February 17, 2008
Rev. Terry D. Campbell

The Power of a Promise
2 Samuel 4:4; 9:3

“(Jonathan son of Saul had a son who was lame in both feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel. His nurse picked him up and fled, but as she hurried to leave, he fell and became crippled. His name was Mephibosheth.)”

 “The king asked, ‘Is there no one still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show God's kindness?’

Ziba answered the king, ‘There is still a son of Jonathan; he is crippled in both feet.’”

2 Samuel 9:5-11

“⁵So King David had him brought from Lo Debar, from the house of Makir son of Ammiel.

⁶When Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, he bowed down to pay him honor.

David said, ‘Mephibosheth!’

‘Your servant,’ he replied.

⁷’Don’t be afraid,’ David said to him, ‘for I will surely show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will restore to you all the land that belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will always eat at my table.’

⁸Mephibosheth bowed down and said, ‘What is your servant, that you should notice a dead dog like me?’

⁹Then the king summoned Ziba, Saul’s servant, and said to him, ‘I have given your master’s grandson everything that belonged to Saul and his family. ¹⁰You and your sons and your servants are to farm the land for him and bring in the crops, so that your master’s grandson may be provided for. And Mephibosheth, grandson of your master, will always eat at my table.’ (Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.)

¹¹Then Ziba said to the king, "Your servant will do whatever my lord the king commands his servant to do." So Mephibosheth ate at David’s table like one of the king’s sons.”

A certain monestary enforced a vow of silence. Each monk could utter only two words every five years, and those two words had to be spoken in the presence of the abbot.  One of the monks, when given his opportunity to speak, said, “Bad food!”  Five years later, his two words were, “Bed hard.”  When given his third opportunity to speak five years later, he said, “I quit.”

“Well,” said the abbot, “you might as well quit.  All you’ve done since you got here is complain!”^[i]

We can find many things about which to complain.  But focusing on the complaint will lead us one direction in life and focusing on God’s promise will lead us in a higher, more satisfying direction.

I.  Understand that bad things happen to innocent people! (4:4)

Bad things happen to innocent people!  Very early we learn it’s a hostile world.  Little Mephibosheth’s world was turned upside down when his grandpa, King Saul, and his dad, Jonathan—Saul’s son and David’s best friend, were killed in battle.  If that weren’t enough, then they heard that the new king, David, was coming and since Mephibosheth was a supposed threat to the new king, that he was coming to kill Mephibosheth.  The royal house was in a panic.  As five-year-old Mephibosheth’s nurse tried to carry him as they ran, she dropped him and by the way he fell, he was permanently crippled in both feet.  It wasn’t fair for all this to happen to little Mephibosheth—but it did!

We live in a world separated from the perfect world God planned.  This is not the world God created or wanted.  Children in wheelchairs; eight-year-old girls sitting in the home getting shot and killed; people aging ungracefully with arthritis and strokes and walkers, trying to go on without their lifelong partner and friends all gone;  loved ones in a coma; teens dying of cancer; on and on the list can go.

These problems began with Sin—original and thoroughly human nature sin.  Because of the original human choice of self-will over God’s will, the paradise God wanted for us has left our grasp.  So also other’s sins affect us.  Saul’s rebellion and sinfulness caused problems that affected his grandson.

Don’t misunderstand me . . . It doesn’t have to be my sin that gets me in trouble, but others sinful choices and the fact that we live in a world SHAPED by sin.

II.  Physical challenges can distort our life-image. (4:4; 9:8)

Because of his life-situation growing up, Mephibosheth had no self-worth as an adult.  Listen to his self-description:  ⁸Mephibosheth bowed down and said, ‘What is your servant, that you should notice a dead dog like me?’  He called himself—“like a dead dog.”  You can be a child of royalty but, because of life’s hurts and challenges, still think of yourself as a dead dog.  Our wounds can become the source of spiritual and mental our self-image. 

“Drops” are possible in this world and we’ve all been “dropped.”  We are affected by other people’s “drops.”  We allow other people’s drops to shape us.

