An Overflow of Kindness

Well, the Old Testament scriptures are filled with a great number of admirable figures.

Some of you grew up learning about these larger-than-life stories.

You think of Abraham offering his only son, Moses parting the Red Sea, leading Israel out of Egypt, Daniel in the lion's den, or Elijah calling down fire from heaven.

You might have learned some of these stories through songs or craft activities, things like that.

And later on, as you got older, maybe you started to realize how all of these stories show us a greater deliverance to be found in Jesus.

Think of Joseph being left in a pit to die, only to be brought out of the pit, exalted to the right hand of the king to save his own people.

And of course, one of the most important figures in the entire Old Testament has to be King David.

If you're gonna have a Mount Rushmore of Old Testament, this guy's gonna be on it.

His story begins halfway through 1 Samuel, stretches all the way through 2 Samuel, and into the beginning of 1 Kings.

It's retold, covering two-thirds of the book of 1 Chronicles, covering a total of 66 chapters of historical account.

Now, this is not including the Psalms, which at least half of which are attributed to King David.

For about 75 more chapters of the Bible.

Of the approximately 115 times the Psalms are referenced in the New Testament, up to 70 references are made to Psalms that we attribute to David.

This includes 11 verses that reference Psalm 110, 9 verses that reference Psalm 22, and 8 that reference Psalm 2.

Now, this does not even include instances where Jesus himself lives out a picture of David's Psalms, such as John 10, when he describes himself as the true good shepherd.

All of this is to remind us of the important role David plays in showing a picture of Christ's kingdom.

The very first verse of the New Testament clearly identifies Jesus Christ as the Son of David.

And an entire genealogy is provided to show that exact point.

It's clear in the New Testament that an Israel which had been occupied by various empires for centuries was still looking for a genealogical descendant of David.

When Jesus asked the Pharisees who is the Messiah, their response is the son of David.

When Jesus heals a blind, mute, and demon-possessed man, the response is, can this be the son of David?

In John chapter 7, we find people arguing over just who this Jesus is.

John 7 · chapter mention

One of the comments was, has not the scripture said that the Christ comes from the offspring of David and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was?

And of course, when Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a donkey, he is greeted with palm branches and cloaks laid out for him and shouts of Hosanna to the son of David.

David's story and David's kingdom have a definite element that points us to Jesus and his kingdom.

Now, this is not to point to David as an ultimate figure.

As Pastor Justin mentioned last week, you shouldn't read the story of David and Goliath and think that you're supposed to be David.

If you do this, you've got a bit of a problem.

I'd add that if you read the story of David and Bathsheba and think you're supposed to be David, you've got a much bigger problem.

There is no ultimate hero in the Bible except Jesus, and we should only attempt to follow anyone as they seek to follow Christ.

David had a lot of great things going for him, but we aren't going to him for marriage advice.

Even in the wickedness that took place in the incident with Bathsheba, we are still faced with an uncomfortable truth.

Without the darkness of David's sin, we still wouldn't have the beauty of Psalm 51, where David teaches us what true heartfelt repentance looks like, saying, Create in me a clean heart.

David is worth studying.

And even studying David's life, we see several stories that stand out above the others.

There are a few in the top tier that we think of, right?

Being chosen a king while he was still a shepherd boy, the heroic victory over Goliath, the wicked sin with Bathsheba.

There are a couple of second-tier stories we think of.

Hiding from Saul in the wilderness, sparing the king's life and cutting off a corner of his robe, dancing before the ark, the rebellion of Absalom.

Today's text is about none of those.

It's probably not even in the third or the fourth tier of stories you might think of when you think of David.

In fact, even many of us who are quite familiar with the Bible can forget this passage even exists.

If you're reading through your Bible in a year plan, it might stand out as a little odd.

It's between some great military campaigns.

David's kingdom is really starting to be established.

He's winning victory after victory.

