Good evening everyone. If you would take your Bibles and look with me to 2 Samuel chapter 9. 2 Samuel chapter 9 as we continue our look at this second half of the two volume work of Samuel in chapter 9. We will read the whole chapter beginning verse 1. 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 at the house of Saul that I may show the kindness of God to him? And Ziba said to the king, there is still a son of Jonathan he has crippled in his feet. And the king said to him, where is he? And Ziba said to the king, he is in the house of Machir, the son of Amiel at Lodabar. And then King David sent and brought him from the house of Machir, the son of Amiel at Lodabar. 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. 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. And he paid homage to him and said, What is your servant that you should show regard for a dead dog such as I? Then the king called Ziba, Saul's servant, and said to him, All that belong to Saul and to all his house I have given to your master's grandson, and you and your sons and your servants shall till the land for him and shall bring in the produce that your master's grandson may have bread to eat. But Mephibosheth, your master's grandson, shall always eat at my table. Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants, and Ziba said to the king, According to all that my lord the king commands his servants, so will your servant do. So Mephibosheth ate at David's table like one of the king's sons. And Mephibosheth had a young son whose name was Micah, and all who lived in Ziba's house became Mephibosheth's servants. And so Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, for he ate always at the king's table. Now he was lame in both his feet. Let's pray. Our God and Father, we thank you tonight for this passage. This passage that gives us really a preview of what your kingdom looks like. It is a kingdom of kindness. A kingdom of mercy. A kingdom of justice and equity. Your kingdom is a kingdom where your people are cared for and loved. Where they find their shelter and rest beneath the shadow of your wings. We know this is the way that it is not just in David's kingdom where your anointed is reigning here in Israel, but it's the way your kingdom is now with our ultimate King Jesus. Who has brought your goodness. And your loving kindness to us. Help us to not as we consider this passage to look beyond the historical context to today and to see how kind. You have been to us. We might meditate on this goodness and for that. Give you praise. We ask these things in Jesus's name. Amen. One of the little talked about facts about God is that God is kind. Talk a lot about God's love and those are related, of course, sometimes in the Old Testament, God's kindness is translated as his steadfast love. But really kindness is the way God expresses his love towards us. His goodness, his generosity, his care for his people. Do you ever think about just how kind God is to you? Do you see how God goes above and beyond? Just salvation, for example. God does not just save you. from his wrath. But Ephesians chapter 1 verse 3 says that he gives you every spiritual blessing in Jesus Christ. That you have more than just salvation from hell. But you are adopted into the family of God. You become God's son, God's daughter, God's child. You are given an inheritance made to be joint heirs with Jesus Christ. What have you done to deserve that? God even cares for you in this life, promising to supply all of your needs so that you don't have to worry about your clothing. You don't have to worry about what you're going to eat. But God who clothes the lilies of the field, the God who feeds the birds of the air, will surely do the same for you, his people. This is God's kindness. Do you ever think about God's overwhelming goodness towards you? It's something that David sang about. In fact, in Psalm 36 verse 7, he said, How precious is your kindness or your steadfast love, your hesed, as we will talk about in just a moment. Oh, God. the children of mankind, they take refuge in the shadow of your wings. God's kindness is such that we can depend on him so that we take refuge in the shadow of his wings. That in times of distress and fear and danger, God's kindness is a place of safety, a shelter for his people. This is God's kindness to you. And as David reigns as king over Israel, he desires to reign in such a way that glorifies the goodness of God towards his people. This is what David wants. David does not just want to be a king like the rest of the nations. That's what Saul wanted. That's what Israel, in fact, wanted as a nation. David wants to be a king that reflects God's good character. And we didn't cover chapter eight, but in chapter eight, we are taught how God gave David and the people of Israel rest from all of his enemies. And at the end of chapter eight, we are given a description of what David's reign looked like in verse 15 of chapter eight. The Bible says that David reigned over all Israel and David administered justice and equity to all of his people. This is what the kingdom of David looked like. It's a kingdom of righteousness, a kingdom of justice, a kingdom without partiality. It is a place where everyone is treated fairly and everyone is treated justly. This is how God's kingdom operates, and as an extension, how David's kingdom on earth operates. And what we have really in chapter nine is an example of verse 15 of chapter 8. It's how David reigned in justice and equity. It is an example of David reflecting God's good character toward his people. God is a king whose