The Kings Kindness- Pastor Dave Divine

- Good morning, men and women. Such an honor and a blessing to be able to speak into your life again on the Pando app from Life Fellowship Church here in McKinney, Texas. Man, we just love you guys. You're a part of our church family. I know we say that all the time, but I want to keep saying it because we mean it. We pray for you. Well, there's two prayer meetings here, one on Monday night, one on Saturday morning, and you guys are all prayed for. If you want to send in some prayer requests, that will get prayed for. And speaking of mail, we definitely absolutely want to receive your mail. And we want to, we have a team of men and women that want to walk alongside you through the mail, that want to disciple or answer questions or pray with you or just have a good godly person that you can walk with. But here's kind of the policy on that is, if you're a man, you're going to get a man. If you're a woman, you're going to get a woman. If you're a dude and you're writing to the guitar player on the girl guitar player on the worship team, she's not even going to get that letter. I'm just going to tell you. We get a lot of crazy. I know you guys are, I mean,

I've been down there four times. My name is Logan Williams of TDC numbers 1490218. I forgot to say that. I got four more numbers after that. And I had a lot of homeboys when I was down there that was pimping the pin, but this ain't the place to pimp the pin. It's going right in the trash can if you're a guy and you write one of the, one of the females here. Okay, I'm just going to tell you. We want your mail. We want to encourage you and be and walk alongside you, but there's just been too much crazy and we had to make that policy. It's going to be a man writing you back. It's going to be a female writing you back. And so thank you for watching. I really and truly believe that God is after you. If you have clicked on this video, he has left 99, he is trying to find you. You, you are on a tablet. You are on the application that has all the spiritual stuff and you clicked on live fellowship for whatever reason. And that's amazing. And he knew who all was going to click on on this today. He already had it in his plan and I just love that, but I'm just going to tell you if he's after you, you're probably not going to get away. So just go ahead and give him your yes. Go ahead and get all in.

My life was chaos. 25 years of shooting dope and selling drugs and hitting licks and living in hotels and going to jail and going to prison and getting out and doing it again and going to jail and going to prison and getting out and doing it again. Some treatment centers thrown in there. I mean, my life was just madness until I got all the way in with him. When I laid it all down, my life completely changed. He gave me a purpose and a calling and my life just took off like a rocket ship. And that's what I want for you guys because at the prisons that we go to, we can see that God is raising up an army. He's raising up an army in there. And I just feel like the end times are a little bit closer than everyone thinks. And I think, man, he's going to use this army that he's raising up behind the wire because you guys know how to fight. You have it in you to fight. You just, sometimes we don't fight the right things, right? We're supposed to be fighting the principalities, the rulers of darkness, the enemy. And if we're not properly fighting that, we're going to be fighting our spouses. We're going to be fighting our friends, each other. But God put that in us, okay? We just need to be fighting the right things.

You're going to fight something. You need to be fighting darkness and the enemy and the principalities and all the things that come against us as believers. So I was reading in Acts. It's so interesting. And I don't know if you have a group of friends there, maybe a Bible study group, maybe just a group of like-minded believers that you're doing this time with, doing this walk with. But these guys back in Acts, chapter one, verse 14, it says they all met together and were continually united in prayer, along with Mary, the mother of Jesus, several other women and the brothers of Jesus. So it's saying they were meeting together and they were continually in prayer. They were praying as often as they could. I know we hear it all the time, pray without ceasing. Like I know that's impossible to literally be praying all the time, but we need to be praying continually. We need to not grow weary in doing these good things. And then in chapter two, verse two, it says, suddenly there was a sound from heaven, like the roaring and mighty windstorm, and it filled the house that they were sitting. The Holy Spirit fell on them on the day of Pentecost. It says suddenly, and how many of y'all know we serve a God of suddenly?

Like I can tell you, story after story in my walk, where I'm just trudging along, I'm getting discouraged, I don't know where to turn next, and then suddenly God shows up. And it's a massive suddenly. Suddenly, I was able to just walk out of a hotel room and give away enough dope to keep me high for years. Suddenly, I was able to just lay down sexual sins. Suddenly, I'm cleaning pools for two and a half years, and a church wants to hire me to run a prison ministry. Suddenly, these things could happen. But if you look at the order, I think that God suddenly is connected to our continually because it says they continually prayed, and then suddenly the Holy Spirit fell. And so I want to encourage you in your continually, whatever that is, we need to be faithful. We need to be faithful, we need to have that faith. Faith is, man, it is everything. Faith is everything. And that's something we should be praying for is that God gives us a larger measure of faith, but I want you to not get discouraged. I want you to not get just ready to throw in the towel. I know some of you are in some absolutely crazy places. I know you are, some of you are in some places where there aren't very many believers. Some of you are in places that they actually come against you because you're sitting in the day room with a Bible in front of you, but I want you to continually do these things,

continually seek Him because then the God of suddenly is gonna show up. And I just wanted to point that out to you. Father, we love you. We thank you for just the ability to speak to these men and women. What a blessing the tablet is. Gosh, I wish I had one when I was incarcerated all those years, but nevertheless, what a blessing. We just give you praise for that, God. We just give you exalt your name and tell it. We just want to tell you how awesome and amazing you are that men and women in these facilities can fill their free time with the word of God, with messages from pastors that love you, from with the chosen, with the Bible recap, with all the books that are on there, all the worship. Man, thank you God for that. I thank you for everyone that has clicked on this video today, God, I pray that you would just have a moment with them and just meet them right where they're at. Let them know that anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved and if any of them have not done that, it is just that simple. Right there where they're at, they can just call on your name to be saved. And God, I thank you that you just made this so simple, that you just made salvation. It's so simple, it almost doesn't make sense. But God, we know that your ways are higher than our ways and that your thoughts are higher than our thoughts. And God, we thank you for your ways

