Keeping Promises

Welcome to Jefferson Park Baptist Church again. We are continuing through our series in 2 Samuel and we're really coming to a high point and this morning we're looking at really the theme of an invitation. This is the season for invitations. We have graduations, we've got weddings, there's those Memorial Day. The question is how do we respond to an invitation? What do you do when you get an invitation? Well, it probably depends on what it is. Who's it from? What's the date? What does it require of you? Do you put it on the fridge? Do you put it in pen or pencil on the calendar? That says a lot about the way you look at that invitation. If it's an email or something online, do you click yes or no? I trust you never click maybe. I hope not. This morning we're going to look at invitation. We just heard the story told and David invites Mephibosheth. And Mephibosheth responds. We just kind of back out from where the story's been. We've seen David from 1 Samuel 16. Israel had chosen Saul, the wrong kind of king. God chose David because he saw his heart. We waited years and chapters and through chaos. A big portion of this was David and Saul, those two different houses, at odds with one another. They had enmity against one another. Saul's son, Jonathan, and David loved one another. That's a significant moment here. We need to go back there. 1 Samuel 14, 1 Samuel 20 rather, sorry, 20. David becomes a king, we finally have the right people, God's promised people, in God's promised land. And now the promised king, and we see David bringing peace. This morning we're going to look at this invitation. And really we're gonna see a wonderful gospel meditation. This is the high point of David's reign. We're gonna see just a few chapters later. We're gonna see the beginning of a tragic, horrible downfall. But here we see David's reign coming to a high point. We're gonna see he provides peace. He secures his borders. We see him being a kind king who's fulfilling a covenant. If you're looking for the one sentence declaration of the whole service, the whole sermon, it's this. Receive the invitation to feast with the King of love. Receive the invitation to feast with the King of love. We'll have four points as we look at the text. First is peace. Peace as in shalom. Two, problem, we're going to see a problem arise because David needs to know how to fulfill this covenant to Jonathan. We're going to see promise and then pause. Peace, problem, promise, pause. The text that wasn't read is chapter 8. We want to just quickly overview this. We're not going to read it. But if we go back to chapter 7 real quick and just look at verses 10 to 11. David had woke up one the day after his house is a cedar It's a glorious house and he looks out and he sees a covenant Ark of the Lord and he says how can this be? I need to build God's Ark a proper dwelling place God says no, I Have done everything for you. I Will give you a family line. I will build a You, what I want from you. And one of the promises in verses 10 and 11. He says, I will give you rest from your enemies. I will secure your borders. I will make it so that your place is established and you're disturbed no more. And really, chapter eight is a fulfillment of that. God reminds David of all he has done. God tells David, I will do this for you now. And then he tells David, there's something else to come after you die. I will bless one of your sons. But we see here, chapter 8, God fulfills the promise immediately, quickly, fully. Look at verse 1, David defeated the Philistines. Verse 2, David defeated the Moabites. Those are the two most difficult neighbors that continue to war against Israel and fight against them. And here we see David has secured those borders. Later on, the Syrians become servants. Verse 13, they defeat the Edomites. There's a repeated phrase that we need to look at, the end of verse six and the end of verse 14. And the Lord gave victory to David wherever he went. David's obedient. David is always responding properly. He isn't always acting properly. He's always responding properly. If God says go and do, David goes and does. If God says repent, you've got this wrong, David falls on his knees and asks for forgiveness. We see David has gone to fulfill the promise God has promised. And God has given him victory. God's blessed the work of his hands. This is reaching a high point. He's now secured peace. It's important that we see David is doing what God has said and God is blessing him. Our second point, we see peace. There's peace all around as God promised. Now we look at the problem, and this is verses one to five of chapter nine, and we're gonna spend, well, now, all our time in chapter nine. David, ask a question. Is there anyone left of the house of Saul that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake we have to remember again this context Saul was the first king chosen. He was the wrong king David was God's king and Saul continued to go after David. He continued to try to kill David because he saw him as a threat The song that permeated Israel was that David had killed his his 10,000 Saul only his thousands But here, David is wanting to find out, is there anyone left in the house of Saul? And