steadfast love endures forever. And so David wants to be the type of king who loves and cares for His people. So I want to look at this in three points. And for your sake, Mike, I'm going to tell you all three right off the bat. If you weren't in hermeneutics class, you don't get that. Mike says sometimes I say I've got three points, then I tell you two and forget to tell you the third one. And he's right about that. So I'm going to give you all three of them right up front. Just go ahead and write them down. I want us to look at kindness desired in verses one to four. Kindness desired in verses one to four. Kindness promised in verses 5 to 8. Kindness promised, verses 5 to 8. And kindness delivered, verses 9 to 13. Kindness desired, kindness promised, and kindness delivered. Let's look at verse 1. Kindness desired. David said, Is there still anyone left of the house of Saul that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake? Now in order to see this kindness that we are talking about tonight, it's important that we see David as a contrast to what was the normative practice of kings. We have seen this in the past. When we looked at the covenant that David made with Jonathan that we'll talk about in just a minute, we talked about this very fact. That when there was someone who belonged to the house of the previous regime, the predecessor, The succeeding king did not usually treat that house with kindness, did he? What usually happened to the house of the former king? Yeah, they were usually killed, weren't they? Usually, the next king would hunt down the family of the previous king and eliminate them. Why would they do that? Well, because they did not want a threat to their throne. They didn't want a threat to their power. We're going to see this as we come into the books of Kings. And we're going to find so many murdered. And not only are they murdered, their sons are murdered. Their families are murdered. Because men want power, don't they? Men are selfish. Men have ambition. And especially when we gain power, what do we want? We want to keep the power, don't we? You know what they say. Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts. Absolutely. And we're going to see that in the books. And that's normally what you expect. It's just like men with money. You probably will never meet a rich man who doesn't think he needs another dollar. This is the way men are, all of us. We want more power. We want more money. There's no such thing, the country song used to say, as having much money. What's that mean? And the same thing is true about power. There's no limits to what some people will do in order to gain it and then to keep it. Men thirst for it. And so what David is doing here stands in complete and absolute contrast to what would have normally been expected about kings. David wants to know if there is someone in Saul's house Not that he might kill that person. Not that he might eliminate any threat. And in fact, the people standing here hearing those words probably assume that's why he was asking the question. But no, David wants to know if there's anyone left in the house of Saul for two reasons. Number one, David wants to show kindness to Saul's family. Rather than murder, rather than opposition, Elimination. David wants to show kindness. Now in order for us to really understand what's happening, and I've already alluded to this, but we have to understand the type of kindness that David has in mind. In verse three, when Ziba comes in before David, David gets specific and he says, I want to show the kindness of God to Saul's house. Do you see that? This is not just some general form of kindness. This is not the helping the old lady cross the street kindness. David wants to show God's kindness to the house of Saul. And that's key to us. Because David knew what God's kindness looked like, didn't he? Because if there was anybody in Israel Who had experienced God's kindness? Who was it? Of course, it was David. Back in chapter 5, David, in verse 10, says David became greater and greater. Why? Why was David's kingdom growing? Why was David becoming stronger? Well, the reason is that the Lord of hosts, the God of hosts, was with him. In verse 12, David knows this, and it says, David knew that the Lord had established him king over Israel, and that he had exalted his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel. Here David recognizes how God is being kind to him, and not just to him, but as an extension to all of Israel. Here's David experiencing the kindness of God. And, of course, we move forward to chapter 7 in the Davidic covenant that we talked about. And what stood out was how it was a unilateral covenant. God was saying, David, this is what I have done for you. I have brought you from the pasture and put you where you are. And this is what I will do for you. No matter what. No conditions attached. No matter what sin you or your sons commit. No matter who dies. No matter what happens. Nothing will ever change the way that I deal with your house for the sake of my people. If there's anybody in Israel who knew what kindness was, it was David. David had experienced the incredible and awesome and indescribable goodness and kindness of God. And so as David has experienced God's kindness, what's he want to do? He wants to show other people the kindness of God. Now let's travel ahead to the New Testament. Is this not the same mandate that you and I receive for why we should love others? Jesus told the apostles in the upper room in John 13 verse 34, he said, a new commandment I give to you, that you love one another just