2 Samuel 4:1-12

2 Samuel chapter 4, if you are looking in the Pew Bibles, that is page 257, 2 Samuel chapter 4.

2 Samuel 4 · chapter mention 2 Samuel 4 · chapter mention

If you haven't been with us through, if this is your first time tonight, we're sort of jumping into the,

you're sort of jumping into the middle of a story where Saul was king, the first king in Israel,

and at the end of, and his story is told through most of the book of 1 Samuel. At the end of 1 Samuel,

Saul is killed in battle along with his son Jonathan. And David, who has previously been

anointed king, actually quite a long time ago, is beginning to prepare to be anointed king.

But, there's a whole war between the house of Saul and the house of David that's going on in these

first four chapters, and so we're coming to the conclusion of it. So, I'm just going to go ahead

and read the chapter, and then we'll dive in. So, chapter 4 of 2 Samuel, beginning at verse 1.

When Ish-bosheth, Saul's son, heard that Abner, the commander of his army, the former commander of

his army, had died at Hebron. His courage failed, and all Israel was dismayed. Now, Saul's son had

two men who were captains of raiding bands. The name of the one was Banna, the name of the other

Rechab, sons of Rimon, a man of Benjamin from Beroth. From Beroth is also counted part of Benjamin.

The Berothites fled to Gittim and have been sojourners there to this day. Jonathan, the son of Saul,

had a son who was crippled in his feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan

came from Jezreel, and his nurse took him up and fled. And as she fled in her haste, he fell and

became lame, and his name was Mephibosheth. Now, the sons of Rimon the Berothite, Rechab and Banna,

set out, and about the heat of the day, they came to the house of Ish-bosheth, as he was taking his

noonday rest. And they came into the midst of the house, as if to get wheat, and they stabbed him

in the stomach. Then Rechab and Banna, his brother, escaped. When they came into the house, as he lay on

his bed in his bedroom, they struck him and put him to death and beheaded him. They took his head and

went by way of the Arabah all night and brought the head of Ish-bosheth to David at Hebron. And they

said to the king, Here is the head of Ish-bosheth, the son of Saul, your enemy, who sought your life.

The Lord has avenged my lord, the king, this day on Saul and on his offspring. But David answered,

Rechab and Banna, his brother, the sons of Rimon the Berothite, as the Lord lives, who has redeemed

my life out of every adversity. When one told me, Behold, Saul is dead, and thought he was bringing

good news, I seized him and killed him at Ziklag, which was the reward I gave him for his news.

How much more, when wicked men have killed a righteous man in his own house, on his bed,

shall I not now require his blood at your hand and destroy you from the earth? And David commanded

his young men, and they killed them and cut off their hands and feet and hang them beside

the pool at Hebron. But they took the head of Ish-bosheth and buried it in the tomb of Abner

at Hebron. If you read the news, the world can seem pretty chaotic. Forest fires out west that

have burned seven million acres, an earthquake this week in Chile, causing a million people to

be evacuated from their homes, civil war in Syria resulting in nine million people displaced,

three million seeking refuge in other countries. Even closer to home here in New Haven just this week,

one of the largest public housing projects, Church Street South, also known as the Jungle,

housing almost 300 families, has officially been condemned as unlivable due to leaky roofs and

extensive mold. Already at least 30 families have been moved out, are staying in hotels,

while the city and the management company are trying to figure out what to do.

And the HUD inspectors are arriving this week. Well, maybe you don't have to look at the news,

maybe your own life feels crazy and chaotic, maybe you have sick kids or sick parents,

corruption at work or crime in your neighborhood or unresolved conflicts among family and friends

or unresolved bitterness in your own heart. And sometimes you might wonder, what is God up to

in such a crazy world? Now, on first glance, the chapter we're reading tonight seems chaotic.