typically, if you see that, what a king would be saying, is there anyone left in the house of the king that preceded me? Because I need to take out anyone who might be a threat to my throne. That's the typical way an ancient Near Eastern king would function. Is there anyone of the house of the king who preceded me? We need to make sure there's no threats. That's not what David does. He asked the question, is there anyone of the house of Saul, the house that preceded me, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake? David and Jonathan loved one another. They were dear friends. Jonathan actually tried to protect David from his father. Jonathan knew that God had promised David the throne, and Jonathan himself gave up his rights to royalty to promote David and to care for David. and they made a covenant with one another. In 1 Samuel 20 verse 42, then Jonathan said to David, go in peace because we have sworn both of us in the name of the Lord. There's a covenant saying the Lord shall be between me and you and between my offspring and your offspring forever. The problem here is David wants to know how can I fulfill this covenant? And what's strange about this covenant is David made a promise to the house that would be understood and was actually functioning as his own enemy. Saul dies at the end of chapter, the end of 1 Samuel, Jonathan with him, and then Saul's next son up, he wars against David for seven years, and Mephibosheth, he's the only one left. Well, the problem, he continues to focus the problem and he brings Ziba in and he asks, where is someone? And he knows of Mephibosheth. The problem is David has made a covenant with an enemy. David wants to show loving kindness. David pursues someone, Mephibosheth, who, well, he's lame. Notice even how the chapter ends, chapter 9, look at the very last thing. He's lame in both his feet. He got injured while they were fleeing quickly. In this day and time, if you had an injury like this, they would have considered you cursed. They would have asked, what happened? What did you do or what did your parents do to bring this kind of curse upon you? When David finds out who is still left, this enemy, he's broken, and notice he's in Lodabar. Well, that literally just means nowhere. Nowhere. He's hiding. He's an outcast. David has made a promise and David must keep it. Let's look at this promise, verses 6 and 7. At the invitation that was said, David wants to show you loving-kindness. Mephibosheth comes, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul. He came and he does what's proper. He falls on his face. That's what David does. He calls him by name, Mephibosheth. The answer, behold, I am your servant. David speaks words of kindness. Do not fear. Do not fear. How that must have fallen on Mephibosheth's ears, because even though he hears that David wants to bring him kindness, he knows that he's properly an enemy, a threat. Mephibosheth is a vulnerable one, coming where he really doesn't belong. The only reason he can come in any kind of hope or peace is that David's word protects him. And here, being vulnerable, laying down before David, he hears David say, do not fear. There's three promises. I will show you kindness. I will restore your lands. You shall eat at my table. Now notice how he relates each one of these. I will show you kindness for the sake of your father, Jonathan. I'll restore all the land of Saul to you, and you shall eat at my table. That first promise, that word we need to hang there, kindness. We've seen it translated as steadfast love. It's translated as loving kindness. It's the Hebrew word chesed. You gotta start it way back here, chesed. It's an important word because it's a covenant word. It goes back to that 1 Samuel covenant with Jonathan. They made a covenant with one another because they loved one another. They committed themselves to one another. Chesed is what David received in 2 Samuel 7 when God said, I will love your son. I will show you steadfast love. I will establish you. This word is associated with covenant. It's making forever promises. It's making promises that say I will count the cost and I will pay the cost in order to actually fulfill these promises. These kind of promises aren't self-satisfying. These promises are for the betterment of the other. We see David has made a covenant with an enemy household. We see David has received great love from God and now we see David giving himself to Mephibosheth. Chesed is related to the words mercy or grace in the New Testament. These are very important words for our profession of faith. What is grace? We oftentimes will say, rightly, grace is a gift unearned. That's kind of saying the same thing twice, right? If you earn it, it's a wage. A gift is never earned. A gift is just something given out of the kindness of someone's own heart. But that doesn't actually really define grace that well yet, does it? Because we don't actually say what the gift is. What is the gift? What is Mephibosheth earning here? What is he gaining, rather? Notice it's David himself. David is saying, I'm going to give you the things that rightly belong to me, your father's land. That doesn't really belong to Mephibosheth. It was Saul's land, and now