Grace Poured Out

Introduction

Good morning. Does anyone have any guesses what the sermon will be on this morning? Thank Brother Lindy and all the song leaders for doing such a wonderful job preparing our hearts not only to praise God, to encourage and even admonish one another while we sing, but to center our hearts around the thoughts, the centermost ideas that God wants his children, his creation to understand. Perhaps no concept other than grace is as widely known, and as are there as many different positions on that are critical and foundational to pleasing the God who gives such amazing grace. One preacher once gave a story, and you’ll be able to tell by the fine involved that it was early 1900s, that a prominent preacher was driving around the streets and he didn’t know the speed limit.

And he was pulled over and found a sign just as the lights went on behind him that he had been speeding ten miles an hour over the speed limit. And when the policeman came to the car, he said, Do you know that you were speeding? And he said, Yes, ten miles over. The policeman said, I have to give you a dollar per mile per hour you were going over. And he stopped to look at him before he went back to his car and he said, Wait a minute, I know you. You’re that preacher. That always makes a preacher feel good after violating the law. And he says, Let me see what I can do. He went back to his car and he came back a few moments later.

He said, I’ll tell you what, I can’t not give you the ticket. You have to pay the fine. But what I’m going to do is I’m going to give you the $10 to cover the fine. You’re going to get the ticket, which I’ll pay for, and then I want you to come with me and go to a steak dinner because I just pulled over this prominent American preacher. You think about the preacher involved in that story. Why did he need the grace from the police officer? Why did he need such the words that call to mind are what? Unmerited favor. Because he was guilty. We have to understand that no matter who you are, what you’ve done, where you’ve been, where you’re going, we are always going to need God’s grace.

1. David Shows the Kindness of God

There will not be a day, there will not be a moment, there will not be even a passing fleeting second in which we do not need every ounce, every bit of God’s grace that he so willingly has poured out for us. In 2 Samuel chapter 9, we see an Old Testament equivalent of this from David. Remember, David is a man after God’s own heart. If you look at 2 Samuel chapter 9, we’re going to see David show grace. And I want you to see who he shows grace to. And I want to warn you that the picture of that person is not pretty. And we are that person. When David is like God when it shows us what God’s grace is like. In 2 Samuel chapter 9, beginning in verse 1.

And David said, Is there still anyone left of the house of Saul that I may show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake? 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? And he said, I am your servant. And the king said, Is there not still someone of the house of Saul that I may show the kindness of God to him? And Zeba said to the king, There is still a son of Jonathan, but he is crippled in his feet. The king said to him, Where is he? And Zeba said to the king, He is in the house of Makuran, the son of Amiel at Low Davar. I want you to stop for a moment.

We have two descriptions of this one surviving heir or son of Jonathan. He is described in verse 4 how? As being in low Davar. That would be the modern English equivalent of saying, He is in the middle of nowhere. What do they specialize in? Nothing. That would be the description of where this man is coming from. But note the description in verse 3 of him himself. How is he described? Yes, a son of Jonathan, but the last phrase, he is crippled or lame in his legs or in his feet. As David’s reaching out to this, we have to understand the story of Mephibosheth is how we’re going to say that. Mephibosheth. Whether it’s right or wrong, we’re going to call him this morning Mephibosheth. And as you see this first several verses, the question is, why would David care about this son of Jonathan?

Well, if you look at 1 Samuel chapter 20, you’ll see David is keeping his covenant with Jonathan. As you read through the Old Testament, you know David had this very close kinsmanship, this true love for Jonathan. And in 1 Samuel chapter 20, and particularly in verses 14, 15, and 16, you see David make this covenant, this promise to Jonathan, who is the son of Saul, that he would show his household kindness. Why does that matter? Why is that so important? Well, because if anybody was wronged by somebody, we often say, I don’t know how to show kindness to my boss, my co-worker, my family. Because they just treat me rudely at every turn. If anybody was treated unfairly, unjustly, and was persecuted with no reason to treat someone with kindness, it was David by a man or king named Saul.