I mean, it's pretty gory, violent. Abner, the end of the last chapter, Abner, the former commander of

Ish-bosheth, who is the son of Saul, who had declared himself king, former commander of his army,

has just been stabbed to death in broad daylight in the middle of the street by Joab, the commander of

David's army. Now, in this chapter, these two guys, Banna and Rechab, captains in Ish-bosheth's army,

stab Ish-bosheth to death. They turn on their leader. They stab him to death while he's taking

an afternoon nap. They carry his head to David, hoping to be rewarded. David then has them

executed, hands and feet cut off, bodies hanged. And then in the middle of the chapter, we have this

odd reference to Mephibosheth, five-year-old who gets crippled. You might wonder, what is going on

in this chapter? What do we take away from a chapter like this? What is God doing in the midst of all

this chaos? Well, what we see in this passage is God is doing two things. He is bringing down the proud

and he is raising up the humble. And in fact, that's what God is doing throughout much of this book of

Samuel, 1 and 2 Samuel. If you go back to the beginning of 1 Samuel and look at 1 Samuel chapter

1 Samuel 2 · chapter mention

2 for just a moment, there's a prayer of Hannah in 1 Samuel chapter 2. And this prayer that Hannah

1 Samuel 2 · chapter mention

prays, it sort of sets the agenda for the whole book of Samuel, for 1 and 2 Samuel, what God is doing

here. And I'm not going to read all of Hannah's prayer, but look down at verse 3. Hannah says,

talk no more, so very proudly, let not arrogance come from your mouth, for the Lord is a God of

knowledge and by him actions are weighed. Then she talks about these dramatic reversals. The bows of

the mighty are broken, but the feeble bind on strength. Those who were full have hired themselves

out for bread, but those who are hungry have ceased to hunger. The barren has born seven, but she has

many children is forlorn. The Lord kills and brings to life. He brings down to she all, that means the

grave, and raises up. The Lord makes poor and makes rich. He brings low and he exalts. If you want to

summarize Hannah's prayer in one sentence, it's this, God brings down the proud and he raises up the humble.

And that's what God is doing in this chapter. First, God is bringing down the proud, in particular, the

house of Saul. Saul's kingdom had been characterized by pride and arrogance. We'll see some of that as we

go along. But at the beginning of this chapter, we see that Saul's house is weakened. It's crippled.

Verse 1, Ish-bosheth heard that Abner had died, his army commander had died, his courage failed.

Literally, that means his hands started shaking and all Israel was dismayed. Verse 4, Mephibosheth,

that was Saul's grandson, was literally crippled due to an accident that happened on the day that his

father and grandfather were both killed in battle. Saul and Jonathan. And you might wonder, why is this

detail mentioned here when it happened several years beforehand? Well, I think, again, it's showing

the weakness of Saul's house, right? Saul has reigned for a long time, but Saul has died and now none of

his descendants are fit to rule the nation. As a crippled man, Mephibosheth would have been unable to

lead the Israelites into battle, which was one of the main responsibilities of a king. But not only was

Mephibosheth physically incapable of carrying out the royal responsibilities, we actually learn later

on in chapter 9 that he didn't even want to be king, that he had pledged his loyalty to David,

just like his father Jonathan did. That he recognized David as God's anointed king,

and he was loyal to David, even though he was born into the house of Saul.

Saul. And so we see this picture of the house of Saul sort of crippled, both physically and spiritually.

And then we see these two guys, Banna and Recap, verse 2 and 3. You might sort of wonder,

why all the geographical detail about Beroth, mentioned three times, the tribe of Benjamin,

and, you know, the sons of Rimen? What is, I mean, who are, where, who are those? What's the point of that?

Well, Beroth was one of the cities occupied in part by the Gibeonites. Now, the Gibeonites

were a group of people who made a peace treaty with the people of Israel when they entered the

promised land. It's recorded in Joshua 9. And so Joshua promised that they would always be safe

within the land of Israel. But King Saul had violated that peace treaty. We don't actually

learn this until the end of 2 Samuel. It's in 2 Samuel 21. But King Saul had actually, in his zeal

to have a strong and unified nation, he had tried to go and wipe out the Gibeonites and drive them out,

even though there was a peace treaty. They were supposed to be safe. There was a promise that had been made.

That Saul was responsible to uphold. And yet, he went after them. And so, the Israelites,

living in those Gibeonite towns, had to run away. That's what verse 3 means in this chapter.

