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you you All right, well welcome out back to church on this Wednesday evening As you can tell I'm not brother Dave or brother Levi Anybody usually lead singing, but you know this is the way it used to be back in the day So if you want to feel like what it was like at the very beginning days Then you get to hear this song bird up here this morning so but If you find your hymnals turn to page 316 we're not gonna be doing some long long songs this evening But definitely be in prayer for those that are not feeling well, which is a lot of those in church, so 316 in your hymnals if you find your places if you'll stand We'll sing 316 I have decided to follow Jesus I have decided To follow Jesus I have decided To follow Jesus I have decided to follow Jesus No turning back No turning back Though none go with me Still I will follow Though none go with me still I will follow Though none go with me still I will follow No turning back No turning back The world behind me the cross before me the world behind me the cross before me The world behind me the cross before me No turning back No turning back Amen was open to the Lord a prayer to Heavenly Father we thank you for today And thank you for all those that can make it out this evening Preach you give me strength fill me with your spirit To Preach this evening and just be with those that aren't feeling well and just pray for healing in our church When it comes to the sickness that's going around and we just love you for all this in Jesus Christ's name. Amen Now I'm going to be doing a modified version of the singing just because I got to preach so after that so we're gonna do announcements and And all of that so we're gonna do two songs so Bear with me as as obviously there's a lot of people out and all of that so As far as announcements go everything should be normal this Sunday as far as service times are concerned it is Father's Day and so We are gonna have some gift for the fathers on Sunday and so and mothers if any of you mothers have not gotten your gift Your Gift card that we got you then you can grab that anytime or just let me know we can get that for you And then as far as our sewing time on Sunday that should be as scheduled so 1 p.m. sewing time main sewing time and then all the regional times throughout the week so Obviously we still have Thursday tomorrow and everything And so brother Richie leading that one up, I think Bertha Hill hitting that up still so nice So And then as far as the prayer meetings on the end of the month here Women's prayer meeting on the 23rd men's prayer meeting on 28, and we do have the soul winning marathon in Philadelphia Not this Saturday, but next Saturday, so if you're wanting to go to that Brother Charles is leading that one up, so he's got a church group there on the whatsapp you want to be a part of that As far as that that's concerned. We do have some upcoming sewing marathons. I know there's one in Cumberland and then Moorfield is the most recent one brother Jim I think you and brother Nick were looking at that one right Moorfield, West Virginia I was just out in Tyler County for a job site And I thought I lived out in the sticks I was wrong Tyler County Middle-born or whatever the name of this town is But good night. It was 30 minutes of no reception like just driving out there And there's no good way to get out there either so but I'll say this is that there may be a Their sistersville was right next to that which is on Ohio River, so small town soul winning marathon maybe sistersville and then that Middle-born or whatever the name of that town is where the it's where the seat of Tyler County is so and it is not a metropolis so so that being said That's cool to hit all these different towns obviously West Virginia is like our Judea, so Obviously, I'd love to be able to go soul winning in every town in West Virginia, so keep that up definitely loving that Cumberland's pretty much, West Virginia right you know I mean pretty much like you if you just cut off where the the Easter Panhandle is That whole portion of Maryland pretty much wants to be West Virginia anyway, or Pennsylvania. I don't know depends where you're at Anyway, so we do have soul winning marathons coming up I think when it comes to the one for our anniversary, I think we're thinking about going up to the Pittsburgh area And so just heads up there, so it looks like pretty much having a soul winning marathon every month and I'm all about that so Our chapter memory for the month is Psalm 32 our chapter verse for the week or chapter verse our memory verse for the week Is Philippians 3 13 rather than I count on myself to have apprehended but that's one thing I do for getting those those things which are behind and reaching forth not to those things which are before and Then as far as pregnancies Crystal McCoy keep her on your list there August will be here before you know it and so What is there a day in August that the due date is do you remember? It's never right anyway right so it's always in that vicinity so but being prayer for the McCloy family there It's about what I have for announcements I think Offering boxes in the back there. We want to give a tie there an offering mother baby rooms for the mother babies Only just be in prayer. I know that there's a lot of a lot of people that are just Just been dealing with fevers and different things like that same. I just got a fever today, so Yeah, anyway, just is what it is I guess but We're gonna do another song before we do I think brother Anthony you're reading tonight, right? So I'm gonna do one more song before we get into the scripture reading go to 310 310 in your handles Footprints of Jesus 310 Sing all four verses there Sweetly Lord have you heard the calling come follow me And we see where thy footprints falling lead us to thee For Prince of Jesus That make the pathway glow We will follow the steps of Jesus where ere they go Though they lead o'er the cold dark mountains seeking his sheep or Along by Saloam's Fountains helping the weak For Prince of Jesus That make the pathway glow We will follow the steps of Jesus where ere they go If they lead through the temple holy preaching the word Or in homes of the poor and lowly serving the Lord Footprints of Jesus That make the pathway glow We will follow the steps of Jesus where ere they go Then At last when on high he sees us our journey done We will rest where the steps of Jesus and at his throne Footprints of Jesus that make the pathway glow We will follow the steps of Jesus where ere they go Amen brother Anthony's gonna come and read second Samuel chapter 9 for us Second Samuel chapter 9 Bible reads and David said is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul That I might that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake and there was of the house of Saul a servant whose name was Ziba and when they had called him unto David the king said unto him art thou Ziba And he said thy servant is he and the king said is