A Seat at the Table (2 Samuel 9)- Pastor Kenneth Collins Maple

Within God's Word, we've been doing this sermon

series on the life of David. And so we continue

that now. We're going to be in 2 Samuel chapter

2 Samuel 9 · chapter mention

9 this morning. This is a wonderful scripture

that communicates God's love and mercy and kindness

and grace to us. So I ask that you give special

attention. to the reading of God's holy word

from 2nd Samuel chapter 9. And David said, Is

there still anyone left of the house of Saul

that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake?

Now there was a servant of the house of Saul

whose name was Zeba. And they called him to David.

And the king said to him, Are you Zeba? And he

said, I am your servant. And the king said, Is

there not still someone of the house of Saul

that I may show the kindness of God to him? Zeba

said to the king, There is still a son of Jonathan.

He's crippled in his feet. The king said to him,

Where is he? And Zeba said to the king, He is

in the house of Makir, the son of Amiel at Lodobar.

Then King David sent and brought him from the

house of Makir the son of Amiel at Lodobar and

Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan son of Saul

came to David and fell on his face and paid homage

and David said 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 regard for a dead dog such as I? Then the

king called Zeba, Saul's servant, and said to

him, all that belong to Saul 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 Zeba had 15 sons

and 20 servants. Then Zeba said to the king,

according to all that my lord the king commands

his servant so will your servant do. So Mephibosheth

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

and Mephibosheth had a young son whose name was

Micah and all who lived in Zeba house became

Mephibosheth's servants. So Mephibosheth lived

in Jerusalem, for he ate always at the king's

table. Now he was lame in both his feet." This

is God's word. Let's pray. Father, we indeed

thank you for this word, this word that communicates

your love and your kindness and your grace and

your mercy, Lord. You have showered us with these

things help us to see this grant us understanding

and help us also as recipients of your grace

To show grace to others this we pray in Jesus's

name. Amen When you open up the pages of Scripture

with whom do you identify? Who is it in scripture

that you read of this person or that person and

you say that's me Who resonates with you Maybe

it's Peter Maybe you're like Peter. You've always

got something to say Maybe you're Martha Going

going going and knowing you need to sit at the

feet of Jesus Maybe you're a Gideon constantly

needing reminders of the reality of God and what

he is doing. Maybe you're Jonah running from

a situation that you know God is calling you

to. Who are you? Can I tell you? You're Mephibosheth.

You are Mephibosheth. The reason that this story

resonates with us so much is because the grace

that David shows to Mephibosheth points us ahead

to the grace that God shows to us in Christ.

You know this about yourself. You are unworthy

to come to God on your own, but he showers you

with his kindness. He showers you with his grace.

What's true about Mephibosheth is true about

us, that we merit the opposite of what we get.

Grace. Grace has been defined as God's unmerited

favor. Have you heard that? That's a good definition.

That's a fine definition, but I actually think

we can add to that. Because apart from God's

grace, we're hostile. We're rebellious to God.

It's not that we're in neutral waiting for God

to just put us in gear. God's grace is more than

that. God's grace is his unmerited favor. to

the wretched. God's grace is his unmerited favor

to the guilty. God's grace is his unmerited favor

to the deeply sinful. God's grace rescues us

from the immeasurable depths of our evilness.

What God does When he comes upon us, when his

spirit resides in us, as he does an extraction,

he extracts that cold, dead, stony heart. And

he transplants within us a heart with affections

for him. Friends, we're not Mephibosheth because

life hasn't gone right. We're Mephibosheth because

we're unworthy. And yet knowing this makes his

kindness kinder and his grace greater. Today,

what I want us to see from this text, I want

us to see what Mephibosheth deserves, and I want

us to see what Mephibosheth gets. Now, before

you protest, I acknowledge what might be bubbling

up inside of you. We want to stand up for Mephibosheth

because he cannot stand up for himself. We want

to say, this isn't about Mephibosheth's sin,

and you're right. But we need to understand the

context of this. We need to understand the environment

for Mephibosheth. We need to understand why Mephibosheth

is so very terrified to come into the presence

of David. We want to tell Mephibosheth, you're

not a dead dog, Mephibosheth. We want to have

pity on him. But Mephibosheth doesn't feel like

a dead dog. primarily because of his disability.