The Berothites fled to Gitaim and have been sojourners, or resident aliens, or refugees.

They are to this day. So imagine what it was like for these guys, Banna and Recap, right?

They were from King Saul's tribe, the tribe of Benjamin. So it's sort of like King Saul's your

cousin, right? You're loyal to him. You're going to stick up for him and be on his side. But then,

Saul attacks your hometown because he doesn't like your neighbors. And you have to run away. He lets

you run away, but you have to live the rest of your life in exile away from your hometown.

And so, you kept working for Saul, right? These guys were sort of captains of raiding bands,

right? They could, whatever, go take out their anger on other people, right? And still work for Saul,

but there's some resentment there. And then, when things turn bad for Ish-bosheth, they say,

here's our chance. Let's get rid of him and join with David instead. Notice verse 5 through 7,

how it describes the killing of Ish-bosheth. Okay? He's not a war criminal. He's not a soldier who's

killed in war. He's not a war criminal being executed for his crimes. He's portrayed as a helpless victim

murdered in his own house. If you look at verse 6 and 7, if you read verse 6 and 7, you might think

they're sort of repetitive. That's actually a common way that writers of the Old Testament would draw

attention to particular facts as they would repeat them. It's sometimes called parallelism.

All right? They sort of tell the story one way and then tell the story again, highlighting slightly

different details, but getting the same point across, right? Verse 5 says,

he was taking his noonday rest in the midst of his house and they stabbed him in the stomach.

Verse 7 says, he lay on his bed in his bedroom, helpless, asleep, and they struck him and put him

to death and beheaded him. It almost seems like Ish-bosheth was sort of ready to lay down and give up.

He was hardly even trying to be king anymore. He had declared himself king over Israel, but

seemed like he was ready to give that up.

Doesn't even have a bodyguard protecting him, which would have been unusual.

So Recap and Banna, they weren't sort of courageously assassinating an evil dictator.

They were taking advantage of a defenseless and broken man.

And then they brag about what they've done to David. They go to David and they must have told

David the whole story because David says in verse 11, you killed him in his own house on his bed.

David had no other way to know that. Clearly they're bragging. Hey, this is how it happened.

We just went in there and got rid of him. And now we want to be loyal to you.

Don't you think we deserve a high place in your kingdom?

Now what we see here in this whole story is we see a destructive downward spiral in the house of Saul.

And it starts with selfish ambition and reckless violence and cowardly deception, murderous revenge.

And it just snowballs, right?

It starts with Saul and his ambition to strengthen his own people.

He murders the Gibeonites in violation of a peace treaty.

Instead of doing things God's way, Saul was taking matters into his own hands.

But then the effect of what Saul did turned some of his own people away from him.

These guys from his own tribe who should have been loyal to him more than anybody else.

And then they turn on his son and do the same thing.

Murder him. The one who they were supposed to protect.

You see, Saul's kingdom lacked a solid foundation.

And now it was falling apart once and for all.

Saul's kingdom lasted for 40 years.

Ish-bosheth reigned for two years.

But Saul's house ended in disgrace.

Because, you know, if you read the story of Saul,

Saul, he's, yes, he sins.

But then the prophet Samuel comes to him and says,

This is what you've done.

And Saul says,

Well, it wasn't really my fault.

They forced me to do it.

I mean, please, you've got to understand me.

I mean, a man's got to do what he's got to do.

Saul never repented.

He never confessed his sin.

And so his life just kept going down and down and down and down.

And destroying itself and destroying each other.

See, if we are building our kingdom

on anything besides the promises of God

and the faithfulness of God,

it will ultimately self-destruct.

In the New Testament,

the book of James says,

Sin, when it is fully grown,

brings forth death.

Sin starts small, often.

Often it starts hidden.

Things like pride.

Or envy.

Or lust.

Or deception.

Nobody else sees those things.

At least not at first.

But if they continue to grow,

if they're never brought out into the light

and recognized for what they are,

the end result is chaos and destruction

for individuals and for whole societies.

That's what we see in the kingdom of Saul

breaking down.