that he's king, David can do with it whatever he wants, and David is giving it over to Mephibosheth. But even more so, you will eat at my table always. We see that repeated two more times. Verse 11, so Mephibosheth ate at David's table like one of his sons. The gift is David himself. Communing with David, knowing David, David's protection, David's peace, David's love, David's care. Yes, there's restoration of his lands, but the real gift is Mephibosheth now isn't in Lodabar. He's at the king's table. He has a proper place. He's part of the family. This is a wonderful picture of kindness and generosity. We see the promise. Now, let's consider our third point, the pause. Verse 8. How would you respond to that? Meshuvah, he pays homage, he's still in awe, he's still in wonder. Notice the question. What is your servant? that you should show regard for a dead dog such as I." Their self-awareness. Who am I? I've got nothing to bring. I have nothing to contribute. I'm lame. I have to be carried everywhere I go. I'm supposed to be your enemy. Who am I to receive such gifts? He calls himself a dead dog. Now, we need to do some cross-cultural bridging here. In Israel, they didn't carry dogs around in purses. They didn't treat dogs like people. Dogs were actually seen as kind of varmints and dangerous and gross. They see dogs very differently than we see them in our culture for the most part. A dog was worthless. He's a dead dog. He has nothing. This is a derogatory reference that he's making about himself, recognizing, who am I to receive this kind of kindness? Because I'm worthless. Well, Mephibosheth, he comes as he is. Notice he does not come and stand up and stare David in the eye, restore to me the land of my father. He does not look at David and say, that's right, you owe me, and what more can you do for me? No, we see Mephibosheth has a humility. We see Mephibosheth, he's responding with amazement. This is a lot like the younger prodigal son. Remember that story? The young progregal son, he goes off and he spends all his father's money and then he finds himself wanting to eat something like the food of the pigs. And so he decides to go home and he has this message rehearsed. Oh, I'll just tell my dad, you know, just let me be a servant, let me be a servant. And then the father sees him and he shows up and he has this thing rehearsed and as he starts talking, oh, I'll just be a servant. The father ignores everything he says. Go get the robe, go get the ring, kill the fattened calf. My son is back. Notice David doesn't respond at all to verse eight. Ziba, go get him the rights and privileges I just bestowed upon him. He will not hear this second casting, this pause in Mephibosheth. No, you will be restored. I will say it is so. You will eat at my table always. And so it was. Even though he was an enemy. Even though he was lame in both of his feet. It is important there to see that end emphasis. This is what happened. Because David promised it, it happened. He lived always in Jerusalem. He ate always at the king's table. even though he was unworthy. This is the height of David's kingdom. We'll see next week the tragic, quick downfall. As we consider the story, how do we relate to it? How do we relate to this action of David towards someone who really is unworthy of kindness? Well, the temptation is to say, well, let's figure out how we can be like David. That's good. And we can think about that for a moment. David is kind and generous. He helps those who are helpless. It's an amazing example of loving your neighbor as yourself, and even more so, it's loving your enemy. David could be a perfect example of the command we see in Romans 14. Welcome others as God welcomes you. David isn't performing just some kind of random act of kindness. It's intentional. It's focused, it's costly, it's sacrificial. We should be hospitable like this. Not just to people who are like us, but to whomever might come across our doorstep. We should be hospitable like God is hospitable, welcoming. See, I don't wanna go there and make that the clearest first principle. Because the problem is, David is able to do this because he's been shown such loving kindness from God. David is working here from the abundant loving kindness that God has given him in 2 Samuel 7. And therefore, it flows over to being welcoming and loving this enemy, this would-be enemy, this lame man, Mephibosheth. Yeah, church, we should be hospitable. We should be welcoming. We should see all kinds of believers all rejoicing together regardless of our different backgrounds as Brian just prayed. But we're not gonna say that's the first point. You don't get to focus on David first and say how can I be like David, why? Because David is foreshadowing Christ. We have to start with Mephibosheth. The place to start for Christian understanding of this passage is to start not with what we do, with what we receive. Again, here's the main point. Receive the invitation to feast with the king of love. We have to ask, how am I like Mephibosheth? The lame man, the enemy, the man who has nothing to give, the dead dog, how are we like him in this story? We might not have lame legs, but we are a broken people. I'd say the damage we have, the problem