An Extraordinary Kindness 2 Sam 9: The Orchard B

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GOAL?
To see The Orchard Barrington AWAKENED in the KNOWLEDGE of God’s HESED-kindness, His enduring GENEROSITY, in the midst of our isolation, neediness, unworthiness, and weakness—anchoring us in the midst of prosperity, poverty, pain and persecution…?
Intro
Good evening/morning church family...
Prayer
Have you ever been on the RECEIVING side of UNEXPECTED kindness? even extraordinary kindness?
As a kid I remember arriving to a summer carnival with my sister and parents,
and being given a WHOLE bunch of carnival tickets by a family leaving at the time we were arriving, essentially giving us a free pass for every ride for the day.
More recently, at the beginning of my residency… **Finish Story
Two meals after preaching FULLY paid by some kind stranger, unknown to us… one for my whole family!
I’m sure, whoever these two individuals were,
GAVE out of the generosity they’ve experienced from God,
and in HIS name, for HIS name’s sake
We all love when things like this happen to us. They make our day, our week.
We feel seen, cared for, blessed, loved--
Such kindness feels uncalled for, uncommon, a breath of fresh air in the fumes of this world.
But that’s the problem with our world isn’t it.
Most of the time people are selfish, stingy, and self-centered, not others-oriented.
Us believers, made new in Christ,s still struggle with a sinful nature and heart that constantly turns us inward instead of outward…
Our kindness,
Our love is too often in bursts, fleeting, cold, not hot and enduring.
And the consequences of humanity’s SINFUL LACK of extraordinary, generous, ENDURING love,
- is an epidemic of loneliness, shame, poverty, and unfaithfulness,
that grieves us and grieves the God who made us.
If that’s what OUR love is often like,
what about God?
What is GOD’s kindness like?
God’s LOVE?
We will see 4 ANSWERS to this question in 2 Sam 9,
4 qualities of God’s Kindness,
that will ANCHOR you and me,
regardless of life season and relational status:
young or mature in years, married or single, widowed or divorced
Keep your Bibles open with me to 2 Samuel chapter 9.
The book of 2 Samuel is a continuation of the great story of Israel and her beginning as a theocratic monarchy:
a nation with a human king as their supreme leader
under God, their King of kings and Lawgiver
The books 1 + 2 Samuel are originally ONE book in the Hebrew Bible,
separated by scrolls simply because of the length of this grand DRAMA—unveiling how the the once-nation of slaves became a dominating world power
a Kingdom whose king reflected their HEAVENLY Ruler, the God and King whose law and presence alone can bring about ultimate human flourishing
To bring you up to speed at this point in the story,
A man named David is KING,
And at last he is enjoying uninterrupted rule over the whole kingdom of Israel (2 Sam 8:15)
And complete victory over all his surrounding enemies (2 Sam 8:14)
David’s prolonged conflict with Israel’s first King Saul + his house is finally over,
The LORD in judgment CUT off Saul because of his rebellion and disobedience to God
Its been about 10 years since David has (*check) become king over all God’s people,
and DAVID’s character and rule
have marked a distinct SHIFT from his predecessor
Where Saul acted in his own wisdom and did not seek God,
David inquired after the LORD and heeded God’s counsel (2 Sam 2:1)
Where Saul was jealous and vengeful toward countrymen he perceived to be his enemies,
David was gentle, trusting in God to judge justly and avenge his enemies in His own time (2 Sam 3:31-39)
Where Saul and his sons were concerned about their own fame and glory,
David loved God and shamelessly gave Him all the glory (2 Sam 6)
And where Saul compromised justice for his own personal ends,
David administered justice and equity to all his people (2 Sam 8:15)
David, we can see,
as the apostle Paul later states (his Acts 13 sermon)
is the man after God’s own heart, who will DO all God’s will!
Indeed, he was the embodied, visible representative of GOD to God’s people
And served as a profound type and shadow,
a reflection of the Messianic King who would come from his offspring,
and would sit on the throne of God’s kingdom forever,
ruling in PERFECT peace and PERFECT justice over the entire world!
In 2 Sam 9, we are let in on a conversation David is about to have with his household servants,
a conversation leading to an encounter,
an encounter between two men,
that reveals to us 4 QUALITIES of God’s kindness and love
We will see, through the example of God’s king, 4 descriptors of how God Himself loves us:
Personal(ly)
Gracious
Generous
And Faithful.
First,
SEE how God’s lovingkindness is
1) Personal.
v.1 “And David said, “Is there still anyone left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?”
Context tells us David is talking to his royal servants.
- David asks if Saul has any living descendents!