And you know, it can be even more dangerous

when people try to justify sinful patterns

by spiritualizing them.

Or by dressing them up in theological language.

That's what Rechab and Banna,

I don't know how to pronounce his name,

Rechab, Rechab.

But verse 8.

Look at what they say in verse 8

when they come to David.

They say,

The Lord has avenged my Lord,

the king,

this day on Saul and on his offspring.

In other words,

God was accomplishing his will through us

and we were instruments of his justice.

And David says,

No.

What you did was not justice.

It was murder.

You know, it's very dangerous

when people use spiritual language

to justify sin.

How about something like this?

Sister, I wanted to share

a prayer request with you.

You know, it's about this other woman

in our church.

I think she and her husband

might be getting a divorce.

I overheard them arguing

as they left church last week.

It was so embarrassing.

Would you pray for her?

They really need some counseling, you know.

That's not a prayer request.

That's gossip.

And gossip destroys churches.

It can destroy your relationships.

James says,

How great a forest

is set ablaze

by such a small fire

and the tongue is a fire.

Or how about this one?

God told me.

God told me

that I should marry this guy

even though he hasn't had a job

for three years

and I've only known him

for two months

and he

isn't part of a church

but I feel peace about it.

God told me.

Or how about this?

Occasionally I hear this one.

God told me

that I am called

to become a great pastor

and preach to thousands of people.

Well maybe he did.

But have you started

by being a good shepherd

in your own home?

By loving your wife

and your kids?

Or if you're single

loving your roommates?

Serving the least of these?

Jesus' brothers and sisters.

See Jesus says

the way to become a leader

is to be a servant.

The Bible says

God will bring down

those who are proud.

And this is a warning.

God brought down

the house of Saul.

It ended in

self-destruction

and chaos.

But there's also

an encouragement here.

God raises up

the humble.

Look at David's response

at verse 9

to these two guys.

The first thing he says

the Lord

has redeemed my life

out of every adversity.

Think of all the adversity

that David has faced

so far.

He's faced adversity

from his family.

He was the youngest brother.

Right?

The youngest sibling.

His older brothers

despised him.

His father

overlooked him.

When the important prophet

Samuel was coming

to their house

to anoint

the future king of Israel

David was simply

left out

taking care of the sheep

and all the other brothers

were brought before him.

When he came to

serve his brothers

who were fighting

in the battle

they didn't

and he

asked a question

what's going on here?

Why are you asking questions?

Get out of here.

He was despised.

He faced adversity

from his boss

King Saul

tried to kill him

18 times.

You think you have

a hard boss?

David had much worse.

Saul tried to turn

his best friend

against him

and stole his wife

from him.

David faced adversity

from his enemies

from the Amalekites

who

kidnapped his wives

while he was away

one day

out at work

took over his city

he had to chase him down

from the Philistines

who sheltered him

for a while

and then turned on him

he faced adversity

from his friends

at one point

David was living

in a cave

and it said

everybody who was

discontented

and bitter in soul

came to live with him.

Just imagine

being in charge

of 400 men

in the middle

of the desert

living in a cave

and it's all these guys

who are bitter

and discontent.

David says

I faced all these adversities

and there's one thing

that's always

been constant

the Lord

has redeemed

my life

out of every

adversity.

The Lord

has promised

to be with me

from the very beginning

and he's never

left me

and I know

he's never

going to leave me

all the way

to the end

whatever I face.

God is my redeemer

he's my rescuer

and that's why

David

rejected

these guys

attempt to take

matters into their

own hands

and murder

Ish-bosheth.

