Scripture: 2 Samuel 9:1-13
Sermon Series: 2 Samuel: When God is Your King! – Sermon 09
Did you watch the eclipse? With all of the news about the eclipse you may have missed a beautiful story about a promise kept – a 46-year-old promise. It all came to fruition on Monday, April 8th, when Pat Moriarty (picture) a former teacher reunited with his former students to watch the solar eclipse. In 1978 when he was 22, Moriarty started as an Earth science teacher at Webster High School. He’s had the date of the 2024 eclipse circled on his calendar ever since. “I gave the kids a list of like 50 different eclipses [that] are going to happen around the world and one of them was going to be in Buffalo, New York, on April 8, 2024.” In 1978 he began making a promise that at the next eclipse they’d all get together to watch it. He kept making that promise to his classes until he stopped teaching in 1998.
Originally, he’d told his students he’d put an ad in the local paper to let them know about the watch party. Two years ago, when he realized the big day was approaching, he created a Facebook event to track down former students to whom he made that promise. And on April 9th, some 100 of his former students (picture) came together at his home to experience three minutes of totality together. Pat Moriarty is a Promise Keeper.
2 Samuel 9 is about a Promise Keeper, King David. It’s one of the most beautiful chapters in the Old Testament and even the whole Bible. It’s about a 20-year-old promise. It’s about kindness and compassion. David like the God he loved is a Promise Keeper. While it’s about David, it has parallels to David’s coming greater Son, King Jesus.
Do you keep your promises? The Bible is a book of God’s promises and God always keeps His promises. If you’re taking notes…
1. David made and kept his promise, vss. 1-3.
Who said it? “We are not about to send American boys 9 or 10 thousand miles away from home to do what Asian boys ought to be doing for themselves.” President Lyndon Johnson (picture). “Read my lips: No new taxes.” President George H.W. Bush (picture). In this election year you’ll hear a lot of campaign promises that will mostly be forgotten as quickly as the winning candidate reaches office. We don’t expect politicians to keep their promises.
One famous political promise story was President Franklin D. Roosevelt (picture) In 1932 Roosevelt made a speech in Pittsburgh advocating restraint of government spending. Four years later he wanted to speak in favor of more government spending. How could he do that without appearing like he flip-flopped? His advisors told him that he should deny that he’d ever made the speech in Pittsburgh! No wonder we have fact check.
David is at a time of great peace in his kingdom. Old enemies had been conquered and David remembered a promise he’d made twenty years before to his friend, Jonathan. When David has time to reflect, first he thinks about building a temple for God. Now he thinks about his promise to Jonathan. What do you think about in your spare time? David thinks about others.
What David says here is shocking. 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?’” (2 Samuel 9:1). Jonathan, we get, but King Saul. Saul had tried to kill David, had stolen David’s wife but David had promised both Jonathan and Saul that he’d take care of their families. “Then Jonathan said to David, ‘Go in peace, because we have sworn both of us in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘The Lord shall be between me and you, and between my offspring and your offspring, forever’” (1 Samuel 20:42).
Saul told David. “‘And now, behold, I know that you shall surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in your hand. Swear to me therefore by the Lord that you will not cut off my offspring after me, and that you will not destroy my name out of my father’s house.’ And David swore this to Saul” (1 Samuel 24:20-22).
After all David had suffered at the hands of Saul, we’d understand if he conveniently forgotten his promise to Jonathan. One of the greatest pieces of evidence that you’re a Christ-follower is not in how you treat your friends, but in how you treat your enemies. “Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God” (Romans 12:17-19).
David throws the net wider than his promise required. He extends his generosity to Saul’s grandson. He takes seriously his promise, his covenant to both Saul and Jonathan. Psalm 15:4 says that a person who loves God is one “who swears to his own hurt and does not change” (Psalm 15:4). This isn’t about forgetting what you said. We all do that. This is someone who consciously breaks their promise.
Today we jettison our promises if our feelings change. If you’re married, you made a vow before God. Marriage is a covenant. Yet, couples convince themselves that they’ve “fallen out of love” or “don’t feel” they love their spouse anymore. Love is not a feeling. Love is a choice.