as I have loved you, so you are also to love one another. John would later write his first epistle that would say something similar in chapter four, verse 10. And he would say this, and this is love. Not that we have loved God, but that God loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God. If we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. The New Testament mandate for loving others comes from the fact that we have been loved by God. And loved by God in such an extreme way that He gave His Son to die for us. And if you've been loved like that, John says, then you ought to love others. The love of God should spill up in your heart and overflow to your brothers. In fact, John goes on to say in verse 12 in a very powerful statement where he says, no one has ever seen God. And in effect he says this, but when you love others, we'll see God through that. That's what verse 12 means. When you love others, the love of God is manifested through you. If you want people to see God, then show them God's love and they'll see him. That's what John is saying. And that's exactly what David is doing in our chapter, isn't it? David is revealing the loving kindness of God through his kind treatment of the house of Saul. That's number one. Number two, David wants to show kindness to Saul's family for the sake of Jonathan. For the sake of Jonathan. More specifically, he wants to show kindness for the sake of the covenant that he had made with Jonathan. Now you remember Jonathan, of course Jonathan was David's dear friend who died on the battlefield alongside his father Saul fighting the Philistines in 1 Samuel 31. But before that David and Jonathan were best of friends. When Jonathan realized that God had called David to be the next king, Jonathan just willingly stepped aside. And an incredible example of no selfish ambition whatsoever. He stripped himself of his royal armor and gave it to David. He even said, David, you're gonna be king over Israel and when you are, I'm gonna be right there next to you. I will be your number one fan and support. Remember the contrast between the way most kings are and the way David is. The same thing could be said about Jonathan. No quest for power, no thirst to have the throne of Israel. Well, there were such good friends, as I said a minute ago, they made a covenant. And in 1 Samuel 20 verse 14, This is it. If I'm still alive, Jonathan says, show me the steadfast love. There's that kindness. Show me the kindness that has said 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 for 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. I want you to notice the specifics of the covenant because we're going to see in a second how much more David does than this. The specifics of the covenant, it's pretty simple, is that David, when God cuts off all of your enemies, do not regard my house as your enemy. Don't cut off my descendants. Let your kindness, let your steadfast love be with my house forever. And so the kindness that David is now showing to the house of Saul is him honoring the covenant that he made with Jonathan. Now I've been using the word and I want to bring it back. The reason why David is showing this kindness is because of that word hesed. And we studied that word when we looked at the book of Ruth because it is the theme, I would argue, of the book of Ruth, the hesed of God. And here we have David showing this hesed. And what hesed is is covenant loyalty, covenant faith. Faithfulness. It is a kindness, a love, a generosity that is usually shown from a superior to a lesser that goes above and beyond what would typically be expected. This is what Chesed is. And this is what David wants to do. David remembers this covenant that he had made. And I want us to dwell here for just a second because in our day and age, we treat covenants as if they don't matter. If you don't believe me, look at the divorce rate. People get divorced for any reason nowadays. I just grew tired of her. I grew tired of him. He comes home late from work. She burnt my supper, whatever. It's just a piece of paper. We tear it up and throw it away and we get a divorce and we leave so much damage in our way. These covenants that we make with one another before God as we get married are regarded to us as nothing. And so some people might look at this and say, David, this was 15 or 20 years ago. Nobody even remembers this, Jonathan's dead. There's one person left in the house of Saul and he's lame and can do nothing for you. Why in the world would you honor this covenant? Especially do what you're about to do, which we'll get to in a minute, where David really just lavishes kindness upon this young man. But that's the way we think. That's not the way David thinks. David recognized, as we should, the importance of covenants, that covenants are to be honored, that there's a certain power that there should be in covenants that lead to loyalty and faithfulness and obedience to God. Dale Ralph Davis talks about this very fact in his commentary. He tells a story about B.B. Warfield. B.B. Warfield, of course, was the brilliant Princeton theologian. And most people talk about that and they talk about his works, but many people don't talk about his marriage. B.B. Warfield was pursuing studies in Leipzig in Germany in 1876 and 1877, and he used that time to also be the honeymoon that he had with his wife. And one day, he and his wife went for a walk in the, if I'm saying this right, the Harz Mountains, H-A-R-Z. Randy says I'm saying it right, so Randy, smartest person in the room, that's right, Harz Mountains. They were going for a walk in the