he says to them

God is my redeemer

you are not

God is my rescuer

not you

in verse 11

David says

wicked men

have killed

a righteous man

in his own house

you might think

well

it's pretty generous

to call Ish-bosheth

a righteous man

Ish-bosheth

sets up

a rival kingdom

to David's

I mean

he

he's not

the greatest guy

I don't think

David was saying

Ish-bosheth

was perfect

he's clearly

not saying that

I think what he was

saying is that

he was innocent

of a crime

that deserved

the death penalty

that Ish-bosheth

did not deserve

to be

murdered

in his own house

on his own bed

when by all appearances

he was ready

to give up anyway

so David

executed justice

on these men

who had killed

Ish-bosheth

that's basically

David saying

you have

committed

premeditated

cold-blooded

murder

and so you deserve

the death penalty

that's why he responds

to them so harshly

I understand

it seems harsh

he cuts off

their hands and feet

well

their hands

did the deed

and their feet

carried his head

all the way to David

so there's a little bit

of ironic justice

there

that's why he cuts

them off

I think

now these first

four chapters

of 2 Samuel

have been full

of chaos

and violence

some pretty nasty

things that have

gone on here

but think

think about it

if you've read

these chapters

if you've been here

the last few weeks

what is

what do we see

David doing

in these chapters

we see David

prayerfully

waiting

and trusting

God

instead of

selfishly

seizing

power

David

waits

for God

to bring down

his rivals

he doesn't

try to take

matters into

his own hands

and do it

himself

now

people have

pointed out

of course

there's some

political wisdom

there

right

David sort of

quiet

slowly

gains the support

of people

who might be

most prone

to oppose him

but

I think there's

more than just

David

being a shrewd

politician

David

waited

because

he trusted

in God

as his

redeemer

one commentator

put it this way

he said

we see

in these chapters

we see David

praying

waiting for his

kingdom to be

given to him

under the

sovereignty of God

right

David had been

anointed

a long time

ago

to be the

future king

of Israel

and Saul

had died

and this rival

king had

stepped up

and David

doesn't say

I've got to

immediately shut

him down

he doesn't

respond out of

insecurity

he says

I'm going to

trust the

Lord

and wait

on God's

timing

so we see

David refusing

to hurry

in contrast

to the

frenzy

of ambition

that David

sees around

him

excited by

Saul's

empty

throne

David

conducts a

funeral

for Saul

and Jonathan

composes

poetry

marries and

has children

and administers

justice

in contrast

to all the

killing

going on

around him

to grab

power

David

does not

kill

anyone

who could

be

considered

a rival

David

was humble

and confident

in the

Lord

and so he

was able

and willing

to wait

upon the

Lord

instead of

taking matters

into his

own hands

now if you

look at these

chapters

right

David's

an imperfect

example

of prayerfully

waiting on

God

and God

raises him

up

this is the

next chapter

if you come

back next

week

David

becomes king

over all

Israel

he unifies

the nation

that was

falling apart

under Saul's

proud and

self-centered

leadership

he unifies

the nation

he defeats

their enemies

there's a

there's triumph

but we see

David prayerfully

and patiently

waiting

for God

you know

and then he's

raised up to be

king but you

know in the

in the big story

of the Bible

there's someone

else

who prayerfully

waited and

patiently

waited on

God's

timing

before

he was

he

was publicly

recognized as

king

right when

Jesus Christ

began his

ministry he went

out into the

desert

and Satan

came to him

and Satan

showed him

all the

kingdoms of

the world

and Satan

said if

you just

bow down

to me

it can

all be

yours

right

now

easy

and Jesus

said no

worship the

Lord your

God and

serve only

him

I won't

take a

shortcut

I won't

take matters

into my

own hands

I'm trusting

the will

of my

father

and then a

little later

on Jesus

Christ fed

the 5,000

in the desert

and it says

some people

wanted to

make him

king by

force

and it says

he walked

through the

crowd and

went away

and then

he was

arrested

and his

disciples

took up

their

swords

to defend