One writer uses the 1985 Academy Award winning movie Out of Africa (picture) as an illustration of our failure to understand promises. In one scene Meryl Streep and Robert Redford sit talking on the beach. She wants him to marry her. Redford’s response is: “Do you think I’ll love you more because of a piece of paper?” That’s today’s mentality. A covenant is a piece of paper, a mere, empty formality. That movie line misses the point of a marriage covenant. Such a covenant never claims to regulate a love’s intensity but only its security. What a lost world doesn’t see is that love that truly loves is willing to bind itself, to promise. It willingly obligates so that the other may be secure in that love. Even among Christ-followers, we have little understanding of marital covenant. Our morals, our commitment to purity isn’t very different from a pagan world. Our marriages are to reflect Christ’s love and commitment to His Church. Is yours like that?
I have a poem in my office by one of my heroes, Dr. Robertson McQuilkin (picture), “Let me get Home before dark.” Robertson served as President of Columbia Bible College and Seminary for 22 years. Just as he was heading into his peak years of service, his wife, Muriel, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Over about three years, she declined steadily. Robertson started working as often as possible from home, which was located on the campus about a half-mile from his office. As she continued to decline, she lost more and more of her ability to speak. But the one sentence she remembered, and often said was, “I love you.” When Robertson would go to the office, Muriel would follow him, because of her love for him. She’d make the trip up to ten times a day. Sometimes at night, when Robertson helped her undress, he found bloody feet. Eight years before he would have retired, Robertson resigned as President so that he could care full-time for his wife, Muriel.
He writes, “When the time came, the decision was firm. It took no great calculation. It was a matter of integrity. Had I not promised, 42 years before, “in sickness and in health…till death do us part”? Someone once asked Robertson if it was hard having to take care of his wife. He replied, “I don’t have to take care of her; I get to take care of her!” That’s covenant.
David understood that covenants are to be kept. It’s why he made sure he was keeping his promise to Jonathan when he asked, “Is there still anyone left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?”
At Grace, we love it when folk attend, but we have a few hurdles to jump if you want to be a member. First, you must be a Christ-follower. You must have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Then, you must attend a new members’ class. Why? Because joining a church is a covenant. We’re covenanting to Jesus Christ to love Him and to love each other as brothers and sisters. We want you to understand what that means. When we welcome in new members, do baptisms, marry a man and a woman — what’s always in view? Covenant! Promises are made. Everyone who’s made such a covenant knows covenants stand firm regardless of how much feelings ebb and flow.
David understood that covenant promises are meant to be kept. He wanted to make sure he was keeping his covenant to Jonathan. And someone told David of a servant of Saul’s named Ziba. “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 of the house of Saul, that I may show the kindness of God to him?” Ziba said to the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan; he is crippled in his feet. The king said to him, “Where is he?” And Ziba said to the king, “He is in the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, at Lo-debar” (2 Samuel 9:2-4).
So, what had happened to Mephibosheth? 2 Samuel 4:4, “Jonathan, the son of Saul, had a son who was crippled in his feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel, and his nurse took him up and fled, and as she fled in her haste, he fell and became lame. And his name was Mephibosheth.” Mephibosheth was around twenty years old at the time David was looking to fulfill his promise to Jonathan, but there’s more here than just a promise…
2. David shows God’s loyal kindness.
Pastor Rick Ezell (picture) shares a powerful story of kindness. He writes:
While traveling in Switzerland I was sitting at a crowded bus stop. People were milling around waiting for the next bus. As I was waiting, out of the corner of my eye I noticed a little boy about six or seven-years old ambling toward the bus stop. He appeared to be walking aimlessly without a care in the world. When he looked behind him, he realized that he was walking alone. Fear came over him. And he began to cry out, “Somebody! Somebody!” The closer he got and with the words he spoke, I realized that it was a Down-Syndrome child. The louder he cried out for “Somebody!” the wider the people parted to avoid this child. He began to look around at the people almost as if he were a cornered animal. “Somebody! Somebody!” he shouted, as his face grew whiter with fright.
