At the Mercy of our Gracious King (2 Samuel 9:1-13)
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1 David asked, “Is there anyone still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?”
2 Now there was a servant of Saul’s household named Ziba. They summoned him to appear before David, and the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?”
“At your service,” he replied.
3 The king asked, “Is there no one still alive from the house of Saul to whom I can show God’s kindness?”
Ziba answered the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan; he is lame in both feet.”
4 “Where is he?” the king asked.
Ziba answered, “He is at the house of Makir son of Ammiel in Lo Debar.”
5 So King David had him brought from Lo Debar, from the house of Makir son of Ammiel.
6 When Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, he bowed down to pay him honor.
David said, “Mephibosheth!”
“At your service,” he replied.
7 “Don’t be afraid,” David said to him, “for I will surely show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will restore to you all the land that belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will always eat at my table.”
8 Mephibosheth bowed down and said, “What is your servant, that you should notice a dead dog like me?”
9 Then the king summoned Ziba, Saul’s steward, and said to him, “I have given your master’s grandson everything that belonged to Saul and his family. 10 You and your sons and your servants are to farm the land for him and bring in the crops, so that your master’s grandson may be provided for. And Mephibosheth, grandson of your master, will always eat at my table.” (Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.)
11 Then Ziba said to the king, “Your servant will do whatever my lord the king commands his servant to do.” So Mephibosheth ate at David’s table like one of the king’s sons.
12 Mephibosheth had a young son named Mika, and all the members of Ziba’s household were servants of Mephibosheth. 13 And Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, because he always ate at the king’s table; he was lame in both feet.
Children’s Lesson
Children’s Lesson
Invite the children
Tell them I have something for them, but they don't HAVE to take it. But, if they want it they simply say OK...
Give them a piece of candy...
Read the story of David and Mephibosheth (If I haven’t already…)
Mephibosheth had to accept David's offer, but he could have said no.
Also, there is nothing he could have done to earn this... he simply had to qccept the offer from the gracious king.
But, what if he wanted to TRY and earn it?
It would have been like filthy rags
Read Isaiah 64:6
6 All of us have become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;
we all shrivel up like a leaf,
and like the wind our sins sweep us away.
Actually, it's more like toilet paper
What is TP for?
The word for filthy rags is actually the word for the rag used to help ppl finish at the bathroom.
When we try to earn our way to God it is like being like a filthy used piece of TP
BUT, we don't have to EARN our way to God. Jesus paid the way.
So like Mephibosheth, we simply accept the gift and let it change our lives!
Do you guys want more gifts? Hold out your hands...
Load them up with candy...
Go share some grace with others...
Background
Background
12 Then Jonathan said to David, “I swear by the Lord, the God of Israel, that I will surely sound out my father by this time the day after tomorrow! If he is favorably disposed toward you, will I not send you word and let you know? 13 But if my father intends to harm you, may the Lord deal with Jonathan, be it ever so severely, if I do not let you know and send you away in peace. May the Lord be with you as he has been with my father. 14 But show me unfailing kindness like the Lord’s kindness as long as I live, so that I may not be killed, 15 and do not ever cut off your kindness from my family—not even when the Lord has cut off every one of David’s enemies from the face of the earth.”
16 So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “May the Lord call David’s enemies to account.” 17 And Jonathan had David reaffirm his oath out of love for him, because he loved him as he loved himself.
16 When David finished saying this, Saul asked, “Is that your voice, David my son?” And he wept aloud. 17 “You are more righteous than I,” he said. “You have treated me well, but I have treated you badly. 18 You have just now told me about the good you did to me; the Lord delivered me into your hands, but you did not kill me. 19 When a man finds his enemy, does he let him get away unharmed? May the Lord reward you well for the way you treated me today. 20 I know that you will surely be king and that the kingdom of Israel will be established in your hands. 21 Now swear to me by the Lord that you will not kill off my descendants or wipe out my name from my father’s family.”
22 So David gave his oath to Saul. Then Saul returned home, but David and his men went up to the stronghold.
4 (Jonathan son of Saul had a son who was lame in both feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel. His nurse picked him up and fled, but as she hurried to leave, he fell and became disabled. His name was Mephibosheth.)
This was when they heard that Saul and Johnathan had died in Jezreel...
See 1 Samuel 31
Mephibosheth deserved NOTHING
Mephibosheth deserved NOTHING
His original name was Merib-baal
40 The son of Jonathan:
Merib-Baal, who was the father of Micah.
But, his name was changed to Mephibosheth, most likely after his becoming cripple. Mephibosheth means “From the mouth of shame.”
He was made cripple by a fall and could no longer provide for himself
In 2 Samuel 4:4 he is mentioned SIMPLY to show that after Ishbosheth was killed there was no heir to Saul’s throne - because the next legitimate heir was Mephibosheth, but he could not be king because he was shameful as a crippled man.
Years later, he is invited to the king’s table
He couldn’t earn it
He was invited because the king was gracious, merciful, and faithful to keep a promise!
His fall that crippled him no longer mattered
He is given the offer of a new inheritance, restoration of what was lost, and HE IS INVITED TO THE KING’S TABLE - adopted into the King’s Family!
Here is OUR story!
Here is OUR story!
We are just like Mephibosheth
We are crippled by a fall
We are useless to serve the King
Yet, we are INVITED to the King’s Table because the King is Gracious and is faithful to keep His promises...
6 All of us have become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;
we all shrivel up like a leaf,
and like the wind our sins sweep us away.
3 At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. 4 But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. 8 This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.
6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Our Story is the Story of a GRACIOUS KING
Our Story is the Story of a GRACIOUS KING
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
He rewrites our story and gives us a NEW INHERITANCE
We are adopted into the KING’S FAMILY
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
9 Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
Yet, Some of us forget this grace.
Yet, Some of us forget this grace.
We forget that we once were just like Mephibosheth
We forget that we once were just like the people we are called to share grace with...
That is part of what Paul is saying in Titus - YOU were just like THEM
Don’t forget God’s grace
You, also, are a poor, helpless, crippled beggar. Yet your life has been changed because you accepted the Gracious offer from a Gracious King!
1 You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. 2 Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. 3 So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? 4 Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?
Martin Luther once stated, “We are all mere beggars telling other beggars where to find bread.”
We are ALL Beggars who do not deserve God’s grace, but are granted it through Jesus Christ! We have a GRACIOUS King who invites us into a relationship with Him. Not because we deserve it, but because we are at the mercy of our gracious King!
1 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
Don’t forget the King’s grace upon you
Some need to respond...
Some need to accept the King’s offer
You have tried to earn the King’s grace
You have tried to do it your own way
The King has an offer for you, but you have not FULLY accepted
Oh, you might be under the King’s point of vision, you might be NEAR the king, but you haven’t accepted the gracious offer to be a part of the King’s Family - to have a new inheritance - to have the old made new
Yet, some of us need to remember where we were when the King invited us to His Table.
We need to remember the grace we have received
We need to remember that we were once JUST LIKE everyone else who we often look down our noses upon
We need to remember that if it weren’t for the King’s gracious offer, we would still be beggars outside the King’s palace.
The only difference between us and them is that we have accepted the King’s offer and have allowed the King to change our lives
So, may we be willing, as fellow beggars, to share with other beggars where to find bread
May we be willing to share the King’s offer with everyone and invite them to receive the welcome from the King
Communion
Communion
15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
We are to be like Jesus!
23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
27 So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. 29 For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves.