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2nd
Samuel 8:1-18 “And
after it came to pass, that David smote the Philistines, and subdued them: and David took Metheg-ammah out of the hand
of the Philistines. 2 And
he smote Moab, and measured them with a line, casting them down to the ground;
even with two lines measured he to put to death, and with one full line to keep
alive. And so the Moabites became
David’s servants and brought gifts. 3
David smote also Hadadezer, the son of
Rehob, king of Zobah, as he went to recover his border at the river Euphrates. 4
And David took from him a thousand chariots,
and seven hundred horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen: and David houghed all the chariot horses,
but reserved of them for an hundred chariots. 5
And when the Syrians of
Damascus came to succour Hadadezer king of Zobah, David slew of the Syrians two
and twenty thousand men. 6 Then
David put garrisons in Syria of Damascus:
and the Syrians became servants to David, and brought gifts. And the LORD
preserved David whithersoever he went. 7
And David took the shields of gold that were
on the servants of Hadadezer, and brought them to Jerusalem. 8
And from Betah, and from Berothai,
cities of Hadadezer, king David took exceeding much brass. 9
When Toi king of Hamath heard that David had smitten all the host of Hadadezer,
10 then
Toi sent Joram his son unto king David, to salute him, and to bless him, because
he had fought against Hadadezer, and smitten him: for Hadadezer had wars with Toi. And Joram brought with him vessels of
silver, and vessels of gold, and vessels of brass: 11
which also king David did dedicate unto
the LORD,
with the silver and gold that he had dedicated of all nations which he subdued;
12 of
Syria, and of Moab, and of the children of Ammon, and of the Philistines, and
of Amalek, and of the spoil of Hadadezer, son of Rehob, king of Zobah. 13
And David gat him a name when he
returned from smiting of the Syrians in the valley of salt, being [slaying]
eighteen thousand men. 14 And
he put garrisons in Edom; throughout all Edom put he garrisons, and all they of
Edom became David’s servants. And the LORD
preserved David whithersoever he went. 15
And David reigned over all Israel; and
David executed judgment and justice unto all his people. 16
And Joab the son of Zeruiah was
over the host; and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder; 17
and Zadok the son of Ahitub, and
Ahimelech the son of Abiathar, were the priests; and Seraiah was the
scribe; 18 and
Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over both the Cherethites and the
Pelethites; and David’s sons were chief rulers.” Introduction [Audio
version: https://resources.ccphilly.org/detail.asp?TopicID=&Teaching=WED669] “Chapter
8 begins by saying “And after this”
Remember last week in chapter 7 it was in David’s heart, as he had rest
from all of the enemies round about him, they were no longer pursuing, no
longer attacking, David had it in his heart to build a temple for God, looking
at the cedar palace he was living in and realizing, ‘You know, this isn’t
correct, I’m living in this mansion, and the LORD,
his presence is in a tent out there.’ And
Nathan then finally coming back saying ‘David, that’s not God’s plan, God is
going to build you a house, it’s not about you building him a house, his plan
is so much bigger than yours, you’re not a temple-builder, your son’s going to
build a temple. God is going to build
and establish your house.’ And it
says after this, no pouting, David determining ‘If I’m not going to do it,
I’m going to make sure the person that can do it, does it right, I’m going to
make sure.’ So we find David going
on the offensive now, seven victories in this chapter. It isn’t just that he’s no longer, he’s there
in Jerusalem, he has rest from his enemies, it isn’t just now that they’re not
attacking him, it’s that he sets his sight on them, and he figures ‘OK, I’m
not going to build the Temple, when that Temple is built, there’s going to be
no threats to it, because I’m going to take care of any threats now.’ And he goes on the offensive, it’s very
interesting to watch the process here. David
Goes On The Military Offensive It
says “And after this it came to pass, that David smote the Philistines, and
subdued them: and David took
Metheg-ammah out of the hand of the Philistines.” (verse 1) It was no longer that they weren’t
smiting him and he had rest from his enemies, now he goes after them, from the
defensive to the offensive, “and subdued them.” First time we’re reading this in the history
of the nation. “and David took Metheg-ammah” which is
the gateway of Ammah, it’s the other word for Gath, which the Philistines say is
the gateway to the rest of the land.