God makes an incredible promise to the king, and breaking up the narrative is this seemingly out-of-place story about a man crippled in both feet.

You might think, who is this Mephiboshev?

Why does it keep saying he was crippled in his feet?

What is this chapter doing here?

And why, when given my choice of a text that's been an anchor in my life, would I pick 2 Samuel 9?

Now there was a time in my life where I had some real questions about the Bible.

I never had any real doubts, but it was clear that I was missing something.

For instance, I'd read about Jacob and was really confused why God would choose this guy.

Right?

If you're familiar with the story, he was a bit of a scoundrel, and I tried to find some way to read that he cleaned up his act and made himself better before God gave him the blessing.

I tried, but couldn't find any evidence that this guy was a paragon of virtue when God rewarded him.

Eventually, the book of Romans, which we finished studying recently, really helped clarify that problem for me by basically saying, yeah, that's the point.

Later, this story helped me understand that even further.

While we shouldn't read David and Goliath and see ourselves as David, I can absolutely read this story and see myself as Mephibosheth.

David answers many of the questions you have about this chapter himself in verse 3 of our reading.

What was the purpose of his actions?

To show the kindness of God.

That phrase unlocks a ton of truth in this passage, and we start to see a very deliberate choice of actions from David, all seeking to reflect what he has received from God.

In essence, what we see here is demonstrated in this morning's big idea.

If your cup overflows with kindness, it's so you can share it.

If your cup overflows with kindness, it's so you can share it.

We can think of a strong magnet that picks up a nail.

That nail then becomes a magnet in itself, drawing more metal pieces.

That nail is using the same magnetic pole that brought it in to bring in others.

Christian, we should do the same thing.

As we reflect on God's goodness to us, we seek to spread it to others and make disciples.

2 Samuel 9 shows us how following Jesus shapes us to live a life focused on mission.

Today we're going to look at three aspects of God's kindness.

We want to see how God's kindness chases us, changes us, and challenges us.

First, God's kindness chases us.

If you're familiar with Psalm 23, I'm going to reference this chapter a few times in this passage, in this message.

A few years ago, we used a song to help kids memorize that chapter at the Vine and point them to Jesus as the Good Shepherd.

I can't think of 2 Samuel 9 without hearing echoes of Psalm 23.

In fact, I was halfway through writing this sermon before I'd even realized that the title of the sermon, which is An Overflow of Kindness, is itself a reference to Psalm 23.

Verse 6 of Psalm 23 starts out Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.

We can often see God's kindness best in the rearview mirror.

So it is with David's life up to this point.

Now there is a lot of backstory that goes into making this chapter special.

Saul was chosen as Israel's first king, and for a while things were looking pretty good for Saul.

He had some impressive military victories, and it looked like God was really with him, but it doesn't take long for Saul to make some compromises.

A little bit here, a little bit there.

Instead of waiting for a burnt offering to be done God's way, he takes it on himself to offer it his own way.

Turns out God cares about how we worship, not just if we worship.

He makes an ill-advised vow that almost gets his son killed.

He compromises on God's command by holding on to some spoils of war that were supposed to be destroyed.

Eventually, God makes it clear he's looking for a man after his own heart.

Enter David, a shepherd and the youngest of his brothers.

God's kindness chases him down from the field, and he is anointed as the future king.

David enjoys military victories, works closely with Saul, and becomes best friends with his son Jonathan.

Jonathan, the son that would have been king himself, humbles himself in remarkable fashion.

As described in 1 Samuel 18, verses 3 and 4, of the Bible says, Jonathan made a covenant with David, because he loved him as his own soul.

1 Samuel 18:3

And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David, and his armor, and even his sword and his bow and his belt.

As an increasingly jealous King Saul tries to kill David, he's protected by Jonathan, who grows to see and submit to God's plan.

This is described later in chapter 20 of 1 Samuel as Jonathan makes a request.

He says, If I am still alive, show me the steadfast love of the Lord, that I may not die, and do not cut off your steadfast love from my house forever.