and we thank you for your thoughts. We thank you for your word. We thank you for your blessings in our life. We thank you that you've called us, that you've chosen us, that you're coming after us. And God, and that you've saved us. And God, we thank you for what Jesus did on the cross, man, that we would never, ever take that for granted, no matter what we happen to be going through. So God, we love you, we thank you. We just invite you in to do what only you can do. And we give you all the praise and glory in Jesus name. Amen, amen. Whose house, God's house? Let's give him some praise. You guys enjoy the message. (gentle music) (upbeat music) - Good morning, my fellowship. Let's stand to our feet. We're so happy to see you all this morning. We're gonna celebrate Jesus. Can you help put your hands together? (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) ♪ Talkers and sons ♪ ♪ Charged and touched ♪ ♪ Let's start singing ♪

♪ Sweet as hell ♪ ♪ We know about ♪ ♪ Taking out ♪ ♪ Let's start singing ♪ ♪ To celebrate the King ♪ ♪ See it on his call ♪ ♪ The glory is yours forever ♪ ♪ To celebrate the sun ♪ ♪ Look at what he's done ♪ ♪ The blood of the Lamb has opened ♪ ♪ The green is saved ♪ ♪ My silver head ♪ ♪ He's just getting started ♪ ♪ We know about ♪ ♪ We know about ♪ ♪ We know about ♪ ♪ To celebrate the King ♪ ♪ To celebrate the King ♪ ♪ To celebrate the King ♪ ♪ To celebrate the King ♪ ♪ To celebrate the King ♪ ♪ See it on his call ♪ ♪ The glory is yours forever ♪ ♪ To celebrate the sun ♪ ♪ Look at what he's done ♪ ♪ The blood of the Lamb has opened ♪ ♪ The green is saved ♪ ♪ He's just getting started ♪ ♪ The glory is yours forever ♪ ♪ To celebrate the sun ♪

♪ Look at what he's done ♪ ♪ The blood of the Lamb has opened ♪ ♪ The green is saved ♪ ♪ My silver head ♪ ♪ She's just getting started ♪ ♪ She's just getting started ♪ ♪ Some hunter says ♪ ♪ Enter his gaze ♪ ♪ With his giving in your heart ♪ ♪ And his cordless praise ♪ ♪ He thanks to him ♪ ♪ A blessed name ♪ ♪ Where he is good ♪ ♪ This mercy ♪ ♪ Just forever ♪ ♪ 'Cause he enters ♪ ♪ His cord stainless ♪ ♪ The highest praise ♪ The highest praise you have. He's worthy. You are great, you are great, you are great, you are great, you are great, you are great, you are great, you are great, you are great, you are great, you are great, you are great, you are great, you are great, you are good, you are great, you are great, you are great, you are great, you are great, you are great, you are great, you are great, you are great, you are great, you are great, you are great, you are great, you are great, you are great, you are great, you are great, you are great, you are great, you are great, you are great, you are great, you are great, you are great, you are great, you are great, you are great, you are great, (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music)

(upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music)

(upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) - Jesus, we thank you. If you aren't just getting started or you're still saving, your blood is still speaking a better word or a son, remember your sacrifice. We remember the price you've paid on. You are the other highest birth is this word. We love you. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) Oh, everything changed. ♪ It's getting harder to recognize ♪ ♪ The person I was before I encountered Christ ♪ ♪ I know I'll talk like I used to ♪ ♪ I know I don't talk like I used to ♪ ♪ I've been watching the inside ♪ ♪ I've been watching running inside ♪ ♪ I'll let you, yeah ♪ ♪ I'll let you, yeah ♪ ♪ I know it was the blood ♪ ♪ It could have only been the blood ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ I know it was the blood ♪ ♪ It could have only been the blood ♪ ♪ Oh, we're grateful for your sacrifice ♪

♪ This morning, Lord, we're grateful for you ♪ ♪ Oh, I cannot explain ♪ ♪ What nothing's for you is ♪ ♪ In the presence of God ♪ ♪ Oh, when my heart is finished ♪ ♪ When I shake and release ♪ ♪ When my sin make the most time ♪ ♪ I was washed from the inside ♪ ♪ I was washed from the inside ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ Come on, church, hallelujah ♪ ♪ I know it was the blood ♪ ♪ It could have only been the blood ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ It was the blood ♪ ♪ It could have only been your blood ♪ ♪ What we share, hallelujah ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ I know it was the blood ♪ ♪ It could have only been the blood ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ Oh, I know it was the blood ♪ ♪ It could have only been the blood ♪ ♪ It could have only been your Jesus ♪ ♪ You're the only one that could save me ♪ ♪ You're the only one that could heal me ♪ ♪ Oh, we changed your voice ♪ ♪ Oh, you sacrificed this morning ♪

♪ And you know it was never been about before ♪ ♪ It was perfection ♪ ♪ Or strength it for its enemies ♪ ♪ That it's held upon ♪ It's never been about the earth Or the earth It's a cure that's really given Let me tell It's only about the blood We say it's never been about the heart It's a profession Or strife Let me tell It's only about the blood It's never been about the earth Or the earth It's a gift that's really given Let me tell It's only about the blood We say it's only about the blood We say it's never been about the blood It's never been about the blood It's never been about the blood It's only about the blood We say it's never been about the blood It's never been about the blood It's never been about the blood It's never been about the blood It's never been about the blood It's never been about the blood