there not yet any of the house of Saul that? I may show the kindness of God unto him and Ziba said unto the king Jonathan hath yet a son Which is lame on his feet and the king said unto him, where is he and Ziba said unto the king behold? he is in the house of maker the son of a mile in low Debar and The king David sent and fetched him out of the house of maker The son of a mile from low to bar and when Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan the son of Saul Was come unto David he fell on his face and did reverence and David said Mephibosheth And he answered behold thy servant and David said unto him fear not for I will surely show the kindness for Jonathan thy father's sake and will restore the all the land of Saul thy father and thou shall eat bread at thy at my Table continually and he bowed himself and said what is thy servant that thou shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I am Then the king said then the king called to Ziba Saul's servant and said unto him I have given unto thy master's son all that pertain to Saul and to all his house Thou therefore and thy sons and thy servants shall till the land for him and thou shall bring in the fruits That thy master's son may have food to eat But Mephibosheth thy master's son shall eat bread all way at my table Now Ziba had 15 sons and 20 servants Then said Ziba unto the king according to all that my lord the king hath commanded his servant So shall thy servant do as for Mephibosheth said the king he shall eat at my table as one of the king's sons and Mephibosheth had a young son whose name was Micah and All that dwelt in the house of Ziba was servants unto Mephibosheth So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem for he did eat continually at the king's table and was lame Both his on both his feet. Let's pray dear Lord. Thank you for your word and thank you for this night We've been gathered continue to study from second Samuel. I pray you would be a pastor Don't wait the Holy Spirit and help us all to be edified. Jesus name. I pray Amen, so you're there in second Samuel chapter 9 We are continuing our study through the book of second Samuel and at this point in David's reign. Everything's kind of going uphill He hasn't really had any problems obviously I'd have a bunch of problems getting to the point where he's he's reigning But at this point everything is going well and in chapter 9 here is really all about Mephibosheth Mephibosheth is just a fun word to say a fun name anyway to say but but Mephibosheth is actually a Really great character in the Bible and when I say character, he was obviously a person and he is still a person, right? But as far as we can learn a lot from him Mephibosheth and and I just Just love Mephibosheth when you when you read about him and his his his demeanor His spirit about him you can't you can't help but love this guy and But in the chapter starts off with the fact that David is basically looking to show kindness To the house of Saul, but specifically because of Jonathan, okay So it says in verse 1 here says and David said is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul? That it may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake so this goes all the way back when Saul is trying to kill David and Saul and Jonathan actually make a covenant between each other so go back to first Samuel chapter 20 First Samuel chapter 20, this is where David is basically hiding in the field and Jonathan goes back to basically see how Saul feels towards David and obviously he he ends up coming back and Knowing that Saul wants to kill David David already knew that but this is where he had a story where he has the archer He has the the young man Go fetch his arrows and this is whole back and forth as far as how David's gonna know whether it's good with him or whether it's bad and But before he ends up finding out, you know that's all obviously wants to kill David He makes this agreement with him and it says in verse 11 here says and Jonathan said unto David come and let us go out Into the field and they went out both of them into the field and Jonathan said unto David Oh Lord God of Israel when I have sounded my father about tomorrow any time or the third day and behold if there be good toward David and I Then send not unto thee and show it thee the Lord do so and much more to jump Jonathan and basically just saying if if it's good towards Ian I don't tell you basically that that's on me and God basically required. This is kind of like an idiom if you will of basically that the Lord's gonna require this if I don't do what I'm said, I'm gonna do okay, and It says but if it please my father to do the evil then I will show it thee and send thee away but thou mayest go in peace and the Lord be with thee as He had been with my father and now notice this shall not only while yet I live show me kindness of the Lord that I die not but also Thou shalt not cut off thy kindness from my house forever And this is really where it's calling back to where David wants to show kindness To the house of Saul but specifically for Jonathan's sake and it says No, not when the Lord hath cut off the enemies of David everyone from the face of the earth see he's basically Obviously knowing that God's going to cut off all Dave's enemies and all that and that's where David's at in chapter 9, right? Chapter 9 he's rolling. He's reigning all of his enemies are being subdued. He took out the Philistines like all these things are going great We just read a chapter about all his victories and all that stuff. So That's obviously where he's at in chapter 9. It says in verse 16 Jonathan Made a covenant with the house of David saying let the Lord even required at the hand of David's enemies and Jonathan caused David to swear again because He loved him for he loved him as he loved his own soul. So obviously they were obviously best friends And all of that another sermon for another day But they make this covenant David swears to him and in verse 42 there after obviously Jonathan comes back to tell David that yeah, it's not good, right But in verse 42 says Jonathan said to David go in peace for as much as we have sworn both of us in the name of the Lord saying the Lord be between me and thee and between my seed and I seed forever and he arose and departed And Jonathan went into the city So knowing that that when you get a chapter 9 and 2nd Samuel that that's what David is basically saying I need you know, basically he's keeping his covenant with Jonathan and Even in that he said after I die this still needs to apply and So that being said is that that's where this chapter is coming in and he's basically asking if there's anybody in The house of Saul for him to bless And it says in verse 2 here He says and there was of the house of Saul a certain a servant whose name was Ziba and when they had called him unto David the king said unto him art thou Ziba and he said thy servant is he and The king said is there not yet any of the house of Saul that I'm I may