WEBVTT 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:01.360 Good morning, church. 00:00:03.600 --> 00:00:08.560 Hear now the word of the true and living God, 2 Samuel 9, verses 1 through 13. 00:00:08.880 --> 00:00:15.279 And David said, Is there still anyone left of the house of Saul that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake? 00:00:15.519 --> 00:00:21.679 Now there was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was Zeba, and they called him to David, and the king said to him, Are you Ziba? 00:00:22.000 --> 00:00:23.600 And he said, I am your servant. 00:00:23.760 --> 00:00:29.679 And the king said, Is there not still someone of the house of Saul that I may show the kindness of God to him? 00:00:29.920 --> 00:00:34.640 Zeba said to the king, There is still a son of Jonathan, he is crippled in his feet. 00:00:34.799 --> 00:00:36.560 The king said to him, Where is he? 00:00:36.719 --> 00:00:41.759 And Zeba said to the king, He is in the house of Makir, the son of Emil, at Lodabar. 00:00:42.240 --> 00:00:54.479 Then King David sent and brought him from the house of Makir, the son of Emil, at Lodabar, and Mephibasheth paid homage, and David said, Mephibosheth, and he answered, Behold, I am your servant. 00:00:54.640 --> 00:01:05.200 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. 00:01:05.359 --> 00:01:11.920 And he paid homage and said, What is your servant that you should show regard for a dead dog such as I? 00:01:12.239 --> 00:01:29.680 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 tell till the land for him, and shall bring in the produce that your master's grandson may have bread to eat. 00:01:29.840 --> 00:01:34.000 But Mephibosheth, your master's grandson, shall always eat at my table. 00:01:34.239 --> 00:01:37.120 Now Zeba had fifteen sons and twenty servants. 00:01:37.280 --> 00:01:43.439 Then Zeba said to the king, According to all that my lord the king commands his servant, so will your servant do. 00:01:43.599 --> 00:01:54.879 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 Zeba's house became Mephibosheth's servants. 00:01:55.040 --> 00:01:59.280 So Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, for he ate always at the king's table. 00:01:59.439 --> 00:02:01.680 Now he was lame in both his feet. 00:02:01.840 --> 00:02:03.120 This is the word of the Lord. 00:02:03.280 --> 00:02:04.480 Please be seated. 00:02:05.840 --> 00:02:06.799 Good morning. 00:02:07.840 --> 00:02:14.000 Welcome to church this morning for likely the last time in the morning. 00:02:14.240 --> 00:02:17.599 So this is our last 9.30 a.m. 00:02:18.080 --> 00:02:18.719 service. 00:02:19.120 --> 00:02:22.240 So next week, which is June 9th. 00:02:22.400 --> 00:02:26.639 Next week, we are going to be meeting at 4:30 p.m. 00:02:27.439 --> 00:02:29.360 So mark your calendars. 00:02:29.599 --> 00:02:30.879 4:30 p.m. 00:02:31.199 --> 00:02:34.719 We're gonna be meeting in the same space in this building at 4.30 p.m. 00:02:35.039 --> 00:02:39.680 I don't know if you noticed uh or tried to park in a giant green dumpster. 00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:41.120 Did anyone see that? 00:02:41.360 --> 00:02:45.039 That's a new feature that we've added to the church. 00:02:45.199 --> 00:02:47.680 So uh a brief history on where we are. 00:02:47.840 --> 00:03:07.120 So the church building that we are in now has been sold to another local church called the Heights Church, uh, and a wonderful congregation that we've gotten to know and become close with, and they've purchased the building, and so we are remaining in this space, uh rent-free, which I'm gonna say every chance I get. 00:03:07.280 --> 00:03:11.199 Um, because how many times in your life do you get to say rent-free and mean it? 00:03:11.520 --> 00:03:12.560 Not many. 00:03:12.800 --> 00:03:25.039 Um so we're in and so part of that accommodation for us is uh we're moving to evening services because they will be hosting their services here um in the morning right now. 00:03:25.199 --> 00:03:30.000 Um and preaching dueling preachers is hard to work out. 00:03:30.080 --> 00:03:32.080 So we decided to go with two separate times. 00:03:32.319 --> 00:03:42.080 Uh this is uh so this is our our last morning service here, which is pretty exciting and kind of um yeah, honestly kind of strange. 00:03:42.159 --> 00:03:45.599 Like driving in today, it was it was a very strange thing. 00:03:45.680 --> 00:03:49.439 It was like, oh, that alarm time uh is going to shift now. 00:03:49.599 --> 00:03:51.759 Now I'm not gonna wake up until 2 p.m. 00:03:55.520 --> 00:03:58.639 Um which uh I'm really looking forward to. 00:03:58.960 --> 00:04:01.840 So uh next week, 4 30. 