It's never been about the blood It's never been about the blood It's never been about the blood It's never been about the blood It's only about the blood It's only about the blood It's never been about the blood ♪ You think you won't talk ♪ ♪ Or give agency for a friend you love me ♪ ♪ Let me tell you ♪ ♪ It's only by heart ♪ ♪ Oh, we say ♪ ♪ I'll let you go ♪ ♪ I'll let you go ♪ ♪ I know it was the blood ♪ ♪ It couldn't hold me ♪ ♪ I'll just know you'll hardly leave me alone ♪ ♪ I'll let you go ♪ ♪ I know it was the blood ♪ ♪ It couldn't hold me ♪ ♪ It was the blood ♪ ♪ Oh, we say ♪ ♪ It's your Jesus ♪ ♪ Oh, it was a fancy prayer ♪ ♪ Oh, sweet yourself, I say ♪ ♪ The rest of life will take you ♪ ♪ Oh, we take you ♪ ♪ We say ♪ ♪ I'll let you go ♪ ♪ I'll let you go ♪

♪ I know it was the blood ♪ ♪ It could've only been the blood ♪ ♪ I'll let you go ♪ ♪ I know it was the blood ♪ ♪ I know it was the blood ♪ ♪ It could've only been the blood ♪ ♪ I'll let you go ♪ Come on, can we sing it to Jesus this way? ♪ I know it was the blood ♪ ♪ It could've only been the blood ♪ ♪ I'll let you go ♪ ♪ I know it was the blood ♪ ♪ It could've only been the blood ♪ ♪ I know it was the blood ♪ ♪ It could've only been the blood ♪ Come on, if you're grateful for the sacrifice in Jesus, we're just in the footsteps of praise this morning. ♪ ♪ ♪ To the one who ♪ ♪ A crown of thoughts ♪ ♪ To the one who took ♪ ♪ The lash and scourge for the hands and feet ♪ ♪ That were pierced by whales for the sacrifice ♪ ♪ That has told the brave ♪ ♪ We crown, we fall face down ♪ ♪ We worship, we all cry out ♪ ♪ You were worthy God ♪ ♪ You were worthy God ♪ ♪ And we crown, we fall face down ♪ ♪ We worship, we all cry out ♪

♪ You were worthy ♪ [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music]

[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] ♪ We are Your way, God ♪ ♪ Your way, God ♪ ♪ Of Your children ♪ ♪ Yes, Your love ♪

♪ For this Your life ♪ ♪ So well, this is your way, this is your way ♪ ♪ You are Your love ♪ ♪ To You all worthy, God ♪ ♪ To You all is all praise ♪ ♪ You are worthy, You are holy ♪ ♪ You are matchless in every single one of Your ways ♪ ♪ And we give all of our praise ♪ ♪ All of our love, all of our worship to You ♪ ♪ Because You gave it all for us ♪ ♪ As unworthy as we are ♪ ♪ You chose to send Your Son for us ♪ ♪ For a filthy wretch like me ♪ ♪ You sent Your beloved Son to die for me ♪ ♪ Thank You, thank You for such a love, thank You ♪ ♪ For loving me like you know what else can ♪ ♪ Thank You for sending Your Son for us ♪ ♪ We are eternally grateful ♪ ♪ And we will forever praise You ♪ ♪ We will forever honor You ♪ ♪ We will forever declare that You are worthy ♪ ♪ Thank You for Your presence in this room ♪ ♪ Thank You for coming to meet us here today ♪ ♪ And thank You for what You still have yet to do ♪ ♪ In the rest of this service ♪ ♪ We love You, We honor You, We bless You ♪ ♪ In Jesus' name, Amen, Amen, Amen ♪ ♪ Somebody give a praise, He is worthy ♪ ♪ Amen, Amen ♪ It's so good. You may be seated in this presence.

Hallelujah, Amen, Amen, Amen. Hey, I'm just so excited for what God's going to do today. And as we continue to worship, this week I was reminded that it's been almost 10 years, actually almost 11 years, that Danny and I, my wife and I, we came from Brazil to the U.S. And there are so many things that I can tell you that God has done in our lives. But one thing I can guarantee you, God is faithful. He's our provider. His gracious is all over us all the time. He's always with us. You know, I could tell you stories and after stories here. I could tell you, for example, when we coming from a background of investment banks and all that and coming to the U.S. But we gave up everything just to come for ministry. And I remember that once we had no money, all the money without being able to work, right? All of the money was over in less than time than we expected. But we prayed and the Lord gave us exactly what Danny wanted to eat on that night. Somebody just show up with food for a specific food that she was praying for and he gave to us. You know, I can tell you, like stories, for example, scholarship that I was given that I was not expecting, expecting to have. So there are stories and after stories. And I bet you are here to, you're here this morning and you have all the stories all over your life as well. If you look back, you just see God's faithfulness all over you, all around you. And I want to tell you, He's faithful.

That reminds me about 2 Corinthians 9. It says this. It says, "He who supplies the seeds, the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase harvest of your righteousness." You know what? God is our provider. You and I, he blesses us so we can be blessed to other people. And today, I just want to invite you. I don't know where you're at in our finances, but whatever God calls you to do, just be faithful with your tights and your offerings. And I believe God's gonna use you. There's somebody on the other end, maybe somebody that's gonna be preached when they listen to this message online or somebody that is in correctional facilities or the outreaches that we do or the mission trips, whatever we do as a church will advance the God's kingdom. And you can be part of it, amen? All right, let's pray together. Father, thank you so much for blessing this community. I pray that you prosper us, Father, because when you prosper your community, your kingdom advances. And I pray that you continue to bless us. Also, Father, with the food of heaven, Father. And let us be guided by you. Let us see your faithfulness all over, in your kindness, all over our lives, Father.