Why does KING David want to know if Saul—his arch-enemy of old--has any surviving family members?
“that he might show them KINDNESS…”
Kindness: the word here is most often translated steadfast love elsewhere in our ESV Bibles,
one of the MAJOR, DEFINING attributes of the God of the Bible.
“the LORD the LORD, A God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and ABOUNDING in steadfast love” — God’s STEADFAST love, is an extraordinary, overflowing and loyal kindness. (Ex 34:7)
Well David tells his men,
“I want to know — who’s left of Saul’s family?! I want to show him KINDNESS!”
His men aren’t sure, but they know someone who should know, so they summon a man named Ziba, the former household steward of Saul,
and David asks him basically the same question:
“Is there not still someone of the house of Saul, that I may show the kindness of God to him?”
It’s not just David’s kindness here,
its GOD’s!
David is a CONDUIT of the extraordinary kindness of God.
David seems optimistic that there IS someone still alive from Saul’s family,
“Is there not still someone…?”
Someone to whom I may SHOW God’s kindness?
Ziba replies,
“There is still a son of Jonathan”
The king asks, “Where is he?”
Ziba tells him:
“In the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, at Lo-debar”
Lo-Debar was territory in the north, land previously hostile to David’s rule,
which would make Machir likely a Saul-loyalist,
someone willing to shelter and care for Saul’s grandson
Immediately David sends to bring this son of Jonathan from Machir into his presence in Jerusalem.
Now notice what v.6 says:
2 Samuel 9:6 (ESV)
And Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, son of Saul, came to David and fell on his face and paid homage.
His identity is not hidden, not skimmed over,
Its intentionally highlighted:
His name is Mephibosheth,
and he is:
the son of Jonathan,
son of Saul.
(The son of a righteous father,
but a wretched grandfather.)
Imagine this scene,
Saul’s grandson, met by David’s messengers in his hiding in Lo-Debar
“What? David the king wants to see me?!”
(Me, the grandson of his arch-rival?)
Given no choice, he is taken by David’s servants to his palace in Jerusalem,
and we can almost FEEL his heart POUNDING out of his chest,
Mephibosheth had good reason to FEAR for his life!
Meph was probably preparing himself to meet his Creator.
This was a royal summons before the presence of the king Meph was NOT anticipating.
And he was afraid.
And story tells us that Meph was “crippled in his feet”—
He was disabled.
He could’ve been paralyzed from the waist down, or simply had broken legs, unable to be treated with contemporary medical treatments [IVP BB]
When he finally arrives with David’s envoys,
he must’ve hobbled over to David—perhaps with the help of others
surely in great discomfort and awkwardness,
and falls on his face—prostrating himself before David
“Paying him homage”—bowing in reverence
What is this king of JUDAH going to say and do,
with this crippled Benjaminite?
v.6 “MEPHIBOSHETH”!
David—and notice that in vv.2-5 while talking to Ziba the narrator regularly calls David “the king”.
Now, in speaking to Mephibosheth, he is simply described as “David.” “And David said” -
David, a man,
speaking to this poor, impaired son of Jonathan by name
“Mephibosheth!”
- surely in the tone of voice, Meph was NOT expecting.
David NAMES Mephibosheth,
And its as if he’s speaking to Him on a 1st name basis.
But there’s more.
Meph quickly replies: “Behold, I am your servant.”
At your service” …
Picture Meph—this grandson of Saul—still trembling from the fate he is anticipating at the hands of Israel’s King.
The words he hears back, are NOT what He expects: that likely sent a waterfall of RELIEF over him:
“Do not fear! X2
For I will show you KINDNESS [HESED!]
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.”
Sure enough, v.11 +13 assure us, this was no empty promise: 2 Sam9:11
2 Samuel 9:11 (ESV)
So Mephibosheth ate at David’s table...
2 Samuel 9:13 (ESV)
“So Mephibosheth lived,” where?
in Jerusalem, for he ate always at the king’s table.
And what is the significance of him eating ALWAYS at the king’s table?
Who gets the privilege of regular dining at the banquet of the king?
Well we know, family of course,
- honored officials, the king’s inner circle
But the narrator here tells that Meph is functioning much more than an honored official,
like Abner Saul’s army commander who ate at his table
v.11 “So Meph ate at David’s table, like” WHO?
like one of the king’s sons!
So to sum up this first point,
David’s HESED — his extraordinary kindness and faithful love toward Meph
is shown in his personal naming of Meph
and his welcoming of Meph to feast always at his table, in his personal presence
as one of his sons!
David’s kindness is not an impersonal goodwill,
it is a profoundly INTIMATE, familial favor toward this grandson of Saul.