00:04:01.919 --> 00:04:07.360 Uh you can find that on our website and uh in the app, and we're gonna try and communicate it to you. 00:04:07.520 --> 00:04:10.479 You're gonna be so overhearing it, we hope. 00:04:10.800 --> 00:04:16.319 Um uh also uh redemption groups are starting their summer session this week. 00:04:16.560 --> 00:04:20.240 So there are two ways to get connected here at Redemption Church Denver. 00:04:20.319 --> 00:04:22.319 We gather large and we gather small. 00:04:22.480 --> 00:04:27.360 Our large gatherings are on Sundays, and our small gatherings are in each other's homes throughout the week. 00:04:27.519 --> 00:04:29.120 We call those redemption groups. 00:04:29.360 --> 00:04:37.600 This summer, where those redemption groups are going to be uh moving through Psalms of David in the pattern of the Lectio Divina. 00:04:37.839 --> 00:04:52.560 So the purpose is to be learning how to engage with the Psalms of Scripture, learn these prayers that David was praying throughout this time that we're learning about David, uh, and learn how to engage with those at a real heart level with the text. 00:04:52.720 --> 00:04:57.360 So you can sign up for those in our app, go to redemptionchurchdenver.com. 00:04:57.519 --> 00:05:00.160 If you haven't checked out our app recently, I highly recommend it. 00:05:00.240 --> 00:05:02.639 It's one of the best ways to be connected as a church. 00:05:02.800 --> 00:05:14.240 My favorite thing that we do in our app is a tab called Practices, and this introduces ways that you can incorporate spiritual disciplines into your own life. 00:05:14.399 --> 00:05:20.720 Uh and part of that is a Bible reading plan that we're doing all together as a church. 00:05:20.959 --> 00:05:22.879 Haven't talked about this for a while, but it's very cool. 00:05:23.040 --> 00:05:37.920 So we're moving through the McShane Reading Plan, which is uh four chapters a day, and you read some Old Testament, some New Testament, and it takes you through the New Testament and Psalms twice in a year, and the Old Testament once in a year. 00:05:38.160 --> 00:05:50.240 And it's so cool to be reading this together as a congregation, knowing that when you're reading it, you're reading the same scripture that the other people in your church are reading. 00:05:50.319 --> 00:05:57.279 And you can discuss it and talk about it and see how we can be a church that really lives in the Word. 00:05:57.439 --> 00:06:00.879 Um so you can access that through the app as well. 00:06:01.519 --> 00:06:05.360 Um and next week we are moving to 4:30 p.m. 00:06:05.600 --> 00:06:06.319 services. 00:06:07.360 --> 00:06:09.920 Uh so that is that. 00:06:10.319 --> 00:06:18.480 Um let's go ahead and move into our uh does it uh alright, I'm being picky and I'm gonna cause a stir right now. 00:06:18.639 --> 00:06:19.759 Does it feel dark up here? 00:06:20.480 --> 00:06:21.519 Can we turn the lights? 00:06:21.680 --> 00:06:24.720 Can we just turn like can we just bring, can we make it daytime in here? 00:06:24.800 --> 00:06:26.480 Just like bring the house lights way up. 00:06:26.639 --> 00:06:28.240 I want it super bright. 00:06:28.480 --> 00:06:29.600 If that's possible. 00:06:29.839 --> 00:06:31.839 If that's as bright as we can get, then we did it. 00:06:32.000 --> 00:06:33.759 Okay, that feels much better. 00:06:34.079 --> 00:06:35.279 Um welcome to church. 00:06:35.360 --> 00:06:38.480 We believe in things like resurrection and light from darkness. 00:06:42.000 --> 00:06:45.120 Okay, let's pray before we get into this text. 00:06:47.279 --> 00:06:51.279 Father, we're here before you with your word. 00:06:52.959 --> 00:06:59.519 I pray that you would apply it to our hearts and that you would open our hearts, that we would receive your word from you. 00:06:59.839 --> 00:07:03.920 Lord, change us by it and show us who you are by it. 00:07:04.240 --> 00:07:05.680 Lift this up in Jesus' name. 00:07:06.000 --> 00:07:06.639 Amen. 00:07:07.600 --> 00:07:15.120 So last week I mentioned that we're going to be moving through 2 Samuel a bit faster than we moved through 1 Samuel. 00:07:15.279 --> 00:07:21.360 2 Samuel starts to move with a bit more of a topical nature, while 1 Samuel moves pretty chronologically. 00:07:21.439 --> 00:07:25.759 And so we're gonna follow that, but that also means we're gonna be skipping some chapters. 00:07:26.000 --> 00:07:35.839 So before I move into the story that we're covering today, I want to give a brief summary of the chapter that we're missing. 00:07:36.079 --> 00:07:47.759 So last week we looked at chapter 7, which is when David, uh which is when God forms his covenant with David, and he says he will never remove his steadfast love from the house of David. 