We love you and we praise you in Jesus' mighty name and all God's people in the house. Come on, say amen, amen, amen. God bless you, everybody. (audience applauding) (upbeat music) (audience applauding) (upbeat music) (audience applauding) (upbeat music) (audience applauding) (upbeat music) (audience applauding) (upbeat music) (audience applauding) (upbeat music) (audience applauding) (upbeat music) - All right, good to see everybody here at the 1145. It's been a great morning so far. And I'm so glad that you've come to join with us. Welcome everybody who's watching online, and everyone at the Texas Department of Corrections. We're so glad you're here and leaning in and part of our church family. I believe that God has got a word for us all today. And I just want you to open your heart and get ready for it. This message, I believe, just drips with God's love and God's grace, and we all need both of those.

And they go together. So thank you for being a part of this today. Before we get into the message, I do want to let you know everyone in the house today, we have an impact and stewardship report that has been prepared by our board of elders and by our staff. And it's just a great report of ministry impact that's happened over the last 12 months. Actually, it's August 25 through the end of July 26. And it tells about ministry, but it also gives a stewardship financial report that just updates us all, kind of lets us know where everything it is with the overall health of the church. And we're just so thankful for this really, really excellent report. So I hope you'll pick one up on your way out today. If you have any questions all about it, you're welcome to reach out to Pastor Trent, our senior executive pastor, and he would be more than happy to answer any questions. But thank you for just being a part of everything. It's because you are faithful and you serve and you give that we have an excellent report to share with you. And so we want to make that available. All right, David, we're continuing with our series of David, it's safe to say that David lived a very big life, a very big life.

The narrative of David's life is found in 66 chapters in scripture. And that excludes the 73 Psalms that are attributed to David and the prophetic references that are made about David in scripture. There were 42 different kings who ruled Israel for about 500 years, but the Lord said, I have selected David as a king for myself. He's a man after God's own heart. And because of that, even though David was rejected by his own family, God revealed that David was the one through whom the Savior would come, that our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, would come through David's line. So we used the first three weeks of the series to talk about David as the shepherd. Many of you remember that. We talked about cultivating a shepherd's heart. And then we talked about David the warrior, and that was a great time. Pastor Daniel was here, and we talked about the importance of praise as we defeat our enemies. But also last week, we talked about David on the run, David the fugitive. Today, I wanna talk about David the king, and I would like to bring the title,

the king's kindness, the king's kindness. Honestly, I mean, we could take another 10 to 12 weeks and talk about the big stories and the many, many lessons throughout scripture regarding David's life. For instance, we could talk about David when he brought the ark of the covenant back into Jerusalem. Some of you have read through that story. It's an amazing story. but also his deep repentance. And that's found in Psalm 51. If you've never been through Psalm 51 carefully and slowly, that's a good passage for all of us. Because when we've sinned, we need to know there's a God who loves us and who's merciful towards us. And if we will simply confess and repent with a pure heart before the Lord, that he always responds to that. Or we could talk about David and his mighty men. I mean, that's a great, great part of David's life and his story. How David had these mighty men, the Bible calls him, and they honored David, and they went and they did great exploits under the power of the Holy Spirit. And so David, his mighty men, is a cool part of David's narrative, but also David and his disloyal son Absalom. So I'm telling you, in Second Samuel, you ought to read the story of David. And I encourage you to read it through, but you can learn about David and his son Absalom

and the disology that had a big, big emphasis and influence, even in the latter part of David's life. But rather than doing all of that, I just gave you a lot. Today, I want to summarize David's kingship. Just kind of summarize it with just one story. I was praying about, Lord, what's one way that I could summarize his life? And I think it summarizes his life because it really speaks to David's heart. We started out talking about David's heart as a shepherd, but really, David's heart as a king was cultivated with those sheep out in the field. But this one story in scripture, and by the way, this story is rarely even mentioned, but we're going to dig into it today. And this story helps us to understand the life of another king. And that's our king, Jesus. I hope you see the gospel picture here. I told you last week that David and his son, Jonathan, had become best buds, best friends. Jonathan is King Saul's son. But Jonathan is very loyal to his friend, David. And he sees where David's life is heading. He senses and discerns and sees the anointing of God on David's life once Samuel poured that oil on David's head. And David was anointed to be king. And so Jonathan makes a deal with his buddy, David. And he says, hey, David, I eat dinner with this crazy king every night. And if I ever catch wind, the he is going to harm you

or he wants to kill you, I'll send you a text. I'll let you know. Well, whatever you do in that day to let you know, he's going to let you know. And first Samuel, chapter 20, verse 13 says, but should it please my father to do you harm, the Lord do so to Jonathan, and more also, if I do not disclose it to you and send you a way that you may go in safety. May the Lord be with you as he has been with my father. And then he says in verse 14, look at this. If I am still alive, in other words, I'm willing to risk my own life for you. Show me the steadfast love or kindness of the Lord that I may not die. Watch this, and do not cut off your steadfast love from my house forever. In other words, show love to my family forever. When the Lord cuts off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth. And Jonathan made a covenant. Watch this, made a covenant with the house of David saying, may the Lord take vengeance on David's enemies. And Jonathan made David swear again by his love for him. For he loved him as he loved his own soul. For he loved him as he loved his own soul. That is quite a love. And so this covenant is made between David and Jonathan. Now, how many of you know that covenants are different than contracts?