Mephibosheth feels like a dead dog because of

his family, and yet that is exactly the reason

that David shows him grace. When he says, I feel

like a dead dog, this is some strong language

from a person at this time. This is self -deprecating

language. He is saying to David, I am nothing.

I am completely unworthy to even be here today.

Now we do know, we do know that Mephibosheth

is crippled. His nurse dropped him in her haste.

You might remember the story from 2 Samuel chapter

2 Samuel 4 · chapter mention

4. I'll just read verse 4, 2 Samuel 4, 4. The

son of Saul had a son who was crippled in his

feet. And here's why. 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. What was happening

is the nurse was trying to save his life because

in that scripture What's happening? Saul is killed

in battle Jonathan's killed in battle and what

that means is a change of the guard That means

a change of the guard and so what would happen

is if a king? Died and he didn't have a son for

the throne Another king would come in and oftentimes

what he would do is due away with that whole

former family. Whoever was living, he would put

them to death. And so the nurse recognizes this,

and so she says, I've got this five -year -old.

I've got to get him out of here. And so they

flee. But in her haste, she drops Mephibosheth.

And he breaks his legs. And they were never the

same. He's crippled for the rest of his life.

But the thing about this is, that we know more

of the story. While we know what other kings

have done to those former families, David is

not just any other king. David is a man after

God's own heart. But still, it's not as though

everybody knew of David's covenant with Jonathan.

Matter of fact, we do know that at least at one

point they disguised their covenant together.

And so the nurse doesn't know this. Nobody else,

perhaps, knows this. Does Mephibosheth know this?

Well, he was five when his father was killed

in battle. Jonathan, though, remembers his covenant.

You can see this in verse one. Is there anyone

left of the house of Saul that I may show him

the kindness, kindness for Jonathan's sake? When

he asks that, he brings in Zeba. And Zeba says,

yes, there's one. Now, some scholars, and I think

they're right to say this, looking at the rest

of this story, we do find other members of Saul's

house. So some believe that Zeba's lying here.

He mentions, though, Mephibosheth. Why would

Zeba mention Mephibosheth and not other members

of this household? I think the reason that he

mentions him is because Mephibosheth is lame

in his feet. What Zeba is saying to David is,

yes, there is this one, but he poses no threat

to you. He can't even walk. So he says, don't

worry about Mephibosheth. He's nothing. He's

nothing. And yet David keeps the covenant. He

says here, is there anybody to show kindness

to? And when he uses that word kindness, this

is that word we've looked at before. This is

hesed. We saw this a lot in our sermon series

through Ruth. Hesed, an incredible word in the

Hebrew that we can't really communicate fully

in English. It means something like God's loving

kindness. But I want you to see this is more

than any old kindness. This is more than just

ordinary hesed because while he says, is there

anyone left to show the kindness for Jonathan's

sake? Look in verse three. The king said, is

there not still someone of the house of Saul

that I may show the kindness of God? David wants

to show Yahweh's hesed here. He doesn't want

to show David's hesed. He doesn't want to show

Jonathan's hesed. He wants to show Yahweh's hesed

and thereby keep this covenant that he made with

David. So David's not going to offer the bare

minimum hesed. He's going to go out of his way.

And so he sends for Mephibosheth. Mephibosheth

is at Lodibar, which sounds like it's just far

enough away to have been considered safe for

Mephibosheth. And David brings him in. and Mephibosheth

falls on his face and bows to the king. And you

see what David does. He immediately diffuses

the situation. What does he say? He says, do

not fear. How many times do you see that in scripture?

Where you see God telling someone, do not fear,

for I am with you. David is communicating Yahweh's

hesed. Do not fear. We might say, well, what

is there to fear for Mephibosheth? Why would

he be so scared? Well, let's remember that Saul

on multiple occasions tried to kill David. And

Mephibosheth is the grandson of that former king.

Also, David. He's killed his tens of thousands,

David, who has slew the gigantic giant Goliath.

This is a mighty, powerful man that Mephibosheth

appears before, so he is scared. But David, again,

not just any king, David shows this kindness

and he remembers his covenant with Jonathan.

