Untitled Sermon (14)
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Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
A young family moved back to their family hometown and got settled in. Their son, Ryan, started attending the school in the area. One day, Ryan mentioned that the lady at the canteen was really nice to him. He said that she would smile with him and gave him extra food on his plate.
Ryan said lI don't know why she is being nice to me. She always says no to the other children, but not to me.”
So one day, Ryan’s mother went to the school: she really wanted to know who this lady was. Ryan pointed her out to his mother, but she did not recognize the lady at all. She went up to her and asked “Do you know me?”
The canteen lady said “no, but you are Miss Henry’s granddaughter. I used to go through some difficult times and Your grandmother always looked out for me and my children. I just want to be nice to someone in her family.”
Today’s sermon is about a young man with a strange name. His name was Mephibosheth.
When Mephibosheth was just five years old, his father, prince Jonathan and his grandfather, king Saul were killed in a battle against the Philistines. In fact, two of his uncles did in that battle the same day also.
When Mephibosheth’s nurse heard about the death of king Saul and Jonathan, she grabbed up 5 year old Mephibosheth and began running with him. But in her haste, she accidentally dropped him and something happened, causing him to crippled in both legs for life. We read about it in
And Jonathan, Saul’s son, had a son that was lame of his feet. He was five years old when the tidings came of Saul and Jonathan out of Jezreel, and his nurse took him up, and fled: and it came to pass, as she made haste to flee, that he fell, and became lame. And his name was Mephibosheth.
The nurse quickly travelled with Mephibosheth to a far away place called Lodebar to hide out. Lodebar was a place that nobody really cared to know about it. The name of the place literally means “nothing”.
In the culture of that day, when a king died and new king takes the throne, the new king would often kill anyone else that might be a threat to his throne or power. This was the reason that the nurse ran away with little Mephibosheth to hide him in Lodebar. That is the basic history of Mephibosheth.
Now let us look at some background for David and Jonathan. After young David killed Goliath, Jonathan (king Saul’s son) got to know him and they became friends. In fact, they became very good friends. The Bible said that they loved each other. They had the same spirit, cut from the same cloth, they had so much in common. When Jonathan died in battle, David wrote a tribute to Jonathan. This is recorded in :
How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle!
O Jonathan, thou wast slain in thine high places.
I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan:
Very pleasant hast thou been unto me:
Thy love to me was wonderful,
Passing the love of women.
Well, it was several more years before David gained kingship over the whole land of Israel. But when the day came that David was the king, he remembered a vow that he and Jonathan had made with each other. That vow is found in
And thou shalt not only while yet I live shew me the kindness of the Lord, that I die not: But also thou shalt not cut off thy kindness from my house for ever: no, not when the Lord hath cut off the enemies of David every one from the face of the earth. So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, Let the Lord even require it at the hand of David’s enemies. And Jonathan caused David to swear again, because he loved him: for he loved him as he loved his own soul.
Now that David is the king, he remembered the vow that he and his close friend had made and wanted to fulfill it. David started to research to see how he can accomplish his vow.
And David said, Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul, that I may shew him kindness for Jonathan’s sake? And there was of the house of Saul a servant whose name was Ziba. And when they had called him unto David, the king said unto him, Art thou Ziba? And he said, Thy servant is he. And the king said, Is there not yet any of the house of Saul, that I may shew the kindness of God unto him? And Ziba said unto the king, Jonathan hath yet a son, which is lame on his feet. And the king said unto him, Where is he? And Ziba said unto the king, Behold, he is in the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel, in Lo-debar. Then king David sent, and fetched him out of the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel, from Lo-debar. Now when Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, was come unto David, he fell on his face, and did reverence. And David said, Mephibosheth. And he answered, Behold thy servant! And David said unto him, Fear not: for I will surely shew thee kindness for Jonathan thy father’s sake, and will restore thee all the land of Saul thy father; and thou shalt eat bread at my table continually. And he bowed himself, and said, What is thy servant, that thou shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I am? Then the king called to Ziba, Saul’s servant, and said unto him, I have given unto thy master’s son all that pertained to Saul and to all his house. Thou therefore, and thy sons, and thy servants, shall till the land for him, and thou shalt bring in the fruits, that thy master’s son may have food to eat: but Mephibosheth thy master’s son shall eat bread alway at my table. Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants. Then said Ziba unto the king, According to all that my lord the king hath commanded his servant, so shall thy servant do. As for Mephibosheth, said the king, he shall eat at my table, as one of the king’s sons. And Mephibosheth had a young son, whose name was Micha. And all that dwelt in the house of Ziba were servants unto Mephibosheth. So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem: for he did eat continually at the king’s table; and was lame on both his feet.
Can you put yourself in Mephibosheth’s position for a minute? He knows that he is a defendant of king Saul and that very fact puts his life in jeopardy.
For as far back as he can remember, he has been cripple. He has spent his whole life hiding in fear in a back-a-world place called Lodebar.
The name Lodebar just sounds like a place for a defeated person. High-debar would have sounded better, but Lo - debar sounds...well, lower.
How many nights did he wonder how long it would be before the soldiers would come and for him?
How many days did he look down that dirt road and wonder if today would be the day that they would take him away?
As the years came and went, he probably began to feel more comfortable living in Lodebar.
He decided to get married and started a famil. He had a son named Micha.
Here we have a son of a prince, the grandson of a king living in Lodebar.
Here we have a person that is crippled and broken living in despair with very little hope.
But there was a king in Jerusalem who had made a vow…a king who wanted to do something for his close friend Jonathan who died a few years before. A king who begs the process of finding a descendant of his close friend Jonathan.
When David found that there was a son of Jonathan still alive, he sent his soldiers to Lodebar to bring him up from there…to the palace of the king!
I can see Mephibosheth setting outside the house one day and seeing soldiers coming down that dirt road. He had seen this in his mind a thousand times before and every time he had imagined it, things didn't go well.
When the soldiers came to his house, they told Mephibosheth that the king wanted to talk to him. They took him into custody and began the journey back to the palace.
As they travelled, I can imagine that Mephibosheth began preparing himself for death. Then they arrived at the palace and Mephibosheth was ushered in the presence of the king.
He probably thought that this was just a formality: the king was going to sentence me and then they will killl me.
“What good have I ever done anyway. I have always been a burden. I’ve never been able to support myself. I probably deserve to die, so just let it happen.”
But what is this? The sentence doesn't sound like anything like the one he has heard a thousand times in his head. The king is saying that he is showing me kindness because of my father. He is giving me all of king Saul’s property. He is making Ziba take care of it all and give all the profits to me.
How can this be? I am lower than a dead dog. I am broken. I don't deserve this. I don't deserve to be treated like this. And now on top of all this, the king is making me a part of his family. I can now eat at the king’s table!
I am being adopted into the king’s family and he is going to treat me like his own son. The king didn't have to do this for me. The king cup hose to save me out of Lodebar and bring me to his palace and I am not going to refuse his offer. I am going to accept it with a grateful and thankful heart.
My friends,