Yeah, I try to emphasize this at every wedding ceremony I conduct. I mean, I just slip it in. I mean, I'm just making sure everybody knows that what we're doing today is not a contractual agreement. What we're doing is standing for a holy God and we're cutting a covenant. We're making a covenant together. Because contracts say, you do this and I'll do that. And if you don't do this, I don't have to do that, right? And that's why many marriages fail. In a contract, it's not based on love or kindness, it's based on performance. For instance, let me ask you, anybody love their cell phone provider? Anybody love their cell phone provider? I didn't think so. Why? Because you have a contract. Do they love you? No, you can't even talk to a real person. Unless you have a page or bill. And then everybody's calling, they want to talk to you. And so this covenant is between David and Jonathan and the terms of this, the covenant are based on And shortly after this covenant is made, a battle takes place, and King Saul and Jonathan are both killed in battle. So now there's this transfer of power, and David is the king.

Because God said it, God said it would happen. Samuel prophesied it. There was an anointing of oil that was placed on David's head, and many years before, many years before God had settled it, that David would be the next king way before David's coronation. Now let's pick up the story. And once you lean in the story with me right here in 2nd Samuel 9. So the message is today is me telling a story, all right? A story from Scripture that is very, very important to us. David is king. David begins to reminisce and remember. He's remembering the events of his past. He's remembering his friend Jonathan and how Jonathan loved him. And he remembered the covenant that was made between them. And so David says in 2nd Samuel 9, verse 1, is there still anyone left from the house of Saul that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake. Now that question probably raised the hair on the back of a lot of people's necks as they heard him say it, because what normally happens is when a new king comes in, what would they do? They would find all the relatives of the former king who might have a claim on the throne and they would just wipe them out. They would kill, wipe out the competition. So when David asked the question, it would have been like, okay, here we go, the heads are going to roll, but no, that wasn't David's intention at all. But David's intention was that I may show loving kindness to the house of Saul.

But why? Why would he do that? Because in verse one, it says that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake, because my covenant is with Jonathan. See, it's not even for the sake of the guy that I'm going to show kindness to, although that's important as well. But it's for the one, my friend who I made a covenant with. And David refuses to ignore or to forget the covenant. Everybody with me so far, right? All right, verse two, look at it with me. And then there was a servant of the house of Saul, and his name was Ziba. Say Ziba? It's a good name, good Bible name, Ziba. Sounds like an Italian dish, but no, that's not it, no. And they called him to David. They called Ziba to David. And the king said to him, are you Ziba? And he said, I am your servant. And the king said, if there's not still someone of the house of Saul that may show the kindness of God to him, the kindness of God. You may remember the 23rd Psalm that David said that I'll anoints my head with oil, my cup overflows. What is this cup overflow with? It overflows with God's love. And when our hearts overflow with God's love, it overflows on everybody else. See, when we come to Christ and we receive the love of God,

I mean, it's hard to contain that. And that was David's posture as he was looking for someone from the former king's house. Now remember, think about it. King Saul had attempted, he was, David was on the run for years because King Saul was attempting to take his life, but never mind that, David's cup overflows with loving kindness. He's still looking for someone from Saul's house. Look at verse three, Ziba said to the king, there is still a son of Jonathan, but he's crippled in his feet. Some translations say he was crippled in both feet. As if he's saying, I don't think he'd be worth much to you. See, in that day, people's physical condition represented their value and they thought it represented God's position towards them. And Ziba, he's not worth much, he can't help you. But we know that God doesn't see it that way, man. Come on, help me today. God doesn't see it that way. Every single person, no matter your position, no matter your condition, every single person is an image bear of God. David taught us that God doesn't look at the outward appearance. God doesn't play that game. King David wasn't gonna play that game. King Jesus doesn't play that game.

Every human is valuable and worthy to be fought for. Every human, every human outside the woman inside. The womb, every life is valuable to God and should be valuable to us. Thank you for those, amen, amen. So what happened here? How did this young man become crippled? Let's talk about that. The Bible tells us a few chapters earlier who was crippled in his feet. I wonder how? He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel, and his nurse took him up and fled, she ran. And as she fled in her haste, he fell and became lame. And his name was Mephibosheth. Somebody say Mephibosheth. Say it five times real fast and see how you do. I'm sure I'm gonna stumble over it before the end of the message. How terrible, not his name, but how terrible the accident, how sad, that this nurse fled with Mephibosheth in fear of the new king. And when he was only five, he fell and became crippled. That's a terrible accident, but also how sad that the nurse was running in fear from the king, in fear of a king who's actually full of loving kindness. Somebody said fear is false evidence appearing real.

And this was false, there was no reason to fear this king. But listen, fear will cripple us. And it crippled Mephibosheth, just like sin cripples us. When mankind fell, what did he do? It crippled mankind. Do you see the gospel picture here? And by the way, Mephibosheth means shame. And that's exactly what the fall in the sin brought to us, guilt and shame. But our king doesn't play the blame and shame game. I'm about to preach and share the word with you right now. Jesus does not play the blame and shame game. And we don't have to fear to him. No, we don't have to run from him. We should be running to him because he's got open arms. No matter what our life has been like, no matter what we is in our past or was in our past or no matter what we did last week or last night, we can run to the king this morning. Not running fear. Verse four says this, the king said to him, where is he? And Zeba said to the king, he is in the house of Mechear, the son of Amiel, at low to bar, at low to bar, at low to bar, not low to bar. Isn't low to bar that God forsaken place somewhere down there across the tracks? Low to bar means this, it means without pasture, no fruitfulness, it's desolate.

