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Bible Commentaries
2 Samuel 9

2 Samuel2Sa 8 2 Samuel2Sa 2 Samuel2Sa 10

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Verses 1-13

INTRO:
1. As Luther said, “Let’s shake some passages till fruit fall from its branches.”
2. I believe this ch. is the high point in David’s life. His finest hour!
3. Theme: Kindness, that state of being that includes the attributes of loving affection, sympathy, friendliness, patience, pleasantness, gentleness, and goodness.
  1. Henry Drummond said, “The greatest thing a man can do for his heavenly Father is to be kind to some of His other children.”
4. Hesed דֶסֶחcould & should be translated “Grace”.
  1. What is Grace?
    1. What a ballet dancer has when she shows dignity & elegance?
    2. What we say before we eat...We say grace!
    3. What we are allowed when a payment is extended for a period of time.
  2. No, biblical Grace is…
  3. Grace is unmerited favor; or its extending favor to someone who doesn’t deserve it, who hasn’t earned it, & can never repay it.
  4. Grace is positive & unconditional acceptance in spite of the other person.
  5. Grace is a demonstration of love that is undeserved, unearned & unrepayable.
5. Here we get to witness the greatest illustration of grace in the whole OT! :)
6. This event illustrates God’s Kindness & Grace to us in Christ.
  1. Eph.2:7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.
TABLECLOTH OF GRACE!
1. THE LAME PRINCE! (1-4)
2. (1) Do you take time to reflect these things? (God 7:1; fellow man 9:1)
  1. Who might be a Mephibosheth in your life you can show kindness to?
3. (3) A sad infirmity dated back to kindergarten 4:4 (5 yr old).
  1. We too, were lame spiritually from birth.
4. Yes, but he’s cripled. He’s got a serious disability. How will that look in your court?
  1. David moves right on...Where is he? Not, how bad is it? Does it look gross?
  2. That’s the way grace is. Grace isn’t picky. Grace doesn’t look for things that have been done that deserve love. Grace operates apart from the response or the ability of the individual. Grace is one-sided. (Charles Swindoll, David, pg.172.)
  3. I repeat, Grace is God giving Himself in full acceptance, to someone who does not deserve it & can never earn it & will never repay it.
    1. So, a strong & famous king stoops down & reaches out to one who represents everything David is not!
5. (4) Lo Debar - Lo/no; Debar/pasture or pastureland. [Literally, “Not a Pasture”]
  1. He lives out in some obscure, barren field in the house of Machir.
6. (5) He must have thought, “Well this is the end!”
7. (6) Picture this permanently disabled man, crippled in both legs, throwing himself down on his face before the king.
  1. Expecting a sword to strike his neck...only to hear the words in vs.7.
8. (7) He didn’t have to fear because David would keep his word.
  1. You don’t need to fear because the Son of David/Jesus will keep His word.
  2. There was nothing to worry about!
  3. Listen to this and ask yourself...Why should I worry? (Eph.1:3; 2:4-10)
9. He might not have even known about this covenant; but to David it was sacred.
  1. Even the unloveable son was dear to him, for his fathers sake.
  2. You may never have known about this redemptive covenant before this morning; but to Jesus it is sacred!
10. (8) What is your servant, that you should look upon a dead dog such as I?
  1. When you move from, “I’m a pretty good person”, to the realization of you being dead in trespasses & sin, is where it all begins.
  2. Notice Grace doesn’t even answer the question.
11. (9,10) Though consciously unworthy, he received again Saul’s family estate.
12. Mephibosheth’s story is our story of redemption!
  1. He belonged to a royal line, but was made cripple by a fall (4:4).
    1. Adam was of a royal line but then was made spiritually cripple because of his fall.
  2. He was sought by the king(1-4).
    1. We didn’t “find God”, He found us. There is none who seeks after God.
    2. Today, God is still seeking people who are spiritually disabled, dead due to depravity, lost in trespasses & sins, hiding from God, broken, fearful, & confused.
  3. He was lame in his feet(3b).
    1. We are lame in our powers of spiritual obedience.
  4. He lived in exile from the king.
    1. Mephibosheth didn’t even try to win the king’s favor. He was hiding from the king.
    2. Same is true of us. We deserved nothing, had nothing, & could offer God nothing. We were hiding when He found us.
    3. From Lo Debar to Mnt Zion.
    4. From a hiding place where there was no pastureland to a place of plenty!
    5. From where we were to where He is!
  5. He was remembered because of a covenant.
    1. Our sin separated us from our King, but there exists this incredible covenant!
      1. Jer.31:31-34 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
  6. He was brought to the king(5).
    1. We were called into the kings presence & exalted because of the merits of another.
  7. He was called by name (6).
  8. He responded in humility (6b).
  9. He was told not to fear (7a).
  10. He received 3 promises [kindness, restoration & a place at the big table] (7b).
  11. He responded in humility again (8).
    1. There’s something freeing about Grace. It takes away all of the demands & it puts all of the response on God’s shoulders as He comes to us & says, “You’re mine. I take you just as you are, crutches & hang-ups & liabilities, & all.”
  12. He was given a glorious heritage (9,10).
  13. He received sonship/adoption/relationship (11, like 1 of the kings sons).
    1. As part of Saul’s family Mephibosheth had no claim to the kingdom. Yet David treated him as one of his own sons.
    2. God has adopted every Jesus Follower into His family.
      1. 1Jn.3:1 Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!
    3. Sitting down at the table he was treated like any other son of the king.
      1. Can you imagine sitting w/the rest of His sons/daughters? There’s Peter, Paul, John. Hey James can you pass the potatoes? Talking to Issac Watts, Martin Luther, Calvin, Wycliffe, the Wesley brothers, George Whitefield. To break bread w/Abraham, Esther, Isaiah, & King David himself. And don’t forget Mephibosheth.
  14. He received esteem(12b servants).
    1. Eph.1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.
  15. He received a perpetual feast (13 continually).
    1. Mt.8:11 I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.
  16. He enjoyed uninterrupted fellowship (13 continually).
    1. As Adam did, when God walked w/him in the cool of the day.
    2. As 1 day we will enjoy uninterrupted fellowship w/God. Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. Rev.21:3
  17. He received a seat at the kings banqueting table (13b)
    1. This is where the Lord covers our feet w/His tablecloth & says, “Have a seat. You’re mine. I choose you simply because I wanted to.”
    2. Reclining in Eastern fashion, it was the 1 place his disability would be completely unnoticed!
  18. Yet, he was still lame in both his feet. (no miraculous healing; still had his old nature to struggle w/)
    1. But, our continual problem w/Sin is a continual reminder of His Grace!
  19. Being 1 of the Kings kids, we still are subject to persecution & slander (16:1-4)
  20. We should be looking for our Kings return & not concerned for material things. (see 19:24-30)
13. I like saying, when it came to my salvation, “I did my part & God did His part!”
  1. His part: He called my, sought me, caught me, loved me, saved me, cleansed me, healed me, & delivered me. My part...was running away!
  2. It really is Amazing Grace!
14. Before Communion I would like to give you the opp to respond to His Amazing Grace.
15. Communion:
  1. Its hard for us to appreciate the scandal Jesus caused by His table fellowship w/sinners.
    1. Remember to share a meal w/someone is a guarantee of peace, trust, fraternity, & forgiveness: the shared table symbolizes a shared life.
    2. For an orthodox Jew to say, “I would like to share a meal w/you” was like saying, “I would like to enter fellowship w/you.”
    3. That’s what the corrupt tax collector Zacchaeus heard when Jesus called him down from the sycamore tree. Lk.19:7 And when they saw it, they all grumbled, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.”
  2. Bread:
    1. Forgive us for running from You & hiding from You.
    2. Forgive us for our discontent w/our daily bread; & only being content when we have tomorrows bread also, & our retirement bread, & lots of it.
    3. Forgive us for leaning back on our crutches when we can lean on You.
    4. Forgive us for thinking we deserve anything besides death & hell.
    5. Forgive us for showing pride & not humility.
  3. Cup:
    1. Thank you for calling us by name!
    2. Thank you for reminding us we don’t have to fear!
    3. Thank you for being our Jehovah Jireh, our God that provides.
    4. Thank you for proving Your Son Jesus as the Lamb that was needed for taking away our sins.
    5. Thank you for our sonship, our adoption, our relationship w/You!
    6. Thank you for the invitation to your banqueting table...continually!
    7. Thank you for your tablecloth of grace!
  4. End: Spend some time today just basking in the kindness God has shown you!