00:07:48.160 --> 00:07:59.199 And then comes chapter 8, which typically follows chapter 7's, and chapter 8 is a recounting of David's military exploits. 00:07:59.519 --> 00:08:06.160 David has this astonishing military career, and chapter 8 is dedicated to that. 00:08:06.399 --> 00:08:13.120 Uh, it's bookended by this phrase: the Lord gave victory to David wherever he went. 00:08:13.279 --> 00:08:17.040 That's 2 Samuel 8, it says that in verse 6 and in verse 14. 00:08:17.199 --> 00:08:20.160 The Lord gave victory to David wherever he went. 00:08:20.319 --> 00:08:26.240 And in those 14 verses of chapter 8, we see that David conquers four kingdoms. 00:08:26.480 --> 00:08:34.879 He gets one bonus kingdom thrown in because they thought they were gonna come help one of David's rival kingdoms, then he just conquered them too. 00:08:35.120 --> 00:08:40.879 And then a sixth kingdom just shows up and is like, hey, we heard about the others. 00:08:41.039 --> 00:08:42.879 Wanna just rule us? 00:08:43.919 --> 00:08:46.159 Which was probably a wise move. 00:08:46.320 --> 00:08:51.440 And so it David's kingdom is just explosively growing. 00:08:51.679 --> 00:09:03.360 To the point that if he were the greatest military genius in the world, I think that people would still say, I think the Lord may be giving him victory wherever he goes. 00:09:03.600 --> 00:09:09.759 It's an incredible move of and growth for the kingdom that David is over. 00:09:09.919 --> 00:09:17.279 And it's something that I kind of want to draw attention to is that it's given a short 14 verses. 00:09:17.759 --> 00:09:25.200 You know, if this were in any other ancient Near Eastern history of a kingdom, this would be the whole book. 00:09:25.519 --> 00:09:34.159 This probably took up most of David's time, it took up most of his energy, it demonstrated his greatness and worldly wisdom. 00:09:34.399 --> 00:09:40.559 And in any other ancient Near Eastern history, that would be the catalog, that would be how the king's glory is demonstrated. 00:09:40.720 --> 00:09:45.600 And yet here it's kind of an aside, it's it's a snippet. 00:09:45.840 --> 00:09:57.200 And then what the author of Samuel, what he writes, he emphasizes these tiny little moments in David's life. 00:09:57.840 --> 00:10:09.360 Because what he's writing in this book is he's saying, what do we want to capture of David's heart that we actually want to have a generational impact in Israel? 00:10:09.600 --> 00:10:17.279 What is it that we want future Israelites to look at David and see and then incorporate for themselves and their children? 00:10:17.840 --> 00:10:31.039 And so he gives his military exploits and the land that he acquires 14 verses, and then he gives another 14 to this one incident with a crippled man named Mephibosheth. 00:10:32.799 --> 00:10:40.639 What the writer wants to draw our attention to is what matters in David. 00:10:41.120 --> 00:10:50.879 And what matters in David is that he upholds the loving kindness of the Lord in the context of a covenant. 00:10:51.440 --> 00:10:57.840 David upholds the loving kindness of the Lord in the context of a covenant. 00:10:58.879 --> 00:11:01.759 So we'll go ahead and jump into our story. 00:11:02.799 --> 00:11:06.480 Which starts off 2 Samuel chapter 9, verse 1. 00:11:07.519 --> 00:11:18.639 And David said, Is there still anyone left of the house of Saul that I might show him, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake? 00:11:18.960 --> 00:11:22.399 Now, this question comes completely unprompted. 00:11:22.559 --> 00:11:39.120 This just follows a long list of military exploits, an established kingdom, and then David, unprompted, just asks this question: Is there still anyone left of the house of Saul that I might be able to show kindness to them? 00:11:39.919 --> 00:11:47.919 Now, what David is doing here is he's remembering the covenant that he made with Jonathan. 00:11:48.559 --> 00:11:55.039 Jonathan was King Saul's son, and King Saul and David had become enemies with one another. 00:11:55.360 --> 00:12:00.000 And in the context of that, Jonathan and David made a covenant. 00:12:00.159 --> 00:12:06.080 It's recounted three times, but uh this uh uh uh might perhaps be the best reading. 00:12:06.159 --> 00:12:09.519 So this is 1 Samuel 20, uh, 14 through 17. 00:12:09.679 --> 00:12:11.120 Jonathan says this to David. 00:12:11.200 --> 00:12:17.519 He says, If I am still alive, show me the steadfast love of the Lord that I may not die. 00:12:17.679 --> 00:12:23.840 And do not cut off your steadfast love from my house forever. 00:12:24.080 --> 00:12:27.440 Don't cut off your steadfast love from my house forever. 