It means no thing. Nothing is found in low to bar, nothing good is in low to bar. And this is where Mephibosheth, full of shame, lives. Are you with me? Mephibosheth, full of shame, crippled in both feet, stuck in a place called low to bar. I mean, he was Jonathan's son. He's the king's grandson. And Jonathan's best friend, David, didn't even know about him. That sounds a little bit odd, doesn't it, doesn't it? Why wouldn't David, why wouldn't Jonathan have told his friend, David, the one he made a love covenant with, that he had a son in low to bar? Was it because he viewed that as shameful? Cripple, living in low to bar. But don't you think that maybe David could identify with that? Because David was kept out in the pasture. It seemed like his family was ashamed of him, right? I think David would have understood and I think he did understand. I mean, when Samuel came to the house to anoint the next king, David wasn't even in the lineup. No, Jesse didn't even mention he had another son and then he said, "Well, we do have one more. He's just a shepherd." (dramatic music)

The injury that crippled Mephiboshet. The shame. There wasn't his fault, but why the shame? The one who fills the shame is often the one not at fault. Maybe that's your situation today. But we can view ourselves as less than even when we were the victim. Why is that? Because of the lies of the enemy. That's his blame and shame game. And he wants us to live under the blame and shame of someone else's sin. Or even if you've sinned yourself, you don't have to live under the blame and shame game. Mephiboshet had been living in shame in low to bar. He wrote, "He makes me lie down in green pastures. "He leads me beside the still waters. "He restores my soul." Verse five, "Then King David sent and brought him "from the house of Mechere, the son of Amiel at Laudebar." David brought him, David said, "Go get him. "Get him out of that place, get him out of Laudebar. "Get him out of that place of shame. "Get him out of that place and bring him where? "Bring him to the palace." Because in the palace, there's provision. And I've got to covenant with his daddy. Now, I don't know how you can't see the gospel picture so far. I hope you have. God intends for us to see it here. King David did for Mephiboshep what Mephiboshep

couldn't do for himself. And God did for us what we could not do for ourselves. Aren't you glad? Out of his loving kindness, he did for us. When we were broke, busted, and disgusted, God did for us what we couldn't do for ourselves. I was writing this and thinking about this and setting through this and all of a sudden an old song just started welling up in me. It's an old hymn of the church. And we won't try to sing it, but the words of it is, "I was sinking deep in sin far from the peaceful shore, "very deeply stained within, sinking to rise no more. "But the master of the sea heard my despairing cry, "from the waters he lifted me. "Now save am I." And then the song says, "Love lifted me. "Love lifted me." When nothing else could help, love lifted me. The love of King David, what's happening? The love of King David lifted Mephiboshep, taking him out of a load of bar and taking him to a place of provision. Look at verse six, Second Samuel 9, "And Mephiboshep, the son of Jonathan, son of Saul, "came to David and fell on his face and paid homage." Do you see that? He fell on his face and paid homage. Why did he do that? Probably because he thinks he's about to die.

I mean, he knows he's related to Saul. David's enemy, he doesn't know about any covenant between David and his daddy or the king and his daddy. He's bracing for judgment. He's waiting for a spear and instead of a spear, what did he receive? Loving kindness from the king. Wow. And David said, Mephiboshep, verse six. And you could imagine he was shocked. The king knew this crippled boy from load of bar and he called him by name. I may be telling your story this morning. And Mephiboshep said, "Behold, I am your servant." Mephiboshep was waiting on judgment, but he got hit by grace. And verse seven is a powerful verse because it's a reminder of this picture of grace that we have in scripture, second in the gospel. Second Samuel nine, verse seven. And David said, "Him, do not fear. "For I will show you kindness "for the sake of your father, Jonathan, "and I will restore you all the land of Saul, your father, "and you shall eat at my table always." When is he gonna be invited to the table? Always, three things I want you to see because King David is not explaining this to Mephiboshep in verse seven. He said, number one, I'm gonna show you kindness.

And I'm sure Mephiboshep is thinking, "Nobody's ever shown me kindness. "Nobody has ever seen me as valuable." David said, "I'm gonna show you kindness. "You're valuable to me. "You are technically my enemy, Mephiboshep, "but I'm gonna show you love "because of this covenant that I have with your father. "I'm gonna treat you in a way that God has treated me. "My cup overflows and is gonna spill on you, son." Number two, he says, "Mephiboshep, I'm gonna restore you. "I'm gonna restore all the land of your father, "your grandfather. "Now how much land did King Saul have? "A lot." And David said, "Mephiboshep, I'm gonna restore "all that land to you." It was a lot of land, look it up on Zillow. It was a lot. Mephibosheth, not only are you loved, but Mephibosheth, you are blessed, my son, and it gets even better from here. Number three, Mephibosheth, You're going to eat at my table always. In other words, I'm adopting you into my family because it's my family who sits at my table. And by the way, son, that is a long way from low to bar. How many of you are a long way from where Jesus found you today? You are in a place, a large place,

a place of blessing, a place of provision, a place of joy, a place of peace. Because when Jesus picks you up, He turns you around and He sets your feet on solid ground. But one more thing He does. He carries you to His table. Oh, I love Him. He carries you to His table. And He says, son, my daughter, you're going to eat at my table always. Now, I will say it's up to you. You get aside with, you're going to come and sit at that table. And I want to be at that table always. You say, well, Pastor Dave, what about when I mess up? Always means always. You say, well, I mess up and I haven't been sitting at the table. Why not? Because when you mess up, you fess up. When you mess up, you just confess your sin to God. And He says, come on, sit back down, son. Sit right back down right here. 'Cause I've got provision for you still. That's the grace of God. That's the mercy and the loving kindness of God that we have. So what happened next? Tell him the story, verse eight, and the fellowship, he paid homage and said, what is your servant that you should show regard for a dead dog such as I? A dead dog? Why would he call himself a dead dog?