David goes and he takes the city of Gath out of the hand of the
Philistines. “And he smote Moab, and
measured them with a line, casting them down to the ground; even with two lines
measured he to put to death, and with one full line to keep alive. And so the Moabites became David’s
servants, and brought gifts.” (verse 2) they paid tribute. It’s an interesting picture, he has victory
over the Philistines, and then he goes after Moab, and his great grandma Ruth
was from Moab. David had had family
there. When David originally had been in
the Cave of Adullam and had fled from Saul, and there was this young core group
of an army gathering to him, it says he took his parents to the king of Moab,
and that the king of Moab would look after them. So this seems rather cruel, because two out
of three, measure a line to put to death, every two are put to death, one
measured to let live, so he slaughters two out of three in Moab. And there’s a question, what in the world happened,
how did this change so drastically? Now
some scholars feel that as Saul, as David was chased out of the country, it
appeared, to the natural eye, was to dominate the throne in Israel, that the
Moabites may have slaughtered his family, seeking to curry favour from Saul,
but some drastic thing has happened, where
whatever warmth of family that was left between David and Moab was there
no longer at this point in time. So there
is the putting to death of two out of every three of them. “And David smote also Hadad-ezer, the son
of Rehob, king of Zobah, as he went to recover his border at the river
Euphrates.” (verse 3) Now when you
read it in Chronicles, it seems more clear that David was going to recover the
border at the river Euphrates and encountered Hadad-ezer there. Genesis chapter 15 verse 18, when God tells
Abraham of the border of the land of Israel, it says all the way to the
Euphrates. When the LORD
spoke to Joshua, he said ‘from Lebanon all the way to the Euphrates,’ and
David now subdues, he prosecutes this war, he moves forward on the offensive,
just spreading out the territory of Israel to over 60,000 square miles, and all
the way to the river Euphrates. This is
the greatest expanse of the kingdom, and the closest to those things
promised. No doubt during the Millennium
it will be that way. But David here
pushing back the enemies and destroying them all the way to the Euphrates. Now when we read of Zobah in Damascus, those
are the main two divisions of Syria of that day, first it mentions Hadad-ezer,
the son of Rehob from Zobah, and encountered David, and David just had an
incredible victory over him by the river Euphrates. “And David took from him a thousand chariots,
and seven hundred horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen: and David houghed all the chariot horses,
but reserved of them for an hundred chariots.” (verse 4) just
imagine what a battle that was. David
hamstrung all the chariot horses, so evidently they weren’t completely useless
but they could never be used for war again, they might be able to pull a plow,
but not destroy. David no doubt couldn’t
leave the enemy in the field with chariots and horses. So he houghed all the chariot horses, “but
reserved of them for an hundred chariots.” for himself it
seems. David’s still learning. All through his life we’re going to see this
man, with his relationship with the LORD,
still learning. Solomon is going to fill
stables with horses and chariots. In Deuteronomy
17 God had said ‘When you have a king like the nations around
you, one of the things I don’t want him to do is go to Egypt, I don’t want him
to have his confidence in horses and chariots [in today’s language, MBT’s, Main
Battle Tanks].’ And David would
write in Psalm 20, a Psalm of David, ‘Some trust in horses,
some trust in chariots, but we will remember the name of the LORD
our God.’ A
great king and a great man, seems to really on the battlefield be able to place
his heart before the LORD
at this point in time and trust the LORD
for his victories. “And when the
Syrians of Damascus came to succour Hadadezer king of Zobah, David slew of
the Syrians two and twenty thousand men.” (verse 5) they heard about the battle, so it seems they
come and try to help him, king of Zobah, that David slew of the Syrians 22,000
men. Now these are long, grueling
battles with swords and shields, this is just remarkable. “Then David put garrisons in Syria of
Damascus: and the Syrians became
servants to David, and brought gifts.
