MEPHIBOSHETH of LODEBAR

2 Samuel 9:1-13 (KJV)

And David said, Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul, that I may shew him kindness for Jonathan's sake?

And there was of the house of Saul a servant whose name was Ziba. And when they had called him unto David, the king said unto him, Art thou Ziba? And he said, Thy servant is he.

And the king said, Is there not yet any of the house of Saul, that I may shew the kindness of God unto him? And Ziba said unto the king, Jonathan hath yet a son, which is lame on his feet.

And the king said unto him, Where is he? And Ziba said unto the king, Behold, he is in the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel, in Lodebar.

Then king David sent, and fetched him out of the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel, from Lodebar.

Now when Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, was come unto David, he fell on his face, and did reverence. And David said, Mephibosheth. And he answered, Behold thy servant!

And David said unto him, Fear not: for I will surely shew thee kindness for Jonathan thy father's sake, and will restore thee all the land of Saul thy father; and thou shalt eat bread at my table continually.

And he bowed himself, and said, What is thy servant, that thou shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I am?

Then the king called to Ziba, Saul's servant, and said unto him, I have given unto thy master's son all that pertained to Saul and to all his house.

Thou therefore, and thy sons, and thy servants, shall till the land for him, and thou shalt bring in the fruits, that thy master's son may have food to eat: but Mephibosheth thy master's son shall eat bread alway at my table. Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.

Then said Ziba unto the king, According to all that my lord the king hath commanded his servant, so shall thy servant do. As for Mephibosheth, said the king, he shall eat at my table, as one of the king's sons.

And Mephibosheth had a young son, whose name was Micha. And all that dwelt in the house of Ziba were servants unto Mephibosheth.

So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem: for he did eat continually at the king's table; and was lame on both his feet.

God does not waste words.

He did not preserve for us the Old Testament just so we could read interesting stories.

2 Timothy 3:16-17

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works. (KJV)

So when God gives us the story of Mephibosheth, there is instruction there that we can use in our world today.

I see in Mephibosheth a type of mankind: 

·   Of the difficulties we inherit when born into this world and

·   Of the desire of God to rescue us from them

The first thing I notice about Mephibosheth is

I. HE IS BORN INTO THE WRONG FAMILY

2 Samuel 9:6

Now when Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, was come unto David, he fell on his face, and did reverence. And David said, Mephibosheth. And he answered, Behold thy servant!(KJV)

He was the son of Jonathan, the grandson of King Saul.

A. Saul was the king manwanted.

Just like people are today, men in Saul’s day wanted to be like everybody else and they wanted what they wanted right away.

They had a good system. 

They were supposed to follow the Lord and they were supposed to listen to the man of God.

Theirs was a “theocratic” government.

God ruled them.

But everyone around them had a king and they wanted one too.

So God gave them what they wanted before they were really ready to have a king.

Saul started out all right.

But he went downhill very quickly. 

It wasn’t long before God pronounced that his rebellion was like the sin of witchcraft and Saul and his family would loose the kingdom.

God would anoint a man from another family – even another tribe of Israel to be king.

B. It was not Mephibosheth’s fault that he was the grandson of Saul

He did not ask to be born into that family.

Just like none of us asked to be born into this world with a sin nature.

C. Mephibosheth’s father was even a great guy

Jonathan loved David and was a great man.

But Jonathon was still his father’s son.

And when his father sinned against the Lord, the judgment for his sin was passed down to Jonathan. 

He died in battle next to his father.

D. In this world today there are two families.

1. There is the family of the devil.

Every one of us was born into this world as a member of that family.

·   Jesus said our father is the devil

·   Ephesians says we are by nature the children of disobedience

2. Then there is the family of God

In order to be a member of this family Jesus told Nicodemus, “Ye must be born again.”

We are born physically into this world as children of darkness and having a sin nature.

By coming to the Lord Jesus Christ we can be born spiritually into the family of God and be made new creatures in Christ.

John 1:12

But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:(KJV)

The second thing I see about Mephibosheth is

II. HE WAS SCARRED FOR LIFE

2 Samuel 9:3

And the king said, Is there not yet any of the house of Saul, that I may shew the kindness of God unto him? And Ziba said unto the king, Jonathan hath yet a son, which is lame on his feet.(KJV)

2 Samuel 4:4 tells us how he was injured

And Jonathan, Saul's son, had a son that was lame of his feet. He was five years old when the tidings came of Saul and Jonathan out of Jezreel, and his nurse took him up, and fled: and it came to pass, as she made haste to flee, that he fell, and became lame. And his name was Mephibosheth.(KJV)

A. The nurse had taken Mephibosheth because she feared for his life.

And while she saved his life, she could not keep him from falling and crippling himself.