Show the kindness of God unto him and Ziba said unto the king Jonathan hath yet a son which is lame on his feet so Ziba is gonna tell him about Mephibosheth and Where he's at all of this right and obviously Ziba was a servant to Saul and He's basically just relaying this information now. It says Jonathan hath yet a son which is lame on his feet Let's go back to where that happened. Okay, go back to 2nd Samuel chapter 4 2nd Samuel chapter 4 and This is such a sad story. It's one verse But it's such a sad story, especially if you have little kids and all this I just think about this as far as What's going on It says in verse 4 and Jonathan Saul's son had a son that was lame of his feet But he didn't start off that way because it gives the backstory of how He was lame on his feet or why he was lame on his feet He was five years old when the tidings came of Saul and Jonathan out of Jezreel So this is how old Mephibosheth was when his father died when Saul died He was five years old. Okay, and when the tidings came it says It says in the middle of verses and his nurse took him up and fled So basically the tidings came that Jonathan's dead Saul's dead and they're basically fleeing out of Jezreel and the nurse of the child is Fleeing it says it came to pass as she made haste to flee that he fell and Became lame and his name was Mephibosheth So that's how he became lame. He wasn't born lame. He was lame because of whatever happened when they were fleeing and Something must have happened to where you know, his legs didn't get set right or something like that Basically, I would imagine that his legs got broke or something like that when he fell Who knows I don't think they were just running from here to the door and he fell and that's what caused him to be lame I have a feeling that there was like a he probably fell from a distance or something Traumatic happened there. Okay, and when you read that story when you see that one verse I Always read that I'm just like that is that's horrifying. I think of a five-year-old and that happening And then that that obviously affecting them the rest of their lives but sometimes things that look horrible or Maybe infirmities or different things that you have maybe as a young child Turn out to be a huge blessing as far as who you end up being But fibisheth ends up being one of the greatest or one of the most humble like contrite spirit Spirited person that you'll find in the Bible And I'll say this I can't find a fault now. It's not like my fibisheth has a whole book written about him Okay, but I've all this written about my fibisheth. You don't find a fault with him Like everything he does is good and not only good, but it's just like I want to be like that you know, I want to I want to have that type of mentality that my fibisheth has and Meaning this is that I think we can apply this to our lives that hey, you know Maybe there are certain things that when you're when you're growing up that weren't the greatest now maybe you weren't lame on your feet, but maybe You know and I just think in my case, which I'm not comparing myself to my fibisheth or anything like that But the idea is that I was the shortest kid in my class All throughout until like my junior year in high school just shortest person shortest guy and Actually, I was probably shorter most girls most the time anyway, too because they all they grew, you know in middle school I didn't all that. I was like the ugly duckling, you know but I Believe you know though that was hard and that was like obviously no one likes that To be made fun of and to like go through that type of turmoil I'm just giving you my example. You may have a different example Growing up and all that stuff as far as what you may be dealt with But I'll say this I wasn't like the most popular. I wasn't that's the sports guy You know that that everybody looked to as far as that that'd be like hey that guy's really good at sports That guy's really, you know, whatever right? And but I believe that that helped mold me into a better person Because I didn't have it all or I wasn't I didn't have all the praise growing up and all that you know, I just had to deal with it and You know forces you to be humble because you know, no one's no one's lifting you up So, I mean you kind of are already down there and so and I and I don't want you to think I had some horrible childhood You know or like oh, you know, what was me, you know, what was pastor Robinson for his childhood? I'm just giving that as an example of a Lesser case than being like lame at your feet and stuff like that I'm just saying that sometimes things that when I was a kid, I was like why is it like this? Why am I the shortest? Why am I the smallest? Why you know, why do I have to deal with all this stuff and You Know that's something that actually I look back and I'm like, I'm glad I'm glad that's the way it was Because I believe it helped mold me into a better person, okay But in verse 9 here verse 4 here we get Mephibosheth coming to David And Just everything that Mephibosheth says you're just like that's a good guy right there. He was like that I want to be like him and what you have to understand is that Mephibosheth the relationship between Mephibosheth and David is like a relationship that we should have with our Savior and there's a lot of parallels and allegories that you can put to this as far as David representing the Lord and all this stuff and Mephibosheth representing us as Christians and how We should reverence him how we should how our attitude should be but then also it shows you David, you know showing this great blessings and everything to Mephibosheth and It's not like Mephibosheth earned any of that. It's just that David is being kind to him and Verse 4 it says and the king said unto him Where is he? So he's talking to Ziba And Ziba said unto the king behold he is in the house of Makar the son of Ammiel and Lotobah Then King David sent and fetched him out of the house of Makar the son of Ammiel from Lotobah Now when Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan the son of Saul was come unto David He fell on his face and did reverence And David said Mephibosheth and he answered behold thy servant So as soon as he comes to David He's automatically showing him reverence and basically in submission to David the king and Notice is that what you have to understand is that Mephibosheth is the only one left of Saul's line You know as far as you know, Jonathan was first, you know He was Jonathan was first to be in line with Saul and then it would have been Saul's son. And so That's gonna come up later as far as a story involved with Ziba and and I don't like Ziba Ziba is not a good character. Okay at this point. You don't really realize that you're just like, oh, okay, whatever Ziba the servant of Saul but later on you're gonna really not like Ziba but Mephibosheth is just always just having this great spirit about him and And what I love about him is that he doesn't take his infirmity and make it you know Like