him

and Peter

sliced off

the high

priest's

servant's

ear

and Jesus

says no

more of

that

you live

by the

sword

you die

by the

sword

my kingdom

is not

of this

world

that's not

the way

to establish

it

you see

Jesus was

the rightful

king of

all

he knew

that from

the beginning

but he

patiently

waited

so that

God's

plan

might be

accomplished

he humbled

himself to

the point

of death

on a

cross

and God

raised Jesus

to life

that's what

he sang

that great

song

forever he

is glorified

forever he

is lifted

high because

he humbled

himself to

death to

the point

of death

on the

cross in

obedience

to God

and one

day

Jesus

promises

he'll come

back

and he'll

establish his

kingdom once

and for

all

and he

promises

that we'll

be part

of it

and that if

we trust

in him

we'll also

reign with

him in the

new heavens

and the

new earth

so you see

like David

in these

chapters

we're waiting

for a kingdom

to come

that's what

David is doing

in these first

four chapters

of second

Samuel

he's waiting

for the

kingdom to

come

for him

to reign

and that's

also our

position

if we put

our trust

in Jesus

as our

king and

savior

and we're

waiting for

him to

come again

and he

promises

he'll come

and he'll

establish a

glorious kingdom

but you know

I think

sometimes we

we don't

believe that

promise

or we

think

it's never

going to

happen

right and

so we're

tempted to

take matters

into our

own hands

what does

that look

like

well

sometimes

we

sometimes

we get

into a

frenzy

of activity

have you

ever been

so busy

you're

like

cutting

people

off

in

traffic

cutting

in front

of

people

on

the

sidewalk

because

you

have

a

place

to

go

and

wherever

you

are

going

is

more

important

than

anywhere

that

anybody

else

is

going

that

day

because

you

have

a

kingdom

to

build

and

the

time

is

now

and

you

better

not

wait

really

is

that

God's

kingdom

that

you're

building

when

we're

doing

that

when

we

over

commit

ourselves

when

we

can't

stop

to

pray

and

we

think

that

the

salvation

of

the

world

ultimately

depends

on

us

but

no

we're

not

the

Messiah

or

maybe

maybe

we've

been

wronged

maybe

we've

been

hurt

and

maybe

we

feel

like

I

just

can't

let

it

go

I

need

justice

now

and

we

just

can't

let

go

of

the

bitterness

we

can't

wait

and

trust

that

God

will

right

wrongs

someday

and

so

our

responsibility

is not

to make

all our

enemies

pay

our

responsibility

is

step

by

step

to

walk

in

trust

and

obedience

to

the

Lord

and

speak

truth

speak

in

love

and

be

willing

to

forgive

sometimes

we take

matters

into

our

own

hands

sometimes

we

go

to

the

other

end

we

retreat

and

we

become

passive

out

of

fear

again

right

when

we

don't

believe

that

Jesus

will

come

again

and

that

we'll

be

part

of

his

kingdom

forever

we

either

try

to

build

the

kingdom

by

ourselves

or

we

decide

it's

not

worth

it

I'm

just

I'm

not

I

I

I

and

we

lose

our

courage

maybe

we're

afraid

to

engage

with

the

brokenness

of

the

world

because

we

fear

that

we'll

get

totally

sucked

into

it

right

and so

we

might

admire

when

other

people

spend

time

helping

refugees

or

mentoring

troubled

teenagers

or working

with people

who are

homeless

but we

think

man

I

don't

want

to

get

into

it

because

if

I

get

sucked

into

that

then

I'll

never

be

able

to

say

no

and

I'll

burn

out

and

so

we

retreat

and

we

do

nothing

out

of

fear

we

go

back

and

forth

between

trying

to do

everything

and taking

everything

into

our

own

hands

and

then

giving

up

and

saying

I'm

not

going

to

do

anything

David

says

in

Psalm

20

70

says

wait

for

the

Lord

be

strong

and

take

courage

and

wait

for

the

Lord

see

waiting

for

the

Lord

doesn't

mean

being

passive

and

not

doing

anything

and

it

doesn't

mean

trying

to

take

everything

into

our

own

hands

and

trying

to

be

the

Messiah

it

means

doing

something

while we

trust

God

to

be the

ultimate

judge

and

while we

say

with

David

the

Lord

has

redeemed

my

life

out

of

every

adversity

he's

the

one

he's

brought

me

through

and

he

will

continue