B. Life on this planet scars us doesn’t it?

Though a parent might try to protect his children from the wicked things that happen in this world, we can’t protect them completely.

I think Mephibosheth has about two ways he can respond to his injury….

·   He can be thankful that the nurse saved his life or

·   He can be bitter than she let him get hurt

I see it all of the time – people who have gone through some terrible trial….

·  Some of them thank the Lord for giving them grace in the trial

·  Some others get angry at the Lord that He did not rescue them out of the trial.

The reason why God does not rescue us out of all our troubles is because this world is not His kingdom.

It will be someday. Someday He will take it from Satan.

But ever since Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, this world is Satan’s kingdom.

And because of it, God has limited Himself concerning what He can do.

He gave Adam and Eve the chance to choose their king.

They chose Satan.

And God honors their choice by not destroying this world.

This world is Satan’s kingdom.

God gave Adam and Eve the choice who they wanted to reign over them and God now honors their choice by not destroying this world.

·   Don’t get bitter at God because of things that the devil does.

·   Better to be thankful to God for the grace He gives to help you through the troubles.

Mephibosheth was born into the wrong family just like we are all born into the family of sin and must be born again to be saved.

Mephibosheth carried the scars of this world for life, just as we are all scarred by sin in this world

The third thing I notice about Mephibosheth is that

III. HE WAS INTRODUCED TO KING DAVID BY A SERVANT

2 Samuel 9:1-3

And David said, Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul, that I may shew him kindness for Jonathan's sake?

And there was of the house of Saul a servant whose name was Ziba. And when they had called him unto David, the king said unto him, Art thou Ziba? And he said, Thy servant is he.

And the king said, Is there not yet any of the house of Saul, that I may shew the kindness of God unto him? And Ziba said unto the king, Jonathan hath yet a son, which is lame on his feet. (KJV)

A. There was nothing compelling David to be kind to the house of Saul, other than David’s own loving character.

·  He did not have to show kindness to someone from Saul’s family

·  He did not have to search out a child or grandchild of Saul to be nice to

He did it because he wanted to.

And the same is true of our God.

There is nothing that makes God love men and women, boys and girls other than that God loves us.

·  God did not have to send Jesus to seek and to save the lost

·  God did not have to allow Jesus to suffer the horrors of the cross

God did not have to:

·   Preserve for us the Bible

·   Convict us of our sins

·   Show us how to be saved

·   Build for us the local church

·   Call for us a preacher

God does all of that just because it is His nature to love.

So David began the search for someone in Saul’s house he could show kindness to and was introduced first to Ziba

B. God used Ziba to tell David about Mephibosheth

And God does the very same thing today.

·   God uses a Pastor to train Christians how to witness the

·   God uses those Christians to tell others how to be saved

God searches for those whom Him can show kindness to and save from their sins through simple servants

Nobody fancy

Nobody special

·   Just somebody who 

·   Knows somebody who

·   Is ready for God’s saving message

So I see two possible types of people in our congregation today

1. Is a person like Mephibosheth

It could be you are here this morning drowning in your own sin.

·   You  know things are not right between You and the Lord.

·   You know if you died today you would not go to heaven but to hell

·   You know you belong to the wrong family

·   You know you are going the wrong direction

The good news is that God is looking for you.

He sent His Son Jesus Christ to die just so He could show 

·   Kindness and

·   Love and 

·   Mercy 

to you.

And we are here this morning anxious to introduce Him to you.

The second type of person here this morning

2. Is a person like Ziba

·  You are already saved

·  You are a servant of the Lord

And God is looking for you to introduce to Him someone He can save.

When you think about soul winning like that, it turns into a pretty great thing to do.

·   God isn’t asking us to sell a sinner on salvation

·   God isn’t asking us to trick someone who does not want to be saved into getting saved

·   God isn’t asking us to convince someone to believe something they don’t want to believe

God is only asking us to introduce people we know to Him so He can show them kindness.

Mephibosheth was born into the wrong family just like we are all born into the family of sin and must be born again to be saved.

