at the king’s table, and his feet were covered with a linen cloth. Dear reader, when w confess our sin it is blotted out by the blood of our Precious Saviour Lord Jesus Christ.
That is the only way God can forgive our sins.
The writer of Hebrews put it this way:
"And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more" (Hebrews 10:17).
As far as I can tell, David was never able to make this boy walk and if we can see that we cannot walk well-pleasing to God, we are to turn to our Saviour Lord Jesus Christ.
Our Lord Jesus Christ said to the man with palsy, whose friends had let him down through the roof,
"… Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee…. Arise, and walk" (Matt. 9:2–5).
Apostle Paul urges us:
"I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love" (Eph. 4:1–2).
Dear reader if we have harmed someone with our willful sin and they are suffering because of the awful consequences of that ugly sin we are to be patient and kind to them and sorry with genuine godly sorrow given only by our Lord Jesus Christ for as long as it takes. Till that beloved dear child of God is fully recovered in Him.
If you are failing in your walk, dear reader
turn to Christ Jesus for help right now.
Our Precious Saviour Lord Jesus Christ is sending out an invitation today into the highways and byways and out into the streets of your town. He is saying,
"Come to My table of salvation just as you are, crippled, and I will feed you."
He says,
"Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28).
He also says,
"If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink" (John 7:37).
What a wonderful picture of God’s love is presented for us in this chapter!
"The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance" (2 Pet 3:9).
A
rise, my soul, arise;
Shake off thy
guilty fears;
The bleeding Sacrifice
In my behalf appears:
Before the throne my Surety stands,
Before the throne my Surety stands;
My name is written on His hands.
He ever lives above,
For me to intercede;
His all-redeeming love,
His precious blood to plead;
His blood for sin did once atone,
His blood for sin did once atone,
And now it pleads before the Throne.
Five bleeding wounds He bears,
Received on Calvary,
They pour effectual prayers,
They strongly plead for me:
"Forgive him, O forgive," they cry,
"Forgive him, O forgive," they cry,
"Nor let that ransomed sinner die!"
The Father hears Him pray,
His dear anointed One;
He cannot turn away
The Presence of His Son;
His Spirit answers to the blood,
His Spirit answers to the blood,
And tells me I am born of God.
I now am reconciled;
God's pard'ning voice I hear,
He owns me as His child,
I can no longer fear;
With confidence I now draw nigh,
With confidence I now draw nigh,
And, "Father, Abba, Father," cry.
Hallelujah!
Amen!
Reply to Caryl@cherith.co.za.
THIS PAGE UPDATED: 31-10-2011.