hold it against God or hold it against people and stuff like that. That's the thing that That I that you just love about he's not he's not using as an excuse To to be mean or something like that, right? And in verse 7 there David is gonna Show how he's gonna show his kindness or bless Mephibosheth and notice Mephibosheth's answer to this But verse 7 here says and David said unto him fear not For I will surely show the kindness for Jonathan thy father's sake and will restore thee all the land of Saul thy father so first of all Basically, he's getting all this land that belonged to Saul and if you know Saul was king over Israel So I'm sure he had a lot of land when it came to I mean it probably had more land after he became king than when he's before he was king and Then it goes on to say and now shall eat bread at my table continually And I want you to think about this when you serve the Lord Jesus In the resurrection and in the world to come But it even says even in this life now You know if you forsaken land or wife or mother or father or sister, you know going down the line for his sake Then he'll give you a hundredfold even in this life, but how much more in the life to come when it comes to that and you know you can definitely see and obviously the Bible even talks about how Jesus is gonna serve them and talking about serving us and all that stuff and it just You know obviously Can be pointing towards the Lord Jesus and how he treats us But it says in verse 8 here This is this is Mephibosheth's response to this it says and he bowed himself and said what is thy servant? That thou shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I am And I don't believe he's being like so, you know, like You know like these people that are fake about it About like how like, you know, like the Paul Washers out there the people that just want to make it look over spiritual I believe he literally is just astonished That he's showing him this kindness, right? because if you think about it like Saul was obviously David's like number one enemy and So the fact that he's even being kind to him at all is probably surprising him But then on top of that how much he is doing for him that is I'm sure it's probably just shocking him to be to say like why would you give this to me and Knowing the state that he's in like he's obviously Mephibosheth is not gonna go fight in his army He's not gonna be able to really, you know do much for him Because he's lame on his feet but yet David shows him this great kindness and I just love the attitude But Mephibosheth doesn't come up and say well, yeah, I mean that's the least you can do And in the world we live in today with the entitlement that's out there this entitlement attitude that someone owes you something and it's just it's just something that just gets sickening where it I don't know how to explain it, you know when it comes to just the idea that people owe I Mean to the point where I mean what now student loan debt is People are like I need that forgiven, you know, the rich people owe that to me But yet I paid my student debt so what am I gonna get that forgiven am I gonna get a reimbursement on my suit No, actually my taxes are gonna end up paying for that if they do that and But the entitlement of like I'm gonna go into debt and you need to pay it right That type of entitlement the entitlement of the welfare system of our state In the fact that well you owe it to me to pay my way. It's like no I don't And you say well, you know doesn't the Bible teach about giving to the poor yeah, it's called charity and Charity by definition is not tax. It's freely given out of the goodness of your heart Now obviously should we out of the goodness of our heart help each other and give up others? Yes But as soon as you take a gun to my head and pull it out of my wallet it ceases to be charity and it's become the tax and You know that's called entitlement and that is running rampant in our country and the thing that's interesting to me is that those a lot of times Where you can look at and be like I could I would have a lot of sympathy if they if they felt like they they needed Like help right? And a lot of cases those They don't even they're the ones that just basically Like no, I'm gonna do it. I Think people with disabilities and stuff like that and you'll see people that have like they'll be missing a limb They'll be and they'll just be getting it And There is like they're not asking for sympathy They're just getting it and I have a lot of respect for those people and you'll see people out there that's working and they're just like They're they're working harder than people with two arms, you know But they only have one and you know or whatever the case may be and I'm just kind of using an example Obviously we're dealing with someone laying on their feet, but you have People that are just they don't use that as an excuse They don't use that as an excuse for entitlement and Mephibosheth is a great example of this that has been laying on his feet since five years old and Instead of taking it out on God instead of being some like wretched mean person about it He actually is a great guy and he actually took that and It made him humble Made him realize obviously being grateful before what he has all of that And so Mephibosheth is someone that I always looked at me like I want to be more like him I want to have that attitude. I want to have that spirit about me to where I don't feel like anything I deserve I I don't want to say deserve because obviously the the laborer is worthy of his hire if that makes sense, right? But at the same time you should always have this mentality of like no one owes you anything Right Like you guys don't owe me anything. Does that make sense? Like I'm your pastor. I preach to you, but you don't owe me anything Right now if I took a paycheck I the servants worthy was hired but at the same time If I since I don't take a paycheck That doesn't mean you owe me anything right and You shouldn't have the mentality of us owing each other it's like well I did that for you It's kind of like this idea of like you scratch my back. I'll scratch yours type of thing, but This is just something that I See where hard times sometimes can really be a good thing to help mold us into better people and Go to James Sheppard to James Sheppard to Ultimately, you know as Christians we want to be nice people, right? And the thing that kind of sticks out to me with this passage is the idea of showing kindness We want to be kind Okay, now obviously there's a time where kindness has to stop, right? Someone's trying to hurt my family. I'm not gonna be kind anymore Right. I mean there's time to turn it off But it's just like anything else like the idea of loving and hating there's a time to hate Most of the time though, we need to love Most of the time we need to be kind And there's obviously times to be angry and there's times to obviously hate there's a time to you know, obviously throw down when you got to throw down all of