And the LORD
preserved David whithersoever he went.” (verse 6) they
paid taxes. Notice, “the LORD
preserved David whithersoever he went.” He’s
not sitting around pouting because he can’t build the Temple, he doesn’t have a
bad attitude, he’s doing everything he can to make sure he’s completely
successful. Look, and there’s a picture
here for us too, all of us to some degree struggle with Gath, with giants, we
struggle with Moab, with lust, we struggle with Edom, the flesh. David is at the point in this time where he’s
not willing to be passive, it isn’t like ‘ok, these things bother me, ah,
when they come around I’ll deal with it,’ no David looks around at this
point in time and he decides, ‘I’m going after this, I’m not going to live
at peace with it, I’m not going to let it in my life, I’m going after it, it’s
going to go down, I’m here, I’m the LORD’s,
I’m with him in battle, I’m not going to be subjected to this, I’m not going to
be whupped by this all the time,’ an interesting
picture, being on the offensive, no longer content to just be at rest from his
enemies, David is getting rid of the enemies at this point in time. “And David took the shields of gold that
were on the servants of Hadadezer, and brought them to Jerusalem. And from Betah, and from Berothai, cities of
Hadadezer, king David took exceeding much brass. When Toi king of Hamath heard that David had
smitten all the host of Hadadezer,
then Toi sent Joram his son unto king
David, to salute him, and to bless him, because he had fought against
Hadadezer, and smitten him: for
Hadadezer had wars with Toi. And Joram
brought with him vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and vessels of brass:”
(verses 7-10) so he had had wars in his past
with Hadadezer, he hears now that David moved through this like a hot knife
through butter, and it’s very obvious to the surrounding monarchs now that
God’s hand is on Israel and on their king, and wisely now he seeks now to be an
ally of David, he sends his son to him, hearing of the great victories he had
over Hadadezer, where Hadadezer had had wars with Toi. “And Joram
brought with him vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and vessels of brass: 11
which also king David did dedicate unto
the LORD,
with the silver and gold that he had dedicated of all nations which he
subdued;” (10b-11) David’s not owning any
of it to himself, David is acknowledging that the LORD
is preserving him wherever he is going, and that the gold and the silver, the
bounty, the spoils of war are not his own, he’s dedicating it all to the LORD. You know, some people get some territory and
they become territorial, like they have some entitlements. David here is dedicating everything to the LORD,
with the silver and with the gold, notice, “that he had dedicated of all
nations which he subdued.” (verse 11c) and it tells them now, “of Syria,
and of Moab, and of the children of Ammon, and of the Philistines, and of
Amalek, and of the spoil of Hadadezer, son of Rehob, king of Zobah.” (verse 12)
he’s starting to have a reputation, certainly it’s the time when he needs
to be careful, never believe your own press clippings, “And David gat him a name when he
returned from smiting of the Syrians in the valley of salt, being [slaying]
eighteen thousand men.” (verse 13) Psalm 60 seems to have been
written in regards to this, “being [slaying] eighteen thousand men.” Now, he’s bringing the gold and the
silver and the brass from all of the nations where he’s having victory,
dedicating those things to the LORD. When we come to 1st Kings chapter
10, I believe verses 22 and 27 tell us there that by the time Solomon takes the
throne there is so much gold in Jerusalem, that silver is counted as
nothing. Another verse says there’s so
much gold in Jerusalem that silver is counted as rocks, as nothing. David brought, as we add this up, besides the
spoil of war, out of his own money, out of his own resources, David gave, and
the last time I looked at this, it was almost ten years ago, then it was over a
hundred million dollars out of his own money to the Temple of the LORD. Now figure what that’s worth ten years now,
100 million’s ten cents now, you know.
Ten years ago it was valuable. And
David gave that out of his own to the building of the Temple. So this remarkable scene, the Temple, so this
remarkable scene, the stage is being set for when Solomon comes. “And he put garrisons in Edom; throughout
all Edom put he garrisons, and all they of Edom became David’s servants. And the LORD
preserved David whithersoever he went.” (verse 14) David
Is Still A Shepherd To His People Israel--David’s Cabinet “And
David reigned over all Israel; and David executed judgment and justice unto all
his people.” (verse 15) and
Israel is expanded at this point in time.
And notice, “and David executed judgment and justice unto all his
people.” Interesting, David, when he
gets to the point where there’s no threat, the interesting thing is when
there’s no lion, there’s no bear, the man is still a shepherd, we’re going to
see that. Part of the greatness of the
man is when there was no threat and there was no enemy, he would always back
off and he looked to the less fortunate, he cared for his people and justice
over them, he was a shepherd at heart, before he was a warrior in some
ways. So, here he treated the nation
with judgment, with justice, don’t you wish that was written of all political
leaders? Now, verses 16 to 18 kind of
give us a fast overview of his cabinet, it says “And Joab the son of Zeruiah
was over the host; and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was
recorder; and
Zadok the son of Ahitub, and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar, were the
priests; and Seraiah was the scribe;
and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was
over both the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and David’s sons were chief
rulers.” (verses 16-18) One military general over the air force, the
army, the navy and the marines, very simple, just one commander over the whole
kit and caboodle, keeps down government spending, simplifies everything, brings
his government budget way down. So Joab
was over the host, and they’re ruling over about 60,000 square miles at this
point in time. And Jehoshaphat the son
of Ahilud, he was the recorder, the chronicler.
Now this is someone whose keeping the chronicles, the record of the
Davidic kingdom, of his victories and so forth.