When the Lord cuts off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth.

As the news spreads and panic ensues across Israel, the young son of Jonathan, who had been in the care of a nurse, fell as they were fleeing and became lame in both feet.

The same incident that promoted David to king demoted Mephibosheth to being a cripple.

This leads to another often overlooked chapter in David's reign.

In 2 Samuel 2, we see David starts to rule only over his tribe of Judah.

Across the Jordan, in a city called Mahanaim, another son of Saul named Ishbosheth is made king.

For two years Israel exists in a sort of civil war, culminating in Ishbasheth's murder and the reunification of all twelve tribes under David's rule.

After all this drama has played out and Israel starts to enjoy some peace and stability, David is met with an amazing promise from God.

We read in 2 Samuel 7, verse 12 When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.

2 Samuel 7:12

He shall build a house for me, my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

Verse 16 then picks up, and your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me.

Your throne shall be established forever.

Amazing promise.

Then we come to our text.

This chapter starts out with the phrase, and David said.

One thing that is abundantly clear in this passage this morning is Mephibosheth is not taking an active role here.

He doesn't approach King David, he doesn't invite himself to the table, he doesn't propose a deal with the king.

We don't see him making a decision to reconcile with the sovereign leader of Israel.

It would be foolish to imagine a world where Mephibosheth initiates this conversation.

The active party is the one in authority.

This is an important concept that sometimes gets left out of gospel presentations.

The king initiates the kindness.

Think to the parables of Jesus.

It's the shepherd who goes after the lost sheep.

The sheep doesn't somehow find his way into the flock.

In Matthew 22, it's the king who sends invitations to the wedding feast.

In Matthew 18, Jesus starts his parable again with a king seeking to settle accounts, even as he's teaching about forgiveness.

Think even to the story of the prodigal son.

Alright, you know this story, a lot of you.

He uh asks for his inheritance early, goes off to a foreign land, squanders all of his dad's riches on filthy living, ends up feeding pigs.

Looks up, and you and you think, well, yeah, the prodigal son then decides to return home, right?

So what wasn't that his decision?

But if you read it carefully, he's not deciding to come home as a son.

He's deciding to come home as a servant.

He wants to work for his father.

It's the father's love that reinstates him as a son, that takes the robe off of the father and gives a ring to the son and makes him the beloved son of the family, even throwing an incredible party for his return.

Why?

God is the most important aspect of the gospel.

Or, as John Piper wrote in his book titled God is the Gospel, well, that's the quote.

God is the gospel.

I didn't have to read very far to get that quote.

That's very, very simple.

Um, the gospel begins and ends with God.

We often like to summarize the gospel in a helpful four-part narrative.

God is holy.

I am not.

Jesus died for me, I will live for him.

Remembering who God is gives us the understanding that it's not about me.

It frees us up to get out of our own selves.

We can stop trying to earn God's favor and turn our attention upward to him in worship and outward to others in service.

Without God's kindness first seeking you out, you have no hope.

Or again, as David put it in Psalm 23, surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.

Without David taking the initiative, this story never takes place.

In fact, as we read, it's abundantly clear that this really has little or nothing to do with Mephibosheth at all.

He didn't do anything to earn David's kindness.

Physically, he's pretty much incapable of doing anything for David.

So why would David show kindness to him at all?

Essentially, David's answer is this is how God loves me.

He studied God's kindness.

He's, we might say, delighted in the gospel.

And here are a few of his findings.

God's kindness chases us according to his covenant.

The ESV uses the word kindness in verses 1 and 3, for a Hebrew word Hesed that elsewhere it's translated as loving kindness or steadfast love.

Tim Keller describes it as the steadfast love of a covenant God who cares for us, not because we are perfect, but because he is.

We see it a lot in the Psalms, referring to God's faithfulness to his covenant.

In our culture, the closest thing to this covenant loyalty would be like a healthy, functioning marriage.