Just to refresh our memories a little bit, what were some of the things Saul did to David? Well, first of all, he was incredibly jealous of him. He sought to undermine him at every turn. And what’s the big picture thing Saul did to David? Constantly chasing him to what? To kill him, to take his life, because he viewed him as a threat to the throne. Here is David now as king, becoming king of Israel, just as God had said he would. What was tradition for kings in the Old Testament was to wipe out the descendants of the previous regime. To completely annihilate the sons. And so when David says in these first few verses, I want to find Jonathan’s son, the grandson of Saul, to any other king, that would be, we are going to kill him.

We’re going to cut off Saul’s lineage. But notice what does David say in verse 3? Is there not still someone of the house of Saul that I may show the kindness of God to him? David was looking to keep his covenant. But note how when Mephibosheth is before David, note how he is approached and how David handles him. In verse 6, and Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, son of Saul, came to David and fell on his face and paid homage. And David said, Mephibosheth, and he answered, Behold, I am your servant. 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.

And he paid homage and said, What is your servant that you should show regard for a dead dog such as I? If we’re keeping track of the descriptions of Mephibosheth, the kindest one in here is that he would be David’s servant. That is the kindest reference. We’ve seen these from Lodabar. He was from a nothing town, known for nothing good. He was crippled and lame in his feet. And how does he describe himself in verse 8? Why are you showing such kindness to me, a dead dog? So we understand Mephibosheth, we have to see that he was humbled before David. And notice David’s first phrase in verse 7 do not fear, why? Because this grandson of Saul knew if David is calling for him, being in the lineage of Saul, what would be coming to him?

Death. Being thrown out at best, ostracized, but likely his life being taken. And rather than do that, David, keeping his covenant to Jonathan, shows him grace. How much so? Well, we see in verse 9, the king called Zeba 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 servant shall till the land for him, and shall bring in the produce that your master’s grandson may have bread to eat. But Mephibosheth, your master’s grandson shall always eat at my table. Now Zeba had fifteen sons and twenty servants. Then Ziba said to the king, according to all that my lord the king commands a servant, so will your servant do.

So Mephibosheth ate at David’s table like one of the king’s sons. And he had a young son whose name was Mekah. And all who lived in Zebah’s house became Mephibosheth’s servants. So Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, for he ate always at the king’s table. But he was lame in both his feet. As we look at this story, I understand that this doesn’t make us say, I am Mephibosheth, I am that person, I am a dead dog, I am a servant, I am from Lodar. But what we need to point out is not only that he was lowly, but that David was kind, gracious, and merciful towards the servant. The servant who could offer David nothing of value. And yet what did David offer him? Not just to survive, not just to eat at his table, but what would happen?

Look in those verses again. What was he going to do? Have the servants of Saul’s household do what for him? Till the land, give him the produce. He was rewarding Mephibosheth. Why? Because David had promised Jonathan whom he loved. He had made a covenant with Jonathan that I will take care of your household. Even if it was the grandson of Saul, the one who was seeking David’s life. I think this is remarkable. And we learn some lessons from Mephibosheth himself. Is if you look in chapter 4, you’ll see where was he left before this? This is a perhaps about 15 years or so after. Chapter 9 is about 15 years or so after this reading in chapter 4. But note as Saul is beginning to be overthrown and David’s about to be anointed as king.

Of course, the servants are afraid that David’s going to come vengefully for Saul’s household. And note what happens. 1 Samuel chapter 4 and verse 4, excuse me, 2 Samuel. Jonathan, the son of Saul, had a son who was crippled in his feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel, and his nurse took him up and fled. And as she fled in her haste, he fell and became lame. And his name was Mephibosheth. He was left in a place with the bearings of absolutely no hope. He was in nowhere and could do essentially nothing in this type of society in this type of world. Mephibosheth was left on his own with nothing to hope for in the middle of nowhere.

You might say he was stuck in the throes of despair. And yet, what did David do in the reading we’ve already gone through? He completely changed his life. I don’t know what it’s like to live too many other places. I’ve only lived four or five different cities in my lifetime. But to go from the middle of nowhere to the king’s palace has to be the most dramatic transformation you can have. The best move you can make. And not only was he going to be there, he was going to eat at the king’s table, he was going to be given servants to serve his needs.