that, but Those those those times of hating and anger and all that stuff They're a lot smaller as far as the timeframes go as far as where you should be loving and on that realm Okay, being kind Affectionate like all these different things. Okay, and so that's something that you know We as Christians should always be striving for But don't throw don't be like those people that take it overboard and just be like we shouldn't hate anybody and you know We should love the pedophile and like no, you know, don't take it that far. You know, there still is a time Hey, there still is you know, it says be angry and said not but you shouldn't be an angry person, right? You shouldn't be an you know, you shouldn't be a mean person Like what you were mean in that sermon it's like For what like five minutes of the sermon or something like that at the most an hour But let's say let's say I preached and I was just mean that whole hour. Okay, I'm preaching that sermon How many hours are in a day? That just get whenever I preached a hard sermon. Do I just get it when I'm done? Like cool down, you know, you guys get like hot washcloths and you start throwing them on me to try to calm me down Usually I'm just as calm as I am right now after the sermon because I'm not unhinged, right? Did you have the idea of like I'm not just the unbridled rage up here that just can't calm myself down Obviously you're turning it on for a sermon or whatever, right? anyway, and go to James chapter 2 and verse 5 James chapter 2 verse 5 is that first of all Those that are poor are rich in faith and the Bible says this and In James chapter 2 in verse 5 it says harken My beloved brethren hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom Which he hath promised to them that love him And so he's not only saying that the poor are rich in faith, which is true, right? That's why we go to the poor remember the poor because the poor By and large are gonna be those that are gonna get saved more than anybody else Right doesn't mean a rich man doesn't get saved doesn't mean middle-class people don't get saved But you know as well as I do Most the people that we went to the Lord are poor Okay, and what that is is that those that are poor and that are working hard they have to depend on God a lot more than the rich person right and Then that dependence on God is easily put into salvation because they're already doing it on a daily basis But also they're more prone the poor are more prone to not only believe on the Lord Jesus Christ But also to love him and to be heirs of the kingdom meaning that if we Suffer with him we shall also reign with him right and the idea of the poor are are also You know and obviously this goes into being poor in spirit right just because someone's poor doesn't mean that they're gonna get saved But being poor a lot of times will cause the being poor in spirit Okay, and Mephibosheth is one of those cases, but know this in Romans chapter 5 Romans chapter 5 As you go on to Romans chapter 5 I'm gonna read Psalm 34 in verse 18 it says the Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart and Save as such as be it a be of a contrite spirit many are the afflictions of the righteous But the Lord delivereth him out of them all It says here in Romans chapter 5 verse 1 It says therefore being justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God Praise the Lord Salvation is by faith We have access to this grace by faith for by grace are you saved through faith? And that not of yourselves is the gift of God not of works as any man should boast Okay, so salvation grace faith, right but then going on from that it says by whom I'm sorry verse three there says and not only so But we glory and tribulations also. So basically, okay Yeah, we glory in salvation and the fact that it's by grace is through faith But we also glory in tribulations and that kind of seems counterintuitive. You're kind of like what? Why are we glorying in tribulations because of what tribulations? Bring forth. Okay. That's what says here It says knowing that tribulation worketh patience, isn't that a good thing? having patience and Then it says as you keep reading there it says in patience experience and experience hope and Hope maketh not ashamed because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us see tribulations hard times are Something that you should be glad happened because of the result of what happens right? Think about Job It's not that job was a sadist and he just loved what happened to him. He's just like this is great Obviously he was cursing his day He obviously didn't like any of what was happening But he says that when when I'm pure when I you know, basically when he's purified he's gonna come forth as gold Because after the trying of your faith It talks about the fact that you're gonna come forth as gold and it's it's the end result that you're looking for Okay, and when it comes to tribulations tribulations Anytime you've gone through something hard. It's a good thing because the next time you go through it, you're like I've already done this It gives you experience. You're like, yeah, I've done this another day and another day another another tribulation, right? You're just like let's do it again, I guess And it's not that you just love like the hard times It's just the fact that I've already gone through this. I know what the end result is I know it's not the end of the world. All right, let's go, you know and And that makes you a better Christian because then you're not just being offended every time a tribulation comes by But also just in life tribulations were more patience you know what when I was growing up and I Was short. Okay. I was also a kid, right? I Had I was forced to be patient because I couldn't do anything about it Right, can any man taking thought add one cubit to a stature trust me if I could have I would have But since I couldn't it forced me to be patient And you know when I did grow and not that I'm like some giant up here, but I'm average height five nine When I grew you know what I appreciated that way more than the other person did and You know just different things like that that We need to take the heart when it comes to Mephibosheth. It starts off and you read that story You're like this is a tragedy. This is something that You know, this is horrible, but when you see the end result of Mephibosheth, you're just like Yeah, that that's that's bad and that that stinks that he went through that but man what a good man He turned out to be Right, and you're just like meh to where For thousands of years. We're looking back at Mephibosheth and saying I want to be like Mephibosheth So that tragic story turned into this great end result and Listen Anything that you're going through or that that you've gone through in the past and you know, obviously growing up That you'd look at and be like that was horrible all this that can be turned into listen God can take that and turn it into something great all things work together for good to them that love