we all have in common is actually much more severe than having legs that are lame. We have hearts that are twisted. God designed us to be people who love. God designed us to be people who worship. God designed us to have a love that delighted in him and knew his love. Our problem is that our love is broken. Our problem is that we do not know how to love God. We don't even know how to love ourselves. We're destructive in our self-love. We're rebellious in our self-love. We're self-indulgent in the way we love. God has come to restore us by loving us first so that we can love Him. That broken love, that's actually why we are enemies. We've rebelled against God. He's given us clear commands. He's given us clear restrictions. He's given us clear expectations. And what do we do? We figure out how to do things our own way. We refuse to give him the honor and the thanksgiving and the gratitude that he deserves because of all of his good gifts. When we receive an invitation from Christ that says, come to me. We receive an invitation from Christ that says, you now in my name can pray to the Father. We have to realize that we are receiving the invitation first as enemies. He loves us while we're still sinners. He calls us when we are sinners. We've made ourselves enemies of God. And here's the good news. The word you hear first is still, do not fear. The invitation of Jesus Christ, who is prefigured here in David, is do not fear. Why? How is it that I cannot fear? If I've rebelled against you, if I've not given you thanks, and you're a just God, how can I hear that declaration, do not fear? That's because Christ has come down to live the life we refuse to live. Christ came down to save us while we're still sinners. Christ came down to demonstrate love, and if you wanna know what love looks like, look at the cross. He gave up his righteousness. He gave up all the benefits of being the son of God who's lived the perfect life. He gave up his life so that he might purchase us and wash us. One of the most amazing things you see the gospels of Jesus Christ. He's not afraid of being associated with the lowly, the cursed, and the sinner. The religious leaders, they were afraid of it, because they were afraid of being connected to or associated with sinners that would make them sinners. Jesus is not afraid of that. That's what he came to do, so that he could take that sin upon himself and forgive us, so that he could give us his righteousness. He cannot be defiled by our sin, but he can wash us of our sin. King of love says, come to me, I'll give you rest. Come to me and confess your sins and you'll be forgiven. Come to me, you who feel an outcast. Come to me who feel like you're not loved and I will invite you to be with me forever. This theme of eating at the table, well it's, It's a shame we're not practicing the Lord's Supper right now because of the pandemic. It's a beautiful picture. It's just receiving the cup and the bread that represents the blood and the body that was given for you. What do you do with it? You just receive it. It's a gift. The Bible ends with this marriage feast of the lamb. Jesus Christ has come just like David. What is the gift? It's Jesus himself. He gave his body, he gave his blood, he ascended on high, and then he gave us his spirit. His body was crushed, his blood was spilled in order that we might enter again the presence of God and commune with him to know his love. If we take this picture here of this feast, there's something wonderful you just said about what Mephibosheth must have experienced after this. If he has a seat at the table, no one else sits in that seat. Mephibosheth knows forever where he belongs in the most important place, the king's table. He knows forever because of the King's declaration, you're now going to be treated like my child. You are now invited into my feast. The most personal thing I can do for you is eat with you and share my life with you. This is your seat. Mephibosheth, you always know where you belong. He knew where his seat was. It was at the table. This is a beautiful picture of the gospel. The gospel is not a potluck meal. Potlucks are fantastic, but the gospel's not a potluck meal. It's not what we bring to the feast. Notice Mephibosheth, he's broken. He has to be picked up and carried to it. He doesn't bring anything. Now what you might think this feast looks like might depend upon who you are. Could be a French cuisine. Could be a low country ball. Could be steak and potatoes. Could be vegetarian. It actually has nothing to do with what the food is. It's the company. You're being brought into the presence of God Almighty. The Holy One of God. The One who is true love. The One who's demonstrated that perfect love. And He says, here's your seat. This is where you belong forever. That is a beautiful picture of the gospel. Mephibosheth should grow more and more with confidence. I know where I belong. I know who has said this is the king. I know I'm invited. I know where I belong. I know I'm invited. I know there's love. If you're not a Christian this morning, that invitation is still going out right now. But you can't go to Christ and say, well, here's all the things I've done. You should like these things. You