II Samuel 9:1 – "And David said, Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake?"

Mephibosheth means utterance of Baal, dispeller of shame, or exterminating the idol. His name is found 14 times in the entire Bible. His life will be divided into 4 parts.

His fall.

His restoration (salvation).

A time of trial and testing.

The final judgment.

I. His fall. II Samuel 4:4.

A. She fled and he fell. A permanent condition

1. Gen. 3 - where Eve followed the customs of this world and Adam followed her and fell into sin.

2. The nurse was fleeing because of the custom of heathen kings to slay all of the people involved with the previous king.

3. I Tim. 2:14 - that man was not deceived but the woman was deceived.

B. A man is created complete, but because of something completely out of his control, he becomes a sinner.

1. A person is a sinner, not because of the sins he commits, but he commits sin because he is a sinner.

2. Being "lame upon his feet" shows that the sinner is helpless to come to Jesus and be saved.

3. He must have someone bring him.

4. Romans 5:12 – "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:"

II. His restoration. II Sam. 9:1-8

A. The call for Mephibosheth came from David, not from Mephibosheth.

1. Mephibosheth was not seeking reconciliation from David, but David sought kindness to Mephibosheth because of the covenant he had made with Jonathan.

2. No lost people is seeking Jesus, but Jesus seeks us because of the covenant he has made with himself.

a. Genesis 2:8 – God came walking in the Garden of Eden in the cool of the day, seeking Adam and his wife. Adam was not seeking God, but hiding.

b. John 6:44 states, "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day."

c. Ephesians 2:1 reveals that we were all dead in trespasses and sin when Jesus came to us, bringing salvation and forgiveness of sin.

B. Restoration compared to salvation.

1. Living in Lodebar (barren and empty, without pastures)

a. It is very uncertain where this place is located.

b. Some say it is on the east of the River Jordan, and some say it is south of Jerusalem.

c. It is uncertain where the lost person lives, as they have no certain dwelling place.

d. All we know for certain is that they are far removed from the promised land, fro the peace and comfort that being in the presence of God gives.

e. We may not know where Lodebar is, but David knew.

f. We may not know how far into sin we have fallen, but God knows exactly where we are, and God can rescue us.

2. On the East side of Jordan, Out of the promised land.

3. Verse 4 - Living in a borrowed house.

a. God owns the house we live in on this earth.

b. He has prepared a house for us, not made with hands, that will be completely ours.

4. Living in fear.

a. Mephibosheth had a fear at the call of David.

b. Lost people have a fear at the call of God.

5. Verse 7 - Living in unbelief of the graces of King David.

a. Mephibosheth doesn’t know David,

b. Lost sinners do not know God, or his gracious mercy and kindness toward them.

C. No doubt he had heard that David was gracious in not killing any of the sons of Saul, (this man is a grandson of Saul).

1. Of all the things Mephibosheth had heard, there is one thing for certain, he did not personally know David, nor did David personally know him.

2. II Sam. 1 - No doubt he had heard that David had killed the man who claimed to have killed Saul.

3. II Sam. 4:1-12 - Mephibosheth had very likely also heard that David had killed two other grandsons of Saul, Baanah and Rechab.

a. He might not have understood why David killed them.

b. David killed them because they killed Ishbosheth.

c. This is a political matter, not a personal matter.

4. These events might have caused him to believe David would kill him as he killed other descendants of Saul.

5. Lost sinners don't understand the way God thinks, therefore they don't understand the great blessings that come from God.

D. This is compared to the lost person who hears that God is a gracious God and that He has spared others, but he cannot believe that God will be gracious to him.

1. The lost man needs somebody to bring him to Christ, as Mephibosheth needed somebody to bring him to King David.

2. Mephibosheth came to David only after he was called.

3. A sinner doesn't want to come to Christ until Christ calls him.

4. Tell the story of the girl who was lost and was waiting on Christ to do something before she did something.

a. Christ had already done something.

b. A preacher had declared the gospel to her.

c. Now she must believe.

d. If you've heard the gospel, God has done what is necessary.

III. A time of trial and testing. II Sam. 16:1-4.

A. Verse 7 - He received the promise of the king for restoration of all he had previously lost and to eat at the kings' table continually.

1. A saved person is not only free from eternal damnation in hell, but is also allowed to eat God's Word continually in this life.

2. Notice Mephibosheth is still a lame person, but he sits at the kings table, and when he is sitting, nobody can tell that he is lame.

3. The saved person is still a sinner, but when he eats at the Lord's table, nobody can tell he is a still a sinner.

4. This is why lost people expect so much from the servants of God.

5. They can't tell they are still sinners.

B. Verse 13 - Mephibosheth had a change of residence.

1. This is like the saved person.

a. He doesn't live where he used to live.

b. He doesn't go to the places he used to go to.

c. He doesn't dress the way he used to dress.

d. He doesn't associate with the people he used to associate with.

e. But all of these things doesn't mean anything to him if God is not there.

2. II Sam. 19:30 states, "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."

C. To lost people looking at the life of saved people, it may appear that the saved person loves the things he does, but this is not the case.

1. HHe loves God who provided these things for him.

2. When Mephibosheth sits at the table of the king, his handicap is hidden from view.

3. When we sit at the table of the king, our sinfulness if hidden.

4. Many people who are sinners do not understand the struggle saved people have with sin because when they are sitting at God’s table, it doesn’t look like they have any trouble with sin at all.

D. Trouble comes into the life of every saved person.

1. These things are beyond his control.

2. These are hard times, but a time to prove our love to God.

3. Times when people that are close to us, who have been a help to us in times past, our friends, will lie about us and to us.

4. This happens for a cause.

5. God wants us to put him first.

6. We do need friends, but we need God worse.

7. This is the lesson God wants to teach us, by letting these things happen to us.

E. II Sam. 19:24-30 - (verse 24) - "Come down to meet the king."

1. This is a change from the first time, when the king had to go get him.

2. But this is what the Christian will do.

3. In time of trouble, there will be no fear of God.

4. Instead we will run to God and throw ourselves at his feet, being completely satisfied with whatever He desires to do with us.

5. Mephibosheth's appearance shows that he didn't want the throne, and that he was longing for King David to come back.

6. Verse 28, He was willing to accept anything David wanted to do.

7. This is what happens to saved people, they come to the place that they have no opinion on anything, they only want what God wants for them.

8. We know that we have no right to anything at all.

9. We do not call God unjust for anything He does.

F. Compare with the coming of Shimei (II Sam. 19:16-23).

1. Shimei came with a show of support and power, and he got release from death, not because of grace, but because that day was a day of victory and no one would die on that day.

2. Notice also that Shimei talked to David before David talked to him.

a. Mephibosheth didn't talk to David until David talked to him.

b. This shows that Shimei was very anxious about the outcome, while Mephibosheth was not anxious.

c. As God's people, we should never be anxious about what God will do to us.

IV. The Final Judgment. II Sam. 21:7

A. When God's judgment was upon the house of Saul, and seven sons of Saul were required to die, Mephibosheth's life was spared.

1. Not because of anything Mephibosheth had done, but because of an oath made before he was born between Jonathan and David.

2. This is the way it is with saved people.

3. When God's judgment comes upon the world, saved people will be spared, not because of anything they have done, but because of an oath made in the trinity before we were born.

B. Notice there were at least 8 sons of Saul left and it was required that 7 of them die. God always provides.