A Seat At The Table

Introduction

Thank you Brayden! That is powerful what God has done in your life to heal you, and defy what naturally could’ve happened. God has a plan for your life and He is going to make it happen.

(Thank the student leaders who Hannah bragged on a few weeks ago before break in front of students)

Also, break the social media fast. What did you guys learn?

Alright! Open your Bibles to 2 Samuel 9. We are going to look at an intriguing story and testimony this week that has the gospel written all over it right in the middle of the Old Testament.

MAIN POINT TODAY- Because of Jesus, we have a seat at the King of Kings table.

Read 2 Samuel 9:1-3

2 Samuel 9:1–3 ESV

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 Ziba, and they called him to David. And the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?” 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?” Ziba said to the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan; he is crippled in his feet.”

Kindness- “Hesed” it doesn’t just mean nice. It means a costly love in light of a promise (Covenant).

Go back to 1 Samuel 20:12-17 for some context for this passage.

1 Samuel 20:12–17 ESV

And Jonathan said to David, “The Lord, the God of Israel, be witness! When I have sounded out my father, about this time tomorrow, or the third day, behold, if he is well disposed toward David, shall I not then send and disclose it to you? But should it please my father to do you harm, the Lord do so to Jonathan and more also if I do not disclose it to you and send you away, that you may go in safety. May the Lord be with you, as he has been with my father. 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.” And Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “May the Lord take vengeance on David’s enemies.” And Jonathan made David swear again by his love for him, for he loved him as he loved his own soul.

Covenant is different than a contract. Contract says if you do your part I’ll do my part. If you don’t, I won’t do mine. In a contract there isn’t room for the loving kindness of God.

What most kings would do when they took over the kingdom (not from their dads) they would find all the relatives of the previous king who had a claim to the throne, and they would wipe out the competition. They would kill them.

“For Jonathan’s sake” not because David is awesome and great.

“The kindness of God”

Mephibosheth- means “Shameful”

Lo-debar- means “God forsaken”

Mephibosheth the shameful one was in a God forsaken place.

One of the big lies of the enemy is that your past defines you and determines your future. Not only is Mephibosheth crippled in his feet, but he is living in a place that is God forsaken. David writes down that God leads us to green pastures. But he’s hiding out because there is a new king. He thinks that he is going to get killed if he gets found out.

What David is saying is the one who is crippled, who thinks that he’s worthless, who is full of shame, who is in the place without God and without pasture. I’m going to go do for him what he can’t do for himself. I am going to go and get him and bring him to the palace.

HOPEFULLY you see the gospel tissue here in this text! Because we all were just like this! We were broken bodied, with a broken soul, and God did for us what we couldn’t do for ourselves, and He sends his very own Son Jesus Christ to come and fetch us out of Lo-debar a God forsaken place.

He thinks that he is about to die. He thinks he is about to get hit with the judgment, but instead of the judgment he gets hit with the loving-kindness of the king.

This story makes me think of another one in John 8, the woman caught in adultery in the presence of Jesus. What say you Jesus? All the perfect people start judging, oh wait that just leaves me. And he says to her “Who condemns you?” She says nobody, and he says “neither do I, now go and leave your life of sin.”

This is what is happening right here!

“Do not fear”-the most used command in the Bible. 366 times there is some form of it in the Bible. Every day of my life I need to hear do not fear, why because I have a tendency to take my trust and put it in my circumstances and God calls us to take it back and put it in the God of all of our circumstances, and perfect love drives out all fear and He perfectly loves us through His Son Jesus.

You who are technically an enemy of me, I will show mercy because of a covenant that I have with your father. The way I treat you is based on what somebody else has done for you, which is rooted in God’s love for me.

so #1 “I will show you kindness” God’s unconditional loving kindness.

#2 “I will restore to you all the land of Saul your father.”

Not only will you be loved, but you will be blessed!

#3 “And you shall eat at my table always”

I am going to adopt you into my family.

That’s a longgggg way from Lo-debar. But what if he screws up are you going to kick him out? No he didn’t do anything to deserve the invitation to begin with so it’s not his to lose.

This is how mephibosheth sees himself…just a dead dog. He’s humble for sure. You never want to forget where you come from. When you realize that you’re spiritually bankrupt, you’re perfectly positioned to receive the kingdom of God.

When the enemy tries to define you by your scars, I want you to know that you are defined by scars, but not yours…but Jesus’.

Look up Neil anderson’s list of bible verses of what the bible says we are. You say “well I don’t feel like that” Your feelings aren’t the Lord of the universe.

“So Mephibosheth ate at David’s table, like one of the king’s sons.” He didn’t do anything to deserve it, didn’t do anything to earn it, but because of God’s loving kindness for the king, and the king displayed loving kindness to M, and he was invited to the table. NOT TO EARN A SPOT AS A SERVANT BUT TO BE CELEBRATED AS A SON. (The story of the prodigal son).

Sometimes our loving God will allow you to fall flat on your back, so that the only option is to look up.

Mephibosheth’s son Mica- God isn’t just trying do something in you, but He is also going to do something through you. Do you understand the implications of a teenager who gives their life to Christ…the impact that has on your friends? The impact that has on your family? The impact that has on your future kids and grandkids? Generations were impacted.

In case you haven’t gotten the connection yet…we are all Mephibosheth. All of us are spiritually broken and there is nothing that we could do to deserve a seat at the kings table, but because of God’s love and kindness we are always going to have a seat at the kings table. He fetched us out of Lo-debar, out of shame and a God forsaken place.

Jesus is the greater and better Jonathan. Because of His loving kindness towards us we have been invited like a cripple to the King’s table.

The table is an important symbol in the Bible.

The Tomb.

The Cross.

The Table. It represents covenant, family, nourishment.

Because of Jesus, we have a seat at the King of Kings table.