Harz Mountains, and there was a thunderstorm. that broke out, a lightning storm. And I don't know exactly what happened, but this had such an effect on Warfield's wife that she basically became an invalid the rest of her life. She could do nothing for herself for 39 years due to this lightning storm. Well, Warfield would come back to Princeton, he would be the theologian there at Princeton, And we are told when we read about him that he actually never left his wife for any reason except to go to Princeton and to teach and never more for two hours at a time. For 39 years, he faithfully cared for his wife, faithfully took care of her, was gentle in nature towards her, never leaving her at all. One of his students noted that when he saw the Warfields walking out together one day, that quote, the gentleness of his manner was striking proof of the loving care with which he surrounded her for 39 years. Warfield never left the side of his wife, and you might say that is amazing love, and it is amazing love, but it's also honoring to that covenant. In our day, how many men would have just. Moved on. That Warfield honored the covenant that he made before God in sickness and in health, till death do we part. Warfield honored that covenant with tender, loving care for his wife for the remainder of their life. This is what we find here with David. It doesn't matter how many years before, 15 or 20 years, doesn't matter. If the young man wasn't even born or if he was just a lad at the time, doesn't matter. Doesn't matter if nobody knows about this, but David himself, David will honor it because they made this covenant before God. David swore it. And so he will keep it. And he also wants to. He's not being forced. He desires to keep this, as we've already said. And so David then trusts in the Lord. He's not worried about there being somebody who could be a threat to him. So he calls this man Ziba, who he is told about. Ziba was a servant of Saul. And he comes in and tells David about a man. And he says, there is one, Jonathan's son, who is crippled in both of his feet. He still exists. He's still alive. Before we move on, I want to draw your attention to this man, Ziba, for just a second, because you might be wondering to yourself, where in the world has this guy been? He is a man of means, we're told in this chapter. And yet we're told that Jonathan's son is living far away from Jerusalem. Not being cared for by Ziba, but being cared for instead by this man named Machir, the son of Emiel. If Ziba was a faithful servant in the house of Saul, why is he not caring for Jonathan's son? Why is he apparently tending to his own needs, his own wealth, and we're asking that question. Well, I bring it to your attention because we're going to learn later in the story of 2 Samuel that Ziba may not be as loyal as he is pretending to be to the house of Saul in this chapter. So, write that man's name down and keep it in the back of your head and we're going to see a little bit of a different type of character from this man later on. We're also going to see this man Mechir again. We're probably supposed to take from this the fact that the son of Jonathan is living with him. We're probably supposed to take from this that he was a loyalist to Saul. He was somebody who probably was loyal to Saul and had no problem taking in the son of Jonathan even though he was crippled and taking care of him. But later in the book of 2 Samuel, we're going to find that when David is in need, This same man who took care of Jonathan's son will come to the aid of David and will provide for him. And I think that we're going to see when we get there that this kindness of David won that man over. When David revealed the kindness of God towards Jonathan's son, that Mekhir saw in David the love of God, and it will lead him to take care of David later. Anyways, that's a little bit of foreshadowing to what comes later. And then we come into verse 5 here, excuse me. David has learned now that Jonathan has a son, and David sins for him immediately. And in verse 6 we finally learn what this man's name is. His name is Mephibosheth. What a terrible name. Mephibosheth. It's actually not his real name. His real name is Merib Baal. You will recall when we talked about Ish-bosheth, that his name was changed also. His name was not really Ish-bosheth, but they didn't want to have the Canaanite deity present in their name, and so Merib-bael, his name was changed to Mephibosheth. His name literally means, and this really doesn't seem to be related to his character whatsoever, but his name literally means mouth of shame, or man who spreads shame. I don't know why you needed to know that, but I decided to tell you anyway. That's his name, Mephibosheth. Well, when he receives this message, you had to put yourself in Phib's shoes. He doesn't know why David's calling to him, does he? And you remember everything we said about the way kings would normally act. The fact that he is hiding out in Mechir's house, far away from Jerusalem, probably tells us that he's afraid of David. The fact that David's gonna tell him the first thing he says is, don't fear, will tell us that he's afraid of David. He probably thinks David wants to kill him. And when the messenger comes and says, hey, the king wants to see you, Phib probably thinks to himself, it's the last day of my life. Even if he was told, well, David wants to show kindness to you, he doesn't know David. All he knows about David is that David was his grandfather's rival to the throne, that's all he knows. But regardless, he makes the trip, probably quite a, Difficult