God to them who are the called according to his purpose and The thing is that yeah, not all those things are necessarily fun and delightful and all that but listen, he can make all that work for good and Just like the the man that was born blind, right? Why was he born blind? To bring glory to God and Eventually you did see but in the end even if you didn't see in this lifetime Believing on Christ he was gonna see in the next life And even if you don't get that reward in this life in the next life, it'll be even that much better Isaiah 66 2 says this Isaiah 66 2 as you're turning there think about the Beatitudes as you know the old theological phrase there of the blessed ours, right? blessed are the pure and Blessed are the the poor in spirit but theirs is the kingdom of heaven blessed Are they that mourn for they shall be comforted blessed are the meek, but they shall inherit the earth and The question is that you have to ask yourself is how does someone obtain a being poor in spirit, right? How does that come to pass? Well one could just be finances right just being poor Other things can happen To where it can cause you to be poor in spirit and one of those things could be like with the Mephibosheth Who though he wasn't growing up poor he was living in a kingly house, right? I'm sure he I Mean he was the the grandson of the king But being lame on his feet caused him to be poor in spirit and In the end Mephibosheth shines out through all of them in Isaiah 66 2 It says for all those things Hath mine hand made talk about the heaven and the earth it says all those things Have been said the Lord but to this man will I look so notice he's saying I'm gonna look to this man Who's the man even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit and trembleth at my word That is who we want to be We want to be that person that's poor and contrite in spirit and we tremble at his word Meaning that we fear God we fear his word. We fear his commandment That we're coming to him humbly And a poor spirit. We're not coming to him. Just thinking you owe this to me God or just give it to me, you know, we should come to him saying please Lord and saying thank you and Being reverent to the Lord and fearing his word and having that type of attitude Instead of the opposite would be pride and listen, this is you know, the so-called Pride Month of our of our Of our country right which shows you the state of our wicked country But what's the Bible teach actually the complete opposite of that? Should be proud which be humble Shouldn't be haughty to be a contrite spirit a poor spirit And just as much as is pride goeth before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall Listen that contrite spirit and that humble heart will exalt you and So this is this is a lesson from a fibischeth here when it comes to that Going back to the second same chapter 9 second same chapter 9 and Ziba here is Basically going to be given charge to basically take care of the land till the land and work the land So obviously Mephibosheth his lame is on his feet. So he's not gonna be able to go out there and just work the land so basically Ziba goes from being Saul's servant to Mephibosheth's servant and all of Ziba's house are servants to Mephibosheth It says verse 9 says then the king called to Ziba Saul's servant and said unto him I have given unto thy master's son all that pertained to Saul and to all his house Now therefore and thy sons and thy servants shall till The land for him and thou shalt bring in the fruits that thy master's son may have food to eat But so notice that they're basically telling all this and it's coming that fruit is coming in for Mephibosheth, right? But Mephibosheth thy master's son shall eat bread all the way at my table Now Ziba had 15 sons and 20 servants So obviously he has a lot of help there to do this But I believe this lends back to what Ziba does later, okay? Because basically Ziba is being put under Mephibosheth He's doing all this work for Mephibosheth's land for his fruit all of that Obviously, you know if you're a servant then you're gonna get your you know, the labor is worthy of his hire They're gonna get paid They're gonna get they're gonna get some of that fruit to live and all that but the land is Mephibosheth's Ultimately, they are under his command and all of that. But the thing is is that Even though like he's all this fruits coming into him Mephibosheth is literally getting fed every day Every day at the king's table. So basically Mephibosheth doesn't have to worry about the eat for the rest of his life As long as King David's alive anyway and He's basically got it made at this point It says verse 12 says Mephibosheth had a young son Whose name was Micah and all that dwelt in the house of Ziba were servants under Mephibosheth So it just states that they're all servants all of his house It says verse 13 so Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem for he did eat continually at the king's table And was lame on both his feet Now When you look at Ziba in this story, you can kind of see where is his what state of being is he in? He's a servant. He was a servant of Saul, but now he's a servant of Mephibosheth and all of his house are servants of Mephibosheth and What happens later? It's just what this this story of Ziba with Mephibosheth, I can't read this without getting angry like just When the the wrong that Ziba is trying to do the Mephibosheth, okay And what what's happening here? Is that David's fleeing from Absalom? So Absalom his son is basically trying to take over the kingdom right and he takes over Jerusalem David's fleeing and As he's fleeing people are going with them, right? Well Mephibosheth We're gonna see he wants to go with him, but this is what happens okay, so in verse one, this is the first part of story that you see is In verse one here So second Samuel chapter 16 verse 1 it says and when David was a little past the top of the hill behold Ziba the servant Mephibosheth met him and a couple of asses saddled and upon them two hundred loaves of bread and a hundred bunches of raisins and a hundred of hundred of summer fruits and a bottle of wine and the king said unto Ziba what meanest thou by these and Ziba said the asses be for the king's household to ride on in the bread and summer fruit for the young men to eat in the wine that such as be faint in the wilderness may drink and the king said and where is thy master's son and Ziba said unto the king behold he abideth at Jerusalem and here comes the lie And we know this is a lie because obviously We we see what happens later on okay for he said today Shall the house of Israel restore me the kingdom of my father Now this is why it's very important to understand that just because it says that said someone said something doesn't mean they actually said it Okay Because what you're what's going on here is that this is what Ziba said it's true that he said it But what he said was not true. Okay, so David takes Ziba at his word and Then he says in verse 4 it