Vows are exchanged, and out of love and remembrance of this covenant, the husband remains faithful to his wife, and vice versa.

There's even a sign involved, the ring.

Covenant loyalty finds itself expressed in other areas of Scripture.

The rainbow is a sign of the covenant God made to never flood the earth again despite the wickedness of man.

Genesis 9, 16 details God saying, When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.

Not that God needs to be reminded of his covenant, but instead, he shows us how to keep covenant as he does.

A sign was put in place to show faithfulness.

In Genesis 17, God institutes the covenant sign of circumcision to Abraham.

Generation after generation would be reminded of God's faithfulness by this sign.

In Colossians, the Apostle Paul tells us that disciples of Jesus have been buried with him in baptism as the covenant sign of the church.

Looking back to your baptism, which, after all, you should remember, you can be reminded not of a decision you made, but of God's faithfulness.

This is the picture of God's kindness.

He acts out of love and covenant obligation.

Christian, today know this.

If God wanted to cut you out of his unfailing promise, he would have to cut himself out of being God.

This is why David can write in Psalm 23, he leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

In our text, we see David is looking back at the promise he made to Jonathan to protect his lineage.

He's motivated by both love and covenant obligation.

David recognizes that God is going to keep his promise, and his response is to show others what God's kindness looks like.

God's kindness chases us also because of someone else's worth.

David uses the phrase for Jonathan's sake.

It's the kindness he's showing ultimately wasn't about Mephibosheth, but Jonathan.

David himself was a beneficiary of the kindness God showed his people Israel.

But in another sense, I think it's clear that David understood God's kindness toward him ultimately was on behalf of the greater king that would come from his lineage.

This is the reason he can write in Psalm 110 the Lord says to my Lord, Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.

This is also something that cuts against our culture.

We tend to want everything to revolve around ourselves.

We want kindness to be transactional.

I'll give you this if you give me that.

We want love to be like the stock market.

I can invest in whomever or whatever I think is valuable.

If that investment pays off, maybe I'll invest more.

If it diminishes in value, maybe I'll withdraw and invest somewhere else.

In this type of transaction, I'm the one in charge.

I decide what the agenda is.

I decide if my transactions are worthwhile.

I can decide someone else's worth based on who they voted for, what their haircut is, if they have tattoos or piercings, their work ethic, financial status, addictions, abilities, whatever metric I decide.

If I don't feel like I have enough to spare, I'll keep myself closed off.

If kindness is transactional, Mephibosheth is left to die at Lodibar.

David is left in the field as a runt of the litter shepherd boy.

And you are left dead in your sins.

But if kindness is based on the worth of another, someone whose value can never be overdrawn, whose stock never crashes, who doesn't see red ink at the end of the fiscal year.

Then we can't afford not to invest in others.

So he brings in this servant, Zeba.

There are only three people in this chapter, and Zeba is going to come back a little bit later.

David utters a key phrase.

Why is he seeking a descendant of Saul?

To show the kindness of God to him.

Zeba identifies Mephibosheth and points out this physical disability, which brings us to another interesting point about how God's love chases us.

God's kindness chases us in spite of ourselves.

We don't know a whole lot about Mephibosheth.

He's only mentioned a few times outside of this chapter.

What we know from these first five verses is basically this.

He was a descendant of Saul through Jonathan, his son.

He was crippled in his feet, and he was at Lodabar, which can be translated a place of no pasture or simply nothing, no thing.

Essentially, here's a guy from the wrong political party whose family tried to kill the king and take over the kingdom for themselves.

A guy that's physically incapable of providing anything of value to the king.

He's not going to be a soldier or a general or a dignitary.

A guy that was holding out at a place of no pasture after his family lost.

He had nothing going for him.

Friends, this is how God's kindness chases you.

Jesus, the good shepherd, will go after his sheep, stranded at a place of no pasture, who don't recognize his authority, who have rebelled against him, run as far away as they can, and are incapable of walking back to him.