Carlene Mattson said this in regards to her son, “The greatest obstacle to being handicapped—or challenged, or disabled or whatever label we may be using this year—is not the condition but the stigma society still associates with it. The truth is we are valuable because of who we are, not because of how we look or what we accomplish. And that applies to all of us, the disabled and the temporarily able-bodied alike. I’m convinced God didn’t turn His back at the moment of Jeff's conception. He is still the God of miracles, but in this instance, the one who received healing was me. Our Lord is still in the business of changing lives, but not always in the ways we expect.

Several years ago, Jeff, one of her sons, played in a special Little League for kids with disabilities. After many seasons of watching from the bleachers and rooting while his big brother played ball, Jeff's opportunity finally arrived. When he received his uniform, he couldn’t wait to get home to put it on. When he raced out from his bedroom, fully suited up, he announced to me, ‘Mom, now I’m a real boy!’       Though his words pushed my heart to my throat, I assured him he had always been a ‘real boy.’”^[ii]

How do you define yourself?  Is your self-worth by what you can or cannot do?  In that case you get more valuable as you learn more and develop more skills but become less valuable as you get older and loose the ability to do those things.  Is your worth by what has or hasn’t happened to you?  Do you say that God loves you and cares if you have had a good and comfortable life but if you have had trials or seen pain and tribulation you say that God doesn’t care about you or that you are cursed by God?  Do you have a distorted view of your value?

III.  God’s promise invites us to set at the table of the king. (9:9-10)

Even though technically, Mephibosheth was the enemy and could lead a rebellion claiming the throne, David treated him as family because of his promise to Jonathan, David’s friend and Mephibosheth’s father.  The power of this promise turned Mephibosheth from enemy to into a cherished part of the royal family and helped him see he wasn’t a dead dog but a person of worth, worthy to receive the blessings of a royal promise.

King of kings calls us to set at His royal table.  John 3:17-“’For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.’”  Know your worth!  If you were the only one, Jesus would have come for YOU!

At age 16 Andor Foldes was already a skilled pianist, but he was experiencing a troubled year. In the midst of the young Hungarian’s personal struggles, one of the most renowned pianists of the day came to Budapest. Emil von Sauer was famous not only for his abilities; he was also the last surviving pupil of the great Franz Liszt. Von Sauer requested that Foldes play for him. Foldes obliged with some of the most difficult works of Bach, Beethoven, and Schumann.    When he finished, von Sauer walked over to him and kissed him on the forehead. “My son,” he said, “when I was your age I became a student of Liszt. He kissed me on the forehead after my first lesson, saying, ‘Take good care of this kiss—it comes from Beethoven, who gave it to me after hearing me play.’ I have waited for years to pass on this sacred heritage, but now I feel you deserve it.”

If you were the only one, Jesus would have come for YOU!

Kissed by the promise of God in Jesus Christ to be in His family, under His wing, filled with His life!

Dr. W.A. Criswell said, “Ask any school boy, ‘Which way does the Mississippi River flow?’  He will say, ‘From north to south.’  If you have flown over the Mississippi there are places where the Mississippi River will flow north.  There are places where the Mississippi River will flow due west, but it ultimately and finally flows south.  So the elective purpose of God in Christ Jesus is frustrated, turned, twisted, but it is God’s purpose of the ages that the reign and kingdom shall belong to Him.”^[iii]  So trust Him and claim your value in Christ!

“You can’t break God’s promises by leaning on them!” 

A promise from God is a statement we can depend on with absolute confidence. Here are promises for the Christian to claim.

God’s presence – “I will never leave you” (Heb. 13:5)

God’s protection and strength – “I am your shield” (Gen. 15:1); “I will strengthen you” (Isa. 41:10);  provision – “I will help you” (Isa. 41:10)

God’s purposes – “I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil” (Jer. 20:11)

What will you do now?

God formed us.  Sin deforms us.  Christ transforms us.  You are always valuable—God’s promise shows it!  No matter what has happened in your life, you are welcomed at the family table of God.  God is with you—Jesus is your promise from God.  Celebrate your place in His family.  Amen.

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