00:12:27.679 --> 00:12:38.080 So David, now off in the future with an established kingdom, wonders, is there anyone left from the house of Saul that I could show kindness to? 00:12:38.240 --> 00:12:40.080 Because he had made that commitment to Jonathan. 00:12:40.240 --> 00:12:41.440 I'll continue reading. 00:12:41.679 --> 00:12:52.159 When the Lord cuts off every one of the enemies of David from 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. 00:12:52.320 --> 00:13:00.240 And Jonathan made David swear again by his love for him, for he loved him as he loved his own soul. 00:13:00.559 --> 00:13:12.720 So what these two people who ought to have been natural enemies do is they acknowledge their love for one another, and then they make it tangible by applying a covenant to that love. 00:13:13.120 --> 00:13:19.200 So they say, There will almost certainly be animosity between our progeny. 00:13:19.440 --> 00:13:29.360 So let us make a covenant so that you will commit to showing my offspring loving kindness, and I will commit to showing your offspring loving kindness. 00:13:29.679 --> 00:13:40.559 Where there would have otherwise almost certainly in any other kingdom been revenge. 00:13:43.200 --> 00:13:47.919 In this case, they have committed to showing a kindness to each other. 00:13:49.679 --> 00:13:55.440 So David returns that very same covenant language. 00:13:55.919 --> 00:13:58.240 He says, Show your steadfast love. 00:13:58.399 --> 00:14:00.240 Do not cut off your steadfast love. 00:14:00.399 --> 00:14:07.519 This is this very same word that David uses that in this verse is translated as kindness. 00:14:08.639 --> 00:14:13.440 This is a word that in Hebrew is pronounced Hasid. 00:14:14.159 --> 00:14:15.759 That's how you pronounce it in Hebrew. 00:14:16.000 --> 00:14:17.919 You have to cough and then say it. 00:14:18.320 --> 00:14:19.679 It's pronounced Hasid. 00:14:20.720 --> 00:14:22.960 And it's translated in multiple places. 00:14:23.039 --> 00:14:37.039 When we read our verse this morning and it said the steadfast love of the Lord, or where you see the loving kindness of the Lord, or in this case, kindness, as David says, it's this word, this covenantal term of Hesed. 00:14:38.000 --> 00:14:47.120 So David draws on that same language that he had established in the covenant with Jonathan when he asks, How can I live out this covenant? 00:14:47.279 --> 00:14:52.240 Is there anyone left from the house of Saul that I might show kindness to? 00:14:52.480 --> 00:15:01.440 Now, when they're making this covenant together and they use this word of steadfast love, this Hesed, they are not being original. 00:15:01.519 --> 00:15:07.360 They're being perfectly derivative of the way that God describes his covenant with his people. 00:15:07.679 --> 00:15:17.200 In Exodus 34, they what happens is the Israelites had already received the Ten Commandments, they had established a covenant with the Lord at Mount Sinai. 00:15:17.360 --> 00:15:21.120 Moses comes back down and they've all gone to pieces. 00:15:21.519 --> 00:15:22.639 Things are bad again. 00:15:22.799 --> 00:15:27.600 And so the Lord, Moses intercedes because God's like, why don't we just wipe them all out? 00:15:27.679 --> 00:15:30.159 And Moses, I can start something again with you. 00:15:30.399 --> 00:15:33.440 And Moses is like, whoa, that won't look good. 00:15:33.759 --> 00:15:42.960 And Moses intercedes on behalf of his people, and uh God relents his wrath, and Moses says, Can I see your glory? 00:15:44.879 --> 00:15:52.159 And God puts Moses in the cleft of a rock, and then this happens, Exodus 34, 6 through 7. 00:15:52.240 --> 00:16:23.120 The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, Hesed, and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love, that same word, for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children to the third and the fourth generation. 00:16:23.840 --> 00:16:30.000 This is what God proclaims just before he renews his covenant with his people. 00:16:30.399 --> 00:16:41.600 He says, You are renewing a covenant with me, who is God, and what defines being in covenant with me is that I am a God of steadfast love. 00:16:42.559 --> 00:17:00.720 And so living in this world where the ultimate covenant that you live under is with the God of steadfast love, then when Jonathan and David make a covenant with one another, the most natural thing in the world is we will make this same type of covenant inspired by God. 00:17:01.440 --> 00:17:05.359 Jonathan later will say, the Lord is between us. 00:17:05.759 --> 00:17:12.559 The Lord is between them because God is steadfast love and they have made a covenant of steadfast love. 00:17:12.720 --> 00:17:18.480 It's derivative from who God is, but it's taking place tangibly at this human level. 