says then said the king to Ziba behold thine are all that pertained unto Mephibosheth and Ziba said I humbly beseech thee that I might may find grace in thy sight my lord o king You just want to punch him in the face Right, I mean Mephibosheth who obviously is very humble and you know Very reverent to David and we're gonna see Mephibosheth side of the story when David comes back. Okay, and Just how he was Slandered by his servant and all of that go to chapter 19 chapter 19 and verse 24. I Know these are chapters we're going to get to later, but I think it's good to just see this big picture of Mephibosheth and The fact that yeah, I mean in chapter chapter 9. I mean it's a great picture of Mephibosheth He gets blessed and and basically yeah, it was a hard life that he was living there But now everything is basically looking great and then Ziba basically Lies about him slanders him all of that verse 24 David's coming back into his kingdom. So Absalom's dead. He's coming back into his kingdom It says in Mephibosheth the son of Saul came down to meet the king and had neither dressed his feet Nor trimmed his beard Nor washed his clothes from the day the king departed until the day he came again in peace So think about the attitude that Think about the morning that you'd have to be in basically that you're just basically I'm not gonna take care of myself at all I basically just in a state of mourning that David is gone But notice what it says here in verse 25 It says in the Canapas when he was come to Jerusalem to meet the king that the king said unto him Wherefore when is not thou with me Mephibosheth? And he answered my lord O king My servant deceived me. So here's the truth. And let me ask you a question. Who you gonna believe Ziba or Mephibosheth in this, right? Especially since the proofs in the pudding. I mean, he's it's not like he what did what did what did Ziba say he's doing? He's like today the kingdoms restored in my hand, which doesn't make any sense anyway, right? Absalom the son of David is the one taking over the kingdom. So why would he even think that right? It just doesn't even make sense on a logical aspect It's not like someone in Saul's house like rose up and he's just like, all right time for me to take my seat Look like David's son, okay But that being said is that he doesn't he doesn't wash his clothes trim his beard trim his nails I mean just by looking at him you can tell like this guy was not in celebration He was not like thinking like it's my time now So it says my servant deceived me for thy servant said I Will saddle me an ass that I may ride there on and go to the king because I servant is lame and He has slandered thy servant unto my lord the king. So basically Mephibosheth is lame. So he has to have a servant saddle him up and get him ready to go like he can't just do that himself and So he's basically stuck Is what happened he wanted to go but he was stuck and his servant not only didn't help him go But then went and said that he basically was turncoding on on David and that he was just basically Glad that David's gone and that he's gonna be you know king or something like that But then it goes on to say But my lord the king is as an angel of God do therefore what is good in thine eyes So basically he's like, here's my side of the story. Here's what really happened but basically Mephibosheth has full confidence that David is gonna be able to discern and and know how to deal with the situation or whatever and basically Whether David does deal with the situation right or not. That's his attitude towards David It's like you're like an angel of God. You're gonna you know, whatever you seem do whatever you think is right do it and Then it goes on to say in verse 28 For all of my father's house were but dead men before my lord the king yet Didst thou set thy servant among them that did eat at thine own table Notice this what right therefore have I yet to cry any more unto the king? Notice that he's like basically everything that you gave me I didn't deserve should never had He's like I don't have any right To come and cry to you about this You know or to like basically make some kind of case or anything like that He's just basically like here's the side basically it's just like he's just setting things straight. It's just like hey No, I wanted to go. I love you. It's kind of like I love you I wanted to be with you like, you know, like I wanted to be your friend I wanted to be there for you, but I couldn't he deceived me and he slandered me and Just setting the book straight, but he's basically like But you know do as you seem good and just know that I have no right to even come to you and even Try to make the case That is the attitude of Mephibosheth I mean think about that when you've been wronged like that, wouldn't you be just like, you know get zaiba, you know I want restitution. I want you know, I want vengeance, you know for what happened here and he's just like Like I don't even have a right to come to you and say anything about this And notice what David says here It says And verse I lost my place In Verse 29 and the king said unto him why speakest thou any more of thy matters? I have said thou and zaiba divide the land. So What I believe is going on here is that David is basically just made up. He's like just to deal with this. He's like just half and half just half it together. Okay And You know when you look at it, just like David really You've looked into that me like hey zaiba should be kicked out, you know, he should really get You know and you can think how like Mephibosheth would be like he gets half, you know Like he you know, like all this stuff, but Mephibosheth is not like entitled to think that he even deserved any of it He's just like I was my whole house was dead. Like I didn't deserve any of this stuff, right? But it's what Mephibosheth says next The last thing that you see Mephibosheth saying here It's just like you're just like I want to be that guy Okay, I want to be like Mephibosheth Because he says, you know, basically David's just like, you know, let's not speak about it anymore You take half, zaiba takes half You know, it is what it is, right? In verse 30 says Mephibosheth said unto the king, yea, let him take all He's just like I don't I don't want any of it He can take it all he can take the land take everything take it all for as much Because basically what he's saying here is that this is better This is this is why you know It doesn't matter to me that I have any of this land that I have any of the stuff that you gave me For as much as my lord the king has come again in peace unto his own house The question that I have, you know, for any of us is that could we be like that if we've been wronged like that slandered like that and Just say you know what they slandered me. They deceived me. Let them have it all And just you know, I'm just glad you're you're basically just like I'm glad you're back safe and at peace and I'm glad everything worked out And it just really shows you the