The Kindness of God (2 Samuel 9)

So recently my wife and I have been creating a list of good

movies that we haven't watched together.

And when I say my wife and I, I mean, I have been making a list

for my wife for movies for us to watch together.

And I as I'm making the list, I'm realizing how many of these

movies have like mind blowing plot twists, right?

Like, when was the last time you saw a movie that made you go

like, hang on, what? Right.

Just Vader is his father, right? Just like Bruce Willis was dead

the whole time. Brad Pitt is the alter ego.

Like, whoa, this is crazy, right?

Because you've seen enough movies or read enough books or

heard enough stories, you have this type.

You have this idea of what's going to happen.

There's this expectation of what a normal story is.

This is the way things should be.

And today's passage is a lot like one of these plot twists.

It's an anomaly. It's something that takes what

you normally expect and then turns the whole thing on its

head. And without historical context,

we might not really see it. But to the readers at this time,

this came out of left field. David's first act as King of

Israel is so backwards, so unexpected, people might have

questioned David's sanity. Now, I think it's safe to say

David has been through more crazy things than probably all

of us combined in this room. This guy has had to kill bears

with his bare hands. He's killed a giant with a sling

and no armor. He's fought countless battles

and come out on top. He's been haunted by his own

king and his own people and lived.

He survived in the desert, escaped captivity from his

enemies without a scratch on him.

David has LED a crazy life, and it wasn't his choice to do that.

Most of these problems are because of the delusions of one

man, King Saul, the first king of Israel.

After all that David's had to deal with because of him, what's

the first thing David does? Turn with me to Second Samuel.

We're going to read Chapter 9 verses 1 to 3, Second Samuel,

Chapter 9, verses 123. David asked, is there anyone

remaining from the family of Saul I can show kindness to for

Jonathan's sake? There was a servant of Saul's

family named Zeba. They summoned him to David and

the king said to him, Are you Zeba?

I am your servant, he replied. So the king asked, is there

anyone left of Saul's family that I can show the kindness of

God to? OK, we're going to stop there.

Oh, well yeah, Zeba said to the king.

There is still Jonathan's son who was injured in both feet.

OK, so David asks, is there anyone left from King Saul's

family? The first thing David does is

start tracking down the previous King's family.

Now this is common sense. As a king, once your power is

secure, you want to quickly weed out any opposing parties that

will rebel against you. You nip it in the bud.

The previous King's kids, That's a liability.

They can hideaway, they can start building an army, they can

try to retake the throne. So all around the world, the

first thing kings did once they took power is kill off the

previous King's kids. And to us, in the 20th century,

we might look at them and go, that's barbaric, those savages.

But to everyone else, this is the most sensible thing to do.

If you let these people live, they can come for your kids

later down the line. You don't do this, and you're

basically setting up your children to have their heads cut

off in the future. It's your kids or theirs.

Whose are you going to choose? You'd be an idiot not to do

this. So David says, I want to show

some from someone from someone from Saul's family, the kindness

of God. The word David is using here is

has said it's a covenant kindness.

It's the kindness that God shows to his own people.

And it sounds like David's going to do something beautiful.

But because of the expectation, because we know what kings all

around the world do to kids of other kings, the servants are

probably thinking, all right, this got to be a play on words

or something, right? I will show him the kindness of

God. I'm going to send his soul to

God personally, right? Like something like that, right?

So verse 4 to 5, David locates Saul's grandson hasn't brought

over. And let's read verses six to

seven. Verse six to seven,

Mephibosheth, son of Jonathan, son of Saul, came to David, fell

face down and paid homage. David said Mephibosheth, I am

your servant, he replied. Don't be afraid, David said to

him. Since I intend to show you

kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan, I will restore

to you all your grandfather Saul's fields, and you will

always eat meals at my table. Mephibosheth paid homage and

said, What is your servant? That you take an interest in a

dead dog like me? David was serious.

This is this is full on Real has said kindness.

So my question of today is what does David's first act as king

tell us about? Real has said Real has said, my

first point is Real has said overrules the accepted norm.

Real has said overrules the accepted norm.

Not only does David refuse to kill the main threat to his own

line, David gives him back all the land that belonged to Saul,

which is not a small amount for a previous king.

And then he tells Mephibosheth that he's going to eat at the

King's table like one of his own sons.

Which if you're plotting to murder David, is basically like

an invitation to just for David to just be like, here's my neck,

why don't you slit it for me, right?

David doesn't do what everyone else does.

David refuses to follow the accepted norm.

Everyone else would have eradicated Saul's entire line.

That king is responsible for nearly ending the life of the

person right now on the throne. Saul haunted David like a dog.

Saul threw a spear at him even when he was a loyal soldier.

The people of Israel would have looked at David killing all of

his opponents as just and right. An eye for an eye Instead, David

says, Where is Saul's line? I want to show him his, said the

kindness of God. Can you imagine being

Mephibosheth? Your family is the first royal

lion of kings in Israel. What an amazing defining moment.