Why on earth would David do this? We read the text, we know he loved Jonathan, we know he made a promise, and that’s what children of God do, right? We keep our promises. But we have to understand what would David get from Mephibosheth. We have to have it drilled into our minds that Mephibosheth had nothing to offer David. Zero value to David. And yet David treated him like one of his sons. David gave a man with no hope, nothing to strive for, nothing even relatively to do. He changed his life. And I want to see what that did to Mephibosheth. We can know that that would mean he had a good, enjoyable time, but if he was like the rest of the Israelites, how did the Israelites usually respond to God’s love when they were in danger, when they had no hope, when they were in bondage, and they would pray to God and he would deliver them, what would the Israelites do then?

2. Mephibosheth Remembered David’s Love

Well, they love God a little bit, and then as time passed, they’d go back to doing the same things that led them to captivity before. But note what Mephibosheth did, and again, whether we like it or not, this is a picture of us, and we’ll highlight that in a moment. But look in chapter 19. As there is a mutiny essentially against David, and as David is having to deal with this problem, and he’s being lied to, that Mephibosheth is actually against him, that he’s plotting in this part of an idea to overthrow David, he comes back and note where Mephibosheth is and what is his disposition. Where is he and what is his disposition? 2 Samuel 19 and verse 24. And Mephibosheth, the son of Saul, came down to meet the king.

He had neither taken care of his feet, nor trimmed his beard, nor washed his clothes from the day the king departed until the day he came back in safety. And when he came to Jerusalem to meet the king, the king said to him, Why did you not go with me, Mephibosheth? He answered, My Lord, O king, my servant deceived me, for your servant said to him, I will saddle a donkey for myself that I may ride on it and go with the king, for your servant is lame. He has slandered your servant to my lord the king, but the Lord my king is like an angel of God. Do therefore what seems good to you. For all my father’s house were but men doomed to death before my lord the king.

But you set your servants among those who eat at your table. What further right have I than to cry to the king? And the king said to him, Why speak any more of your affairs? I have decided you and Zeba shall divide the land. And Mephibosheth said to the king, Oh, let him take it all, since my Lord the king has come safely home. Time does not allow us to examine this so deeply, but allow me to point out that when David tells him you are to divide your land with Zeba, the servant of the household of Saul, that Ziba has actively undermined Mephibosheth in the mind of David. That’s why David seemingly strikes out and lashes out against him. When David says you’re going to divide the land with him, that was a punishment of sorts towards Mephibosheth.

Because David was deceived by Zeba. We have to understand that Mephibosheth then is being falsely accused, essentially falsely constrained by David, whom he loves. But note three descriptions of Mephibosheth at the beginning, in the middle, and at the end of this conversation that does not break his way. In the beginning in verse 24, where is he? Waiting for David. What is he waiting for? What is this description of him? He had neither taken care of his feet nor trimmed his beard nor washed his clothes from the time the king left until he came back. That’s a dedicated servant. Looking for, waiting, and not benefiting in the meantime of a king being away. Note also his description in verse 28, even after describing the slander that had undertaken him in verse 28, all my father’s house were but men doomed to death before my Lord the king, but you set your servant among those who eat at your table.

What further right have I then to cry to the king? If we were Mephibosheth here, we’d say, David, I know you’ve done a lot for me, but Zeba is lying. He has deceived you. Please know that I love you. I appreciate you. I am thankful for you. But Mephibosheth doesn’t do that. He says, Look, I was doomed to death. I had no hope. I was in a place of despair, and you showed me kindness. I have no more right. I have no claim. You are David, and I am thankful and will answer to you in whatever you decide. And even after David says, You will divide the land with Zeba, note the last verse in verse 30. Mephibosheth says, Oh, let him take it all. I’m just glad that you have come safely home.

3. God’s Grace Is for Us All

Mephibosheth remembered David’s love. It didn’t matter what David did to him. It didn’t matter at what status he had Cain’s. He didn’t worry about it. What was on his mind? David’s grace, David’s love, and David’s well-being. It didn’t matter what David could bless him with or what David had taken away from him. It mattered that he cared about David because David first showed love, grace, and kindness to him. I think it’s obvious where this is going. God’s grace is for us all. We have to understand if God’s grace is amazing, and God poured out his grace for us, that means we need it. Every single one of us need God’s grace all the time. The question then is, do we recognize that we are Mephibosheth or not?