And Zadok, we’ll hear more of him, the son of Ahitub, and Ahimelech the
son of Abiathar, they were the priests, the head priests. And Seraiah was the scribe, he was the
Secretary of State. And Benaiah the son
of Jehoiada was over both the Cherethites and the Pelethites, and they are
Special Forces, these are Special Ops, Cherethites and Pelethites, they’re the
Navy Seals, they’re Delta Force, some of them are from Cyprus, they’re not
necessarily domestic troops, they are troops that are very loyal to David, they
don’t have any interest in eeking out either their own dynasty or their own
inheritance in the land of Israel, they are strictly loyal to David. Benaiah is the man ultimately who will kill
Joab, and he will be the general under Solomon, he’s a great man, a great
man. So, loyal to David, he’s the man
who oversees the Delta Force, and those are the Cherethites and
Pelethites. And it says “and David’s
sons were chief rulers.” So that’s a
very brief, very simple form of government put in front of us. We don’t hear anything at all in regards to
Saul. David here has those around him
that are faithful, that understand what God’s doing in his life, they’re by his
side and it describes quickly the cabinet that is functioning at this time. 2nd
Samuel 9:1-13 “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? 2
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. 3 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. 4 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 Lodebar. 5
Then king David sent, and fetched him
out of the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel, from Lodebar. 6
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! 7 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. 8 And
he bowed himself, and said, What is thy servant, that thou shouldest
look upon such a dead dog as I am? 9
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. 10
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 always at my table.
Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants. 11
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. 12
And Mephibosheth had a young son, whose
name was Micha. And all that
dwelt in the house of Ziba were servants unto Mephibosheth. 13
So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem: for he did eat continually at the king’s
table; and was lame on both his feet.” David
& Mephibosheth Picture God’s Grace To Us “Now,
chapter 9, one of my favorite chapters in the whole Bible, it is probably the
greatest story of grace, certainly in the life of David in some ways, and in
some ways in the Old Testament. David
now on the throne, he has prosecuted war against every threat, expanded the
kingdom, sitting on his throne, it seems that he thinks of Jonathan. It can be a lonely place. And David had made an oath with Jonathan back
in 1st Samuel chapter 20, Jonathan had made David swear ‘When you
take the throne, remember kindness towards the house of Saul, you won’t destroy
any of my children, but preserve them and be gracious to them.’
And David had made a covenant with Jonathan. And no doubt as he’s sitting there looking at
the expanse of the kingdom, all the remarkable things that have happened, he
must be thinking ‘Man, I’d give a million bucks to spend one day with
Jonathan, I wish he was here.’ [He
will, right after the 1st resurrection to immortality, he and
Jonathan will probably be ruling together, David and Jonathan, during the
Millennial Kingdom of God, over all Israel.]
‘We spoke about this together, it seems so empty that he’s not here
with me.’ Evidently with that in
mind, “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?” (verse 1) not for Saul’s sake, of the house of Saul, for
Jonathan’s sake. ‘Is there anybody
of the house of Saul left, are there any survivors?’ We know that Saul and Jonathan were
killed on Mount Gilboa, and three of his other sons, Saul’s sons are named
there. Ishbosheth since has been
killed, ‘Is there any lineage, is there anything left of the house of
Saul, is there anyone left that I might show kindness?’ “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.” (verse 2) Somehow they knew
about this one servant, and they had called him unto David. “And the king said, Is there not
yet any of the house of Saul, that I may shew the kindness of God unto him?” because
David had received so much of it himself, David was a man who understood the
grace of God, and when that happens you can’t help but to be gracious to
others, to those who are around you. “And
Ziba said unto the king, Jonathan hath yet a son, which is lame on his
feet.” (verse 3) So we have this
picture of this son of Jonathan named Mephibosheth. It is a great picture of the king seeking
someone who is alienated because of the sin of his forefathers, who himself is
lame because of the fall, and the king initiates. That’s what the King always does, whether
it’s the life of Abraham, the God of glory appeared to him in the Chaldees,
whether it’s in the life of Moses, as God appeared to him, in the life of
Gideon or Saul of Tarsus, or in your life or in my life, God is always the
initiator. And David here, is this
incredible picture of his greater Son, Jesus Christ, whose saying ‘Is
there anyone here of the house of Saul that I might show kindness to?’ and he initiates this whole process. And he hears from this servant Ziba ‘Ya,
there’s one, of Jonathan’s house still, there is a son, and he’s lame in 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
Lodebar.” (verse 4) “Machir,” who
we’re going to find out ends up to be very loyal, faithful to David in the long
run. So, this son. We were told back in the 4th
chapter, the 4th verse that when word came to the house of Jonathan
that Saul was killed, slain on Mount Gilboa, and Jonathan and his brothers were
killed, that Mephibosheth was five years old at that point in time, “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.” Because
in her mind there was hostility between David and the house of Saul, she didn’t
understand Jonathan’s relationship with David, and no doubt Jonathan had to
keep some of that quiet. No doubt,
unaware that Jonathan had made a covenant with David that none of his house
would be punished for the activity of his father. So when she hears that Saul is dead, and
Jonathan is dead, understanding that Jonathan is Saul’s oldest son, and that
now Mephibosheth is heir to the throne, and thinking that in that culture what
would happen is that David, the typical king, when he came to the throne, he
would find all the remnants of the dynasty before him, and slaughter everyone
so there was no threat to his throne.