journey for a man laying on both of his feet, wouldn't you imagine? But he enters Jerusalem and he comes in to David's presence, probably trembling, fearful, scared. And then the Bible tells us that he kneels down before David. Think about the pain, the difficulty. that he would have experienced being crippled in both his feet, getting down on his face before David in order to pay homage. But David simply says to him, Mephibosheth. Mephibosheth. Now how do you think David said his name? He's afraid. But David has not brought him there to kill him. See, I think David looks into Mephibosheth's face and who does he see? He sees Jonathan. As we were on our way over here, my mom sent me a video of myself from when I was about eight years old. And I was on the swim team. Don't know why she sent the video of me doing the breaststroke as an eight-year-old and beating everybody else in the pool by at least three lengths. That's a fact, by the way. I'll show you that video if you wanna see it later. But Katie took the phone from me and she's looking at this and says, wow, that's Clayton. Look at the mannerisms. Look at the way, it looks just like Clayton. And you think David looks down at Jonathan and there, or excuse me, at Mephibosheth and there he sees Jonathan. Now remember how much he loved Jonathan. He loved Jonathan greater than the love of a woman. His heart, I believe, moves within him for Mephibosheth. And he says, don't fear. Don't fear. I have brought you here to show you kindness. Kindness. Now that's the general statement of what David's gonna do. I'm gonna show you kindness for the sake of your father. But then he gets specific. And listen at what all David does for this young man. First of all, He says, I'm going to restore to you all the land of Saul, your father. He says, I'm going to give you, in effect, your inheritance. That which you lost when Saul died and when Ish-bosheth died, I'm going to take it and I'm going to restore it to you. Your inheritance is going to be yours. Secondly, David says, you're going to eat at my table. This lame man crippled in both of his feet is going to, in effect, be adopted into the king's family. We're told in this chapter that he ate at David's table like one of the king's sons. You will eat at my table always, Mephibosheth. And more than that, In later verses, when he calls Ziba into him, in verses nine and following, he tells him a third thing he's going to do. He commissions Ziba now, who was the servant of Saul, to now be the servant of Mephibosheth. This land that I have given him, you're going to go out and till it and bring in all the produce. You're going to meet all of Mephibosheth's needs for as long as he lives. He will never be without. For as long as he lives, he will be provided and he will be cared for. And you and your sons and your servants are going to do it for him. Folks, that is what kindness has said really is. Do you see how David goes above the covenant? He didn't have to do that. He didn't promise Jonathan anything like that. He would deal kindly with Jonathan's family, his house, the house of Saul. But look at how over and above David did for this young man. Giving him all of this land, letting him eat at his table like one of his own sons, providing him servants who will till his fields and will care for him. This is God's kindness that overwhelms in goodness towards his people. That's what David does. Note two things. Number one, Mephibosheth did not deserve this. This covenant was made maybe before this young man was even born. And if not, he was a small child. You will remember that when Jonathan and Saul died, that the reason why he became lame was because they were fleeing the battle and he was a young toddler and was dropped, he fell, and that's how he became lame the rest of his life. So he was a young toddler at most when this was made. And being lame, there's absolutely not a thing that he could have done to earn this type of favor, this kindness from David. And secondly, I want you to remember what we have said and should not miss. Mephibosheth was an enemy of David. Not literally, there was nothing he could do. He was not a threat. But his house represented the only legitimate rival to the throne. And his grandfather had made David his enemy and sought to kill him. And so bringing Mephibosheth into his very table is reconciliation between the house of David and the house of Saul. Now you see where we're going with this, don't you? It doesn't take an expository genius to get to where we're heading here tonight. Does it? Think how good that David is being, how kind and nothing forced him to do it. He chose to do it. David chose, simply chose to do this for him. That's kindness. That's the grace and kindness and love that David had experienced that he is now shown towards the house of the one who was his enemy, Saul. Mephibosheth. David is showing what the kingdom of God is supposed to look like. Look with me at verse 10. David delivers on his promises. Then the king, verse nine, the king called Ziba, Saul's servant. He said to him, all that belong to Saul and to all his house, I've given your master's grandson and you and your sons and your servants shall till the land for him and shall bring in the produce that your master's grandson may have bread to eat. But Mephibosheth, your master's grandson shall always eat at my table. Now Ziba had 15 sons and he had 20 servants. Here is this kindness delivered. Here it is. David keeps his word. keeps his word. And the chapter ends by telling us that Mephibosheth did in fact always eat from the king's table. And he had a