'Cause that's the way he saw himself. I mean, even when the king carries you to his table and he adopts you into his family and he restores you and blesses you, how many of you know it may take a little while before you start seeing yourself differently than you really are? He just saw himself as a dead dog. I've always been kicked around like a dead dog. Never had any value to anybody. The enemy wants us to identify with our past, but the sooner that we identify as a blood-bought, mercy-side, holy ghost-taught child of the king, the sooner your cup can be filled and can start overflowing on others. On someone else, listen, the world doesn't get to tell you who you are. Some of you need to quit listening to what the world says about you. You need to quit listening what you see on social media and start believing that for yourself. You need to quit thinking those things. Your feelings and your emotions don't get to tell you who you are. That was a pretty good day. Pastor, they say that again. Your feelings and your emotions don't get to tell you who you are. Your feelings are not truth-tellers. I mean, sometimes I wake up in the morning and I feel like, and I won't even tell you,

use that word, I don't use that word in church. But my feelings don't tell me the way my day's gonna go. I get up by faith and I get with the Lord Jesus and he starts telling me and I start saying back to him the way my day's gonna go and who I am and I'm his son and I'm crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me and the life which I now live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me, for me. I'm his son, you're his son, you're his daughter. Sometimes you just gotta say it out loud and remind your feelings of truth or tell your feelings what is really, really true. Then I'll just say it this way, I am who God says I am. I can be who God says I can be. And I will do what God says I will do. I'm not gonna do what my feelings say because my feelings will get me in trouble real fast and they have to praise God for what he says. My fibosheth says, how can you show regard for a dead dog such as I, and I love David's response? He doesn't even answer. Here's what the king says. Did you hear what my fibosheth said? Ziba, all that belong to Saul, here's his response. All that belong to Saul and to all his house, I have given to your master's grandson today. And you and your sons and your servants shall till the land for him and shall bring in the produce that your master's grandson may have bread to eat.

But my fibosheth, your master's grandson shall always eat at my table. Now Ziba had 15 sons. Now obviously that was before car insurance because you do not have 15 sons. And he had 20 servants, 15 sons, 20 servants, plus Ziba equals 36. My fibosheth, you now have 36 people taking care of you and tending to it. Now, how many of you can testify that King Jesus often gives you more than you deserve, and he can often overdo it. And what he's saying to you, Mephibosheth, it's not over, it's just beginning. Oh, I know you don't think you belong here. I know you don't think you deserve any of this. I know you don't fit, I know you haven't earned any of this, so what is that? That's grace, that's grace. It's the unmerited favor of God saying, God, I'm giving, I've got the son, daughter, I'm giving you my favor. Are you not earning? No, you don't belong here because of your sin, but you know what? That sin, there was a covenant that would cut on Calvary's cross, and because it was because of the blood. Hallelujah, because of the blood of Jesus, the grace of God is being poured out to us as I close, verse 11.

Then Zeba said to the king, according to all that my Lord, the king commands his servant. So will your servant do. So Mephibosheth, eight at David's table, like one of the king's sons. Look at that, look at that. This crippled man from load of our, but because of God's loving kindness, the king invited the grandson of his enemy to the table to eat at his table always. David, that's a king after God's own heart. That's a king that was appointed and anointed for God and his purposes. Mephibosheth was brought to the palace as a servant. Excuse me, Mephibosheth wasn't brought to the palace as a servant. I mean, if he would have, that would have been fair. That would have been a nice upgrade, right? But no, he was brought to the palace as a son. The apostle Paul says, because of grace, we're heirs of God, join heirs with Jesus Christ. We're adopted into the king's family. And we see, and it's time that we begin to see ourselves that way and slip our feet underneath that table and believe and receive for all of the benefits that God says, these are yours. You know, when we come to the Lord's table and we take the bread and we take the cup,

if you have it in your hand, just go ahead and take it. If you don't have it yet, our ushers are ready to come down the aisle and just give you one. So if they walk by, just raise your hand if you don't have one. Because we're gonna do what Mephibosheth got to do that day. We're gonna come and sit at the king's table for a moment before we close. But when we take the blood, the cup and we take the bread, I want you to hear what we are literally doing. By faith, we are recognizing and accepting the benefits of Christ's sacrificial death on the cross. Now, notice what I said. We recognize them by faith and we accept them by faith and saying, Lord, because I'm your son or I'm your daughter, that's mine. And I believe and I receive that. What do we get to receive? We receive salvation, the blood of Jesus. The body of our Lord was beaten and bruised and bloodied, the blood of Jesus that we sang about this morning, washes away my sin. It lifts me up out of that my reclaimed, that sinking feeling of despair. It takes me from load of our and it moves me into the very presence of the king. That's what we're doing when we're taking communion. We're saying, Lord, I believe and recognize you as king and Lord and you cut a covenant