00:17:20.240 --> 00:17:26.960 This is also what God proclaims particularly to David when he made his covenant with David. 00:17:27.039 --> 00:17:28.720 This is what we looked at last week. 00:17:28.960 --> 00:17:39.200 He says in 2 Samuel 7, verses 15 to 16, but my steadfast love will not depart from him as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. 00:17:39.359 --> 00:17:45.440 And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me, your throne shall be established forever. 00:17:45.680 --> 00:17:51.200 God's steadfast love will not depart from the house of David. 00:17:51.839 --> 00:17:58.240 So in last week's sermon, we saw how that promise is fulfilled in Christ. 00:17:58.640 --> 00:18:15.839 And by faith in Christ, we can enter in as beneficiaries to this same covenant that God made with his people, so that we become benefactors, we receive this steadfast love of the Lord, this loving kindness, this hased. 00:18:16.400 --> 00:18:18.400 In Christ, we receive that. 00:18:18.559 --> 00:18:26.799 So that promise that God made to David of I will never remove my steadfast love from you, in Christ becomes our promise. 00:18:27.119 --> 00:18:32.000 God will never remove his steadfast love from us. 00:18:32.400 --> 00:18:36.160 But the question is, what does that mean? 00:18:37.359 --> 00:18:40.240 What is God's loving kindness? 00:18:41.039 --> 00:18:43.279 How do I experience it? 00:18:44.400 --> 00:18:51.680 Because the way that most of us approach this idea of a covenant is it's like, okay, great. 00:18:51.920 --> 00:19:06.160 Now there's this mystical contract in the sky that maybe one day when I die will the terms will come about and I'll start to experience the benefit of that mystical contract in the sky. 00:19:06.319 --> 00:19:12.640 But until then, this covenant doesn't really seem to have any real impact on our lives. 00:19:12.799 --> 00:19:14.960 The Lord's loving kindnesses never cease. 00:19:15.119 --> 00:19:16.400 Well, where are they? 00:19:17.039 --> 00:19:20.480 How is it that I experience the Lord's loving kindnesses? 00:19:20.640 --> 00:19:23.359 How do I touch them or taste them? 00:19:24.559 --> 00:19:35.279 In our story today, we get to put flesh on the covenant that God made with David that we looked at last week. 00:19:36.160 --> 00:19:39.680 What does it mean that the Lord's loving kindnesses never cease? 00:19:39.839 --> 00:19:42.559 Well, let's look at what David thought that meant. 00:19:42.799 --> 00:19:51.599 What did David think it meant for him to continue to demonstrate kindness in the context of a covenant? 00:19:52.160 --> 00:20:00.240 So David had asked unprompted, is there anyone left from the house of Saul to whom I may show kindness? 00:20:00.640 --> 00:20:10.079 And they find a man whose name is Zeba, who used to work under Saul, and Zeba comes and they call Zeba in, and they're like, hey, anyone left of the house of Saul? 00:20:10.240 --> 00:20:13.519 And we'll pick up in 2 Samuel 9, verses 3 through 5. 00:20:13.759 --> 00:20:17.519 And the king said, Is there not still someone of the house of Saul? 00:20:17.839 --> 00:20:21.519 Told you, that I may show the kindness of God to him? 00:20:22.160 --> 00:20:27.200 Zeba said to the king, There is still a son of Jonathan. 00:20:27.519 --> 00:20:29.839 He is crippled in his feet. 00:20:30.480 --> 00:20:32.960 The king said to him, Where is he? 00:20:33.359 --> 00:20:39.359 And Zeba said to the king, He is in the house of Machir, the son of Amiel at Lodabar. 00:20:40.079 --> 00:20:47.119 Then King David sent and brought him from the house of Macir, the son of Amiel at Lodabar. 00:20:48.960 --> 00:20:55.440 So this son of Jonathan, his name, unfortunately for preachers everywhere, is Mephibosheth. 00:20:56.400 --> 00:21:11.680 We first are introduced to Mephibosheth in 2 Samuel verse 4, where we hear that he's five years old when Saul and Jonathan are killed in battle by the Philistines. 00:21:13.359 --> 00:21:16.000 Although it take their own lives. 00:21:16.319 --> 00:21:17.599 Saul does. 00:21:18.880 --> 00:21:24.960 And they get word that they're going to have to flee the city that they were in, which was a place called Perez. 00:21:25.200 --> 00:21:39.599 And the boy's nurse picks him up and is fleeing with him, and they fall, or she drops him, or something happens in the midst of their fleeing, and uh his feet become crippled for life. 00:21:40.240 --> 00:21:52.160 And so at five years old, he in one day, he loses his grandfather the king, his father, and he becomes crippled for life. 00:21:54.640 --> 00:21:59.839 So from there, he's taken in by a man named McKear. 