return to 'Top of Page'

Verses 1-13

INTRO:
1. As Luther said, “Let’s shake some passages till fruit fall from its branches.”
2. I believe this ch. is the high point in David’s life. His finest hour!
3. Theme: Kindness, that state of being that includes the attributes of loving affection, sympathy, friendliness, patience, pleasantness, gentleness, and goodness.
  1. Henry Drummond said, “The greatest thing a man can do for his heavenly Father is to be kind to some of His other children.”
4. Hesed דֶסֶחcould & should be translated “Grace”.
  1. What is Grace?
    1. What a ballet dancer has when she shows dignity & elegance?
    2. What we say before we eat...We say grace!
    3. What we are allowed when a payment is extended for a period of time.
  2. No, biblical Grace is…
  3. Grace is unmerited favor; or its extending favor to someone who doesn’t deserve it, who hasn’t earned it, & can never repay it.
  4. Grace is positive & unconditional acceptance in spite of the other person.
  5. Grace is a demonstration of love that is undeserved, unearned & unrepayable.
5. Here we get to witness the greatest illustration of grace in the whole OT! :)
6. This event illustrates God’s Kindness & Grace to us in Christ.
  1. Eph.2:7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.
TABLECLOTH OF GRACE!
1. THE LAME PRINCE! (1-4)
2. (1) Do you take time to reflect these things? (God 7:1; fellow man 9:1)
  1. Who might be a Mephibosheth in your life you can show kindness to?
3. (3) A sad infirmity dated back to kindergarten 4:4 (5 yr old).
  1. We too, were lame spiritually from birth.
4. Yes, but he’s cripled. He’s got a serious disability. How will that look in your court?
  1. David moves right on...Where is he? Not, how bad is it? Does it look gross?
  2. That’s the way grace is. Grace isn’t picky. Grace doesn’t look for things that have been done that deserve love. Grace operates apart from the response or the ability of the individual. Grace is one-sided. (Charles Swindoll, David, pg.172.)
  3. I repeat, Grace is God giving Himself in full acceptance, to someone who does not deserve it & can never earn it & will never repay it.
    1. So, a strong & famous king stoops down & reaches out to one who represents everything David is not!
5. (4) Lo Debar - Lo/no; Debar/pasture or pastureland. [Literally, “Not a Pasture”]
  1. He lives out in some obscure, barren field in the house of Machir.
6. (5) He must have thought, “Well this is the end!”
7. (6) Picture this permanently disabled man, crippled in both legs, throwing himself down on his face before the king.
  1. Expecting a sword to strike his neck...only to hear the words in vs.7.
8. (7) He didn’t have to fear because David would keep his word.
  1. You don’t need to fear because the Son of David/Jesus will keep His word.
  2. There was nothing to worry about!
  3. Listen to this and ask yourself...Why should I worry? (Eph.1:3; 2:4-10)
9. He might not have even known about this covenant; but to David it was sacred.
  1. Even the unloveable son was dear to him, for his fathers sake.
  2. You may never have known about this redemptive covenant before this morning; but to Jesus it is sacred!
10. (8) What is your servant, that you should look upon a dead dog such as I?
  1. When you move from, “I’m a pretty good person”, to the realization of you being dead in trespasses & sin, is where it all begins.
  2. Notice Grace doesn’t even answer the question.
11. (9,10) Though consciously unworthy, he received again Saul’s family estate.
12. Mephibosheth’s story is our story of redemption!
  1. He belonged to a royal line, but was made cripple by a fall (4:4).
    1. Adam was of a royal line but then was made spiritually cripple because of his fall.
  2. He was sought by the king(1-4).
    1. We didn’t “find God”, He found us. There is none who seeks after God.
    2. Today, God is still seeking people who are spiritually disabled, dead due to depravity, lost in trespasses & sins, hiding from God, broken, fearful, & confused.
  3. He was lame in his feet(3b).
    1. We are lame in our powers of spiritual obedience.
  4. He lived in exile from the king.
    1. Mephibosheth didn’t even try to win the king’s favor. He was hiding from the king.
    2. Same is true of us. We deserved nothing, had nothing, & could offer God nothing. We were hiding when He found us.
    3. From Lo Debar to Mnt Zion.
    4. From a hiding place where there was no pastureland to a place of plenty!
    5. From where we were to where He is!
  5. He was remembered because of a covenant.
    1. Our sin separated us from our King, but there exists this incredible covenant!
      1. Jer.31:31-34 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
  6. He was brought to the king(5).
    1. We were called into the kings presence & exalted because of the merits of another.
