David:The Shepherd King, #18
Up From Lo-Debar:
A Study In Grace
II Samuel 9
By Dave Redick
Hwy 20 Church of Christ, Sweet Home, OR
We didn't earn our position with God, my brothers and sisters. I don't care how long or how fervently we have served the Lord. We stand where we do because of Christ, just like Mephibosheth stood where he was because of his father, Jonathan. So we shouldn't boast, as Paul mentioned in Ephesians. We shouldn't compare our record of service with that of others as though we were somehow worth more to God than they. We eat with our feet under God's table and enjoy the benefits of family membership because Christ suffered before us on our behalf.
Introduction
Great theological concepts can be clarified in some strangely common places. Take the word grace for instance. I believe this story really puts it on the bottom shelf. It is not my own, but comes from the experience of another.
I vividly remember my last spanking. It was on my thirteenth birthday, as a matter of fact. Having just broken into the sophisticated ranks of the teen world, I thought I was something on a stick. My father wasn't nearly as impressed as I was with my great importance and newfound independence. I was lying on my bed. He was outside the window on a muggy October afternoon in Houston, weeding the garden. He said, "Charles, come out and help me weed the garden." I said something like: "No...it's my birthday, remember?" My tone was sassy and my deliberate lack of respect was eloquent. I knew better than to disobey my dad; but, after all, I was the ripe old age of thirteen. He set a new 100-meter record that autumn afternoon. He was in the house and all over me like white on rice, spanking me all the way out to the garden. As I recall, I weeded until the moonlight was shining on the pansies.
That same night he took me out to a surprise dinner. He gave me what I deserved earlier. Later he gave me what I did not deserve. The birthday dinner was grace. He condescended in favor upon this rebellious young man. That evening I enjoyed...grace.1
Grace is my topic this morning, and rather than use a lot of man-made portrayals of it (helpful though they might be) I would like to turn to one of God's illustrations of grace in the Old Testament. We'll be getting our lesson from II Samuel 9.
I want to point out to you from this passage three very special aspects of the grace of God.
The setting of this chapter is the life of King David about a thousand years before Christ. At this particular point in Bible history, David is comfortably ensconced in the palace of Israel, absolute monarch over the Jewish State. He is successful, secure, and satisfied with what God has done for him. In the chapter immediately previous to this we learn he had just defeated and subdued the Philistines, the Moabites, and the Syrians. His name was well known all over the Middle East.
One particular day as David was pondering the events that had brought him from the pasture to the palace, a bittersweet memory crossed his mind of a bygone friend - a man named Jonathan. Jonathan, the son of King Saul, had been David's closest friend. Actually, Jonathan was the one who should have been sitting on the throne where David now sat. He had been the rightful heir, next-in-line successor of his father, Saul. But Jonathan's life had ended in an untimely manner when he and his brothers were killed, along with their father, in a battle on Mt. Gilboa. David never completely got over the loss of his friend, as we are about to see in this chapter.
(Read v. 1)
In his remembrance of the sweet friendship he had with Jonathan, David recalled a certain covenant the two of them had made back when he was being persecuted by Saul. The text of it is recorded back in I Samuel 20:14-17.
The conversation recorded there took place back when Saul was still on the throne and Jonathan was the next-in-line prince. Jonathan knew that David would be the next king because God had made it known to him. In that day it was common that whenever a new family came to the throne of a nation, the first act of state would be to exterminate all members of the family of the previous regime so that there would be no contest for the rule. Jonathan had that in mind when he spoke these words:
"And if I am still alive, will you not show me the lovingkindness of the Lord, that I may not die? And you shall not cut off your lovingkindness from my house forever, not even when the Lord cuts off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth." So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, "May the Lord require it at the hands of David's enemies."
So, the agreement was that, once David became king, he was to show kindness to any living relatives of Jonathan rather than exterminate them. Back now to our text in II Samuel...
(Read v. 2-3a)
Before we leave these verses, I need to point out a key word. It is that word "kindness" in the NASV. It occurs three times in this chapter - verses 1, 3, and 7. It is the Hebrew word CHESED and it is used 240 times in the Old Testament. It is variously translated with words like "loving-kindness, mercy, favor, goodness, devotion, and grace." W.E. Vine, in his EXPOSITORY DICTIONARY OF BIBLICAL WORDS says that it is "one of the most important [terms] in the vocabulary of Old Testament theology..."