This is the sheep he carries on his shoulders back to his flock.

This is the sinner he came to save, the sick he came to heal.

Jesus lived a perfect life following all the rules you've broken.

Jesus died to pay the penalty of your sins and rose from the dead to bring you back to him.

This is how God's kindness chases after us.

Expecting God to wait for someone to clean up their act would be like expecting David to wait for Mephibosheth to grow new feet.

No, God reaches out, brings you to the table because you wouldn't and can't come on your own.

And then he changes us.

There's our second point.

God's kindness changes us.

We read in verse 6, and Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, son of Saul, came to David, fell on his face, and paid homage.

And David said to him, Mephibosheth, and he answered, Behold, I am your servant.

And David said to him, Do not fear, for I will show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan, and I will restore to you all the land of Saul, your father, and you shall eat at my table always.

And he paid homage and said, What is your servant that you should show respect for a dead dog such as I?

The first thing we see Mephibosheth do is fall on his face before the king and proclaim himself to be a servant.

Certainly, this is a customary way to pay respect before an ancient king.

Mephibosheth is not going to walk in, slap a high five, and say, What's up, Davy?

As far as we know, Mephibosheth has no idea why he's being summoned.

He could be thinking all the way to Jerusalem that he's headed to his own execution.

And what actually happens?

David starts off, do not fear.

He doesn't get wrath.

He doesn't merely receive a pardon and have a great life.

David doesn't even just leave him with riches and servants and land and proceeds.

All of that, in and of itself, would be a life-changing event.

A tremendous example of self-sacrificial generosity from King David.

No.

Mephibosheth gets all of that, but he gets so much more.

The greatest gift of all is that the king is offering himself.

Mephibosheth will dine at the table with the king all of his life.

That is the essence of the kindness of God David wanted to show.

We might refer to it as holistic generosity, giving your time, your talent, and your treasure.

And how does Mephibosheth respond in verse 8?

He prostrates himself again.

Earlier he humbled himself before the king's kingship.

Now he humbles himself before the king's kindness.

It's like he's saying, I just wish I could sink lower into the ground before such tremendous goodness and generosity.

What he actually says may sound a little strange.

He calls himself a dead dog.

This has a couple of meanings.

He's not talking about a cute puppy or a domesticated dog like we think of today.

He's not talking about a dog that can get the newspaper, fetch, and roll over.

My kids are both weirdly afraid of dogs.

But our neighbors have the most precious dogs that even they love to play with and give snacks to.

That's not what we're talking about.

Dogs in ancient Israel refer to wild dogs, filthy and dangerous beasts.

Mephibosheth is saying, I'm vile, contemptible, and worthless before the king.

Here's a picture of just how unable we are to earn God's favor.

What can a dead wild dog do?

The other interesting note is that this is the exact same phrase David says to King Saul in 1 Samuel 24, verse 14.

1 Samuel 24:14

Some of you remember Saul was pursuing David and had stopped in a cave to, well, relieve himself.

It happened to be the same cave David was hiding in.

And David famously spared the king's life by only cutting a corner off of his robe.

David then waited for Saul to clean up and confronted him.

He says, After whom has the king of Israel come out?

After whom do you pursue?

After a dead dog, a flea.

Now years later, Saul's grandson calls himself a dead dog.

Not before a jealous maniacal king searching for David like Captain Ahob searching for Moby Dick, but before the generosity of Israel's true king.

He falls on his face, declaring his own wretchedness, and rises as a beloved child of the king.

We need to see ourselves like Mephibosheth sees himself in this moment.

We stop looking at ourselves as being better than the next guy and compare it to the ultimate standard of God's glory.

We don't need a behavior adjustment or a self-help guru.

We need a complete transformation from a dead dog to a child of the king.

This is only possible because the Son of God submitted himself to be treated like a wild dog, thrown out of the city, and killed.

