Episode Transcript
WEBVTT
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Please stand for the reading of God's
word which is coming from Second Samuel Chapter
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Nine this evening. Second Samuel Chapter
Nine is will be the whole chapter.
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For many of you will probably be
quite familiar the second Samuel Chapter Nine,
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versus one through thirteen. And David
said, is there still anyone left of
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the House of Saul that I may
show him kindness for Jonathan's sake? Now
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there was a servant of the House
of Saul whose name was Zeba, and
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they called him to David and the
king said to him, are you zeba?
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And he said I am your servant. And the king said, is
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there not still someone of the House
of Saul that I may show the kindness
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of God to him? Zeba said
to the king, there is still a
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son of Jonathan. He's crippled in
his feet. The king said to him,
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where is he? And Zeba said
to the king he is in the
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House of Makhir, the son of
Amiel at Lodi Bar. Then King David
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sent and brought him from the House
of Makiir, the son of Amiel at
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Loda Bar, and the FIBISHEF A, son of Jonathan, son of Saul,
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came to David and fell in his
face and paid homage, and David
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said, my fibishef, and he
answered, behold, I am your servant.
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David said to him, do not
fear, for I will show you
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kindness for the sake of your Father
Jonathan, and I will restore to you
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all the land of Saul, your
father, and you shall eat at my
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table always. And he paid homage
and said what is your servant that you
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should show regard for a dead dog
such as I? Then the king called
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Zeba Saul's servant and said to him
all that belonged to Saul and to his
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house I have given to your master's
grandson, and you and your sons and
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your servants shall till the land for
him and shall bring in the produce that
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your master's grandson may have bread to
eat. But mafivishef, your master's grandson,
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shall always eat at my table.
Now ziba had fifteen sons and twenty
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servants. Then Zeba said to the
king, according to all that my Lord,
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the King, commands, is servant. So will your servant do so?
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Of fibishchef ate at David's table like
one of the king's sons. Am
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A FIBISHEF had a young son whose
name was Mica, and all who lived
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in Zeba's house became a fibishf servants. So mfivishef lived in Jerusalem, free
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ate, always at the king's table. Now he was lame in both his
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feet. This is the word of
the Lord. Thanks be to God.
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Please be seated. This accounts is
easily one of my favorite stories in the
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Bible because it addresses, it gets
to the heart of a question that many
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of us, probably all of us, have asked at some point. Where
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can I find a sense of worth? Where can I find a sense of
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value? Or, to put it
another way, how do I know that
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my life matters? When I was
a teenager, this is a question that
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was often on my mind. How
do I know that my life is going
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to count for something? And maybe
you've asked this of yourself to at some
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point in your life, maybe maybe
as a teenager like me, maybe a
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sort of midlife crisis point, you're
wondering, well, that was all a
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waste. What's what's ahead? What's
next? How do I know that my
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life has value? And, practically
speaking, even if you're a Christian here
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tonight, it's very easy for us
to place our sense of worth in the
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things that we have done, making
a list of our accomplishments, whether it
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be with respect to our educational level, that the kind of work that we
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do, that the the projects we've
accomplished and the rewards that we've received for
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our work, even even in the
way that we raise our children and taking
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pride in the way that they behave, being disappointed in the way that we
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that they behave, there by showing
that we've placed all this worth on them.
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We do this. It's very easy. It's very easy for us as
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parents to do that, very easy
for all of us to do this kind
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of thing. And if you're here
this evening and that's you, that describes
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you, this passage strips away the
list of accomplishments. It says none of
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that matters and it challenges us to
truly see ourselves, not based on what
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we've done, who we are,
but how God sees us. But I'm
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betting there's also some others of you
here tonight. Maybe you have wrecked your
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life on the rocks and shoals of
sin. Maybe you're haunted by the past
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regrets, the choices that you've made
poor decisions and you look back and you
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say, I wish that ten years
of my life was just gone. Perhaps
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that's you. Maybe you're at a
point in your life where it seems like
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God has taken everything from you,
where once you found your value or your
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sense of worth. Maybe you've lost
a spouse, maybe you've had a miscarriage.