00:22:00.960 --> 00:22:04.319 Makir is just a good man. 00:22:06.079 --> 00:22:12.960 He'll come up later when David is fleeing from his son Absalom. 00:22:14.400 --> 00:22:19.680 Makir will show up as one of the people that supplies David and his men with food. 00:22:20.000 --> 00:22:26.559 McKir seems to be one of those people who is just there when someone is really down and out. 00:22:26.799 --> 00:22:31.359 And almost especially when they can't pay him anything in return. 00:22:31.599 --> 00:22:44.480 So Makir takes in Mephibosheth, and that was likely even risky for him, because this is the son of the previous king, the grandson of the previous king. 00:22:44.640 --> 00:22:49.119 That's a dangerous person under a new regime. 00:22:50.079 --> 00:22:54.400 But he takes him in anyway, and they live at a place called Lodabar. 00:22:55.279 --> 00:23:05.200 Lodabar, uh low means no or nothing or not, and Dabar is like place or like villa. 00:23:06.559 --> 00:23:09.920 So it's literally like nowhere's villa. 00:23:11.039 --> 00:23:13.920 He's in nowhere's ville. 00:23:14.559 --> 00:23:15.200 Lodabar. 00:23:17.119 --> 00:23:20.720 Mephibosheth is born to a king. 00:23:22.400 --> 00:23:26.400 Now he's crippled and he lives nowhere. 00:23:26.799 --> 00:23:28.960 That's what the text is telling us. 00:23:30.000 --> 00:23:35.200 It wants us to get that environment that Mephibosheth is living in. 00:23:36.319 --> 00:23:41.680 And so David finds out about Mephibosheth from Zeba and he sends to get him. 00:23:41.839 --> 00:23:55.039 And so 2 Samuel 9, 6 through 8 says, And Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, son of Saul, came to David and fell on his face and paid homage. 00:23:55.359 --> 00:23:58.160 And David said, Mephibosheth. 00:23:58.480 --> 00:24:02.000 And he answered, Behold, I am your servant. 00:24:02.640 --> 00:24:20.079 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. 00:24:20.880 --> 00:24:27.359 And he paid homage and said, What is your servant that you should show regard for a dead dog such as I? 00:24:27.599 --> 00:24:38.720 In one move, David takes Mephibosheth from living nowhere, and he says, Do you know the land that belonged to Saul, the king, that you were stripped of? 00:24:38.960 --> 00:24:42.799 And Mephibosheth would say, No, I was five. 00:24:45.759 --> 00:24:48.319 He says, That's all your land now. 00:24:49.599 --> 00:24:51.680 This doesn't happen. 00:24:52.319 --> 00:24:54.079 He's the new king. 00:24:54.400 --> 00:24:56.799 He overthrew the old regime. 00:24:57.039 --> 00:24:58.319 This does not happen. 00:24:58.480 --> 00:25:04.799 You do not take the old heir to the throne and give him his land back. 00:25:05.119 --> 00:25:07.440 This is an incredibly risky thing. 00:25:07.599 --> 00:25:18.240 And it's something that will actually be thrown back in David's face when Zeba ends up lying and saying that Mephibosheth is trying to take the throne back. 00:25:18.480 --> 00:25:19.279 This will happen later. 00:25:19.440 --> 00:25:24.880 Mephibosheth never does actually try and take the throne back, but he's an easy target. 00:25:26.240 --> 00:25:36.799 And so David, in this way where he just shows over and over again he's got this incredibly high risk tolerance. 00:25:43.279 --> 00:25:46.000 And you know where he's gonna eat every night? 00:25:46.240 --> 00:25:47.519 At my table. 00:25:48.640 --> 00:25:49.279 Why? 00:25:50.799 --> 00:25:58.640 Because I promised his father that I would make him a prince. 00:25:59.920 --> 00:26:02.400 You know, he was born a prince. 00:26:03.279 --> 00:26:10.240 And the way that our lives interacted, it should result in him losing all of his favor. 00:26:10.640 --> 00:26:14.960 And yet I promised, I made a covenant. 00:26:16.160 --> 00:26:18.480 And so I will show him kindness. 00:26:19.039 --> 00:26:23.039 He will eat at my table every day. 00:26:23.359 --> 00:26:25.200 This is like an adoption. 00:26:26.319 --> 00:26:31.359 You know, Mephibosheth had a young son at this point. 00:26:32.480 --> 00:26:38.079 That means that that young son would only know living in a palace. 00:26:41.680 --> 00:26:51.839 I want this story to dispel the Gnostic approach that we have to God's kindness in the covenants. 00:26:52.480 --> 00:26:57.839 Gnosticism is an old heresy, one of the original heresies of the church. 00:26:57.920 --> 00:27:13.519 And what it centers around is there's a physical thing and that's bad, and there's a spiritual thing and that's good, and we need to abandon the physical, get to the spiritual, and the way that we get to the spiritual is by acquiring a secret knowledge. 