And I believe that the reason that David is able

to do this is not just because he loved Jonathan.

It's because he realizes that Yahweh loves David.

You see, it wasn't just that there's a covenant

between David and Jonathan. As we saw last Sunday,

there's a covenant between David and God. So

David has received grace. And so he also extends

grace. Friends, as recipients of God's grace,

do we also extend grace to people? We're told

in the Scriptures, have the mind of Christ, love

your neighbor as yourself. We're told that people

will know you are disciples of Jesus by your

love. So do we love people the way that God loves

people? Do we show grace the way God shows grace?

You might say, well, how do I do it? Well, we

could come up with a list about a mile long.

I'll just give you three points of application

here. Three ways in which we can show grace.

Remembering scripture from 1 Peter 4 -8, love

covers a multitude of sins. Friends, that's really

what David does here. He overlooks the sins of

Mephibosheth's grandfather, right? He says, I'm

not seeking revenge. He overlooks this. Are you

able to overlook some offenses of others? Friends,

we don't have to bring people up on charges every

time they look at us weird. We can show grace

to our spouse by overlooking an offense. We can

show grace to our children by overlooking an

offense. We can show grace to our neighbors or

our coworkers or our friends. Now, we need to

use wisdom with this. There are some things we

cannot overlook, but we need to have grace to

say, this is an offense I can overlook. Secondly,

grace in service to others. David serves Mephibosheth

when he is in great need. Do we also serve others

who are in need? I think of this potential mission

trip to Mola in South Carolina. I hope some of

you would want to go on that. This is not a glamorous

trip. It's not glamorous service whatsoever.

Very few people will know what you do there.

And there's something that is, there's something

very gracious about serving God quietly without

seeking recognition. Thirdly, perhaps the greatest

grace, we can tell the gospel. We can share the

gospel and we can share how we're saved by grace

through faith. We can extend evangelism grace.

That's really in a way what David's doing here.

He extends the loving kindness of God to Mephibosheth.

We can show evangelism grace so that people would

see what you receive in Christ Jesus. Well, let's

also look at what David or what Mephibosheth

receives. You can see kind of towards the second

half of our scripture here that Mephibosheth

from David is going to receive land. And this

is land from Saul's family. I think it's very

interesting where Mephibosheth has been. He's

been in a place called Lodabar. You might say,

well, where's that? What's Lodabar like? Is it

like Fountain Inn or what? actually is what its

name is. Low in Hebrew means no. Pretty easy

to remember. Low means no. So when you look at,

say, the Ten Commandments and you see thou shalt

not murder, you're going to see no is being the

word low. Well, that's half the battle here.

What's dabar mean? Dabar in this usage means

pasture. Put them together and what do you get?

you get no pasture. This is telling us that Mephibosheth

is in a barren land that doesn't produce food.

He's in a nothing place. He has been in a place

where he had everything. And then he was displaced

to a place where there is nothing. And so what

does David give him? He brings him back home.

He brings him back home. He also is going to

get lots of servants. You can see 15 servants

or 20 servants and 15 sons, 15 and 20 to handle

this plot of land, meaning this is no small plot

of land that Mephibosheth is going to get. And

with that land and with these servants, Mephibosheth

is going to have plenty to eat. And this is very

important because remember, Mephibosheth, even

as a grown man here, he is completely dependent

upon others. He's crippled in his feet. Right?

We need to think about this, about how in just

a few minutes, everything changed for Mephibosheth

when he was five. Think about what he lost and

what he gains. On that fateful day when Saul

was killed and Jonathan was killed, Mephibosheth

loses his family. He loses his home. He loses

his mobility, he loses his security, he loses

his inheritance, and he loses it all in a matter

of minutes. But David restores what he can, and

David goes beyond the covenant, because David

does not just tolerate Mephibosheth. Actually,

what we could say that David does for him is

that David adopts Mephibosheth into his family.

He adopts him into his family. Mephibosheth cannot

take care of himself. He cannot adopt himself.

He cannot make himself adopted. He cannot sign

his own adoption papers. Mephibosheth can't even

set his own place at the table. He cannot do

anything but receive grace. There was a 20th

century bishop. Anglican bishop named Taylor

Smith. I don't know if you've heard this story.