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Maybe you've struggled for years to find
a husband or wife. It doesn't
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seem like anything's forthcoming. Maybe you've
failed some important exam which sort of shut
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off these job opportunities that you were
hoping to have in the future. Maybe,
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if you're younger in here, maybe
you deal day in and day out
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with overly critical parents who are always
writing on you and making you feel as
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if you could never do anything right. Maybe you've lost your job, maybe
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you suffer from a disability, or
maybe you experience constant, consistent, day
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in and day out pain, physical
pain, was just makes you feel like
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you have nothing to contribute. You're
always sick, you're always hurting, you
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can't do anything because you don't feel
well. If that's where you are tonight,
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friends, God too is speaking to
you from Second Samuel Chapter Nine,
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because, despite the worthlessness that others
have heaped on you, or maybe the
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worthlessness that you have heaped on yourself. God counts you as worthy if you're
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trusting in Jesus, not because of
anything you've done or anything that you have
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failed to do, but simply for
the sake of Christ. God counts you
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as worthy, not because of anything
you've done or anything you've failed to do,
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but simply because of Jesus, who
he is and what he's done.
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That might not that might seem like. How do you get that from Second
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Samuel Nine? There's nothing about Jesus
in there. Well, we're going to
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see. We're let's dive in.
We're just basically going to walk through this
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chapter and I want to point out
for us three statements of worth, three
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statements of worth here that we find
in this passage. Look again with me
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at verse one and David Said,
is there still anyone left of the house
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of Saul that I may show him
kindness for Jonathan's sake? Let's just stop
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there for a moment because the context
here is really important. That's all.
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In case you don't remember, he
was the first King of Israel and Jonathan
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was his oldest son. The crown
prince air to the throne and Saul new
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that God had appointed an anointed David
to be king instead of him, and
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so saul tried to hunt David Down
and exterminate him, snuff him out,
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so that couldn't happen in Jonathan could
become king. Will God protected David,
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preserved his life and it ends up
that Saul and Jonathan are both killed in
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battle off one of Israel's enemies,
the Philistines, and now David has become
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king, King over all of Israel. And ordinarily, when a new king
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comes to the throne, especially king
from outside the dynasty, outside the family,
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that new king will hunt down and
wipe out all the relatives, all
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the friends, all the associates of
the old king. You want to make
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sure that there's no one who could
challenge your power, no one who could
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pose a threat to you and your
own family line. This is the politics
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of regime change and the ancient nearis
this is how it worked. Today it's
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a little less violent, just cabinets
and appointments and all that that goes away
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in a whole new set, whole
new Sleu of people comes in. You
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don't kill anyone it's not that I
know, but this is how it worked
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in the old and the Old Testament
and throughout the Middle East. You wipe
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out everyone who is related to the
old king. And here we have the
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grandson of King Saul, my fhibish
chef. But David doesn't do what we
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would expect him to do. Instead, he wants to show, as he
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says in verse one, kindness.
At least that's how the English Standard version
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translates it. and that word kindness
in the Hebrew is that word has said
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covenant, love or or like,
a steadfast faithfulness towards someone. If we
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go back a bit further in the
story, to First Samuel Twenty, verse
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Fifteen, Jonathan Swore a covenant with
David, saying this, do not cut
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off your steadfast love, your he
said, from my house forever, when
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the Lord cuts off every one of
the enemies of David from the face of
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the earth. See, David knew
that day. Are Sorry, Jonathan knew
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that David one day was going to
become king. So Jonathan and David I
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love for each other. David swears
to Jonathan that he will not pursue this
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the politics of regime change. He
will instead be faithful to Jonathan, to
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Jonathan's descendants, and that's why David
Calls for Zeba Family Servant from the household
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of Saul to ask him if anyone
still alive from Saul's family. Look again
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at verse three. Zeba said to
the king there is still a son of
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Jonathan. He is crippled in his
feet. And the king said to him,
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will wear is he? And Zeeba
said to the king he is in
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the House of maker, the son
of Amiel, a load of bar and
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here we find the first statement of
worth in this chapter. If you notice,
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Zeba doesn't actually mention my phibish chef's
name. Instead, how does he
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refer to him? Son of Jonathan. He is crippled in his feet.
