Feast with a King

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Julius Kim: Before I ask you to turn in your Bibles, I would be remiss if I didn’t get a chance to thank the entire staff, many of them working behind the scenes and making this possible, not only for you, but for my family. So I think Shane, when Shane came out earlier in this conference, he talked about how he has been involved in women’s ministry for many years, as the as the husband of a wife and daughters. I’m not sure if I can say that. But I can say I’ve been the recipient of women’s ministry in my life, especially from my wife of 29 years. And my two daughters, I like to say that they’ve been involved in toddlers church for many years with me. And so I’m grateful for their ministry to me all these years. And for the many special women in my life, I would not be here today without the prayers of my grandmother, and my mother, who prayed for me every single day of their lives. And so without their support and encouragement and prayer, I would not be here. So I give thanks to God, for the very special women in my life that continue to allow me to do what I do. So I’m thankful to the Lord. So if you have your Bibles that invite you to turn to Second Samuel chapter nine.

2 Samuel chapter nine, we’ll be reading the entire chapter verses one through 13. Listen carefully. For this is the word of the Lord. And before I want to give a shout out to those that are watching online, I think there are several 1000 I think last time I checked, there are some 5000 users online joining you all right now watching and so thank you, thank you for being here. Thank you for that clap, too. I heard that. I hear you. I hear that cloud. Thank you for that. Listen carefully for this as the word of the Lord. And David said, Is there still anyone left to the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake. Now there was a servant of the house of Saul, whose name was Zebah. And they called him to David. And the king said to him, Are you a zebra? And he said, I am your servant. And the king said, Is there not still someone of the house of Saul, that I may show the kindness of God to him? Zeba said to the king, there is still a son of Jonathan. He is crippled in his feet. The king said to him, Where is he? And Zeba said to the king, he is in the house of Mac here, the son of amio it at loads of bar, thinking David sent and brought him from the house of mark here the son of amio at low the bar. And Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, son of Saul, came to David and fell on his face and paid homage. And David said, Mephibosheth Masha? And he answered, Behold, I am your servant. And David said to him, do not fear for I will show you kindness for the sake of your father, Jonathan. And I will restore to you all the land of saw your father and you shall eat at my table always. And he paid homage and said What is your servant that you should so regard for dead dogs such as I. Then the king called Ziva Saul’s servant and said to him all that belong to Saul, and to all his house I have given to your masters grandson, and you and your sons and your servants shall tilled the land for him and shall bring in the produce that your masters grandson may have bred te but Mephibosheth your masters grandson, shall always eat at my table. Now, zebra had 15 sons and 20 servants. Then Ziva said to the king according to all that my lord the king commands a servant, so will your servant do. So Mephibosheth ate at David’s table, like one of the king’s sons, and most Shiva Mephibosheth had a young son whose name was Micah. And all who lived in zebras house became a famous chef servants. So Mokuba chef lived in Jerusalem, for he hate always at the Kings table. Now, he was laying in both of his feet. Thus far the reading of God’s word Let’s pray together. Gracious Father and heaven may the words of my mouth and the meditation of all of our hearts be pleasing your sight Oh Lord, our rock and our Redeemer. Would you speak to each and every one of us by the power of your spirit? Are we asked this in the matchless name of Jesus? Amen. Friends that temptation to seek revenge when provoked or wrong is strong, isn’t it? It could be something as simple and mundane as the driver who cuts us off on the road. seems to always happen on a Sunday morning when you’re driving to church. It could even be someone evil or perpetrates harm against you and your family. Or even more difficult, yet the desire to seek revenge can even come from some of those who are closest to you, your spouse, your child, your parents, your best friends, your fellow brothers and sisters at church. The temptation to seek revenge or refuge retribution is strong. And someone who knew that temptation to seek revenge was a British officer by the name of Ernest Gordon. Gordon was an officer who was caught at sea by the Japanese at the age of 24. And in his autobiography entitled miracle on the River Kwai, he tells an extraordinary tale of how sacrificial love had the power to even transform hate into love. Now, Gordon was sent along with fellow prisoners to work on the Burma Siam railway line that the Japanese were constructing through the dense Thai jungle for possible invasion against India. And