Taylor Smith went to the barber shop one day

to go get a shave. And as he sat down in the

barber's chair, he decided to tell the barber

about salvation and Jesus. That's a dangerous

thing if you remember how they used to give a

shave, right? The barber didn't like it. And

so the barber said, I don't need Jesus. I do

my best, and that's enough for me." And so the

bishop, perhaps wisely, was quiet while he was

in the chair. But the next man came in and sat

down at that chair. And the bishop said to the

barber, may I shave this customer? To which the

barber said, no, you cannot. The bishop said,

I would do my best. And the barber said, you

might do your best. But your best would not be

good enough for this customer. And the bishop

said, no, and neither is your best good enough

for God. Friends, it's by grace you've been saved

through faith. It's not from yourselves. It's

the gift of God. Mephibosheth could have paid

homage to David all day long, but were it not

for the grace of David, Mephibosheth indeed would

have been a dead dog. He was powerless, but David

kept his promise. And God keeps his in Christ.

Friends, what gets you through the tough times?

What gets you through the tough times when your

sin is glaringly obvious to you, when you falter

again and again and again? What gets you through

tough times when you feel shame and when you

feel guilt and when you feel nothing, like you're

just nothing? Friends, when you feel like that,

remember what Jesus has done for you. About how

he by his grace he removes that guilt and he

removes that shame This is what he did on the

cross. He despised the shame He went to the cross

for you and this reminds me of yet another person

in Scripture that you are just like Luke 23 39

through 43 listen to these words Luke 23, 39

through 43. One of the criminals who were hanged

railed at him, saying, are you not the Christ?

Save yourself and us. But the other rebuked him,

saying, do you not fear God? Since you were under

the same sentence of condemnation, And we indeed

justly, for we are receiving the due reward of

our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.

And he said, Jesus, remember me when you come

into your kingdom. And he said to him, truly

I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.

You have the thief on the cross, the believing

one next to Jesus. who acknowledges his sin,

and he also acknowledges the innocence of Jesus,

and then he says, Jesus, remember me. Friends,

that's what's happening in our passage from 2

2 Samuel 9 · chapter mention

Samuel chapter 9. David is remembering his covenant,

and he extends to Mephibosheth, grace that is

totally, completely undeserved. And this is us.

receiving grace. I like this quote from Augustine

who said, the grace of God does not find men

fit for salvation, but makes them so. That's

what God's grace does. And were it not for the

grace of God toward the people of God, there

would be no people of God. First Peter 2 10 says,

once you were not a people, but now you are God's

people. Once you had not received mercy, but

now you have received mercy. Friends, one more

analogy for you. I said that Mephibosheth is

a dead dog before David because of his family,

and yet this is why he is saved. The same is

true of us, isn't it? Our family history is messy.

I'm talking about all of humanity. All of humanity

by the fall was thrown into dysfunction and hostility

and wickedness and sin. We're all born in iniquity.

We all deserve death because the wages of sin

is death. But what does Christ do for us? He

invites us to dine with him at the table. The

marriage supper of the lamb from Revelation 19.

Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage

supper of the Lamb, and people will come from

east and west, north and south, and recline at

the table in the kingdom of God, says Luke 13.

Jesus saves us and reserves for us a place at

his table. And that reservation at the table,

it's not about what you accomplish in life. That

reservation at the table is not about your resume.

That place at the table, it's not about your

GPA. And it's not about your 401K. It's not about

what you did or what you didn't do. It's not

about how much money you donated. It's not about

how you vote. It's not about how many mission

trips you went on or how many times you read

the Bible through. Some of those are very good

things, but you were not saved by those things.

You were saved by grace alone, through faith

alone, in Christ alone. summary friends it's

not about you you who are in Christ you have

received his gracious free gift of the gospel

and you are enabled by the Spirit to have a spot

at the table with your name on it and there's

still other spots at the table if today you're

unsure of what to make of Jesus If you're not

sure what this grace thing is all about, friends,

let me encourage you, let me tell you to pray

today, pray even now, pray knowing that Jesus

is God's greatest gift, but also that faith is

a gift. Pray to receive that gift and know, know

that when you do, by the grace of God, you will

always have a seat at his table. Let's pray.