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It's interesting. So he doesn't say
his name, just says he's crippling his
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feet. So Jonathan in the heat. In the Hebrew it's actually that bit
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of sentence. He's crippling his feet. It's actually even shorter and simpler.
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The English actually has to add in
a few words to like make sense to
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us. In the Hebrew is just
crippled feet. Son of Jonathan, crippled
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feet. Do you hear what Zeba's
doing. This is a statement or or
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it's like a term, a statement
at designation. This is how mafhibishef is
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known. This is who he is. He's a cripple. Cripple feet almost
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like a derogatory nickname. It's like
four eyes calling someone four eyes. All
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right, that's what is happening with
mafhibishef. Oh yeah, he's that son
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of Jonathan, the cripple. This
is what he's known for. He wasn't
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always this way. Second, Samuel
for for gives us a bit of the
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background. He became crippled when he
was five years old, when Saul and
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Jonathan were killed by the Philistines.
MAFIBISHEF's nurse picked him up and ran with
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him to get away from this invading
army, and while running she dropped him
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and he became crippled in both his
feet. And think about the implications that
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this would have on his life.
Think about that. Being crippled in ancient
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times meant you couldn't fight, couldn't
work in the fields, couldn't even travel
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very far on your own, had
to have help all the time. Needless
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to say, there was no wheelchairs
or eight a compliance in those days he
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was. He was unable to do
anything on his own, unable to go
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anywhere, unable to contribute, unable
to be a meaningful part of society.
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He couldn't be the next king.
The king had to lead your warriors into
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battle. Couldn't do that. He
was entirely dependent on the community around him
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and they all knew he was just
simply a burden upon them, and they're
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very open and honest about it.
Imagine few were overhearing this, over hearing
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other people talk about you like this. Imagine the shame you would be experiencing.
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Everyone knows it. The PHIBISHEF knows
it. This is his life.
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There is no future for him.
And look at where he's hiding out too.
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He's hiding out in this town called
load to bar. This town was
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probably somewhere near the River Jordan at, basically out in the middle of Nowhere,
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the Wilderness of Judea, Benjamin somewhere
in there. It's small town Israel,
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and it's funny because load of bar
actually means of no account or nothing,
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doesn't matter. It's like Pat Driving
Down I ten, you drive through
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all these little towns. Is like
doesn't matter. It's they're gone in that's
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that's what load of bar was.
So He's a worthless man hiding out in
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a backwater community, fearing for his
life, completely dependent upon a circle of
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friends who really don't care whether he
lives or dies. He's just a burden
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upon them. That's Maphibush chef.
That's who he is. But then look
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at verse five. Then King David
sent and brought him from the House of
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Macire, the son of Amiel at
load to bar. Now my fibishchef doesn't
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know what's going on. He he
doesn't know what we know. He doesn't
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know that David is out to actually
show compassion upon him. My phibish chef
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just thinks that day it is bringing
him to the throne room so that David
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can personally chop off his head and
wipe out the last link to the old
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family line. But just reflect for
a second on what's going on here.
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David wants to show covenant love towards
his enemy, but his enemy can't even
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come to him. He's a cripple. So David actually has to go and
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send for him and have him carried
brought to him so that he can then
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show love upon him and friends,
it's not an act. We have to
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make a comparison to what God has
done for us, because to when we
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were his enemies, when we were
hostile to God, when we were far
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from God, hiding out in our
sin, dead in our trespasses and iniquities.
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As effesians too says, God sent
for us. He drew us to
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himself. We wouldn't go on our
own. We couldn't go on our own.
