7-12-26 2 Samuel

I am exhausted.

Yet, I am blessed.

I spent all week last week as the speaker at Mountain Lakes Bible camp for a bunch of High Schoolers.

I had the privilege. Of sharing Jesus in the Old Testament with them through 8 messages and 8 books of the Bible.

I was great to see these young men and ladies soak in God’s word.

And on Wednesday night, I shared the gospel with the group of teens and 8 hands rose to accept Jesus as their savior. A few more the next night too.

So, I might be exhausted, but it was wonderful to see the upcoming generation come to Jesus.

Each morning they would comb through a different book of the Old Testament, either Exodus, Numbers, or Joshua as their assignment asked and they found Jesus in those books and then got to teach me what they found. Wow, I was truly blessed by those High Schoolers this last week.

Then I got to do the Poker Run yesterday with the Men’s alliance group and even though my body was dead on it’s feet, my spirit was sky high.

Tomorrow I might be in a coma, but I loved, every minute of it.

We spent 2 weeks in the book of 1 Samuel and saw some Dads that were not worth much and we saw David anointed King.

We saw Jesus in these passages and while we are moving onto 2 Samuel today, I will always encourage you to read and look for Jesus in all that you read.

An opening question:

It’s a tough one.

I’m just coming off High School camp when the phrase Too Much Information is not in their vocabulary.

So, I’m going to ask a few questions. They are questions that most people in any room would answer YES too. And the point of the question is not to make you feel shame or guilt. But to show you that God loves you even when you don’t love others and that you don’t have to live there any more.

Have you ever run away from a problem?

most of us have. I have. It’s in some ways a lot easier to run from a problem then to face it.

Or have you ever treated someone like dirt because you either think they deserved it or had it in your head that if you treat them poorly then they will finally get it and turn themselves around?

Those are hard questions.

I don’t like those questions.

If someone asked me those questions and waited for me to answer I might just stay silent, because I can’t say no and I don’t want to say yes.

But as I was going through 2 Samuel and the life of King David I saw him react to those questions with a hard NO.

Not always. There are places in David’s life where he treats people horribly.

But when we remember that David is a man after God’s own heart, it should not surprise us that when David comes across someone who the rest of the world would throw away that he snatches them us and makes them his own.

Much like Jesus does for us.

Most of 1 Samuel from chapter 17 on is a teeter totter of King Saul either loving David or hating him with a murderous passion.

Saul became such a disgrace to his anointing that God anointed David to replace Saul.

In most situations like this the freshly anointed would go in and say. I’m the king now, kill everyone in our way.

David had two situations where Saul was in a position to be perfectly deposed of and absolutely no one in his little army would have thought less of him for it.

However, that is not how David works.

Yes, God anointed him to be the next king, but in David’s mind and practice, Saul was also God’s anointed and he would just wait his turn.

And we get to his turn in 2 Samuel.

David is now King.

Saul is dead and in most cultures the thing to do is find every person related to the last king and get rid of them.

If you got a king who feels threatened by the former kings family he might kill the entire family line. Problem gone.

That’s a good example of running from your problems. There are examples of that in the Kings of Judah and Israel down the line and even with King David to a point later on.

But in 2 Samuel 9 David has an opportunity to get at Saul’s family and he does something very unexpected.

Even if you have a benevolent ruler. One who hates violence and sees it only as a necessary evil. When it comes to the former King’s family, even the best of kings won’t let the former family stay in country.

They would get exiled and forgotten. And that’s best case scenario.

But King David isn’t the stereotypical King.

He doesn’t want to run away from the problem that is King Saul’s family.

David is a man after God’s own heart and even though Saul did him wrong, he first and foremost did nothing personally to upset Saul’s reign he also didn’t want Saul’s family punished for Saul’s actions, though later in 2 Samuel he does allow some members of Saul’s family to be executed by another group.

That’s not my favorite choice from David. But just because someone is a man after God’s own heart doesn’t mean he doesn’t make mistakes.

Let’s checkout 2 Samuel 9 and see what David does to a seemingly VERY easy target.

2 Samuel 9:1–6 ESV

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.”

David is in the Jerusalem area and sends someone to Lo-debar to get Mephibosheth.

Just to put that in mileage we understand.

Let’s go today on a long walk from Bly to Crater Lake.

That’s not a short trip.

It makes sense that a member of Saul’s family is hiding out there.

Get as far away from the new King as possible.

And I bet that when they are bringing him back, he doesn’t think for a second it’s so David can show him kindness.

His best guess is likely that is he humbles himself enough he can have a quick death or even be allowed to leave the country.

David has other plans though. He wants to not only let him live, but honor this man.