young son as well. Jonathan's grandson who benefits as well from this kindness that David had shown to him. And then we're told once again that he was lame in both his feet. And what do we see in all of this? I think you're picking it up, aren't you? Every time we hear about Mephibosheth, we're told the same thing about him. He has a label. He is categorized as a cripple. Every time, three times in this chapter, we're told that Mephibosheth is cripple or he's lame in both of his feet. That's who he is. And so we recognize that there is not a thing that Mephibosheth could do for David. Not one thing, could he? Being lame on both his feet, he couldn't work for David. Couldn't do anything to pay David back. This man was completely dependent, wasn't he? And yet he was the recipient of this unimaginable favor and kindness that David decided to show him. Ladies and gentlemen, what we see in this chapter is not just a picture of how God reigned through David in Israel, because that's going to be very imperfect. We are almost to chapter 11, and you know what happens in chapter 11? That's a kingdom where the kindness of David fails, or a chapter where the kindness of David fails in this kingdom. David will suddenly steal a man's wife and murder that man. David is not the perfect picture of kindness, is he? But he is a forerunner of the one who is. Is this not a picture of who Christ is for us? I want you to see in yourself these same things that we've seen about Mephibosheth. Ladies and gentlemen, what can you do to earn God's favor? What can you do to pay God back? You also were fallen, aren't you? You fell in Adam. And you became spiritually, as it were, lame. In fact, worse than lame, dead. You're a dead dog, the way that Mephibosheth describes himself in this chapter. Worthless is basically the word, the meaning of that phrase. Nothing that you can do for yourself. Of course, nothing you can do for God. Mephibosheth pictures us. And yet, in spite of being lame and dead in our sins and unable to earn God's favor, God gave it to us in Christ. In Titus chapter 3 verse 4, But when the goodness and the lovingkindness of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy. By the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ, our Savior, so that being justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. What's that passage teach you? That your salvation is completely and totally a result of God's kindness towards you. His mercy and grace. It wasn't because of works done by you in righteousness, because what works could you possibly have done? Your best works are filthy. And they do not please God in any way. And so the salvation that God brings to you is pure grace. It's a gift that you didn't earn and can't pay for. And even as we look to everything that we see here with David and Mephibosheth, we start to see these great doctrines that we find again in the New Testament. We see, first of all, this aspect of reconciliation. And I almost put down there the doctrine of election. I took it out. I'm putting it back in. Let me start with the doctrine of election. Why? Because all of this kindness towards Mephibosheth had happened before Mephibosheth was even born or perhaps maybe just when he was a toddler. But like Romans 9, it had nothing to do with them. He had done nothing good or bad. But this grace was promised towards him regardless of who he would turn out to be. And in the same way, God's grace towards us began before the foundation of the world, before we were born or had done anything good or bad. God chose us and purposed to save us through his son before he ever said, let there be light. But secondly, there is this picture of reconciliation, isn't there? This idea that David treated this one of the house of Saul, the one who was once his enemy, brought him in and seated him there at his table. That's reconciliation. We used to sing that song all the time. The name of it is slipping my mind, but that's the way that it goes. Once your enemy, now we're seated at your table. That's what David did for Mephibosheth. It's reconciliation. And of course, what do we know about ourselves and God? We were his enemies. Romans five makes us very clear. We were weak in verse six. Christ died for the ungodly, even while we were yet sinners. Christ died for us in verse 11 of Romans five. We rejoicing God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. This is what God has done. We were enemies. We were weak. We were ungodly. And yet through Christ, we have been reconciled. And thirdly, it isn't just reconciliation, but it's adoption. David treated Mephibosheth like one of his own sons. And what do we know about ourselves? God does not just save us from his wrath, but he saves us from his wrath. And then he brings us into his presence and calls us his children. In Ephesians 1.5, he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ. In 1 John 3 verse 1, see what kind of love the Father has given to us that we should be called children of God, and so we are. I love the way John writes that. It's like he's just astounded by that fact, the way he writes it. So we are children of God. See the kindness of God here? Not just saved from His wrath. Not just reconciled to be friends. but sons and daughters. Fourthly, with the fact that we are his sons, there is also provision. God promises, doesn't he, to supply and to meet our needs. We are told not to worry about tomorrow. Tomorrow will take care of itself. Instead, seek first His kingdom and His righteousness in Matthew 6, 33. And all these things will be added to you. The promise of Jesus is that