I thought to myself, “Somebody ought to do something.” Finally, the bus pulled up and people started to get on while this boy kept yelling “Somebody!” Then out of the crowd came a young woman who answered “Somebody.” She gathered this boy up in her arms, held him tightly, and quieted him by whispering, “Somebody. Somebody.” Then, I saw another woman running toward the lady holding the Down-Syndrome child. At that moment I realized that the second lady was the mother while the first lady was just a kind person who saw someone hurting and in need and reached out in love.
That’s kindness. Three times in 2 Samuel 9 the Hebrew word hesed translated “kindness” is used. It’s an important Old Testament word where it’s used 249 times. Its most common meaning is “loyal love.” It’s the sense of “loyal love” is “an unfailing kind of love, kindness, or goodness.”
It’s used of God’s love and is directly related to His faithfulness to His covenant.It can be translated “steadfast love” That’s how it was used by Jonathan when he covenanted with David to “not cut off your steadfast love from my house forever.” In 2 Samuel 9, it’s translated “kindness.” Kindness has the sense of “a kind act.” That’s the way it’s translated 38 times.
David is committed to fulfilling his promise to Jonathan by doing a “kind act” for any of his descendants for Jonathan’s sake. David’s kindness wasn’t the result of compassion he felt at finding Mephibosheth. No. He sought out the opportunity to keep his covenant and show kindness. He looked for a recipient to bless. David wasn’t just “nice.” He purposefully looked for someone else who’d receive his kindness in fulfillment of his promise.
Even more striking, this action is foreign to what you’d expect from a king of that day solidifying his reign. Rather than take revenge against the last of Saul’s family, David takes this approach on account of his love for Jonathan. He doesn’t ask if there are more enemies to destroy. David asks if there is anyone else who might receive his kindness. Kindness toward the unexpected and undeserving — that’s what kindness looks like in Scripture.
Are you kind? When was the last time you showed kindness to someone who didn’t deserve it? Christfollowers are to be known for kindness. Yet, we’re swimming upstream against the culture when we show kindness. Today bullying is confused with strength. Insults fly from elected officials as a sign of “toughness.” Too often leaders are praised for being bullies.
Please don’t fall for the lie that showing kindness is weakness. It’s the strong person who returns good for evil, a blessing for a curse, a compliment for an insult. Strong individuals show kindness to the point of vulnerability. But the insecure can’t do anything that’d threaten their tough exterior.
Our world flocks around the rich, the famous, cool and powerful. It’s tragic that we tend to dodge the Mephibosheth’s – the crippled, handicapped, and marginalized. You and I are most like Jesus when we care for a Mephibosheth. God sees them no different than anyone else. They, like all people, matter to God and must matter to us. That’s biblical kindness. Henry Drummond (picture) said, “The greatest thing a man can do for his heavenly Father is to be kind to some of His other children.”
3. Mephibosheth is a descendant of David’s enemy, vss. 6-13.
A British factory worker and his wife were excited when, after many years of marriage, they discovered they were going to have their first child. According to author, Jill Briscoe (picture), who told this true story, the man eagerly shared the good news with his fellow workers. He told them God had answered his prayers, but they made fun of him for asking God for a child.
But when the baby was born, he was diagnosed with Down’s syndrome. As the father made his way to work for the first time after the birth, he wondered how to face his co-workers. “God, please give me wisdom,” he prayed. Just as he feared, some of them said mockingly, “So, God gave you this child!” The new father stood for a long time, silently praying to God for help. At last, he said, “I’m glad the Lord gave this child to me and not to you.”
He rightly accepted his disabled son as God’s gift. David was pleased to show kindness to Jonathan’s son who’s “crippled in his feet” (2 Samuel 9:3). Some would have rejected Mephibosheth because he’s lame.
Jesus’ disciples once questioned whether a man born with a disability had sinned or if it was his parents that had sinned. Jesus answered, “It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins. This happened so the power of God could be seen in him” (John 9:3).
Mephibosheth’s name literally means “one who scatters shame.” What a sad story but what a great ending. David’s kindness showed that he valued this broken man.