  7. He was called by name (6).
  8. He responded in humility (6b).
  9. He was told not to fear (7a).
  10. He received 3 promises [kindness, restoration & a place at the big table] (7b).
  11. He responded in humility again (8).
    1. There’s something freeing about Grace. It takes away all of the demands & it puts all of the response on God’s shoulders as He comes to us & says, “You’re mine. I take you just as you are, crutches & hang-ups & liabilities, & all.”
  12. He was given a glorious heritage (9,10).
  13. He received sonship/adoption/relationship (11, like 1 of the kings sons).
    1. As part of Saul’s family Mephibosheth had no claim to the kingdom. Yet David treated him as one of his own sons.
    2. God has adopted every Jesus Follower into His family.
      1. 1Jn.3:1 Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!
    3. Sitting down at the table he was treated like any other son of the king.
      1. Can you imagine sitting w/the rest of His sons/daughters? There’s Peter, Paul, John. Hey James can you pass the potatoes? Talking to Issac Watts, Martin Luther, Calvin, Wycliffe, the Wesley brothers, George Whitefield. To break bread w/Abraham, Esther, Isaiah, & King David himself. And don’t forget Mephibosheth.
  14. He received esteem(12b servants).
    1. Eph.1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.
  15. He received a perpetual feast (13 continually).
    1. Mt.8:11 I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.
  16. He enjoyed uninterrupted fellowship (13 continually).
    1. As Adam did, when God walked w/him in the cool of the day.
    2. As 1 day we will enjoy uninterrupted fellowship w/God. Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. Rev.21:3
  17. He received a seat at the kings banqueting table (13b)
    1. This is where the Lord covers our feet w/His tablecloth & says, “Have a seat. You’re mine. I choose you simply because I wanted to.”
    2. Reclining in Eastern fashion, it was the 1 place his disability would be completely unnoticed!
  18. Yet, he was still lame in both his feet. (no miraculous healing; still had his old nature to struggle w/)
    1. But, our continual problem w/Sin is a continual reminder of His Grace!
  19. Being 1 of the Kings kids, we still are subject to persecution & slander (16:1-4)
  20. We should be looking for our Kings return & not concerned for material things. (see 19:24-30)
13. I like saying, when it came to my salvation, “I did my part & God did His part!”
  1. His part: He called my, sought me, caught me, loved me, saved me, cleansed me, healed me, & delivered me. My part...was running away!
  2. It really is Amazing Grace!
14. Before Communion I would like to give you the opp to respond to His Amazing Grace.
15. Communion:
  1. Its hard for us to appreciate the scandal Jesus caused by His table fellowship w/sinners.
    1. Remember to share a meal w/someone is a guarantee of peace, trust, fraternity, & forgiveness: the shared table symbolizes a shared life.
    2. For an orthodox Jew to say, “I would like to share a meal w/you” was like saying, “I would like to enter fellowship w/you.”
    3. That’s what the corrupt tax collector Zacchaeus heard when Jesus called him down from the sycamore tree. Lk.19:7 And when they saw it, they all grumbled, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.”
  2. Bread:
    1. Forgive us for running from You & hiding from You.
    2. Forgive us for our discontent w/our daily bread; & only being content when we have tomorrows bread also, & our retirement bread, & lots of it.
    3. Forgive us for leaning back on our crutches when we can lean on You.
    4. Forgive us for thinking we deserve anything besides death & hell.
    5. Forgive us for showing pride & not humility.
  3. Cup:
    1. Thank you for calling us by name!
    2. Thank you for reminding us we don’t have to fear!
    3. Thank you for being our Jehovah Jireh, our God that provides.
    4. Thank you for proving Your Son Jesus as the Lamb that was needed for taking away our sins.
    5. Thank you for our sonship, our adoption, our relationship w/You!
    6. Thank you for the invitation to your banqueting table...continually!
    7. Thank you for your tablecloth of grace!
  4. End: Spend some time today just basking in the kindness God has shown you!

return to 'Top of Page'

2 Samuel2Sa 8 2 Samuel2Sa 2 Samuel2Sa 10

Copyright Statement
These files are the property of Brian Bell.
Text Courtesy of Calvary Chapel of Murrieta. Used by Permission.

Bibliographical Information
Bell, Brian. "Commentary on 2 Samuel 9". "Bell's Commentary". https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/cbb/2-samuel-9.html. 2017.

Bible Commentaries2 Samuel 9

Bell's Commentary on the BibleBell's Commentary

Verses 1-13

Verses 1-13

Bible Commentaries
2 Samuel 9