When we see God's kindness chasing us down, we change from foe to family, from the pasture to the palace.

Under the family of Saul, Mephibosheth would always be seen as an enemy of David.

When he dines at the table of the king, he abandons all of that and is part of David's family.

The same is true for each of us.

We either belong to the family of Adam, prideful, self-seeking, rebellious against God, working to earn self-justification.

Or the family of Christ, made righteous through his perfect obedience.

Where we were enemies with God through Adam, we've been reconciled to God through Jesus.

Now our enemies are sin, death, and the devil who can all watch on helplessly as we feast at the table of the king.

We can sing along with David and Mephibosheth, you prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.

There's a moment later in Mephibosheth's story that stands out.

A couple of chapters after our text comes David's wickedness in the incident with Bathsheba and Uriah.

After that, his family is in shambles.

He's taken multiple wives.

His sons from the different wives are jealous and fighting over preeminence.

One commits a terrible act against his own half-sister.

It's incredibly dark and wicked.

Eventually, David's son Absalom is out to take the kingdom for himself.

It's gotten so bad that David has to flee Jerusalem as Absalom is entering the city.

The Bible tells us in 2 Samuel 15, verse 30, but David went up the ascent of the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went, barefoot and with his head covered.

2 Samuel 15:30

And all the people who were with him covered their heads, and they went up weeping as they went.

Here we have an amazing Christ-like image, the true king rejected by Jerusalem, weeping over the city from the Mount of Olives.

In the midst of this devastating moment in David's life, who should appear but Zeba?

Remember him?

The servant who is now working for Mephibosheth.

He comes with gifts, bread, wine, fruit, donkeys for David's men to ride on.

David asks, Where is Mephibosheth?

And Zeba responds, Behold, he remains in Jerusalem, for he said, Today the house of Israel will give me back the kingdom of my father.

Zeba spots a moment of weakness in King David and tries to butter him up with gifts.

And for a moment it works.

David responds by telling Zeba that he will get all that belong to Mephibosheth.

Only later, when he returns to Jerusalem, does he find that Mephibosheth had been loyal all along.

He had been changed by the kindness of the king and he was not going back.

Number three, God's kindness challenges us.

If we are going to be intentional about showing the kindness of God, our actions have to match our words.

We ought to live in accordance with the gospel message in which we delight.

Not to prove anything to God, but to prove or vindicate the gospel's power over us to the world.

Our text shows a couple of ways God's kindness challenges us.

For one thing, God's kindness challenges us to giving and gathering.

We read in 2 Samuel 9, verse 9.

2 Samuel 9:9

Then the king called Zeba, Saul's servant, and said to him, All that belong to Saul and to all his house I have given to your master's grandson.

And you and your sons and your servants shall till the land for him, and shall bring in the produce, that your master's grandson may have bread to eat, but Mephibosheth, your master's grandson, shall always eat at my table.

Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.

What two characteristics did David see embodied in the kindness of God?

Generosity and hospitality.

Or through the power of alliteration, giving and gathering.

David wanted to give like God.

He didn't want to give a little to get the guy to leave him alone, get him off his back, all of Saul's estate, and all of the proceeds of the land.

This is a king's portion, plus the servants to tend the land and to take care of him.

Ziba, his sons, his servants.

In verse 10, we read, Mephibosheth, your master's grandson, shall always eat at my table.

It's repeated in verse 13.

He always ate at the king's table.

And before that, it's phrased even more strongly in verse 11.

So Mephibosheth ate at David's table like one of the king's sons.

David didn't just bless this man with worldly goods and send him on his merry way.

He invited him to the table, essentially inviting him into his family.

And it wasn't just for a holiday dinner.

This was a regular standing invitation.

He shall dwell in the house of the king forevermore.

If I'd asked you to create an AI prompt for an image of David's dining hall, we'd probably have all kinds of different images coming back.

But I bet very few of you would have had a crippled man at the table.

You can be sure, though, he was there.