that I could walk into by faith. And I recognize and accept those benefits. Thank you, Lord. Before we take the bread in the cup, I want to read two more verses. I want to give you one more bit of truth. Second Samuel 9, verse 12. And Mephibosheth had a young son whose name was Micah. Now, let me just say this one thing about that. He had a son. How many of you believe Micah ended up at the table with him? There's something about the next generation that when we accept and receive what our Heavenly Father has for us, they follow along with us. And they end up in the place where God takes us. Thank God for that. And then it says that all who lived in Zebes house became Mephibosheth servants. So Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem for he ate always at the king's table. Now, in case you missed this somehow, of course, this is a gospel picture, but in case you've missed this, listen. sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. All of us were enemies of God at one point, even though he loved us, but sin separated us from him, but his love and his mercy reached over into Lordabar, that spiritually desolate place we were in, and he pulled us up out of Lordabar, and by faith we received his invitation to go to the Lord's table. You are Mephibosheth today, if you by faith will slip your feet underneath the table and

say, I recognize and accept the benefits of following Jesus, and I want to do that today. Or I did that a long time ago, and I'm just going to reaffirm it today at the Lord's table. How many of you are ready to slip your feet underneath the Lord's table, and accept his benefits today? Would you bow your heads with me right now, because there may be somebody here today, and you've not followed Jesus, you've not experienced the blessings of entering into that covenant relationship with Jesus, but you want to, and you know you need to, and maybe I was talking to you when I mentioned some that might feel shame and guilt, and you feel like your life is spiritually empty, and maybe you feel like it doesn't have any value. I just want, I just want right now to put light in the middle of that dark place on that lie, and say that Jesus loves you, and he will forgive you, and wash you, and cleanse you, and give you a hope in the future, but you just have to receive it. So maybe you're here right now and you're ready to receive it. You say, well, how do I do it, just by faith, through a faith-filled prayer, a moment before God, with your heads bowed and your eyes closed, your hearts wide open before God. Some of you are getting ready to come to the table, and experience the benefits of salvation, or recommitment today. Say a simple prayer like this, dear Lord Jesus, I need you, Jesus, I ask you to save me. Change me from the inside out. I believe you died on the cross for me, and I believe you rose again on the third day, and I accept you right now as my Lord and Savior, would you remove all the guilt and the shame right now? Thank you, Jesus. And I turn my eyes upon you, and I set my heart on you, and right now I believe, and I receive that I am a child of God because of Jesus and what Jesus did on me for me on Calvary's cross. Now, if you already receive the blessing of that, let's come to the Lord's table and recognize and accept the blessing, accept the benefits of Christ's sacrificial death on the cross.

Take the bread in your hands all over this room. The bread represents the body of our Lord, and right now we remember what Jesus did for us on Calvary's cross. And today I recognize and I accept that, Lord Jesus. So what you did for me, you died a sacrificial death for me that I could be saved so I could experience the love of God, and I thank you for the peace of the blessing and the power and all of the promises that are available at the King's table. And I believe, Jesus, you are the Son of God, and that you're my Lord and my Savior, and I affirm that by taking this bread representing the body of our Lord, let's take it together. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. There's provision at the Lord's table. Thank you, Jesus. I put my faith in you again today. I recognize you as my Lord and my Savior and my King. Thank you for what you did for me, Jesus. You were beaten, you were bruised, you were bloodied, and I remember that and recognize you as Lord and Savior. And then we take the cup. The cup represents the body of the blood of our Lord. The blood that washes us clean cleanses us from all sin. Thank you for the powerful, wonderful, working blood of Jesus. Put your faith in Jesus right now. Say, Jesus, I receive this cup and I recognize you as my Lord and my Savior. And you're ready, stand to your feet and make that proclamation today. Amen. (upbeat music) [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC]

[MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] Come on, can we see now one more time? [MUSIC] Alleluia, let's give it up for Jesus. Alleluia, Alleluia. Hey, I don't know how do you feel right now, but you know what? My heart is full of gratitude because I know where my lot of bar was. And I know that God brought me to his table and to be with him. So if you just had this feeling for the first time and if you said, you know what? I want to come into my life to Christ. If you're recommitting your life to Christ or committing your life to Christ today, I just want to say that I'm so proud of you as one of the pastors of this house. And we as a family of Christ, we are proud of you. And we want to walk alongside you, amen? Please text the word Jesus to 510 and I guarantee you that a real person will contact you this week, amen? It's not going to be automated, maybe the first message only. But we're going to contact you. I also want to remind you about a very important thing. So tonight we have what? Prasutha, come on guys. I don't even need to tell you, all right? So at 6 p.m. tonight we have a worship night here together. We're going to come as a church to worship God. And you know what? He's going to be here. He's going to be here and it's going to be a great time.

So please come 6 p.m. Let's worship God together. Let's listen to what God is going to do tonight. Amen? Also, if you have any prayer requests, we want to pray with you. I want to invite the prayer team to come forward. And any prayer requests, maybe again, you gave your life to Christ today. We just want to pray with you. So please come. Let's join and pray together. Amen? All right. And as you leave the Altoria, remember what Pastor Dave said. We have the impact and stewardship report for you. So it's going to be on the top, high top tables right beside the exit doors. Amen? All right. Let me pray for you. Thank you so much for your people, for this church, for the body of Christ that gets together here, Father. I pray that you continue, Father, to unite us as your body, Father. Let us reflect your love, Father, in every single thing that we do, Father. Continue, Father, also to remind us about your love, Father. We pray that this word creates roots in our heart and brings fruits to you. We love you and we praise you in Jesus' mighty name. And all of us, people in the house, come on, say, "Hey, man. Amen. God bless you, everybody. Have a great Sunday." [MUSIC PLAYING]

(upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) [Baptist Health South Florida]