The King Who Befriends His Enemies
Notes
Transcript
Introduction:
Have you ever gone out of your way to show kindness to someone that just didn’t deserve it? Tonight we are going to talk about something that King David did to show kindness to one of his enemies, and as we will see, it is another foreshadowing of the kindness of God towards us.
1 And David said, “Is there still anyone left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?”
2 Now there was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was Ziba, and they called him to David. And the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?” And he said, “I am your servant.”
3 And the king said, “Is there not still someone of the house of Saul, that I may show the kindness of God to him?” Ziba said to the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan; he is crippled in his feet.”
4 The king said to him, “Where is he?” And Ziba said to the king, “He is in the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, at Lo-debar.”
5 Then King David sent and brought him from the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, at Lo-debar.
6 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.”
7 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.”
8 And he paid homage and said, “What is your servant, that you should show regard for a dead dog such as I?”
9 Then the king called Ziba, Saul’s servant, and said to him, “All that belonged to Saul and to all his house I have given to your master’s grandson.
10 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.
11 Then Ziba 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.
12 And Mephibosheth had a young son, whose name was Mica. And all who lived in Ziba’s house became Mephibosheth’s servants.
13 So Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, for he ate always at the king’s table. Now he was lame in both his feet.
Pray
1. The King Who Searches Us Out (vv.1-5)
1. The King Who Searches Us Out (vv.1-5)
1 And David said, “Is there still anyone left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?”
2 Now there was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was Ziba, and they called him to David. And the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?” And he said, “I am your servant.”
3 And the king said, “Is there not still someone of the house of Saul, that I may show the kindness of God to him?” Ziba said to the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan; he is crippled in his feet.”
4 The king said to him, “Where is he?” And Ziba said to the king, “He is in the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, at Lo-debar.”
5 Then King David sent and brought him from the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, at Lo-debar.
David went on a hunt, just not for blood
David started asking around to try to find Saul’s family members. Most kings would have tried to round them up to get rid of the opposition and secure their throne. David did not need to do this.
David wanted to fulfill a covenant that he had made with Jonathan.
Who was Mephibosheth?
Go back to 2 Samuel 4
4 Jonathan, the son of Saul, had a son who was crippled in his feet. 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.
2. The King Who Shows Us Kindness (v.6-8)
2. The King Who Shows Us Kindness (v.6-8)
6 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.”
7 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.”
8 And he paid homage and said, “What is your servant, that you should show regard for a dead dog such as I?”
David goes out of his way to find Mephibosheth and restore to him all of the lands that had belonged to Saul
Mephibosheth had no idea what David wanted to do to him and got the surprise of a lifetime
He was blessed by David rather than cursed by him
David had to reassure Mephibosheth that he didn’t need to fear him
3. The King Who Invites Us to His Table (v.9-13)
3. The King Who Invites Us to His Table (v.9-13)
9 Then the king called Ziba, Saul’s servant, and said to him, “All that belonged to Saul and to all his house I have given to your master’s grandson.
10 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.
11 Then Ziba 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.
12 And Mephibosheth had a young son, whose name was Mica. And all who lived in Ziba’s house became Mephibosheth’s servants.
13 So Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, for he ate always at the king’s table. Now he was lame in both his feet.
What does it mean to eat at the King’s table?
Many would take this honor for granted
Every need would be provided for.
You simply rest in the company of the King.
David made sure that Ziba and his family took care of all of the farming and lands that he restored to Mephibosheth.
David made sure that everything Mephibosheth would need was provided for.
Isn’t that the same thing that God promises us?
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’
32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.
33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
This doesn’t mean that we don’t labor for anything, but you aren’t lame in both feet either, are you?
Even more, God invites us to eat at His table always
We must come by faith through Jesus
We must become a part of His household
Conclusion
Here’s the most amazing part of this whole encounter.
Remember, Mephibosheth was:
Sought out
Shown kindness
Given a Seat at the table
All of this was done to a man who was the Kings enemy by any human standards. That’s incredible enough, but that isn’t the end of Mephibosheth’s story.
We see this man and his servant Ziba show up again in chapter 16. I won’t share the whole account just yet, but there is a quarrel over whether Mephibosheth turned on David when his son Absalom later challenges his father’s reign. It seems that Mephibosheth might have been an opportunist and sought to take advantage of what he perceived as a weakness in David.
We may never know, but what we do know is that we do not deserve the friendship of the King of kings and Lord of lords for ourselves. We do not deserve His kindness and benevolence towards us.
However, God delights to show us His mercy. He gets glory in it. We should first receive this mercy for ourselves. Then, we should seek to be like David, and ultimately King Jesus, and show kindness and mercy to our own enemies.