The same king who slayed the giant warrior invites the crippled man to dinner.

What a picture of Jesus who crushes the serpent under his feet, yet promises not to break the bruised reed.

Why could David do this?

Because he had reflected on God's kindness to him.

What had God given him?

An entire kingdom.

Deliverance from all his enemies, a promised eternal throne.

To think that the name of David would be associated with the Son of God for all eternity?

And through that Son, David has received far more than any king on earth can imagine.

Forgiveness of sins, perfect righteousness, a dwelling place in heaven, and more, far more than that.

A seat at the table with God Himself.

Christian, you will receive all the same gifts that David received through your union with Christ.

That is why we can sing, What gift of grace is Jesus my Redeemer?

There is no more for heaven now to give.

And if God gives so bountifully, so lavishly, so overflowingly, how else could we show his kindness?

Through joyful, sacrificial giving, through warm hospitality, and gathering with your brothers and sisters in Christ, essential, selfless love in front of an unsuspecting world.

God's kindness also challenges us to devotion and dependence.

If you still have your Bibles open, turn with me a few chapters ahead to 2 Samuel 19, verse 24.

2 Samuel 19:24

2 Samuel 19, we'll start in verse 24.

There's a story that serves as kind of an epilogue to our text.

You may recall Zeba came to David at a weak moment, tricked him into believing Mephibosheth declared himself king.

Eventually, David's son Absalom is killed, and this sort of civil war is resolved.

David returns to Jerusalem and reunites with Mephibosheth.

We read in 2 Samuel 19, verse 24.

2 Samuel 19:24

And Mephibosheth, the son of Saul, came down to meet the king.

He had neither taken care of his feet, nor trimmed his beard, nor washed his clothes, from the day the king departed until the day he came back in safety.

And when he came back to Jerusalem to meet the king, the king said to him, Why did you not go with me, Mephibosheth?

He answered, My Lord, O king, my servant deceived me.

For your servant said to him, I will saddle a donkey for myself, that I may ride on it and go with the king.

For your servant is lame.

He has slandered your servant to my lord the king, but my lord the king is like the angel of God.

Do therefore what seems good to you.

We see here that Ziba, who by the way used the same language as Mephibosheth when proclaiming himself the servant of David, was never a true servant of the king.

Instead of keeping the proceeds for Mephibosheth, he kept them for himself and attempted to use them as a bribe to the king.

Instead of keeping a donkey for Mephibosheth to ride, he took all the donkeys and offered them to David as a gift.

He stole and bore false witness against his master to the king, all to elevate himself.

Ziba had no real devotion to the king, only to himself.

Now watch the contrast as Mephibosheth continues here in verse 28.

For all my father's house were but men doomed to death before my lord the king.

But you set your servant among those who eat at your table.

What further right have I than to cry to the king?

And the king said to him, Why speak any more of your affairs?

I have decided, you and Ziba shall divide the land.

And Mathibisheth said to the king, Oh, let him take it all, since my lord the king has come safely home.

As Mathibesheth looks back on God's kindness overflowing to him, he sees where he came from.

You might say he's looking in the rearview mirror.

In spite of surviving a civil war and being abandoned at Jerusalem as the king left, he sees goodness and mercy following him all the days of his life.

Why?

He was brought out of a death sentence, led out of Lodibar, like Lot being led out of Sodom, or if you've read Pilgrim's Progress, like Christian being warned to leave the city of destruction as evangelist cries out, fly from the wrath to come! Mephibosheth has been challenged to a singular devotion.

He could have refused the king's hospitality.

He could have demanded the entire kingdom as an heir to Saul's throne.

He could have tried to make peace with Absalom and get a better deal for himself.

If worldly possessions were his aim, any of these things would have made sense.

No.

Mephibosheth saw a godly quality in David and was ready to give all of it up to be near the king.

God's blessing is deeper than prosperity.

It's greater than riches, and cars or donkeys, palaces, the best food.