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We were dead and mobile, we
couldn't go anywhere. And so God
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raise the dead and brought us to
himself so that he could show us and
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lavish upon his his love, his
favor, his blessing, in His mercy,
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an immense measure. This is what
God has done for us. And
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if you're here tonight and you haven't
trusted in Jesus, God is calling you
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to to himself. Jesus says in
the Gospel of Luke. Come to me,
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all you who labor and are heavy
laden, and I will give you
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rest. God knows who you are, he knows your sin, he knows
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your past. You can't hide it
from him. He knows everything about you,
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and yet he's still calling you come, come to me. I love
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how John and the revelation puts it. The spirit and the bride say come,
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let everyone who thirst come. Let
Him who is thirsty come to the
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water of life and drink of it
without price. That is what God is
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offering you and me tonight, living
water from our Lord Jesus Christ, to
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satisfy our thirst. Come to him, rest in him and know that he's
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not ashamed of who you are.
You may feel ashamed of who you are,
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of what you've done, of the
things you thought, but Jesus,
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in the book of Hebrews, says
are. The author of the Book of
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Hebrews says of Jesus. He is
not a shamed to call us his brothers
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and his sisters. He knows who
we are, he knows our feebleness,
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he knows our weakness in our frailty. Come to him in faith, if
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you haven't yet. And so we
move on. Look at verse six.
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I'm a FIBISHEF, the son of
Jonathan, son of Saul, came to
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David and fell on his face and
paid homage, and David said, my
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fibishef, and he answered, behold, I am your servant. Put yourself
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in my fibishef's shoes for a moment, terrified, you are quaking, you
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are you think that death is going
to come in a matter of moments,
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especially when David gives us like cry
my fibishef not knowing whether it's an anger
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or what. He just like HMM, prostrate on the ground before the King
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of Israel in His throne room,
with all his servants and soldiers around you.
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You're terrified. You think the end
has come. But then David continues
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in verse seven. Do not fear, do not be afraid, for I
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will show you kindness. That word
has said, for the sake of your
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father, Jonathan, and I will
restore to you all the land of saw
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your father, and you shall eat
at my table always. And he paid
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homage and said, what is your
servant that you should show regard for a
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dead dog such as I? David
Turns Mathibish as world upside down. It
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doesn't make sense. What is going
on? He's out of death has come
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life and love. And I said, and this is where we get our
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second statement of worth, this time
it's on the lips of Maphibish, as
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his response to this incredible love is
actually to cast contempt on himself, who
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am I that you would show regard
for a dead dog such as me?
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Why? Why? Why me?
And that's a question that you and I
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shouldn't stop asking ourselves either. Why
me? Why has God shown this lavish
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love, it's incredible love, to
a dead dog like me? See,
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God doesn't owe us anything. God's
grace, by definition, is unearned.
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All we contribute to the equation is
actually our sin and it's demerited. We've
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done everything we can to not earn
God's favor, God's Love, God's blessing,
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and yet he still shows it to
us, and not just shows it
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to us, he gives it to
us, lavishing it upon us without measure
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and without price. Why does God
love us this way? Moses told the
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Israelites why, back in Juterami.
Seven versus seven and eight. I'm not
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sure if I've quoted this passage before
with you, but if so, sorry,
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it's a good one. Judomi,
seven verses seven eight. It was
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not because you were more in number
than any other people that the Lord set
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his love on you and shows you
for you Israelites, for the fewest of
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all people's but it is because the
Lord loves you and is keeping the oath
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that he swore to your father's God's
telling you is rights. Here's why God
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loves you. It's because he loves
you and he's keeping his promise to love
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you. And if that doesn't make
sense math wise, it doesn't. But
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he loves you because he loves you. That's why, simply an atturnity past,
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God decided, in his sovereignty,
in his graciousness and his compassion,
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to set his love on unworthy sinners
like you and like me. That's the
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reason. And here's the thing,
friends, that's good. Reformed people,
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we like our systems. We like
correct, accurate, precise doctrinal formulae.