though it was against international law, the Japanese even forced officers to work manual labor so each day Gordon and his fellow band of brothers would work 1000s of them hacking their way through the jungle just to build this track bed. On low lying swamp. naked except for loincloths don’t men worked in 120 degree feeds, their bodies stung by insects, their bare feet cut and bruised by sharp stones, and so death was commonplace. If a prisoner appeared to be lagging, the Japanese guard would beat him, bayonet him or just decapitate him in full view of all the other prisoners. Many more men simply dropped dead from exhaustion, malnutrition, and disease. And under these severe conditions with such inadequate care, for prisoners, close to 80,000 men died in this wartime situation. And under this heat, and strain of captivity, many of these Band of Brothers these fellow prisoners, they even degenerated to be barbaric behavior even to one another. And he writes this, Gordon writes this. As starvation, exhaustion and disease, took an ever increasing toll. The atmosphere in which we live became poisoned by selfishness, hate and fear. We were slipping rapidly down the slope of degradation before the patterns of army life and sustained us before we had still shown some consideration to one another as fellow prisoners now. That was all swept away existence had become so miserable the odds so heavy against survival, that for most of us, nothing mattered except to just survive. We live by the law of the jungle, the law of the survival of the fittest, it was a case of I look out for myself and to hell with everyone else. The band of brothers had become broken. Another person who understood the temptation to seek revenge was actually David. For here we find a story of David really at the peak of his power. But it wasn’t that long ago, when he was fleeing for his life, only thinking about when the next day of death might be. He was fleeing from his king. But what he served so faithfully King Saul, now could have I wonder if, in those several years of fleeing, wondering why he would be put to this kind of test, if he had this temptation to just seek revenge, just get rid of him. And that’s why the story is so important. Because there are people in the Bible who are going to go through exactly what we feel. But they also find a way to be transformed by the power of love, the transforming power of sacrificial love. And it wasn’t just David even Mephibosheth I need to pronounce that correctly. Don’t be saying that a lot of Fibber chef also experienced the power of sacrificial love to transform hearts that salt are so easily prone to seek revenge when wrong. So this message is for you and for me, who need more encouragement, or inspiration, and more help. And you’re going to get it through ultimately the gospel, the good news of sacrificial love. And so I’m really grateful for the opportunity to talk about this passage to share with you what I’ve been learning and praying about, because after all, we hear stories about heroes of the faith, right like Moses, David and Daniel and others, that seem to dominate our Sunday school lessons, as well as our view of the victorious Christian life. But the story introduces us to normal guys, like you and me, a cripple, far from his home, living and hiding, waiting, simply to die. And for any of us in this room, who have ever felt like him, helpless, hopeless, powerless, position less God has a message for you today. He wants you to remember the joy of the salvation of sacrificial love, especially in Jesus, and especially as he invites you to dine with him at the Kings table. As a royal daughter, and as a royal son,

as a child of God, lift up your head, you are a child of the King feasting at the table, both now and forevermore. And so I want to look at how this drama unfolds and how it’s going to teach us about this through 4x 4x. And as each act unfolds, the major character will switch between David and Martha Bichette. So here’s the outline for today. First, Act One, David’s pursuit, act two Mephibosheth plight act three David’s promise act for the Federal chef’s piece. So David’s pursuit Mephibosheth plight, David’s promise and Mephibosheth peace. So Act One, David’s pursuit. Now act one begins fairly benign, it’s been fairly peaceful. Verse one tells us that this scene unfolds with David asking his staff and servants Is there anyone left at the house of Saul that may show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake? Oh, that’s nice. The new king David wants to be nice to someone in Saul’s line, the previous king. But as I mentioned before, and for those of you that know the story up till now, as well as if you’re familiar with ancient Near Eastern customs regarding what to do with the grandson of the previous king, this is a very strange request. I want you to notice a few things here. First of all, as a drama unfolds here in Act One, David clearly is in pursuit of someone right? That’s what I call this pursuit. He’s in pursuit of somebody in Saul’s line. But friends in this context is a strange and unexpected request. Yes, David is in pursuit of one of Saul’s descendants, but not for a reason that makes any sense at all. Now remember, prior to David becoming