can't come up to Christ and say, here's what I expect from you. Here's what I need. Here's the deal I'm ready to make. No, you come to Christ recognizing you're broken. There's things you can't fix. The anger that boils up, the lust that dwells within, the complete just dissatisfaction. The more you work, the more frustrated you are. The sin you have that you've not given honor to God or thought, thank God. You come and hear the words, do not fear. If you believe in me and confess your sin, I will forgive you. I will show you love and kindness forever. I will let you eat with my people forever. I will invite you into my love. The only thing you do is recognize I have sinned that needs forgiven and that Christ alone can forgive you. He died so that we might be forgiven. He rose again so that we might have a new life. If you're a Christian, I wish we had more time to think about this, but we've seen it in Galatians this past week in our sanctification study. We see it in Romans 8, this glorious doctrine of adoption. He ate at the David's table like one of his sons. Jesus has come to give us that security that we're brought into the family of God in Christ. The Father adopts us, Christ shares with us His own inheritance. One of the most important things is the Spirit seals your inheritance. In the Spirit, in the name of Christ, we actually get to call God Father. What a privileged position, what a privileged communion. Spirit even testifies to our own spirits. We are sons of God. I want to step back for a moment, just point out, in order for a king to have this kind of good invitation, he has to have an amazing amount of authority. David just said, your life just got changed completely. You are no longer an enemy, and Lodabar, you are now with me and my kingdom, and here's all the lands restored. Jesus, or David is demonstrating an amazing authority, but we see the gospel end in Matthew. Jesus is saying, I have all authority. Jesus has all authority. And there's something that we observe, all the things going on in our society, authority's scary. Because we see over and over again all the stories of abuse of authority. Parents have authority, and some parents abuse that authority. Pastors have authority, and some pastors abuse that authority. Police officers have authority, and some police officers abuse that authority. Presidents have authority, and some presidents abuse that authority. If we're actually honest, we receive good gifts to give to others, and we all abuse those good gifts, but here's the one clear point that I hope you just carry away. Jesus has all authority, and he always uses all of his authority for all of our good. He never abuses his authority. He always uses all of his authority for his people's good. If you look at the despicable ways in which some people abuse their authority, and you wanna know how God views that, we looked at this passage a few weeks ago, Ezekiel 34. It's a judgment and a promise. God says, I see the shepherds I have put over my people, and I see how they abuse the people. I see how they eat the food that is meant for the sacrifice instead of actually leading people in godliness. And he says, I myself, I will come and I will judge them. The first thing we do in the midst of a crisis, in the midst of confusion, we look to God who will and has perfect vengeance. He, He will avenge His name. He will have perfect justice. The second thing He says is a promise. I will come down and I will shepherd them. I will come down and I will protect them. I myself will come down and I will provide for them. And when Jesus says I am the good shepherd, he is saying I am the one who is going to punish those who are in authority, who are abusing it, and I will use all of my authority for all of your good. Consider for a moment, what kind of God is this? He's making a covenant with his enemies. He's inviting people in who have nothing to contribute. He embraces his enemies and even adopts them as sons. Today there's only one response and it's receive that invitation to feast with the king of love. Great rejoicing. I wanna pause here for a moment and realize that invitation's hard to receive. It's hard for us to receive anything thinking we didn't deserve it. It's hard for us to receive something we don't believe we deserve. Because here's what we wish God would say, right? Come, feast with me, because I'm really impressed with all the things you've done in your life. Come, because I really think you have a lot to offer in my kingdom. Come and be a part of it, because I really like what I see in you. Now this is where Mephibosheth is such an important illustration. He has nothing to offer. He simply receives the good gift. God gives himself and it's received by faith and faith alone. Let's just go back to Mephibosheth for a second. Let's think about all the ways Mephibosheth could have just turned this invitation sideways. One, Mephibosheth could have come to the point where he started saying, you know what, I deserve this. This is my right, this is my privilege. He starts boasting of how this was his right and it's his position because of who his dad was or all the good things he's done. He can turn this gift sideways by insisting this is properly