Saul’s servant, Ziba, is summoned for a royal interview. There’s one surviving son of Jonathan’s. It’s conjecture but Ziba might not have trusted David. He mentions that his master’s son is crippled. He’s no threat to you, your majesty. Or he might simply be warning David that the prince wasn’t very kingly. He wouldn’t fit in around here, my lord. Mephibosheth’s handicap is mentioned twice.
Mephibosheth rightly based on the thinking of that day, assumes he’s on David’s blacklist. Wouldn’t you? He lives far away, as far away as he can get. He lives in the obscurity of Lo Debar which means “no pasture.”
He’s probably prayed that David would never hear about his existence. But that day finally came. The king’s soldiers knocked at his door. He’s a member of the old regime, a political liability to the new kingdom. He might be lame in his feet, but he’s not lame in his head. He knows what happens to rivals. “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.” (2 Samuel 9:6).
Imagine the scene. Mephibosheth wastes no time but falls prostrate before David. He knows what’s next. Whenever a new king came to power he executed relatives from the old dynasty. Everyone knew this. Everyone practiced this – but not everyone. For David, God’s king, covenant, hesed, trumps culture. Mephibosheth expects execution but instead, what does he receive? Mercy. Kindness. Notice what’s promised:
Protection. “Do not fear. I will act with hesed towards you on account of your father.” Mephibosheth has nothing to be afraid of. He’s not going to die. He’s the object of the king’s loyal love and kindness.
Provision. “I will restore to you your father’s land.” Restoring the family farm and charging Ziba and his sons to work it would provide income for the prince. Perhaps Saul’s estate had been confiscated by the crown or maybe Ziba had taken it over.
Position. “You’ll always eat at my table.” Mephibosheth’s place was not to grovel like a slave at the king’s feet but to sit at his table as if he were one of the king’s sons. Eating at the king’s table is mentioned four times in our text.
Mephibosheth is stunned. “And [Mephibosheth’ paid homage and said, “What is your servant, that you should show regard for a dead dog such as I?” (2 Samuel 9:8). That’s grace, amazing grace! If you’re the recipient of mercy, you’re stunned by it. It’s undeserved and unearned.
Privilege. David blesses Mephibosheth. He doesn’t just spare Mephibosheth’s life, he heaps goodness on him abundantly. David not only protects his life, but he also restores his inheritance. David not only spares Mephibosheth’s life, but he also meets his every need.
Think how risky this would be. David gives his political enemy status and power. What if he uses these resources to come after David? This is the remarkable power of lovingkindness.
David used his wealth, status, and power to give Mephibosheth a future and a purpose. Lovingkindness is marked by generosity and empowerment, going above and beyond to seek the good of someone else. It’s taking a risk.
Just a sidebar. Some of you are hesitant to reach out to others because you’ve been burned. You’ve been betrayed. Me too. And so has God. We’re to do the right thing, we’re to take risks and leave the results with God.
Mephibosheth humbled himself. He falls at David’s feet. He calls himself a “dead dog.” Humbling yourself is essential for coming to the king.
2 Samuel 9 ends reminding us that Mephibosheth was lame in both feet. His circumstance hasn’t changed, yet at the same time, everything has changed. He’s finally found a home, where he had none. A family, where he had none. A future, where he had none.
David had only promised Saul and Jonathan that he wouldn’t cut off their descendants, yet David did so much more. He honored Mephibosheth beyond his wildest dreams. He even made Mephibosheth part of his own family.
Conclusion
If you listen to Christian radio, then you no doubt have heard the song, Confidence by Sanctus Real (picture). Here’s the chorus:
So give me faith like Daniel in the lion’s den
Give me hope like Moses in the wilderness
Give me a heart like David, Lord be my defense
So I can face my giants with confidence.
Most of us, like that song, want to be a Daniel or a David or a Moses. The truth is that we’re Mephibosheths. We’re a big broken mess.