So, Saul's servant Ziba has been asked if he knows of any survivors of the house of Saul.
(Read v. 3-6)
We learn more about Mephibosheth back in II Samuel 4:4. Many years before, at the tender age of five, Mephibosheth was in the home of his father, Jonathan, being cared for by a nursemaid, when word reached the Palace that Saul and his sons had died on Mt. Gilboa. That meant only one thing to the minds of all the servants and relatives of the house of Saul: There would now be no one left to stand in the way of David ascending the throne. That meant, as I mentioned earlier, that anyone even remotely connected to Saul would now be hunted down and killed. In the chaos that followed, as they tried to get away, there was an accident.
"Now Jonathan, Saul's son, had a son crippled in his feet. He was five years old when the report of Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel, and his nurse took him up and fled. And it happened that in her hurry to flee, he fell and became lame. And his name was Mephibosheth." (II Samuel 4:4.)
Now, years later, the little boy has become an adult. David is on the throne. Mephibosheth is still in hiding in a place called "Lo-debar," fearful that he may at any moment be found and killed. This part of the story illustrates the first point I want you to see:
I. Our Need of Grace.
You don't find a better illustration of the need of grace than the case of Mephibosheth.
A. First, he is separated from David and the palace. Lo-debar was in northern Palestine. Jerusalem (where David was) was in the south. There were many miles of separation between them. In the same way man is separated from God. Isaiah 59:2 says,
"Your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He does not hear."
The number one reason why we need grace is because our sin separates us from God.
B. Second, Mephibosheth is afraid of David. The first thing David said to him when he arrived at the palace was "Do not fear..." (see v. 7). Now it wasn't necessary for him to be afraid. David was not hostile toward him or any others of the house of Saul. But Mephibosheth didn't know that because he didn't know David! I'm sure he expected that someday he would hear that ominous knock on the door of the house where he lived and he would open it to find soldiers from David's court had come to kill him. It's the way things were done in ancient kingdoms. David didn't do it that way, but Mephibosheth didn't know David.
It is just like the case of Man in general. Separated from God and ignorant of Him, he is fearful. Many have the idea that God hates them and wants them to burn in Hell forever. I still recall the terror I felt the first time that I came into a church building many years ago. I didn't know what was going to happen to me. I had heard all kinds of weird stories, none of which were true. But my ignorance caused me to fear. I didn't know that God actually cared about me.
Just as Mephibosheth learned didn't have to fear David, so, too we learned that we did not need to fear God's intentions with us.
C. Thirdly, and I might be reading just a little bit extra into the passage, Mephibosheth was hostile toward David. Can't you imagine him thinking, when the soldiers came to get him, "What does he want with me?" or "Why doesn't he just leave me alone!" "I didn't ask to be born in this miserable life!"
Hostility is not an uncommon response among those who don't know or understand God, either. "What in the world do those Christians want with me, anyway? Why don't they just leave me alone!"
Perhaps we Christians are partly to blame for such a hostile response in that sometimes we tend to expect Christian behavior from non-Christian people. I refer to the person who, looking down his nose at an unsaved individual, condemns his actions with a "holier than thou" attitude. "Why don't you quit that disgusting smoking and drinking and swearing and become like me!" (Let's hope he doesn't!)
We need to remember what Jesus clearly stated in John 3:17 -
"For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him."
God wants people saved, not condemned. Let's not provoke any more hostility toward God than is already there because of misunderstanding!
D. Fourthly, Mephibosheth was in a miserable place. The place where he was hiding was called "Lo-debar," and it means literally, "no pasture." It means, "place of desolation, barrenness."
What a perfect description of man's place of residence away from God! Barrenness, desolation. Oh, sure, for some it takes awhile to come to understand that...but ultimately that is where life away from God leads.
The need of grace, then, is that man, away from God, afraid of God, and hostile toward God, in a miserable place, needs to hear the good news that God isn't' the way he thinks He is! God wants to help him!