his rather than it's a gift. Second, he could start a coup. He can start convincing people, no, Saul's the rightful house, and I'm the rightful heir, and we overthrow this king. He can start putting little hints in people's minds, throwing little seeds of discourse. I could do better than David, if you would follow me. He could complain about the food, because that always fixes everything. Now one of the saddest ways we could see Mephibosheth turn this sideways, he could neglect the table. He could decide he has so many more important things, all this new land he has to look over, he doesn't come to the king's table. His seat is always empty because he has more important things to do than spend time with the king like a son at his table. the last way he could've turned the sideways. He can never get past his own words. I'm just a dead dog. He never actually enters the banquet hall because every time he hears that invitation, Mephibosheth, it's time for dinner, all he says to himself over and over again is I'm unworthy, I'm unworthy, and he just stands outside and repeats, he doesn't deserve this. I fear this is where too many Christians live their lives. They hear the invitation and they put it in pencil because it's something better that may come up. You hear the invitation, come to Christ, rejoice in him. Ah, let's see what's for dinner first. You hear the invitation, but you can't believe it. Because all you do is repeat to yourself your thoughts. I'm just a dead dog. Busyness, bad priorities, those are problems. But that guilty conscience that says, You see the feast, you see your seat, you hear the invitation, and all you say to yourself is, I'm not worthy. This is my exhortation this morning. What God has said about you and to you is the most important thing about you. And you have to stop telling yourself the lies that contradict what God has said. You may have been an unworthy enemy of God at one point, but as soon as he says, no, I've shown you love, I've adopted you as my son, I have invited you in. Those are the words you have to hear. Those are the words you have to repeat to yourself. Those are the words that are most important. That's a new identity. It begins a new practice. And yes, of course it was awkward the first time Ephibosheth goes in that feast. Think about it. That had to be awkward. It had to be awkward, but he finally and eventually learned how to accept that this is where he belonged, and he learned the practices of the table. So how do we receive the invitation? The invitation is to know God, to have peace with God, to find forgiveness with God, to know the love of God. How do we receive the invitation? First, humility. Humility, not boasting in ourselves, You know, false humility would go so far as to say I'm a dead dog. False humility is saying something well beyond reality, trying to lower ourselves too far. Real humility recognizes that what God says about me is true. We're undeserving sinners, but God showed us kindness. It requires humility, not coming boasting, but coming listening to God. Second is faith. Realize we have to receive that which is outside of us. Faith is hearing what God says and say, it must be true. Faith is receiving what is in no way deserved. Faith is receiving what is being given. The third way we come and receive this invitation. Listen. Really, it's listen and talk to yourself. Don't repeat the things about you that you think are true. Repeat the things about you that God says is true. You're loved in Christ. You're forgiven in Christ. You've been washed clean. You can now come to Christ with a clean conscience. Listen to what God says and repeat those things back to yourself. Repeat those things amongst yourself. Whose voice gets more playtime in your head and heart? Is it yours? Your neighbors? Or God's? Finally, it's gratitude. Grumbling gets us nowhere. Gratitude, this is not a self-help tool. Gratitude looks and says, oh, what God has given. Gratitude says, oh, what a Generous invitation. Gratitude says I want to receive this because it's a gift and it's the greatest gift and I want to build my life around this gift. Gratitude says this promise is good and I want to receive it so that I can rejoice in him who gave it. Will you pray with me? Father, we thank you, Lord, for your kindness. You didn't leave us alone. in our brokenness, you didn't leave us alone in our rebellion, but you have come to seek us out. You have come to care for us. Father, we thank you that Jesus Christ has come to live the life we could not live. Thank you that he died the death that we deserve. Thank you that he rose again to give us new life. Thank you that your Holy Spirit now seals that life and gives us the power to enjoy it and rejoice constantly in Christ. Forgive us for how we take this gracious invitation for granted. Forgive us how we find things that we think are better. Forgive us for not believing the word that we can come in and we have a seat and it's our seat because you've given it to us. Forgive us for looking at our sins so much and fearing we're not worthy. Thank you for the powerful invitation of Jesus Christ. It says, come to me. Help us to receive it. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.