God knows what you need and He will meet it, just as we saw David assign Ziba to provide for Mephibosheth for the rest of his life. So God meets and supplies our needs. Fifthly, as sons, there is not only this provision, but there is inheritance. Again, think about the overwhelming kindness we see here with God, how he has just overloaded us with his grace. If he had just saved us from hell, that would have been enough, don't you think? But not for a God so kind and good. He has made us joint heirs with Jesus according to Romans 8. So that we read in 1 Peter 1 verse 3, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ according to his great mercy. He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance that's imperishable. Undefiled, unfading, kept in heaven for you who by God's power are being guarded for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Isn't that amazing? You have an inheritance. And by the way, if you're in Jesus Christ, there's nothing that can stop you from receiving it. It's reserved for you. Oh, and God is keeping you in his power to ensure the fact that you will receive it. Not to mention Ephesians chapter one telling us that you have the Holy Spirit who is the seal of it. God promises you an inheritance. You are going to have a home there attached to the father's house. You're even gonna have responsibilities in his kingdom. God has given to us an inheritance. And finally, we have a seat at Christ's table. Not just in the kingdom, but we sit at his table. We've been seeing this on Sunday mornings, haven't we? This is what he told the apostles after he talked to them about their faithfulness. He said, you're going to be rewarded. They're arguing about who's the greatest. And Jesus says, no, you've been faithful with me in all my trials. And for this reason, you're going to sit with me at my table. But it's not just the apostles. Earlier in the gospel of Luke in chapter 14, somebody spoke up in verse 15 and said, one of those reclined at the table, they heard these things. He said, blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God. Jesus acknowledges the fact that there will be bread, there will be a feast here in the kingdom of God. But then he tells a parable. about those who were invited to the banquet and they don't come in. They refuse his offer. Do you remember this parable? They keep coming up with excuses for why they can't come. This represents the Jews who rejected the Lord Jesus. Well, then the master in this parable says something. In verse 21, the servant came and reported these things to the master. And the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city. Bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame. Bring Mephibosheth in here. Bring the one who can't do anything. Bring the helpless one. Bring me the tax collector and the sinner. Bring me the one that recognizes his own guilt that he has nothing to offer to God. And it's that one who will sit at my table and dine with me in my kingdom. Ladies and gentlemen, if you're in Jesus Christ tonight, you're going to dine with him at his table. Is this kindness? God has done so much and he's done it for us who were his enemies. Who are we? Who are we? And if you're here and you don't know Christ, He offers it to you. Through faith, you can have it. Through faith, all this becomes yours. The alternative is the justice of God's holiness. The punishment, do your sin. But He offers you all of these things and more that we have talked about tonight through faith alone. What must you do? Believe. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. And you'll have it. That's the promise of the gospel. The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. He brings it and he offers to give it to you. And when we have it, you know what we become? We become messengers of his kindness. We live in this world as those who seek to display his kindness, as we saw here with David. To say this is what God has done for me. How can I not do for you? And the primary aspect of that is to offer them a seat at Christ's table. To tell them about how they can experience the kindness and the love of God through faith. What an incredible thing to meditate upon. The kindness of God and a little story about the way David treated a crippled man. who couldn't do anything for himself. And in that picture, we see the loving kindness of God towards you. Let's pray and let's praise him for his goodness to us. Our Father, we do praise you tonight. It's just shocking. I mean, it's shocking to think about how good you are to us. That what David did for Mephibosheth was incredible. It was a great display of covenant loyalty, of goodness and kindness and love. But what you have done towards us is just indescribable. It is, as the apostle teaches us in the letter to the Ephesians, it is a love that we can't describe. It's incomprehensible to the mind how much you have loved us. And for all eternity, we will meditate on this, never fully able to grasp how good you are towards us. Lord, may this move us tonight, that we would not go home and get distracted by something else, but that we would be those who meditate on this truth, that we might not go to bed tonight before we spend time praising your name for what you've done. And may we get up in the morning with a desire to show that loving kindness to others, especially. By becoming ministers of your gospel that. Others might be reconciled to you and experience this kindness. Lord, we thank you. Do your work within us tonight, I pray. In the name of Christ, our Lord, and for his sake. Amen. You are dismissed.