Your grandfather's winning battles, leading Yahweh's

people. You're kept far away from the

battles because somebody, because your legs don't work,

because somebody dropped you on your head when you were a baby.

Now, for most people, being paralyzed like this means you're

going to live in poverty for the rest of your life.

You cannot work. But your grandpa Saul is the

king, so you're going to be OK. Then your grandpa loses his

mind. Then he tries to kill one of his

most loyal subjects. There's some guy named David.

Then your grandpa almost kills your dad, Jonathan, for

protecting David. And then later on you hear about

a battle that's gone wrong. Your dad is dead, your grandpa

committed suicide, and now his headless naked corpse is

plastered on a city wall being eaten by vultures.

You're an orphan now. Oh, and that previous guy, that

guy David that your grandpa tried to kill?

He's the king and he's looking for you.

You're brought into the courts. You're held up by guards because

you're paralyzed from the waist down.

And instead of killing you for all the hurt and pain that your

family caused David, he says all the land that you should have

inherited, I'm giving it back to you.

And you're never going to live a day on the streets because

you're going to eat at my table. Anyone would say what

Mephibosheth says. What did I do to deserve this?

I should be dead. And David's reasoning is just

verse 7. I made a promise to your dad.

That's it. I made a promise.

There are so many sensible reasons for David not to do

this. The danger of assassination is

one of many. It brings no value to David to

do this. There are no practical benefits.

See, the accepted norm is that you pay back kindness for

kindness. Give your kindness to people

that deserve it. Give your kindness to someone

that can actually give back to you.

Get kindness. Give kindness.

This past week at my children's school was Teachers Appreciation

Week, and my wife and I were trying to think of all these

things we could do for them because my kids love their

school. They're so excited to go to

preschool in the morning because they love their teachers and

they love their class. And for their kindness and care

to my kids, I want to give back to them.

I want to show kindness in return.

That's natural. You just, you just do it.

But when we look at David spending time and resources to

look for Mephibosheth so that the king can give this guy the

biggest welfare check of all time, what does Mephibosheth

have to offer? He's literally dead weight.

His legs don't work. Even if Mephibosheth isn't

hostile, he's a liability that political opponents can use

against David. He has nothing to offer.

In fact, his value to David is a net negative.

But we see here it doesn't matter because it's not about

worth, It's about promise. It's not about benefits.

It's about covenant. In the face of accepted cultural

norms of the most logical, sensible action to take, has

said will always be an anomaly. A plot twist has said is

undeserved. It's based on a promise and

nothing else that is has said. Now, I'm sure there are a number

of you that are already think like got a lot of practical

thinkers in here and a lot of you in your heads are probably

listening to the storm. And you're like, well, that's

dumb. That's that's the dumbest thing

I've ever heard, right. If you're if you're looking at

David's situation, this kind of kindness is probably suicide at

worst, stupidity at best, right. It sounds very idealistic.

No way practical in the perfect world.

OK, yeah, I'm going to show us that.

OK. But this is not a perfect world.

Why would anyone commit themselves to this?

What would be the reason I would ever do this in my life?

And the only thing I can show you is what happens to

Mephibosheth. Because David does this. 15 to

20 years later, we see Mephibosheth again.

And spoiler alert, before this, David's own son leads a coup

against him. David's son Absalom takes the

throne by convincing all of Israel that he's going to be a

better king. And so David is again forced to

run for his own life, this time because of his own flesh and

blood. And after many close shaves with

death, after many life threatening situations and the

death of his own son, David returns to Israel.

And because of what David does here in Chapter 9, just look at

what Mephibosheth says when he finds out David's alive.

I'm going to go to second Samuel verse 19.

We should have it up here. Second Samuel verse 19.

I'm going to be 24 to 30. So after all of that's happened,

David's betrayed, he comes back, he's back in the Kingdom, he's

back on the throne. Mephibosheth, Saul's grandson,

also went down to meet the king. He had not taken care of his

feet, trimmed his mustache, or washed his clothes from the day

the king left until the day he returned safely.

When he came from Jerusalem to meet the king, the king asked

him, Mephibosheth, why didn't you come with me?

Why didn't you run away with me? Let's move on to the next slide.

My Lord the king, he replied, My servant Zeba betrayed me.

Actually, your servant said, I'll saddle the donkey for

myself so that I may ride it and go with the king, for your

servant is lame. Zeba slandered your servant to

my Lord the king, but my Lord the King is like an is like the

Angel of God, so do whatever you think is best, for my

grandfather's entire family deserves death from my Lord the

King. But you set your servant among

those who eat at your table, So what further right do I have to

keep on making appeals to the king?

The king said to him. Why do you keep speaking about

these matters of yours? I hereby declare you and Zeba

are to divide the land. Mephibosheth said to the king

instead. Since my Lord, the king has come

to his palace safely. Let's see.

But take it all, take all the land.

I don't need it. My king has come home safely.

Nothing else matters. What is David's first act as

king? Tell us about Realist Ed.