Do we recognize in Ephesians chapter 2 at one point, before understanding what it means to follow after God, that we look like Paul described in Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 1? The first three verses don’t paint a beautiful picture, but was the picture of Mephibosheth beautiful? Absolutely not. The beauty in the story we read this morning was in David and in Mephibosheth’s response to David’s love. The grace of God, the story of love isn’t about us, it’s about our God who first loved us. A God who offers unmerited favor to those who will love him and show and trust in his kindness and riches of mercy. Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 1, you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and we’re by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind.

In verse 1, how are we described without God’s grace? Dead in our trespasses. Dead in our sins. We are nowhere with no hope and no one to blame but ourselves. Where are we stuck? Not just in sins and trespasses, dead in the sins and trespasses, verse 2, in which what? We once walked. We aren’t guilty because of anybody else, no matter how somebody treats me, no matter how I think I should be handled, if I am guilty before God, it is because I have sinned. And so in verse 3, it could be said that I was carrying out the desires of the flesh. And I wasn’t living for God. At this point, notice verse 4, God showing a greater love, a greater mercy than even David showed, but God being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, verse 5 continues, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ, by grace you have been saved.

And raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not of your own doing, it is the gift of God, not a result of work, so that no one may boast.

Not only nothing to offer, but rather we are guilty before God, and we have no hope, not because we had no choice or we got a rough deal, but because we sinned against him. I understand. I will teach in just a few moments. And I appreciate the sensitivity to teaching too much about grace and the idea that we need it and that God just offers it freely as a gift, and that’s it. That this text is misused and abused in pulpits throughout the country to mean sit back and do nothing and God will show you grace. But we cannot let mysteing ever take away the love of God. That without his grace offered, without nothing or anything that we could do, God offers grace to his creation.

He has made a promise, and even more than that, he has made a covenant relationship with his people that if we will seek him, if we trust in the mediator of the new covenant that is Jesus Christ, we can have what? God’s great grace by which we can be saved. We need God’s grace poured out on us every day, every moment, every passing second. God’s grace isn’t just for those who are good or those who are mostly good. It’s for those who are lame, blind, sick, and in need. And until we get that point in our minds, we’ll never properly understand how I look before God. I don’t just look like Mephibosheth before God without his grace. I look worse than Mephibosheth without God’s grace. At least he was a person who understood what love and grace was.

As sinners, we stand diametrically opposed to God, and God offers grace anyway. In a world and to a people that were constantly hostile to Christ at every single turn, he still sent who? Jesus to die at the hands of lawless men to be crucified on the cross so that we might be forgiven. If we want to access God’s grace, that is for all. And that is for all who are weak and helpless in the sight of God. Once I recognize that, I have to understand I have to trust God’s faithfulness to his covenant. C.S. Lewis once said about humility, humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less. We have to understand that distinction is critically important. If we understand then that humility is putting God first, not just insulting self, but recognizing here is great God showing love and mercy that is undeserved.

4. Trusting in God’s Faithfulness to His Covenant

Here am I needing every ounce of grace God will offer, then I can move on to step two. Trusting in God’s faithfulness to his covenant. The beauty of God is that God cannot lie, that he has always been faithful to his promises. We can track it, we can know it. And if you look in Romans chapter 5, that’s the exact idea that Paul was writing about. In Romans chapter 5, in this great section that talks about how Jesus died while we were weak, while we were ungodly, he always talks about how he died while we were still sinners, while we were enemies to the cross of Christ. Before that, no doubt he begins in the first two verses. Romans chapter 5, verse 1 and 2. Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Through him, we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand. And because we stand in grace, what does the last part of verse 2 say? We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. I don’t always say this, but if you underline things in your Bible, please underline the phrase, the grace in which we stand. As Christians, if we understand the grace of God, we have to know two things for sure. One, there is nothing I could ever do to compel God to give me grace. There is no amount of works, there’s no amount of church service attendance, there’s no amount of charity and good deeds I could do to make God send Jesus to die on the cross to pay the price for my sin.