heart of Mephibosheth was never on all that stuff that David gave him It's not like when he got all that stuff. It just like twisted his mind. He's just like oh, yeah, this is great now No, because he went into it with such a humble and contrite spirit that he that he looked at that stuff Is that that was just this this amazing blessing that he'd never deserved and then when it was taken away He's just like fine, I Don't need it What's more important is that you're back here safe Think about this with the coming of the Lord Jesus, right think about how there's gonna be people that are obviously going to try to Lie about us and you know, obviously hate us all this stuff right? They're gonna say all evil against us for his name's sake right and Trying to basically get us to fall all these different things, right? I Think about it. Obviously the Lord is coming with this reward and Anything that God gives us is going to be way above and beyond anything that we ever deserve or anything that you know We could ever hope for right? But when in the come when Jesus comes We should have the attitude that none of that matters Except for the fact that he's here Right There's my Lord Doesn't matter what kind of Lance doesn't matter what kind of mansion he has prepared for me doesn't matter What kind of crowns he's going to give me it doesn't matter I I don't think it could be all gone as long as I'm with my Savior as long as my Savior is Rolling and raining and at peace and I'm with him. That's all that matters That is the attitude we should have And obviously God It says he that come to the God must believe that he is That he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him know this is that God will reward Those that labor for him that your labor is not vain but our attitude should be You're you're all I need you coming Jesus coming to clouds is all I need all Everything else is is just just above and beyond anything that I would ever need or want and But the Lord being there and in the end in the finality What is the finality of the Bible is that the Lord? dwells with us and that God's Tabernacle is with men and that will ever be with the Lord that should be our mentality and I'm not saying that, you know, obviously we shouldn't want to like Earn rewards and all that stuff. But the question that you should ask is why do you want rewards? Think about why do you want a crown of life or a crown of righteousness or a crown of glory, right? Why do you want it? Okay, is it to show off and be like hey, I did stuff when in this life or Maybe it's it should be as the 24 elders That cast their crowns before his feet saying he's worthy That it's all for him Everything that we do everything that we that we work for every reward that he gives us it's for him That's why we did it and that's for all eternity why we want to have it Is to say Lord you're worthy for all eternity And Mephibosheth just shows that just just line after line of that relationship with him and David of the fact that We don't deserve any of it We're a bunch of sinners saved by grace and Not only did he make us righteous by his own blood But he get he also rewards us for the work that we do and The the attitude of Mephibosheth, that's what we should be striving to have and He's such a great character in the Bible. He's such a great person in the Bible and He starts off with a tragedy starts off with this thing. There's just like you're just like sad about you're just like man I wish that wouldn't happen to him but look at the man that it made and Whenever you are going through maybe a really hard time or maybe you had a really hard past or something like that Know that hey yet. No one's diminishing That that's bad, right? Like I'm not looking at Mephibosheth like ah, that's light work, you know No one's diminishing how hard and tough that is But Instead of being resentful or being you know, basically, you know taking it You know to a point where you feel entitled or different things like that take that and make that mold you into a great Christian Obviously you get saved first of all, right you get say so you are a Christian but then love the Lord and Help that mold you and Again Mephibosheth is such a great story. I'm not really doing it justice But The last thing is is that what's interesting about the line of Mephibosheth? Is that he is how Saul's line keeps going if you went to Chronicles? It talks about Mephibosheth has Micah, right? And I mentioned Micah He had a young son named Micah Well Micah had children and then they had children they had sons and sons and sons and sons And it gets down to a son that ultimately came out of Mephibosheth of Ulam It says the sons of Ulam were mighty men of valor archers. Do you remember what Jonathan was? Jonathan died and he was an archer David tried to get other people to get into archery But ultimately the descendants of Jonathan were mighty men of valor archers and had many sons and sons sons 150 Ultimately That that little boy that was lame on his feet What did he turn out to be and what was his legacy after that? right, and so that's something that we should strive to be like and Especially in this life, right? So let's end with a word prayer the only father we think today Thank you for the book of second Samuel. Thank you for this chapter Thank you for the story with Mephibosheth and just just the lessons that we can learn from it Lord help us to be humble help us to be contrite in spirit towards spirit Help us to love you Lord and help us to have the right motivations To serve you and Lord we just can't wait to see you face to face We can't say we can't wait to be with you and all the rewards out of the way Lord We just want to be with you and Lord. We just thank you for everything that you've given us Lord We love you and pray all in Jesus Christ name Amen So find your hymnals You Know what this is really making me feel thankful for a song later, you know where I can just like walk away Sometimes this is probably good though. It just is like a nice refresh reminder of how How great it is to have those that serve in the church on different aspects and everything so Let's see. What song do we want to do? I See Rock of Ages 129 129 Rock of Ages Do we stand on the last one I thought so, yeah So you haven't done it so long. I don't yet I just I just follow whatever, you know, the song leader does right there if you find your place to stand We'll sing all three verses Rock of Ages page 129 your handles Rock of Ages clap for me Let me hide myself in thee Let the water and the blood wrong I Wounded side which flowed Be of sin Double cure Save from wrath And make me pure Could my tears forever flow Good my zeal No, Langer. No these for sin Could not atone Thou must save and how alone In my hand no price I bring Simply to Thy cross I cling While I draw this fleeting breath when my eyes Shall close in death when I rise to worlds unknown and behold Thee on thy throne Rock of Ages clap for me Let me hide myself in thee Amen you may be dismissed You