She’s fearful of David, not knowing who or what David was like. And she takes Mephibosheth and starts to
flee, and it says she falls, and he shatters evidently both of his ankles, both
of his legs, at five years old, and becomes lame for the rest of his life. And she flees to Lodebar which is in the area
of Gilead north of Jabok, it’s far away from Jerusalem. So we have this interesting picture, imagine
this, this little boy, five years old, must hear people crying outside the
house, carrying on, the tears. I
remember hearing things like that when I grew up, Grampa died, different things
happened in the family, and you’re small, five years old, not being able to
weigh out everything and understand, but knowing something’s terribly
wrong. And Mephibosheth hears ‘Daddy’s
dead, your Daddy is dead, and your Grandpa too, your uncles, they’re all dead,
they’re slaughtered. And we need to
flee, we need to escape so nobody hurts you.’
And just what happens in the heart of a five-year-old, to try to
bear that burden. And as she runs and
she falls with him and shatters both of his ankles, then imagine, she has to
pick him up and run, and every jolt, every step must be agonizing for this
young boy. No doctors, no orthopedic
surgeons, not casts, she’s just fleeing.
And he’s overwhelmed with both physical agony and the broken heart that
Daddy is gone, dead, and Grampa is gone, and ends up in a house with someone
else. The dynasty of Saul should have
been his, but nothing, living at great distance from the king, someone whose
injured by the fall, living at great distance from the king, and really not
knowing what the king is like. And how
many of us are pictured in that, what great distance we’ve lived from the King? My dad was Catholic, my mom was Lutheran, I
didn’t know anything about the King, church didn’t communicate anything to me,
I was injured through the Fall. And you
know, like a little kid, he must have thought ‘I want to be an archer like
Daddy, I want to be a great warrior like Daddy, I want to be as tall as Grampa,
taller than everybody else in Israel.’ He
had those dreams, kids aspire. When we
were little, I want to do this, and I want to accomplish this. But just as life goes on, doesn’t it? And we find out how injured we are by the
Fall, we find out how selfish we are, we find out how lustful we are, and how
capable we are of hurting other people, we find out we can’t walk at all. And there’s just this incredible picture
brought before us here, of this lame man, Mephibosheth. The
king wants to know ‘Where is he?’ He’s
in the house of Machir, Machir means to be sold, to be given over. The son of Ammiel, “God’s people,” I can’t
believe the names are coincidence.
[Machir was one of the sons of Manasseh, whose descendents became the
tribe of Manasseh. The eastern half of
the tribe of Manasseh inherited the land north of Jabesh-gilead, Gilead being
in the land of the tribe of Reuben. So
Mephibosheth is pretty far from Jerusalem, over the Jordan river, and northeast
from there.] And the ancient rabbis said
“coincidence is not a kosher word.”
“God’s people, sold,” living in Lodebar, “Lodebar” is literally “no
pasture,” has the idea, “without pasture.”
David would write “the LORD
is my shepherd, I shall not want, he maketh me to lie down in green pastures.” But Mephibosheth is living in a barren place,
without pasture, no ability to walk.
What an interesting picture. Mephibosheth
Is A Picture Of Us Before Our King It
says “Then king David sent, and fetched him out of the house of Machir, the
son of Ammiel, from Lodebar.” (verse 5) just like the Lord, who came to
seek and save that which was lost. “king
David sent, and fetched him,” I like that, “out of the house of Machir,” You know, what was this like for
Mephibosheth, he’s there, decades? How
long’s it been, I’m not sure at this point in time. No doubt he’s a man, and there’s noise in the
village, it’s a barren place, it can’t be a big village in Lodebar in the area
of Gilead, the other side of Jordan. And
all of a sudden the king’s men have surrounded the house, and he must think ‘This
is it, my name is mud.’ You see,
because he’s got the wrong idea about the king, had heard from his nursemaid,
no doubt he thinks David is ill-tempered.