2 Samuel 9:7–8 ESV

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?”

While this isn’t an unheard of example in history, it is rare to have the old heir to the throne sit with the deposing king in a place of honor.

It’s also not common to give them wealth and power. Namely, land and status.

Mephibosheth does not have to live his life in hiding, but instead get’s to live out in the open at the Kings side.

It makes sense in this situation that Mephibosheth call himself a dead dog. That is a disgraceful term. That would be like someone today walking into a room and proclaiming that they are nothing, a worthless piece of garbage. A problem to be ignored.

But David is a man after God’s own heart. That is not what he wants to do to Mephibosheth.

We do also note in this passage that Mephibosheth is Jonathan’s son. And Jonathan was David’s best friend. If Jonathan had survived, it is likely the same thing would have happened. As unlikely as it would be culturally to have the heir to the throne sit at the new kings table.

But that is what Jesus does for us.

We live in a fallen world where the King is not acknowledged and is often ignored.

There are a lot of people in this world who use the name of the King as a swear word when they are angry or stub their toe.

And that same King has every right to treat us as nothing, as garbage, as a dead dog.

But that is not our King.

King David, a man after God’s ow heart, got it wrong at times.

There were times in his life where he treated people like garbage. He treated people like they were less than him.

There were people in his life that he didn’t love and he showed it.

But Jesus isn’t King David. He is God in the flesh and even though he has every right to treat us fairly in our rebellion.

He invites us to his table.

I did this thing last week with the campers at High School camp.

When it came to meal times I would sit at a random spot in the cafeteria and just wait to see who would sit with me.

I had prearranged with the person who dismissed the tables to eat that whatever table I was at should be dismissed LAST.

High Schoolers are a hungry bunch and they catch on quick.

Some avoided my table. But there were a few who, even though they knew we’d be last sat with me anyway. Because I was the speaker and they wanted a seat at my table.

I’m nobody special and I wasn’t trying to make a point, I was just seeing how many people would sit with me knowing they would have to wait to eat. And the answer is about 5 or 6.

And they didn’t sit with me because there was no room left, but there were empty tables and they still wanted to sit at my table.

But then on the last two days the person dismissing tables to go eat felt bad and let us go early. Even first on one of the meals.

The whole point is that Jesus invites us to his table and we are not worthy to sit at it.

Mephibosheth brings nothing to the table. He’s crippled and useless. He has no power or command over anyone. He is over the family line that was an enemy of the new King. But how David treated Mephibosheth is how Jesus treats us.

As enemies of God, humans have no rights and no reason to expect kindenss from the King, but the King gives it freely.

Romans 5:6–11 ESV

6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

We are wanted at the kings table, no matter what our past looks like, he loves us and desires us to be with him. Even when we’ve treated him poorly in the past, he doesn’t hate us or want us thrown away.

The vast majority of us in this room are adults.

Not a lot of teenagers, but I think teenagers have something us adults are missing out on and that’s a deep emotional understanding of what it’s like to feel wanted.

I sometimes thing we grow out of it as we get older. Not like we don’t like being wanted or desired. But we get to a point where we know we aren’t going to get it and we settle.

One of the most moving moments this last week at High School camp is when I took some time and told the campers that each and everyone of them was a treasure. Boy and girl.

I told them that their treasure was precious and wonderful and not for just anybody.

I had also been telling them all week that God loves them and wants them.

A few heads were down when I was saying this because many of the campers knew what I meant when I was talking about their treasure.

And when I told them that even if they had given their treasure away, that God still wanted them, a few lost it. In a good way.

We had a campfire after the talk that night and one of the campers was poking fun at another. It was pretty innocent and nothing me or a counselor would correct. It was kids being kids.

But the camper, while not really offended or hurt by the jab replied, “Hey, I’m God’s treasure and he wants me.”

I almost cried. They got it.

And we can get it too.

God wants you to be at his table.

Not because you bring anything to it. None of us do. He doesn’t need us. But he wants us.

Of any other person in in whole world, who would you want to desire you more than God himself?

I asked those questions at the beginning if anyone had ever run from a problem or treated someone as garbage because they felt wronged.

If anyone deserves that from God it’s us.

We have wronged him, but he still wants us. Isn’t that amazing. And isn’t that a lesson on how we should treat other people in our life?

We don’t have to be everyone’s best friend. There are people in our life that have and would again cause us physical harm.

My advice, forgive and love from afar. The forgiveness can be for your peace. Don’t let someone else’s sin run your life.

We are God’s master piece.

Ephesians 2:10 ESV

10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

We do good, not because the person deserves it, but because if Jesus wants me at his table, who am I to refuse someone else.

Let’s Pray