Think about this for a moment. What if, after this great offer by David, Mephibosheth looked at David and said, “Leave me alone”? We’d shake our head in disbelief. Why would someone walk away from such love and kindness? But surprisingly people do it every day. The offer of forgiveness and new life through Christ is presented by friends and neighbors, in churches, in books and on the airwaves. Yet many ignore the words or turn and walk away. Most of them don’t think they need it. Is that you? Hang around most individuals and you’ll quickly find out how wonderful, good, nice and moral they think they are. They’re self-made men and women.
It’s the reason some of us have never come to trust in Christ. We’ve never faced the fact that like Mephibosheth, we are by our very nature at the bottom of the pile—we’re lame, we’re sinful, we’re crippled, and spiritually diseased. But somehow the message comes to us along the lines of “God likes nice people. You’re a nice person from SE Wisconsin and therefore, you’ve got a very, very good chance of being welcomed into His eternal kingdom.” Nope! Not for a nanosecond. The reverse is true.
The reaction of Mephibosheth is the right reaction to the covenant love of God: “What is your servant, that you should show regard for a dead dog such as I?” That’s because Mephibosheth’s story is our story.
David’s undeserved kindness to Mephibosheth is a picture of God’s undeserved kindness to us. Mephibosheth was to be the grandson of the king but lost it all through Saul’s sin. Like Mephibosheth, we lost our position with God through Adam’s sin. Mephibosheth became a cripple through no fault of his own. He’s forced to live as an outcast through no fault of his own. He’s a pitiable helpless man who couldn’t do anything to save himself. That’s a good picture of us. We’re crippled by sin, an outcast from God’s presence, with nothing we could do to save ourselves.
Just as David set out to find Mephibosheth and show him kindness he didn’t deserve, God set out through Jesus to show us kindness we didn’t deserve. Just as David took Mephibosheth from having nothing to giving him everything when he put him over the vast wealth and land of Saul’s family. In a similar way, through Jesus, God took us from having nothing to becoming the most blessed beings in the universe with the vast riches of God for all eternity. All the delight God the Father has in Jesus is the delight that we’ll experience for all eternity because we are now so closely identified with Jesus. Just as David adopted Mephibosheth into his own family, we were adopted into the family of God, brothers, and sisters of Jesus our King.
When it comes to being a Promise Keeper, David is a rookie. God is the greatest Promise Keeper. God always keeps His promises. He kept His promises to David, He kept His promises to Israel and He’ll keep His promises to you and to me.
David looked for anybody, found a nobody and made him somebody. As Mephibosheth was rescued and made part of David’s family, salvation has nothing to do with what we have. It’s not about our promises to God but His promises to us. God’s greatest promise is of forgiveness and eternal life. Have you received God’s promise of eternal life? 1 John 2:25: “And this is what He promised us – even eternal life.” Until you have believed and received, God’s promises will not be accessible to you.
As Mephibosheth was filled with humility and gratitude for David’s underserved kindness, we should be filled with even greater humility and gratitude for God’s undeserved kindness to us. While we don’t see it in this chapter, as we continue our study, we’ll see the kindness of David deeply touched Mephibosheth. He became a different person. He was filled with humility and gratitude for the rest of his life because of the kindness of the king. In the same way, our lives should be marked by the undeserved kindness King Jesus has shown to us. We should live lives of humility and gratitude because we’ve been marked forever by the kindness of our king.
But Mephibosheth couldn’t put David off. You need to know that there’s some urgency in accepting Christ, because one day it will be too late. That’s a promise too. Because God is patient, He’s giving you time right now to decide to commit your life to Christ. 2 Peter 3:9: “The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”
Are you ready to receive God’s promise of forgiveness and eternal life? If you are, then confess that you’re a sinner and repent of the way you’ve been living. Believe that Jesus is the Promised One and that when He died on the cross, He did as your substitute. He’s paid the price for all of your sins. But until you accept it, none of this is applied to you until you surrender and receive Him into your life. And my friend, you can do that right now.
God’s greatest promise is that anyone who believes in Jesus for everlasting life, receives it (John 3:16). God offers you and I the free gift of everlasting life which can’t ever be lost. This gift is only received by simply believing in Jesus for it. It’s God’s greatest promise to you, which He will keep, because God is the greatest promise keeper. Please accept His promise today!