He had heard that his Grandfather used to throw a javelin at David,
there was bad blood, there were things that were wrong. And how many of us, before we were saved, ‘God
is up there, I don’t want nothing to do with God, look at all the suffering in
the world, if that’s what God’s like, no thanks, he can hang out by himself,
and he loves me? Look at me, my legs are
crippled, I got nothing, I got nothing from my parents, nothing from my family,
he loves me? I was abused, look at the
way I live.’ Isn’t it
interesting? And he had the wrong
perception of the king, it’s just the way we were, before I was saved I had
such a wrong perception of God, of the King, and what he was like. And you could imagine now, the king’s men
surrounding the house, Mephibosheth is there, it says ‘they were sent to
fetch him, and they fetched him from the house of Machir.’ So Mephibosheth must have said ‘What
is it?’ they must have said ‘We’re David’s men, the king needs you
pronto, right now, we want you to come to Jerusalem before his throne.’ and you know, he’s thinking ‘That’s
it, I’m done, I’m done.’ And I
wonder if they carried him, I imagine they had to load him up and carry him all
the way back to Jerusalem. And this
scene in verse 6, how remarkable, it says “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!” Now isn’t this
interesting. It says he came in and he
fell on his face, that face, the image and the likeness of his dad. I’m sure as they brought Mephibosheth in,
David thought ‘Man, you look like your Dad,’ and he falls on that
face. David I’m sure is amazed at the
resemblance. It says then David speaks,
calls him by name. That’s how we got
saved. David said ‘Mephibosheth,’ sees
his feet, sees the face of his Dad, he wants to show him the kindness of the LORD,
‘Mephibosheth,’ and he answers David “Behold thy servant!” What was the tone of David’s voice like? ‘Mephibosheth.’
Now David’s saying ‘I want to show
him the kindness of the LORD.’ Verse 7 defines the kindness of the LORD
for us, listen to this. This is the
Lord’s kindness towards you and I, the Lord always says this first, “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.” (verse 7) I don’t
think Mephibosheth expected to hear this.
And I have the sense he’s trembling before David, because the first
thing David says is ‘Fear not, fear not Mephibosheth, don’t be
afraid.’ He’s got the wrong idea
of who the king is. Again, I’m amazed,
you try to share Christ with people, you try to tell them about God’s love,
they have such a skewed idea of who the Lord is, from other people, whatever
their source is. And David, the first
thing he says here is “Fear not: I
will surely shew thee kindness” I never dreamt that’s what God wanted
toward me, and he did, ‘and I’ll do it for Jonathan thy father’s sake,
you know, I’m not doing for you, I’m doing it for someone else’s sake,’ the
king is extending grace because of someone else. You know, David’s going to say to
Mephibosheth, ‘Before you were born, the covenant was made, Mephibosheth,
before you were born there was a promise made.
It’s for someone else’s sake, it’s because of another that I will surely
show thee kindness, for Jonathan thy father’s sake.’ “and [I] will restore thee all the land of
Saul thy father; and thou shalt eat bread at my table continually.” (verse 7b) and then, most remarkably he said, “and
thou shalt eat bread at my table continually.” Look, we’re going to hear that in verse 10,
verse 11, and verse 13, he’s going to say it four times, ‘you shall eat
bread at my table continually.’
Now here’s Mephibosheth, “And he bowed himself, and said, What is
thy servant, that thou shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I am?”
(verse 8) Well David had said to
Saul, when he had spared his life in the cave, ‘Why are you pursuing a dead
dog like me?’ And now he hears from
the mouth of Mephibosheth “What is thy servant, that thou shouldest
look upon such a dead dog as I am?”
‘I bring zero to this, I have nothing to contribute?’ Look, it’s the same struggle you and
I have to receive God’s grace. In the
world, even in our families, there’s no measure or meter for the grace of God
that’s promised to us in the Scripture.
God says the same thing, it’s because of another, it’s because of a
Covenant I made with somebody else, it’s because before you were born this was
all worked out, ‘You’re going to have to trust my Word, it’s not what
other people tell you I am, this is who I am, don’t be afraid, I surely am
going to show you kindness, I know you’ve been destroyed through the Fall, I
know you don’t know how to walk, I know you’re unable to do that on your own, I
know there’s never been a king like me, all kings have wiped out their enemies,
other dynasties, but I’m going to show you kindness, I’m going to restore
everything to you, and I want you to eat at my table, that’s what you’re going
to do, you’re going to eat at my table continually.’ And Mephibosheth can’t receive it, ‘What
am I that you should do this, such a dead dog as me?’ And that’s the way we feel, sometimes I think
‘Lord, forgive me, you tell me of your love, you tell me of your promises, I
still have this attitude, I’m such a dead dog, I’m such a jerk, such a
knucklehead,’ and all that’s true.
But not in his eyes, not in his eyes, not in the eyes of the King, not
in the eyes of the King. Notice this, “Then
the king called to Ziba, Saul’s servant, and said unto him, I have given unto
thy master’s son all that pertaineth to Saul and to all his house.” (verse 9) all of that now has been given to him. “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 always at my table.
Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.” (verse 10) thanks for that,
why do we need to know that? They could
have been jerky sons, we don’t even know what they were like, 15 sons and 20
servants. Listen, what it’s saying is,
the table is already set. All has been
prepared. God has set the table, so that
when you get brought to the King’s table, the person that’s going to take care
of things already has 15 sons and 20 servants.