00:27:14.480 --> 00:27:28.000 And the way that this creeps in is we start to think of God's kindness in these intangible, purely spiritual, non-physical ways. 00:27:28.240 --> 00:27:37.119 And we think that the way we approach God, the way we get to experience Him and His kindness is by finally capturing that secret knowledge. 00:27:37.599 --> 00:27:49.759 I can point you to a Christian bookstore that is promising a secret knowledge that will finally allow you to grab hold of this peace that is actually in God. 00:27:50.160 --> 00:28:07.599 And so we take something that in Scripture is so tangible, so real, actually happens between people with names in relationships like the kindness of God, and we turn it into a metaphor to understand our own psychology in some way. 00:28:10.799 --> 00:28:15.680 But look at the way David understood the kindness of the Lord. 00:28:16.799 --> 00:28:19.039 There was no secret knowledge. 00:28:20.319 --> 00:28:27.200 His kindness to Mephibosheth was not like, oh, I'm gonna bring you in and I'm gonna teach you this thing. 00:28:28.880 --> 00:28:33.440 His kindness to Mephibosheth was, sit at my table and eat. 00:28:33.519 --> 00:28:35.359 I'm going to make you a prince again. 00:28:35.519 --> 00:28:36.880 Here's your land back. 00:28:37.039 --> 00:28:39.839 Here are the servants to take care of your land. 00:28:40.079 --> 00:28:45.839 I'm going to restore you in an act that is completely surprising. 00:28:47.759 --> 00:28:50.799 Can you imagine Mephibosheth experiencing this? 00:28:51.519 --> 00:28:59.359 When he went back to Lodabar and talked to McKear and was like, I've got all the land back. 00:29:00.880 --> 00:29:02.079 It's all back. 00:29:07.920 --> 00:29:10.960 The Lord's loving kindness is far too real. 00:29:16.000 --> 00:29:29.519 What the covenant creates is not some contract in the sky, but it creates the conditions for tangible flourishing. 00:29:30.640 --> 00:29:33.279 That's how David views this covenant. 00:29:34.480 --> 00:29:39.519 So, what's another covenant that we experience in our lives? 00:29:40.160 --> 00:29:42.079 Covenant like marriage. 00:29:42.880 --> 00:29:44.640 So I want you to consider. 00:29:45.599 --> 00:29:50.160 Do you view your marriage as just a contract in the sky? 00:29:50.960 --> 00:29:55.119 Now it's there, one less thing, don't have to worry about it. 00:29:55.279 --> 00:30:05.359 Or do you view your marriage as the context, the covenant of your marriage as the context for you to create flourishing? 00:30:05.920 --> 00:30:15.920 When was the last time that your marriage, the fact that you were in a covenant of marriage, compelled you to surprise your spouse with kindness? 00:30:19.359 --> 00:30:21.599 So that you thought, I'm in this covenant of marriage. 00:30:22.559 --> 00:30:27.920 That means I'm compelled now to create an environment of surprising joy. 00:30:28.720 --> 00:30:36.799 I'm gonna unprompted ask a question like, is there any other way that I could show kindness to my spouse today? 00:30:37.039 --> 00:30:40.000 Is there any other way that I could demonstrate my love today? 00:30:40.160 --> 00:30:43.039 Is that the way that you view your marriage? 00:30:43.680 --> 00:30:47.119 Because that's the way that God talks about covenant. 00:30:51.359 --> 00:30:53.119 Look at our church. 00:30:54.880 --> 00:30:58.400 We don't have members yet, but we will. 00:31:30.799 --> 00:31:34.240 How are you using your table? 00:31:36.400 --> 00:31:39.359 How are you using the table in your home? 00:31:41.039 --> 00:31:44.960 Are people coming to it to be known? 00:31:45.440 --> 00:31:47.599 To get to know each other? 00:31:48.079 --> 00:31:52.160 Is there a surprise of joy in the way that we're relating to each other? 00:31:52.319 --> 00:32:06.319 Are we considering how is it that I could bring more blessing to each other if we aren't living that way, and instead we are just a group who share similar ideas that live up here in the sky? 00:32:06.559 --> 00:32:09.440 We don't understand covenant. 00:32:11.519 --> 00:32:18.160 We don't understand what it means when it says the Lord's loving kindnesses indeed never cease. 00:32:18.319 --> 00:32:25.279 When God describes his kindnesses, when he says, you know, uh love your neighbor, why are we supposed to do that? 00:32:25.359 --> 00:32:29.519 The biblical, excuse me, love your enemy, why are we supposed to do that? 00:32:29.680 --> 00:32:32.319 The biblical argument is because God does that. 00:32:32.480 --> 00:32:34.000 And how does God do that? 00:32:34.319 --> 00:32:39.359 He makes it rain on the crops of the good and the bad just the same. 00:32:41.759 --> 00:32:47.759 It's not he's just up in the sky like, oh, I'm I'm loving all of them. 00:32:49.039 --> 00:32:57.599 I just have this love that's flowing out of me like we're like, I don't know, I'm selling you a book on the Pearl Street Mall. 00:32:58.160 --> 00:32:59.839 That's not what it's like. 00:33:01.680 --> 00:33:02.640 Says, how? 00:33:02.960 --> 00:33:04.559 Because there's rain. 00:33:07.680 --> 00:33:09.440 This is an expression. 