Next, we'll look look at:
II. The Meaning of Grace.
(Read v. 7)
Several things about grace are shown in this verse.
A. First, David was seeking someone to whom he could show kindness (or grace). Mephibosheth hadn't been seeking David. David sought Him!
In the same way, so often, our seeking God isn't the reason we are here. Rather, it is the result of God seeking us. Back before I was a Christian, I knew I needed something, but I didn't have the foggiest notion what it was, so I wasn't looking for God. I had no idea He was seeking me.
B. Secondly, David was lavishing abundance on someone who had done nothing to deserve it.
Mephibosheth had no utilitarian value to David. He had done nothing even to attract David's attention, much less anything to merit such generous treatment. It would be more understandable had David been rewarding a hero or a model citizen for his effort. Mephibosheth was a nobody! He even acknowledged that about himself in verse 8:
(Read v. 8)
To Mephibosheth, it was incredible that David would want to be kind to him when he had never so much as given David the time of day! He did not deserve what David wanted to do for him. Look at what David did for this man!
(Read v. 9-13)
David lavished abundance upon Mephibosheth that he had not earned.
In the same way grace is God's lavishing his abundance upon those who have done nothing to deserve it.
Ephesians 2:8&9 says, "For by grace you have been saved, through faith, and that, not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not as a result of works that any man should boast."
A gift isn't something you have earned or deserved. It is something that is given as a result of kindness on the part of the giver! If you are a Christian, don't think that God forgave you because you were so great or so lovely. You were neither. He gave you grace out of the goodness of His heart!
C. Thirdly, this lavishing of grace by David upon Mephibosheth was done on the basis of the merits of someone else.
Remember David's words back in verse 1? "Is there yet anyone left...that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake?" David did these things on the basis of what Jonathan had done for him. Mephibosheth was receiving the blessings earned by the life of another.
In the same way, God, too, lavishes his abundance upon us on the basis of the merits of someone else...Christ.
We didn't earn our position with God, my brothers and sisters. I don't care how long or how fervently we have served the Lord. We stand where we do because of Christ, just like Mephibosheth stood where he was because of his father, Jonathan. So we shouldn't boast, as Paul mentioned in Ephesians. We shouldn't compare our record of service with that of others as though we were somehow worth more to God than they. We eat with our feet under God's table and enjoy the benefits of family membership because Christ suffered before us on our behalf.
D. Fourthly, David was helping a man who could not help himself. Why couldn't Mephibosheth help himself? Because he was crippled! He couldn't get up and walk. He was dependent upon the favors of others!
Likewise, grace is God's helping those who cannot help themselves.
I'm not talking about the "less fortunate" or the poor or homeless here when I speak of those who cannot help themselves! I'm talking about every human being! We're all crippled by sin. We cannot get up and walk with God on our own. The very first time you and I sinned, we were finished with walking on our own as far as God is concerned.
"For while we were still helpless," Paul says in Romans 5:6, "at the right time Christ died for the ungodly."
Actually, you and I still cannot help ourselves. Why? Because we still sin! We're still dependent upon God's help and handouts! If you sit with your feet under God's table this morning, you are there because of what Christ did for you, not because of what you have done for God!
God has extended to us great grace. We'll look next at:
III. The Effects of Grace.
What do you suppose it was like for Mephibosheth to live there in the house of David as a son? Right alongside Amnon, Absalom, and later, Solomon and the other sons of David? It must have been great! He would share in all the benefits of royalty. Do you suppose that he ever forgot how he got there? Do you suppose he ever lost his sense of gratitude for what David had done for him? No, he didn't. He couldn't. Why?
Because being in David's household and eating at David's table, as nice as it was, didn't take away the fact that he was still lame in both feet.
In the same way, even when we are adopted into God's family and eat at his table, sin still remains in our members. It still cripples us. Not as much as it used to, and certainly not because we want it to be so, but it is still there.
Every time Mephibosheth came to the table, (clump, thud...clump, thud) he and everyone else present was reminded of his condition.
You still sin, my Christian friend. You are called to overcome it, but that struggle will be with you until you leave this world, either head first as you are caught up to meet the Lord in the air, or feet first as they put you into the grave. You eat at the Lord's table in spite of your condition, not because you have overcome it. Each time you yield to a temptation, you're hearing the "clump, thud...clump, thud..., clump, thud..." of your condition. You should never forget your need and dependence upon God. You should never lose your gratitude.
