Mercy

Mercy

Welcome the internet Audience.

Intro: David becomes King.

A. Last week we talked again about Saul’s death

· Mortal combat, how his bad decisions came back to haunt him.

· If we do not deal ruthlessly with sin it will deal ruthlessly with us.

B. We are pushing forward today so we are going to run up the timeline.

· The difference between David and Saul is that David ask God for direction.

· Shall I go up to the towns of Judah? Yes. Where shall I go? Hebron.

· The men of Judah anointed him king of Judah. The southern part of kingdom. The tribes of Judah.

· Abner, Saul’s general, took Saul’s 4th son “Is- Bo- Sheth” and made him king of the northern tribes. They called that Israel.

· Joab was David’s general and fought Abner and Abner killed his youngest brother. You need to know that. .

· They fought against each other and Is bo sheth goes a little crazy and accuses Abner of sleeping with his fathers concubine. Abner, after all he has done for him, gets angry and plans with the elders of Israel to give the northern kingdom to David.

· Abner comes to Hebron and David welcomes him and they make a covenant and Abner leaves in peace.

· Joab comes in from a raid and hears that Joab had left in peace so he sends messengers that say they are from David and Abner comes back to Hebron and before he sees David, Joab kills him.

· David is crushed by the news.

· Mean while back in Israel Ish bo sheth hears of Abners death and panics. All of Israel were worried what would happen to them without Abner. So, two leaders of Israel raiding parties Rekab and Baanah sneak into Is bo sheths house, no palace yet, and kill him.

· They bring his head back to David thinking David would be glad. That didn’t go so well.

· This leads us to 2Sameul 5. David is anointed King over all Israel. David was 30 years old.

· In chapter 5 he captures Jerusalem from the Jebusites and the Lord leads him to victory over the philistines.

I. What does it mean. A man after God’s heart.

Paul Preaches in Antioch of Pisidia

Acts 13:21–23 NLT

Then the people begged for a king, and God gave them Saul son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, who reigned for forty years. But God removed Saul and replaced him with David, a man about whom God said, ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart. He will do everything I want him to do.’ “And it is one of King David’s descendants, Jesus, who is God’s promised Savior of Israel!

A. Looking at David we see his attitudes

· Humble – Lowborn men are but a breath, the highborn are but a lie; if weighed on a balance, they are nothing; together they are only a breath.

· Reverent – I call to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies.

· Respectful – Be merciful to me, O Lord, for I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and my body with grief.

· Trusting – The LORD is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid?

· Loving – I love you, O Lord, my strength.

· Devoted – You have filled my heart with greater joy than when their grain and new wine abound.

· Recognition – I will praise you, O Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonders.

· Faithful – Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

· Obedient – Give me understanding, and I will keep your law and obey it with all my heart.

· Repentant – For the sake of your name, O Lord, forgive my iniquity, though it is great.

B. We see in David what we know God wants from us.

2 Chronicles 16:9 NLT

The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. What a fool you have been! From now on you will be at war.”

· What is God looking for? He is looking for men and women whose hearts are His—completely

· What is God looking for? He is looking for men and women whose hearts are His—completely

· That means there are no locked closets. Nothing’s been swept under the rugs. That means that when you do wrong, you admit it and come to terms with it.

· You are not just obedient but you long to please Him in your actions. You care deeply about the motivations behind your actions.

· He’s looking for deeply spiritual, genuinely humble, honest-to-the-core servants who have integrity.

· David showed this in His life.

>>> David was not perfect. He was a lot like us…

C. David failed often.

· It is interesting that he failed most in his family life.

· David succeeded at work, but he failed at home.

· He did not deal with the members of his own family as he should have, but he was more careful to manage the affairs of his government properly.

· We never see him asking God what he should do at home.

· The home, not one’s work, is the proving ground for church leadership. This is because the church is, or should be, more like a family than a business.

· David ordered the death of those men who killed Saul and Ishbosheth, but he didn’t do anything to Joab, his nephew, for murdering Abner.

· He is a terrible leader in his family as we will see in later chapters.

>>> David had great attributes, but he failed. Just like we do. In the same areas we do. What made his heart like Gods?

II. What do we see in him that is like God?

A. David’s attributes can’t all be used for Gods heart

· Humble , God is humble

· Reverent, our God is holy, who would he be reverent too?

· Respectful, to whom?

· Trusting, can you be trusting when you know everything?

· Repentant? From what?

· Obedient? To whom?

B. God’s attributes in line with Davids

· Love

· Devotion

· Faithfulness

· Merciful

C. Our God is Mercy.

Psalm 86:5 NLT

O Lord, you are so good, so ready to forgive, so full of unfailing love for all who ask for your help.

O Lord, you are so good, so ready to forgive, so full of unfailing love for all who ask for your help.