All of that’s been set up, all has been prepared ahead of time. And he says again, ‘he’s going to eat
at my table,’ listen, four times it says this. Because God’s much more interested in our
fellowship than any reward he can give to us.
‘Yup, you can have the land, yup there’s going to be restoration,
all that, but he’s going to eat at my table, yup, you take care of him, make sure,
but he’s going to eat at my table, you do this, but he’s going to eat at my
table,’ four times it says that.
Because in the heart of God, in the heart of God, tonight, the most
important thing is that we are going to sit at his table forever. [Comment:
I have often wondered how we, as individual members comprising the Bride
of Christ, are going to sit at Jesus’ table, and yet be scattered around the
world with our various assignments, ruling over cities, towns, or on various
Kingdom projects. This is my
speculation: the earth is round, it’s a
globe, a ball. During the day, we’ll do
our jobs, various assignments, ruling over people in the location we’re
assigned to. At night, say sometime
after sundown, we’ll fly back (remember, we’re spirit-beings now, can fly at
light speed or faster if we want) to Jerusalem and spend 8 to 12 hours with the
Lord, at his “table” with him. Then at
the time of sunrise back in our assigned locations, we’ll fly back and start
our work again over our subjects. Thus,
as the earth turns on its axis, a continual flow of immortal sons and daughters
of God will be flying in and out of Jerusalem for their day spent with Jesus
Christ. At the end of their day with
Jesus, they’ll be flying back to their assigned locations of rulership. Thus, Jesus will be continually with members
of his Bride, coming and going from Jerusalem.
That’s my speculation. We’ll see
how it works out in reality after Jesus returns.] That’s the most important thing in the heart
of God, dead dogs like us, dead dogs like us, we bring zero, and we have to
receive it, because of a Covenant that was made with someone else (cf. Hebrews
8:9-10). We have to receive it as
something that was settled before we were born, we have to receive it on the
King’s Word, without any other evidence. We’re
Going To Sit At The King’s Table--What Does That Mean? “Then
said Ziba unto the king, According to all that my lord the king hath commanded
his servant, so shall thy servant do.” here
it comes again, it broadens it, please listen, “As for Mephibosheth, said
the king, he shall eat at my table, as one of the king’s sons.”
(verse 11) Now he’s not just eating
at the table, he’s eating at the table “as one of the king’s sons.” It isn’t just we’re forgiven, get into
heaven [the Kingdom of heaven, which will end up on earth, cf. Revelation
21:1-23] and we’re at the table. Well
sometimes we feel like ‘Well the Lord said Whom soever will come, and he never
thought I was going to take him up on it, and like he’s jammed up now because
he made a promise and he’s stuck with me, he’s going to say, Alright, look just
be quiet, come to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, but do me a favour, sit
waaay down there, would you please.’ [That
Marriage Supper of the Lamb is described in Revelation 19:7-10.] No, no, we’re going to come to the table, and
not just come to the table, but come to the table as one of the King’s sons (or
daughters). I mean, when they gathered,
it was one thing, when Joab came, the General, and Abishai his brother was
there, Benaiah, great warrior, Seraiah, Secretary of State, those where were
gathered, but something else when Amnon, the king’s oldest son came, when
Absalom came to the table, when Adonijah the king’s son came, and years ahead
when Solomon came. But they didn’t eat,
they waited, because one of the princes was still coming, and they would hear
clop, clop, clop, ‘Mephibosheth the king’s son, he’s come, now we can
eat.’ Joab, that’s one thing,
Benaiah, that’s cool, but now all the king’s sons, now all the king’s sons are
at the table. And all of the King’s
sons, by the way, in the Kingdom, are all adopted, and daughters, all adopted,
all his children, adopted. What a
scene. And it says “And Mephibosheth
had a young son, whose name was Micha.
And all that dwelt in the house of Ziba were servants unto
Mephibosheth.” (verse 12) “Micha”
means “Who is like the LORD,
who is like Jehovah,” what else could he call that son. And now for the fourth time, “So
Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem: for he
did eat continually at the king’s table; and was lame on both his feet.” (verse
13) Imagine what those conversations
were like. By the way, the end of the
story will be in 2nd Samuel 16 and 2nd Samuel 19. What were those conversations like? What was it like for David, I bet he had
Mephibosheth sitting close, he would look into his eyes, saw the face of
Jonathan, must have said ‘Your Dad, let me tell you what your Dad was
like. You look so much like him. He was a warrior, an archer. He’s my best friend. It is a privilege beyond my ability to communicate,
Mephibosheth, to have you sitting here, to be able to fulfill the promises I
made to your Dad, and to show the kindness of the LORD
to you is beyond what you can imagine to me.’