Does this remind you of another King?
Whose love is even MORE personal?
Even MORE intimate?
Of a Father who doesn’t just welcome the unworthy to his table, treating them LIKE his own children
But TRULY adopts sinners like you and me as sons and daughters, those born again into a chosen race and a royal priesthood
A Shepherd-King who calls his own sheep by name and manifests His name to them
- Not like the Jews who feel it TOO holy to utter the name of God,
We are given the privilege of KNOWING God personally, by name,
Calling the Father our Abba, Father; Calling the Son, our Lord Jesus!
This LOVING King takes us from enemy territory—what Paul calls the domain of darkness
and transfers into His kingdom of light
the NEW Jerusalem
where we sit with him in the heavenly places
awaiting the Marriage Supper of the Lamb
And until that face to face feast with Jesus,
He has given us a royal FAMILY with whom we can gather ALWAYS to EAT at the table His Word, and of the Lord’s Supper
What a PERSONAL love,
What an INTIMATE kindness of the Almighty King of heaven and earth for you and me.
That’s why Paul could say Gal 2:20-21; do you know this personal love of the Lord Jesus?
Now, tell me, did Meph, in and of himself, DESERVE this kindness from David?
NO.
What was TYPICAL—and still is in some places—for kings to do to rival families and heirs to the throne?
WIPE them out.
CUT them off.
That’s what the later king Baasha did to Jeroboam’s sons—he slaughtered every single one of them, leaving not one that breathed. (1 Ki 15)
Meph was aware of this himself, aware of the unusual, undeserved, graciousness of David toward him, as the offspring of Saul’s house.
2) Gods Kindness is Gracious.
Notice what Meph says later in 2 Sam 19 to David 2 Sam 19:28
2 Samuel 19:28 (ESV)
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, then, to cry to the king?”
We can say, that Meph deserved to die — he was born in a sinful family, doomed to destruction;
His father Saul (v.7 used both of fathers and g-fathers) was the great enemy of God’s true King
And he inherited the guilt and shame of his father
BUT David -
David was rich in mercy, rich in grace: unmerited kindness, unearned favor
You may know where I am heading:
You and I are born in sin, our father Adam passing to us a sinful nature, and guilt before God
We are according to Eph 2, by nature children of wrath, sons of disobedience, in the words of Jesus, children of our father the devil, CRIPPLED by the sins that chained us
As children of wrath, we are doomed to DIE, an eternal death—the torment of hell under the righteous anger of God forever
BUT GOD.
Ephesians 2:4 (ESV)
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,
Rom 5:8 WHILE WE WERE YET SINNERS — UNGODLY, WEAK, and UNWORTHY
MADE US ALIVE together with Christ
He graciously saved us.
And from Jesus’ fullness, we have all received GRACE upon GRACE.
My friends, you and I can NEVER be good enough to earn the grace of God.
We can’t be impressive enough
successful enough
important enough
to somehow achieve our own right to the Lord’s mercy and kindness
No, the LOVE of God in Christ is a FREE gift
to the weak and unworthy
who acknowledge their spiritual bankruptcy
forfeit their own self-righteousness
and ACCEPT the gift of God!
God’s love is personal.
God’s love is GRACIOUS.
Thirdly,
3) God’s LOVE is GENEROUS.
This goes hand in hand with what we have just covered.
God is RICH in mercy.
Notice what David GIVES to Meph—the crippled son of Saul.
He doesn’t just spare his life, though even THAT would be a undeserved gift
He doesn’t just grant him life-long access to his table and personal presence
Look at v.7 David says “I will restore to you ALL the land of Saul your father”
and v.9 to Ziba, “ALL that belonged 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 him in the produce, that [Meph] may have bread to eat.”
David gives Meph a GLORIOUS inheritance, restoring all that his father LOST because of his rebellion, to him
and inheritance with abiding fruit, with helpers and servants, an estate worthy of a KING…
Brother and sister,
Don’t you know that our God’s LOVE and KINDNESS is far MORE generous than this?
Don’t you know that He has not only given you abundant life now, but eternal life in the age to come?
Perpetual 24/7 ACCESS NOW into His holy of holiest presence through prayer, the Word, fellow saints, church, the beauty of creation
And an IMPERISHABLE, UNDEFILED, and UNFADING inheritance in heaven being kept for you!
An inheritance where you, as a child of the King, will REIGN with Him, forever and ever?
meaning, you will have honor and responsibility, glory and privilege,
according to your calling and faithfulness,
to rule over the new world, carrying out God’s orderly and peaceful administration of the world, all its vast cities and utopian landscapes…
Oh, there is no end, there is no ceiling to the GRACE of our eternal King!