to

bring

me

through

he's

been

with

me

all

the

way

and

he's

never

going

to

leave

me

so

I

can

live

in

that

confidence

in

a world

full

of

chaos

and

violence

and

unresolved

tensions

we're

called

to

wait

patiently

in

light

of

God's

promise

to

establish

his

kingdom

in

the

future

let me

close

with

these

words

from

first

Peter

Peter

says this

he says

humble

yourselves

under

the mighty

hand

of

God

so

at

the

proper

time

he

may

exalt

you

casting

all

your

anxieties

on

him

because

he

cares

for

you

but

then

he

concludes

his

letter

with

a

promise

he

says

after

you

have

suffered

a

little

while

the

God

of

all

grace

who

has

called

you

to

his

eternal

glory

in

Christ

will

himself

restore

confirm

strengthen

and

establish

you

to

him

be

the

dominion

and

glory

forever

amen

let's

pray

Lord

we

thank

you

for

your

word

Lord

we

thank

you

that

you

are

a

God

who

brings

down

the

proud

but

lifts

up

the

humble

Lord

tonight

we

want

to

confess

to

you

the

ways

that

we

have

been

proud

the

ways

that

we

have

tried

to

take

matters

into

our

own

hands

repaid

evil

for

evil

instead

of

overcoming

evil

with

good

we

confess

to

you

the

ways

that

we

have

sometimes

given

up

and

just

want

to

disengage

but

Lord

we

thank

you

for

your

words

that

David

spoke

that

you

are

the

one

who

has

redeemed

our

lives

out

of

every

adversity

we

thank

you

Lord

Jesus

that

we

too

can

claim

that

promise

because

of

what

you

have

done

for

us

that

you

will

never

leave

us

nor

forsake

us

and

Lord

that

you

are

the

king

and

one

day

your

kingdom

will

be

established

in

its

fullness

so

Lord

teach us

to wait

patiently

teach us

to act

courageously

teach us

to trust

in you

above all

else

we pray

this in

Jesus name

amen

at the

end of

our

evening

service

we

often

take

five

minutes

or so

for

any

questions

and

answers

I

know

this

is a

challenging

passage

with

you

may

have

questions

we

have

time

for

maybe

two

or

three

questions

tonight

if

anyone

has

them

so

feel

free

to

raise

your

hand

questions

or

brief

comments

and

we'll

do

the

best

we

can

with

them

yes

yes

yes

so

the question

was

I understand

about the

house of

Saul being

humbled

but what

about

Jonathan

right

Jonathan

was a

faithful

man

he was a

faithful friend

to David

he was loyal

to David

and yet

he was

killed

his offspring

never became

king

right

so

we do

see

with

Jonathan's

son

Mephibosheth

I'm gonna

struggle

with that

name

but

if you're

looking for

a name

for your

son

Pastor

Nick

Nick

and Beth

are due

with the

baby

soon

so you

can pray

for them

for a

safe

delivery

and pray

for them

as they

think about

a name

and maybe

it'll be

Mephibosheth

all right

sorry

sorry

Nick

okay

so

Jonathan's

son

Mephibosheth

later in

2 Samuel

we'll see

that David

David

actually

shows

kindness

to Mephibosheth

and gives

him a

special

place

at his

table

and

David

and Jonathan

had sort of

promised to be

loyal to one

another

Jonathan

had basically

said

you know

normally

in the

ancient world

kingship is

passed on

to the

firstborn son

Jonathan

says

you know

I have

the right

to that

but

God

has chosen

you

David

and so

I'm

gonna put

all my

eggs

in your

basket

what's

the

metaphor

right

I'm

gonna

give

all

my

loyalty

to you

rather

than

to try

to fight

for what

I think

I deserve

or

whatever

he says

no I

actually

don't

deserve

anything

right

I didn't

choose

to be

born

in this

family

I'm

willing

to give

my

loyalty

to

David

and

so

David

promises

also

loyalty

to

Jonathan

now

it's

a

tragedy

when

Jonathan

is

killed

in

battle

right

with his

father

Saul

that's

one

of the

tragic

moments

in the

book

of

Samuel

and

David

weeps

for

Jonathan

and

he

weeps

over

the

reality

that

in

this

world

in

this

fallen

world

sometimes

one

person

will

bear

the

consequences

of the

sin

of

another

right

in this

fallen

world

and we

sort of

see that

in

Jonathan

right

falling

in

battle

along

with

his

father

Saul

though

Jonathan

is

portrayed

as

very

loyal

right