A. Yet, though Mephibosheth was still lame in both feet, each time he put his feet under David's table, his true condition was covered up.
Likewise, the blood of Christ covers up your sinful condition as you come to the Lord's table today. Isn't that great?
Do you think Mephibosheth was grateful? Do you think he ever praised David to anyone else? Do you think he would ever have double crossed David if given a chance? Perhaps the greatest tribute to Mephibosheth's gratitude is recorded a little later in II Samuel.
Before the end of his life, David was driven out of the Palace in a takeover attempt led by his own son, Absalom. As he was fleeing the palace just ahead of the approaching armies of Absalom, Mephibosheth's name came up.
(Read II Samuel 16:1-4)
Now, the only problem with what Ziba was saying here is that it was a boldfaced lie! Mephibosheth hadn't chosen to stay behind to join the rebellion of Absalom. He had been left behind intentionally by Ziba. We learn that in the postscript to this passage in II Samuel 19.
Absalom's attempt to take over the throne failed when he was killed by one of David's generals. David returned to the palace along with all his family and servants. As he was returning, he encountered Mephibosheth.
(Read II Samuel 19:24)
The lack of hygienic care here was a sign of mourning. Mephibosheth had been mourning about the situation since David left! He hadn't double-crossed him.
(Read 25-30)
Ziba had lied! Mephibosheth and been faithful to David all along! Did you notice that he still remembered David's grace? He still remembered what David had done for him! "I was like a dead man before you took me in, David. How can I complain?"
B. A true recipient of grace will always be indebted to the one who showed him kindness. He will exhibit faithfulness that results from gratitude.
Like Mephibosheth in verse 28, even when things seem to go against him, he won't complain. What right does he have to complain when he has been the recipient of such gratitude?
Do we have that spirit among us? When things don't go just exactly our way, are we conscious of the magnitude of God's forgiveness, or are we demanding of our supposed rights? Perhaps the greatest thing that could ever happen to bring unity to the body of Christ would be for all of us to truly see and understand the magnitude of the grace in which we stand!
Look at Mephibosheth's attitude in verse 30.
"Let him even take it all, since my Lord the king has come safely to his own house."
What an attitude! "As long as you are home, David, nothing else matters. Not my land, not the fact that I've been swindled by another servant. As long as I have you, nothing else matters.
Oh, how we need the spirit of Mephibosheth! It's the
spirit of those who know grace. Such a spirit makes going the second and third mile a cinch! It smoothes over the normal rough spots and calms the waters of strife.
Conclusion
Brothers and sisters, we need to understand the spirit of grace better than we do. The petty bickering and misunderstandings that come up among us are sure indicators that we don't really understand how sinful we were and how forgiven we are. Many of us aren't really grateful for what we have. It doesn't matter if you hurt my poor little feelings as long as I'm still forgiven and you are too! Since God has been so gracious and forgiving to me, it really is no big deal for me to do the same for you, even when you are a stinker and don't deserve it!
If you are here this morning and you don't know Christ, I say this to you: You need God's grace! You are in the same place Mephibosheth was when David took him in. You are away from God. You may be afraid of Him. You may be hostile toward him. You live in a spiritual Lo-debar, a place where there is no pasture, a place of barrenness and desolation because of your sins.
God has been seeking you for a long time. He wants to invite you to join Him at His table as a son (or daughter). But don't misunderstand. You really don't deserve that kind of treatment. He is doing it because of the merit of someone else - Christ. Will you respond to Him? Will you come and put your crippled feet under his table? Only you can decide...
Dave Redick is Minister of the Hwy 20 Church of Christ in Sweet Home, Oregon and Editor of The Preacher's Study. He may be reached at pstudysupport@comcast.net.
Copyright © 1996-2008 by The Preacher's Study. Permission is granted to subscribers to use this document in total or in sermon preparation in the context of the local congregation only. Publishing it in a book, on the Internet, or anyplace beyond the local congregation is prohibited.
All Scripture quotations and references are from the New American Standard Version unless otherwise stated.
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