My second point here, after seeing what happens to

Mephibosheth, is real has said is transformational.

Real has said is transformational.

When you've encountered this kind of kindness, when you

understand and see its value, you are never the same.

It'll change you. Mephibosheth doesn't care

anymore for the land, for the inheritance, for the money.

As long as David is OK, nothing else matters.

He's deeply moved by what David has done for him in Second

Samuel. Why live with his head in your

life? Why commit yourself to a promise

like this? The point I want to make is

this. There is a kind of kindness that

can change your life or change someone else's life forever.

There is a kindness that you can show to someone that is so

powerful, so life altering it can make you feel rich just by

having it. Has said is not like any other

kindness. It's not based on whether you

deserve it. It's not based on the norm of

paying back kindness. It's based on one thing alone.

I have made a promise I will show the kindness of God to you.

If there are any of you that have said in your head earlier

this is impossible, who's going to live like this?

Who can do that? You know, I would bet some of

you are already doing this. Some of you are already living

out, has said in your life. You just don't call it that.

You're discouraged, you're worn out, you're tired because your

showing has said without realizing the real gravity or

value or worth of what you're doing.

Some of you are doing amazing, God fearing, life giving, life

altering work right now and you don't see it because no one's

named it. No one's told you how

significant it is what you're doing.

And I want to name it today because what you're doing is

hard and I don't want you to think for a second that is

worthless. You've got family members that

are emotionally stunted, morally twisted, and the only thing you

can do is show them his said and pray that God opens their eyes.

You've got loved ones that are physically unable to give you

anything back because of their condition, their disability, and

they desperately need you to show them his said.

You've got friends that are that are in a bad way right now.

They're a shell of who they used to be in your school days, but

they need you right now to come through for them to sit with

them. Be patient with them.

They need you to give them your best even though they're at

their worst. Maybe your boss needs this.

Everyone's critical of their leaders.

Everyone thinks they can do a better job than you until

they're actually sitting in that seat.

Maybe you showing his said is all they need to change.

Maybe you're in a superior position that you can leverage

and you can squeeze out every last benefit for yourself and

showing has said means you let go of that position of power

instead and show them kindness. Maybe you're realizing you need

has said your marriage will be bankrupt.

Without has said your kids will be damaged without has said your

church will split without has said as difficult as it is, has

said is a desperate need for every single person in this

room. And some of you are already

responsible for a beautiful change in someone's life

already. You just never named it.

And I hope that by naming it today, you can find the courage

to keep going, to keep showing up, keep doing what you're

doing. It's a beautiful work of God

that can change someone's life forever.

Amen. It's not easy, but has said was

never supposed to be easy. That's what makes it so

beautiful when you see it. But maybe some of you feel like

you're running on empty. It's been difficult lately.

You feel like you've been giving, has said, but you're

running on fumes. And if that's you, we got to

come back to the Lord. We got to come back to God.

You cannot give has said, unless you've received it first.

You cannot give what you do not have.

Every single person in this room is a recipient of what David has

given mephibosheth. I hope we can see that you and I

are all recipients of a has said.

That's greater than David's. If Mephibosheth sin is just

being born into the wrong family.

Our sin is a struggle with with our sinful nature every day.

We didn't just sin against the king on the daily.

You and I are struggling with a sin against God.

And God's response to us isn't hatred or wrath or righteous

judgement. Instead, we're shown kindness.

We're shown a faithful love. Instead of inheriting land from

David's Kingdom, all of us inherit eternal life in the

Kingdom of God. Instead of us eating with the

King, there's someone else who gladly ate with tax collectors

and sinners. There's someone else that shows

mercy to the adulterous woman who should have been stoned.

There's someone else that speaks patiently and kindly to the

disciples who fail him again and again and again.

If you spend any time in the Gospels, you'll see how Jesus

speaks to sinners, speaks to people unworthy, speaks to

people that have nothing to offer him, and he shows them

kindness, forgiveness, love, again and again and again.

That is the heart of God towards you.

The God who just wants to keep on giving even though you have

nothing to give him. The God who just wants to show

you kindness based on nothing else but a promise, a covenant

promise made in blood through Jesus Christ on the cross.

If you understand on the deepest level what God has given you, if

you've experienced, has said through the gospel, it is very

difficult for you not to want to give this to someone else.

For you not to want to show that to someone else in your life

because you see it's power, You see how good it is.

It is such a radical, overwhelming kindness that

shakes you to your core and changes you.

So you want to live with the power of of said in your life.

Look at Jesus has said over your own life.

Come back to the gospel and see how much you're loved and

cherished by him. See how much kindness God wants

to pour into your life and into your soul.

And then maybe you can begin to see this leaking out into other

people's lives from you. So what does David's first act

as king tell us about Real has said?

My main point is, Real has said is only possible through

experiencing the gospel that empowers us to give His said to

others. It's the only way.

If you first receive it from Him, then you'll see it come out

of your life. Let's pray.