00:33:09.599 --> 00:33:13.599 We're real people with real needs. 00:33:13.759 --> 00:33:15.039 We have names. 00:33:15.200 --> 00:33:17.279 There's not that many of us. 00:33:17.519 --> 00:33:18.400 Thank God. 00:33:19.680 --> 00:33:21.839 That means we can just start doing this. 00:33:22.000 --> 00:33:25.200 And if we don't start doing this, it means we don't understand covenant. 00:33:25.279 --> 00:33:26.079 We've missed it. 00:33:26.240 --> 00:33:28.000 We're living like Gnostics. 00:33:33.279 --> 00:33:35.359 How are you using your table? 00:33:36.880 --> 00:33:40.880 I hope you you you you've been listening to me preach for a while. 00:33:41.039 --> 00:33:47.759 I hope you I hope you see where this sermon's going, how it's going to end. 00:33:48.319 --> 00:33:51.920 It's going to end by asking you to help us move downstairs. 00:33:56.640 --> 00:33:58.319 Yeah, there you go. 00:34:01.599 --> 00:34:04.079 Right after the service, we're buying pizza. 00:34:04.559 --> 00:34:05.279 We really are. 00:34:05.440 --> 00:34:05.920 This is real. 00:34:06.079 --> 00:34:07.759 I forgot to announce it, I think. 00:34:08.480 --> 00:34:17.199 Right after the service, we're buying pizza, and we found out on Friday that we have to move all of the toys from downstairs in the kids' place into the back conference room. 00:34:17.360 --> 00:34:19.599 I literally think I forgot to announce this, didn't I? 00:34:20.079 --> 00:34:21.760 Yeah, I'm announcing it now. 00:34:22.159 --> 00:34:26.719 We are uh so we we found out just like a couple of days ago. 00:34:26.800 --> 00:34:32.559 So if you got an email, uh, or if you didn't get an email, we need your help immediately after the service. 00:34:32.719 --> 00:34:39.199 We need to move real toys with real names, and there's not that many of them, thank God. 00:34:44.639 --> 00:34:46.960 Here's where the sermon's actually headed. 00:34:52.000 --> 00:34:57.280 We didn't sit crippled, we were dead. 00:34:58.719 --> 00:35:03.599 We were not sons of the enemy of God. 00:35:04.719 --> 00:35:08.639 We were the objects of his wrath. 00:35:11.760 --> 00:35:17.039 And then Jesus called us to his table. 00:35:17.920 --> 00:35:26.159 And he sat us down at his table, and he took the bread, and he held it up, and he broke it, and he said, This is my body. 00:35:27.679 --> 00:35:30.000 It's broken for you. 00:35:31.360 --> 00:35:34.960 You are nowhere with no name. 00:35:37.760 --> 00:35:43.280 I'm breaking my body so that you might be brought into the family of God. 00:35:43.920 --> 00:35:45.599 You will be a prince. 00:35:47.199 --> 00:35:53.920 You will rule with me in my kingdom, and you will sit at the table of the king forever. 00:35:56.800 --> 00:36:00.559 This is not an intangible covenant. 00:36:04.320 --> 00:36:09.440 Mephibosheth's feet were broken. 00:36:10.960 --> 00:36:14.400 Jesus' feet had nails driven through them. 00:36:15.519 --> 00:36:20.480 Mephibosheth was born to a king, and yet he lived nowhere. 00:36:21.280 --> 00:36:28.239 Jesus had dwelt eternally with the Father, and he was born into a manger. 00:36:28.559 --> 00:36:33.519 Mephibosheth's name means remover of shame. 00:36:36.159 --> 00:36:48.079 Jesus removes our shame by taking it upon himself, not theoretically, not some covenant in the sky. 00:36:48.320 --> 00:36:58.159 He's born in a real place and he's nailed to a real clause, to a real cross to show love to his real people. 00:36:58.960 --> 00:37:08.000 That is what it means that we sit in a covenant of the Lord's loving kindness. 00:37:09.199 --> 00:37:11.440 So with that, let's take one question. 00:37:13.599 --> 00:37:14.239 Nice. 00:37:14.639 --> 00:37:16.239 More time to move. 00:37:17.920 --> 00:37:19.280 Let's pray. 00:37:20.639 --> 00:37:45.360 Father, as we come to your table, let it move in our hearts to know what does it mean that we come to your table, that you use your table every week to nourish us, to care for us, to provide us a sense of camaraderie and a sense of identity, that we might know that we dine with the king. 00:37:45.920 --> 00:37:47.920 Not because of anything that we did. 00:37:48.079 --> 00:37:52.000 We were sitting broken nowhere as your enemies. 00:37:52.159 --> 00:37:57.920 And yet, because of your covenant of kindness with us, you draw us up to yourself. 00:37:58.079 --> 00:38:03.920 Lord, let your name be glorified by our coming in need to your table. 00:38:04.400 --> 00:38:06.960 Father, we lift this up in Jesus' name. 00:38:07.280 --> 00:38:07.920 Amen.