There is NO Father who is more outrageously, extravagantly generous than our Father in heaven,
and our Lord Jesus at His right hand.
Now, this may all seem too good to be true.
After all, this life we currently live day to day is not always easy.
We often feel at a shortage of strength, weak, anxious—
Not always experiencing the closeness of God or the freedom from guilt and shame that we ought
Not always tasting the RICHNESS and sweetness of His Word
the spiritual riches of our identity in Christ!
What is the KEY to an ongoing and increasing knowledge of and personal experience of the PERSONAL, the GRACIOUS, the GENEROUS lovingkindness of God?
This leads us to our fourth and last quality of God’s hesed:
the KEY, really, to unlock all the riches of what I have spoken of
4) God’s love is faithful.
Looking back at our story, why is it in the first place that David SHOWS kindness to Meph?
Why DOES David show personal, gracious, and generous love to this crippled man?
We mentioned in and of himself he was NOT worthy of such royal treatment, royal honor.
WHY does David sets out to show this extraordinary kindness in the first place?
The answer is in v.1 and v.7.
For JONATHAN’s SAKE.
What does David mean by that?
He means:
BECAUSE of my covenant with Jonathan, my promises to him.
For this we have to go back to 1 Sam 20
In 1 Sam 20 David covenants—makes a solemn agreement, a pact with Jonathan—that when GOD establishes David’s kingdom and cuts off all his enemies—-
David would not utterly wipe out Jonathan’s—and thus Saul’s—family
but would show STEADFAST LOVE—God’s kindness—to them
It is BECAUSE of THIS promise to Jonathan,
and David’s FAITHFULNESS to fulfill his word,
that he sought to BLESS whoever remained of Saul’s family in 2 Sam 9
David’s FAITHFUL love for Jonathan,
led to His counter-cultural, supernatural love for Mephibosheth
For the sake of Jonathan.
NOT for Saul’s sake, that’s for sure—He brought a curse on their family
NOT for Mephibosheth’s sake, as though this poor man somehow warranted the royal treatment out of special pity
No, for the sake of Jonathan, his father.
His righteous father Jonathan, who loved David as his own soul,
and emptied himself of his royal privileges in self-sacrificial love for David
Tell me friends,
Why is it that ANY of us can experience the LOVE of God, instead of what we deserve by virtue of our father Adam, who brought a curse on our human family?
It’s not because you and I are something special.
Is it not because of our new father?
the one prophesied by Isaiah,
Him who would be called MIGHTY GOD, Wonderful Counselor, Prince of PEACE, Everlasting FATHER
The suffering Servant who would be CRUSHED for our iniquities,
put to grief by God the Father
to make an offering for the guilt of HIS offspring, HIS flesh and blood
The Messiah,
Who would be FAITHFUL to His God and King, emptying himself of his royal privileges in sacrificial love
Becoming obedient unto death
In order to JUSTIFY his children, wash them from their sins, and COUNT them righteous
In theology there is what theologians call the covenant of redemption,
what Eph 1 refers to as the predetermined counsel and will of God the Father with God the Son
to choose SOME sons and daughters of Adam,
to adopt and to bless,
not for their own sake or because of their own goodness,
but because of CHRIST’S.
For the sake of Christ, to whom these sons and daughters would be united by faith.
What does all this mean, and how is this the key to OUR experiencing God’s personal and radically generous love?
It means this: God’s LOVE—His KINDNESS—CANNOT fail, CANNOT falter toward His own beloved Son, Jesus
Within the very essence of God, GOD is FAITHFUL —Father to Son, Son to Father, HS, b/w F+S:
The FATHER cannot remove His steadfast love from His one and only Son
That would be to DENY Himself, which is IMPOSSIBLE
Therefore, whoever is IN the Son
united to Him by faith
can be SURE for ALL their days to receive the SAME love of God the Father for them.
In Christ, God’s LOVE is FAITHFUL forever
By looking to the Christ who saved you—
in whatever circumstances you find yourself
whether joy and triumph over sin
painful affliction
a vicious struggle with the same habitual sin
You can be ABSOLUTELY CONFIDENT, that God’s favor and grace and kindness and love continue toward you, no matter what
The key, though, is Christ.
God’s FAITHFUL love is Christ-anchored.
Without Christ, you can’t be sure God will keep you
Without ongoing heart-looking to Jesus,
our faithlessness and sin can ravage our lives, leading us to even deny him
So look to your father, Jesus —
For HIS SAKE, GOD the Father LOVES you,
and will forever LOVE you,
NOTHING separating you from Him
The Love of God is greater far,
than tongue or pen can ever tell…
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