Mephibosheth carried the scars of this world for life, just as we are all scarred by sin in this world

Mephibosheth was introduced to the king by a servant

IV. WAS JILTED BY A FRIEND

2 Samuel 16:1-4 (KJV)

And when David was a little past the top of the hill, behold, Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth met him, with a couple of asses saddled, and upon them two hundred loaves of bread, and an hundred bunches of raisins, and an hundred of summer fruits, and a bottle of wine.

And the king said unto Ziba, What meanest thou by these? And Ziba said, The asses be for the king's household to ride on; and the bread and summer fruit for the young men to eat; and the wine, that such as be faint in the wilderness may drink.

And the king said, And where is thy master's son? And Ziba said unto the king, Behold, he abideth at Jerusalem: for he said, To day shall the house of Israel restore me the kingdom of my father.

Then said the king to Ziba, Behold, thine are all that pertained unto Mephibosheth. And Ziba said, I humbly beseech thee that I may find grace in thy sight, my lord, O king.

2 Samuel 19:25-30 (KJV)

And it came to pass, when he was come to Jerusalem to meet the king, that the king said unto him, Wherefore wentest not thou with me, Mephibosheth?

And he answered, My lord, O king, my servant deceived me: for thy servant said, I will saddle me an ass, that I may ride thereon, and go to the king; because thy servant is lame.

And he hath slandered thy servant unto my lord the king; but my lord the king is as an angel of God: do therefore what is good in thine eyes.

For all of my father's house were but dead men before my lord the king: yet didst thou set thy servant among them that did eat at thine own table. What right therefore have I yet to cry any more unto the king?

And the king said unto him, Why speakest thou any more of thy matters? I have said, Thou and Ziba divide the land.

And Mephibosheth said unto the king, Yea, let him take all, forasmuch as my lord the king is come again in peace unto his own house.

I don’t want to take a tone of time with the story but when David’s son attacked and David fled Jerusalem, Mephibosheth.

Mephiboseth, a cripple, depended on his servant Ziba to help him flee with David. Ziba: 

·  Deceived him, 

·  Left him in Jerusalem, and 

·  Told David he supported Absalom

Hey, some of that’s going to happen on this earth.

You will be: 

·  Deceived, 

·  Cheated, 

·  Stolen from and 

·  Lied about

But I can tell you this; God will be gracious to you despite it all.

The final thing I notice about Mephibosheth is

V. HE SAT AT THE KING’S TABLE

2 Samuel 9:13

So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem: for he did eat continually at the king's table; and was lame on both his feet.(KJV)

A. That’s a picture of heaven right there.

God’s plan for those who come to Him is 

·   More than just rescue from hell

·   More than just sins forgiven

·   More than just out of trouble

God’s plan for you and me is that we live with Him forever

·  That we rule and reign with Jesus Christ

·  That we inherit all the treasures of heaven

That we are seated together with Him in heavenly places.

B. I do notice that He was still lame on his feet.

And this is where I see the Bible’s teaching about eternity a little different than some.

I see that what we do on this planet will forever impact our place in heaven.

It is on this planet that we are to lay up treasures in heaven.

What happens when a person doesn’t do that?

Do you supposewhen they get to heaven God will say, “O, that was just a suggestion. I’m gonna give you the treasures anyway.”

The Bible says He that is faithful in a little now, He will make a ruler over much in eternity.

So do you thinkwhen we get to heaven God will just point to the Christian who wasn’t faithful and say, “O, I didn’t really mean it exactly like that. Go ahead and rule over much.”

No sir. Some of those wounds we have received on this planet will stay with us through all eternity.

By the way that is not all bad.

Jesus will still bear the scars of the cross in eternity.

Could be the scar you bear in heaven will be those you got in battle for the Lord.

You did right and you paid a price for it.

And

·   It has left you crippled

·   It has left you scarred and 

·   It has left you hurting

But in heaven those scars forever tell the testimony of a life lived in obedience to Jesus Christ

Whatever the price.

Conclusion:

The heart of David, the heart after God’s is a heart that is gracious to even when they don’t deserve it or can’t earn it in any way.

By the way, there is a second man with the same name in the Bible. 

A son of Saul, Mephibosheth’s Uncle Mephibosheth.

He was one of the seven men that David delivered to the Gibeonites to be slain for Saul’s transgressions.

Times were different and I can’t say I can completely explain the passage to your satisfaction.

I can tell you that a heart after God doesn’t have to be so tender that he has no backbone.

A man after God’s own heart will not always be understood.

You might not like everything he does and He might not be able to explain himself to your satisfaction.

He really does mean to help people come to Christ and to live for him.