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We are overjoyed when things are done
decently, in good order. I thought
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for sure that there would be more
than just one chuckle in here. Right,
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it's true. If we and I
agree, I am all on board
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with that, but we must it
only put it this way, it can
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be easy, given our proclivities,
to domesticate God's love. It can be
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easy for us to domesticate God's love, to think we have it figured out,
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because will we understand total depravity and
we understand all the rest of Tulip?
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Unconditional election, limited toement irresistible grace
perseverance of the saints. We must
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never, I don't say that slightly, we must never lose our wonder.
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That makes sense. We must never
lose our wonder. We must never think
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we have this thing figured out,
because when we start to lose our wonder
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we start saying things like well,
of course God loves me, because is
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X, whatever it might be,
a show up on Sunday twice. I
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must be on his good list all
right. This is actually a good diagnostic
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when you hear the Gospel in its
beauty, in its clarity and its lavishness
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and it's upside down world turning,
mind numbing logic, is your heart warm
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to buy it? Does it?
Does it cause you to wonder, to
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be amazed, to marvel at what
God has done for you, knowing who
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you are? Does it cause you
to say to yourself, why me,
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a dead dog like myself? There's
still one more statement of worth here.
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Look with me. At the end
of verse eleven. Here the author cut
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breaks into the story to tell us
sort of what's what happens to my fibishef
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this is what happens. So my
fibishef ate at David's table, like one
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of the king's sons. That phrase, eating at the king's table, actually
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occurs four times in this passage.
So the way that the Hebrews wrote to
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emphasize things, they repeated it sort
of like their way of underlining things,
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to repeat things. And so why
is eating at the king's table so important?
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Well, he answers, he gives
the answer. It's like you've become
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one of the king's sons. It's
a privilege for an air of the king
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and even today, sharing a meal
with someone is a personal act and an
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intimate act. You're inviting them in, passes the walls of safeguards, inviting
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them in to share life with them, to be open and honest about who
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you are and the state of your
house, the fact that maybe not everything
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is spick and span and clean,
the fact that you maybe you're a little
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rough around the edges. You really
want to get to know me. Come
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over dinner sometime, will chat and
as we spend time together who I am
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becomes very obvious. So that's what's
happening here. David doesn't merely stop with
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sparing my fibishess life. David doesn't
merely restore all of my fibishes, status
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and possessions and lands. David goes
beyond that and invites him into his house
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and says, come and sit at
my table and eat with me and my
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son's think about that. David is
saying, come be part of my family.
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Yes, you should be dead right
now. Yes, you're a grandson
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of my arch enemy. Yes,
I should have wiped you off the map,
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but because of the promise I've made, I'm going to shower you with
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my love and invite you to eat
with you, eat with me always,
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as if you were my own son. That's the third statement of worth.
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See, friends, God doesn't merely
show US mercy, doesn't merely do that.
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He doesn't merely reconcile you to himself. He adopts you into his family.
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And First Shawn, chapter three,
verse one, John Exclaims, see
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what kind of love the father has
given to us, that we should be
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called children of God. And so
we are. This is what our heavenly
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father says about us. This is
what you are worth, no matter what
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others might say about you, no
matter what you might think about yourself.
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And the middle of the night,
you're up late, you can't sleep and
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you're just your men, you're mind
your you have that instant replay of all
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the stupid things you did today and
the regrets, the mistakes of past years.
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No matter what others might say a
value or what you might think about
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yourself, God says you are my
son, you are my daughter. Sit
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Up my table and eat with me. And we have the privilege tonight of
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sitting at the Lord's table and eating
with him. Here we see what it
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cost for us to be sons and
daughters of God. Here we get a
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sense of the value that God places
upon us, worthless though we are,
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because, Peter says, you are
ransom, not with silver or gold or
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other perishable things, but with the
precious blood of Christ, as that of
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a lamb without blemish and without spot. Here we see what it cost God,
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the value that he puts upon us, again, not for anything that's
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in us, but simply because it
is love. It's with that in mind
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we come to the table. Let's
pray,