· David wrote this Psalm he understood God’s mercy.

· David wrote this Psalm he understood God’s mercy.

· If you look at Davids life you see mercy.

· He was merciful to Saul. He could have killed him.

· He wanted to extend mercy to Ishbosheth but he was denied.

· He extended mercy to Abner and he was killed anyway.

· He extended mercy to Mephibosheth

2 Samuel 9:7–11 NLT

“Don’t be afraid!” David said. “I intend to show kindness to you because of my promise to your father, Jonathan. I will give you all the property that once belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will eat here with me at the king’s table!” Mephibosheth bowed respectfully and exclaimed, “Who is your servant, that you should show such kindness to a dead dog like me?” Then the king summoned Saul’s servant Ziba and said, “I have given your master’s grandson everything that belonged to Saul and his family. You and your sons and servants are to farm the land for him to produce food for your master’s household. But Mephibosheth, your master’s grandson, will eat here at my table.” (Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.) Ziba replied, “Yes, my lord the king; I am your servant, and I will do all that you have commanded.” And from that time on, Mephibosheth ate regularly at David’s table, like one of the king’s own sons.

“Don’t be afraid!” David said. “I intend to show kindness to you because of my promise to your father, Jonathan. I will give you all the property that once belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will eat here with me at the king’s table!” 8 Mephibosheth bowed respectfully and exclaimed, “Who is your servant, that you should show such kindness to a dead dog like me?” 9 Then the king summoned Saul’s servant Ziba and said, “I have given your master’s grandson everything that belonged to Saul and his family. 10 You and your sons and servants are to farm the land for him to produce food for your master’s household. But Mephibosheth, your master’s grandson, will eat here at my table.” (Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.)

>>> I think mercy was one of the things that God saw when God said he was a man after his own heart.

III. Are you merciful?

A. What is mercy?

· The biblical meaning of mercy is exceedingly rich and complicated, as evidenced by the fact that several Hebrew and Greek words are needed to comprehend the many-sided concept.

· Consequently, there are many synonyms employed in translation to express the dimensions of meaning involved, such as “kindness,” “lovingkindness,” “goodness,” “grace,” “favor,” “pity,” “compassion,” and “steadfast love.”

· Prominent in the concept of mercy is the compassionate disposition to forgive an offender or adversary and to help or spare him in his sorry plight.

· There is a lot to Mercy but at its basic form compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one's power to punish or harm. To not give them what the rightfully deserve.

B. Are you full of Mercy?

Luke 6:36 NLT

You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate.

Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

· Jesus commands us to be like the father. Merciful.

· Jesus commands us to be like the father. Merciful.

· What would mercy look like for you today.

o Does someone in your family need mercy?

o It is tough trying to decide if you should give mercy or tough love.

o We get burned so often.

· Mike Huckabee decided to have mercy and it came back on him. He pardoned a man who did the crimes again.

· Sometimes we just don’t know what the right thing is to do. The question is does having mercy even come up?

· Is mercy something you are ready to show?

C. Its His mercy that saved us.

Titus 3:5–7 NLT

he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit. He generously poured out the Spirit upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior. Because of his grace he made us right in his sight and gave us confidence that we will inherit eternal life.

he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit.] 6 He generously poured out the Spirit upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior. 7 Because of his grace he made us right in his sight and gave us confidence that we will inherit eternal life.

· It is his mercy that gave us new life and new possibilities.

· It is his mercy that gave us new life and new possibilities.

· Do you show mercy that way?

ILLUS: Walking on the road. People that will not move over.

· If we are God’s salt and light. If we are God’s hands and feet. Should we be merciful first.

· I love this church because we are merciful. We try and help wherever we can. Those who deserve help and those who do not.

· Sometimes though we become like David. We are successful at church and at work but less at home. We have shown mercy so much and have been abused that we don’t consider it anymore.

· Can you imagine God not considering mercy for someone?

Hebrews 4:16 NLT

So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.

So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.

· He offers us mercy. Should we extend the same to our parents, our kids, our spouses…

· He offers us mercy. Should we extend the same to our parents, our kids, our spouses…

· How about our kids teachers… Our neighbors…

· How about our ex’s…

· How about our political opponents …

Summary: You want to be a man or woman after God’s own heart you are going to have to show mercy. I get the fact that we need wisdom for this. But we can Ask god for that. He will give it liberally. I’ll give you a hint err on the side of mercy. It is his mercy that made us his when we deserved eternal punishment.

1 Peter 1:3–4 NLT

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay.

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, 4 and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay.

His mercy has given us eternity. Given that don’t you think you should show mercy? Jesus said be merciful just like your father.

His mercy has given us eternity. Jesus said be merciful just as your father is.