And for God the Father to have us at the
table, because of the promise he made to his Son, who came to lay down his life
so that we might live, to say to us ‘Fear not, I will surely show thee my
kindness, I will restore all to you, and you shall continually eat at my table.’ What a picture, what a picture. We’ll be there, all of us Mephibosheths. One author I read said “the great thing is
the Lord’s table hides all those lame feet, if you look under there, you see
everybody is Mephibosheth, Charles Spurgeon is Mephibosheth, and Whitfield is
Mephibosheth, and Billy Graham is Mephibosheth, and Saul of Tarsus is Mephibosheth,
all injured by the Fall. But I thought
about that, and the Lord said ‘no, but look under the table, and everybody’s
feet will be restored.’” I saw way
down there, there’s a pair of crippled feet, and you’ll look up and the seat
will be empty, whose seat is that? It’s
the King, it’s his seat, and here he comes, clop, clop, clop, to serve us, he’s
taken on the likeness of sinful flesh, he’s become Mephibosheth, so that all of
our faults can be healed, he’s taken on human flesh that he will wear
throughout eternity, he ascended into heaven in a human frame. I’m not sure of all the implications of that. [I’m not sure that’s the way Jesus will look,
or what he will be composed of, based upon Revelation 1:13-18, which describes
the way Jesus looks right now.] I’m not
sure of all the implications of that.
But I look at this chapter, and say ‘Father, please speak to us
tonight, and say, there’s too much here, there’s too much love, there’s too
much grace, there’s a measure that I haven’t comprehended yet Lord.’ Just grow in the grace and the knowledge
of who you are. I don’t know, maybe what
you struggle with in regards to receiving his love and his grace. Because sometimes, even after we’re saved, we
still just struggle, because it says we grow in grace and in the knowledge of
the Lord Jesus, that means that his mercy, his grace, his love is always
deepening, we’re always seeing greater measures of it, he said in the ages to
come, he’s still going to be revealing to us of his mercy and grace. My encouragement to you this evening is, you
know, you’ve been injured through the Fall, you’ve been separated because of
the sin of your father Adam. And maybe
you still find it difficult to draw close to the King, because you’re still aware
of how crippled you are, with sin, through the Fall. And God took hold of the writer of 2nd
Samuel, and shook him, because he may have been saying ‘Mephibosheth is a
minor story,’ and God said ‘Write this down, write it down, because I
have a thousand Mephibosheths on my heart, you write how gracious David was,
he’s reflected my Kingdom. Because there
are going to be people in 2010 that are going to be feeling that they are just
a dead dog, without worth, and they’re going to have to believe that I reach
out to them in love because of a Covenant that was made before they were
born. And that it’s because of another grace
that’s being extended to them, because no one has ever loved them the way I
love them, they got to struggle, and I don’t want them to be afraid, I want
them to trust me, I want to show my kindness to them. The restoration that I would bring to their
lives is complete, and they’re going to be sitting at my table, forever.’ I don’t know about you guys, I love, and
I’m sorry it can’t be that way for everyone, but for me, Thanksgiving,
Christmas [and for our Messianic Jewish & Sabbath-keeping brethren, Chanukkah,
Passover, Shavuot, Trumpets, Feast of Tabernacles], when the kids, grandkids
are sitting around the table, I don’t covet any man, there’s nothing anybody
has on this planet that I want. And his
love exceeds that for us…‘I’m going to be gracious, bless them and I’m going
to restore them, so that they can eat at my table forever, Nathan, write that
one more time… “as one of the king’s sons, and yes, he had a son,” then write
it one more time, Nathan, “Mephibosheth ate at the king’s table.” Listen to me, I believe that is the Word
of the Lord for you and I this evening.
I believe that is the Word of the Lord for us tonight. It is all of grace, it is all of grace, and
we will struggle with that in ways, because no one has ever loved us that way
before. But when we’re all sitting there
at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:7-10)…I encourage you this
evening, our participation, our invitation, our acceptance, not just invited for
dinner, but as one of the King’s sons and daughters, all of the work has been
his. All of the accomplishing has been
his, all of the initiating has been his, all of the glory will be his, all of
the praise and all of the honour will be his.
Amen? Let’s stand, let’s pray,
let’s have the musicians come, lift our voices and our hearts…[transcript of a
connective expository sermon on 2nd Samuel 8:1-19 and 2nd
Samuel 9:1-13, given by Pastor Joe Focht, Calvary Chapel of Philadelphia, 13500
Philmont Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19116] related
links: Audio
version: https://resources.ccphilly.org/detail.asp?TopicID=&Teaching=WED669 |