But secondly, if we understand grace, we also have to recognize we as Christians don’t have to worry about sin charging us away from our God anymore. We have to worry about temptation. We have to stand on guard knowing that the devil is seeking whom he may devour, but our past sins, sins for which we have appealed to God for forgiveness and access God’s grace. If we are beneficiaries of God’s grace, where do we stand? Firmly in that grace. And what can we do as a result? Rejoice in that hope. I ask everyone this morning, do you have that hope to where you this morning can say, I am rejoicing as a beneficiary of God’s grace. If we don’t have that hope, something is wrong, and if not with God’s grace.

If we don’t have that hope, we have a verse one faith problem. We have a verse one peace problem. We have a verse two grace problem. It’s not God who’s not faithful. It’s man. It’s not God who doesn’t offer peace. That’s us who don’t take it. And it’s not God who doesn’t offer great grace for every one of his creation. It is his creation that rejects him at seemingly every turn possible. We have to have confidence. Knowing about God’s amazing grace isn’t just that it’s out there, that forgiveness is possible somewhere in the universe, but that God has offered it for me and he has offered it for you. If we trust in him, if we submit to him, if we read Hebrews chapter 8 and see and say that God’s covenant now is better, it’s greater because of forgiveness of sins, that it is enabled because of the great mediator in chapter 9, and that he can once and for all take away sins, chapter 10 of the book of Hebrews.

5. Like Mephibosheth, We Love the Master

We can trust God’s faithfulness and means I can say, glory be to God because I stand in his amazing grace. Do you believe that you have God’s amazing grace? If we understand that, if we understand where we stand before God, and that to be a beneficiary of grace, we have to recognize I am lower than Mephibosheth. If we do trust that God is faithful to his promises, that he’ll show grace to those who appeal to him in the manner in which he has designed for us to appeal to him. Then we also will be like Mephibosheth. Do you remember at the last verse of 2 Samuel chapter 19 that we read? When David wrongfully took away his land because he believed a deception. Did Mephibosheth cry or whine about that or say that he deserves more?

He simply loves his master. If we understand what it means to love our God, we’re going to be like Mephibosheth in many ways. One is humility. But two is we are going to be waiting for and hastening the day of the Lord. Do you remember what Mephibosheth did while David was gone? That is nothing to take care of himself. He didn’t wash, he didn’t take care of his toes, he didn’t do basically anything. He was waiting for the master whom he loved. Look at 2 Peter chapter 3 and note that we are called to the same exact idea. In 2 Peter chapter 3, beginning in verse 11, since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn.

But according to his promise, we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish and at peace. Reminds me of Romans chapter 5 and verse 1. Therefore we have been justified by faith, and now we can enjoy the peace of God. If we understand that God’s grace is for all who seek him, for all who humbly come to him on his terms and in his ways, then we will recognize that to truly love our great God means we don’t just love the benefits, we love the master. And there is a distinction between the two. Mephibosheth, even when mistreated by David, even when his land is taken away, his love is where?

For David.

Conclusion

His love is for the king who showed him grace. Why? Because of the stuff? No. Because of the land? No, David took half of that away. He loved his master because he showed him grace when he knew he deserved none. And I have to remember that’s me. Recognize this morning that no matter where you are, no matter how difficult life seems, no matter whether you think you’re in the middle of nowhere, because you put yourself there, because you were placed there, or because life has just given you a very raw hand. God’s grace is greater than our weakness. God’s grace is greater than our sin, but we do have to trust the Lord. And when God says through his apostles and through Jesus the Christ that we are to believe in him, we are to confess Jesus as Lord, Christ, and Savior.

That we must repent of our wrong, recognizing and acknowledging we’ve done wrong and we’re going to turn, we’re going to change, we’re going to love the Master who offers grace. And we are baptized in water in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sins. We not only become Christians, we become those who are standing firmly in the grace of God and can say together how amazing God’s grace is. Please take advantage of God’s grace this morning. Don’t wait. If you can rejoice, sing out in praise to our great God. And if you can’t, do something about it today. If you’re not a Christian, recognize that invitation is open. And maybe you’re a Christian, you’ve fallen away. God’s grace is greater than our weakness.

You can make it right. We’ll pray with you, we’ll pray for you. If you come now as we stand and sing the invitation song.