Those things aren't evil, but they can distract us from our singular devotion to God.

Augustine famously wrote in his confessions, Thou hast made us for thyself, and our hearts are restless till they rest in thee.

He knew this from experience.

As he wrote later in the same work, and what did it profit me that I read and understood for myself all the books of what are called the liberal arts that I was able to get a hold of, since I remained the vile slave of evil desires.

I enjoyed the books, while not knowing him from whom came whatever was true or certain in them.

For I had my back to the light, and my face to the things in the light, which the light falls, so that my eyes, by which I looked upon the things in the light, were not themselves illumined.

Singular devotion means we won't be distracted by material possessions or prosperity.

Jesus tells a parable in of different soils in Matthew.

There's the hard path where seeds are thrown, they're just eaten up by the birds.

There's the rocky soil that starts to grow until the heat of the sun burns them up.

The third example, though, is among weeds and thorns.

The plants start to grow, and for a bit things are looking good.

But what happens?

The thorns grow up and choke them.

Jesus explains this by saying, As for what was sown among the thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.

Jesus calls comfort and prosperity thorns that will choke out your fruitfulness.

Are we distracted by prosperity?

Or are we using our resources to make disciples, showing a singular devotion to something better?

It's the same thought that C.S.

Lewis expresses in The Weight of Glory.

It would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak.

We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us.

Like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in the slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea.

We are far too easily pleased.

Singular devotion means seeing, to borrow another quote from Lewis, the light from behind the sun.

Essentially, the truth, goodness, and beauty in the things around us ought to point us to the source of truth, goodness, and beauty.

Or, as John Piper said, the critical question for our generation and for every generation is this: if you could have heaven with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, all the food you ever liked, all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven if Christ was not there?

Singular devotion is being thankful for the gifts, but cherishing the giver.

Finally, David was able to give Mephibosheth a lot of great gifts.

But do you know what he could never give him?

New feet.

Our text ends with another repetition that Mephibosheth was lame in both his feet.

No matter how many meals he ate at the king's table, Mephibosheth would never forget his dependence.

Christian, may we never forget our dependence on Christ.

Jesus said in John 15, Abide in me and I in you.

As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me.

Don't forget your dependence on Jesus.

Don't cut yourself off from his goodness.

In humility, continue to fall on your face before the King.

Remember that your sustenance is only from his table.

David wrote in Psalm 145, verses 15 and 16: The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season.

Psalms 145:15

You open your hand, you satisfy the desire of every living thing.

He gives you your food.

He gives you satisfaction.

He hears your cry.

Why is 2 Samuel 9 an anchor in my life?

I suppose it's partly because after I ignored this chapter for so many years, God opened my eyes to see him differently through it.

I saw him as the gracious king, who brings those who are far off to him, who offers a seat at the table freely.

Seeing a God this good also showed me more clearly who I am.

This chapter is an anchor because I see myself as Mephibosheth.

I've come to realize that I have done nothing to earn his kindness and can't do anything to earn it.

If I tried to earn it, I'd get about as far as a dead dog.

My cup simply overflows, and I'm not the one pouring the wine.

Like Mephibosheth, I need to keep coming back to the table to remind myself who God is and who I am.

Like David, Jesus offers his grace and mercy freely to people who did nothing to earn it, to people who can't, to people who humble themselves and realize that they truly depend on him.

A God this good, with kindness so overwhelming, so overflowing, has to be shared.

How will you share it this week, Parkside?

Who do you want to see come to the table of the king?

Could you join me in prayer?

Father, we are so thankful for the goodness that you show us.

You took a chapter out of the Bible to just show us what your kindness and what your goodness looks like, reminding us who we are.

Lord, may this uh be embedded deep in our hearts.

May we not take it for granted.

But Lord, may we continue to come to the table of the King always grateful for your gifts to us.

We ask this in the name of Jesus, who bought all these gifts for us.

Amen.