king, he was a loyal supporter, and courageous soldier for King Saul. But as David’s power and prowess began to grow, as you know, Saul became more and more jealous of his young Gen. And even though David married one of Saul’s daughters became best friends with Saul’s son, Jonathan, in effect, becoming literally a son of the king. Saul’s rivalry and jealously grew so intense, that Saul became obsessed with one thing and one thing, only eliminating David. So David had no other choice but to flee, often to wilderness areas, even in enemy territory, but with the help of God, and with his own cunning David survives the pursuit of Saul. And so when Saul dies, and David is crowned the new king, it would have been natural for him, isn’t it natural for him to remember those difficult, bitter years? It would have been easy for him to be obsessed with one thing and one thing only that is eliminating all of Saul’s descendants. And this act of killing all remaining descendants as potential rivals to the throne is not only found in the Bible in places like judges and kings, but also in Ancient Near Eastern history. The harsh treatment meted out against political rivals was commonplace. And so David’s pursuit of someone to bless and not kill is not just expected, but frankly, unheard of. Friends. This is the nature of grace It’s something our world doesn’t understand. It’s unheard of. It’s unexpected. Now, Grace can’t be that easy. And at this critical moment when he could have, we can he can consolidate his power vanquish all his political rivals to the throne. David’s does something a powerful king does not do. Remember having received kindness from his promise keeping God having received kindness to the sacrificial love of his brother Jonathan. David demonstrates kindness all because of a promise he made. And not just any old kindness as you know, use three times here. It’s this headset has said hi kindness in Scripture. This is David’s unexpected pursuit. In the short chapter, David uses a special word hesed three times to convey the profoundly deep kindness and Grace she wants to display to a member of Saul’s family. He remembered when Jonathan prior to his death, asked him to make a sacred vow, a covenant promise, that even if God exterminate all the other enemies of David, David, please don’t kill any remaining members of my family. Remember this hesed love. So let’s cut up these animals in half. And let’s walk through them and promise one another. May what happened to these animals happened to me if I break this promise. And so first walk Jonathan. Even though it meant his own father’s wrath and alienation, he knew this was the right thing to do. And then David walked between the animals and said, Jonathan, I promise, David to remember that Jonathan was willing to lay down his life for his brother, even at the risk of alienating his father, Saul. Friends hesed is no ordinary word. And though it’s difficult to translate from the original Hebrew, I actually think Sally Lloyd Jones of all people in her Jesus story book Bible gets it exactly right. She translate hesed this way, has said is a never stopping, never giving up unbreaking always and forever love. Isn’t that good. Listen to this, has said is a never stopping, never giving up unbreakable, always and forever love. often attributed to God. This is the hesed love that David remembers and wants to reveal. years after the death of his as his friend Jonathan, he had no reason to do so. He had no expectation to do so. But this is the power of covenant. Covenant promises, the kind of promise that binds even husbands and wives together for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health until death do us part. And this is really the point of Act One, David’s pursuit. He turns the expected of the world into the unexpected of God rather than pursuing Saul’s descendants in order to exterminate them. David wants to demonstrate hesed this never stopping, never giving up unbreaking always in forever love. And of course, the question then x one is asking us is is my life characterized by this kind of sad love and commitment? Do I take the initiative to love to forgive, to give up myself when I’m provoked when it would be so easy to understand.

Act to muffle brochettes plight. As the next act opens in this drama we are introduced to a new main character and his situation we meet Mephibosheth and learn of his plight. Though it appears that all serious contenders to the throne are dead, David discovers through a former servant of saw that there is a son of Jonathan, a grandson of Saul who is still alive. But the text and the drama make an unexpected turn when we learned simply yet poignantly in verse three that he is crippled in his feet. He is handicapped, disfigured, disabled. What happened? How did he get this way? Well, we actually learn from Second Samuel for several chapters before of the tragic tale, when Mephibosheth will just five years old, enjoying the life of a prince The news came to the, to the kingdom to the palace that his grandfather and his father, the king, and one of his main Princess were killed in battle. And so his nurse had no time to waste. Knowing the dreadful but inevitable reality of exterminating the king’s offspring. The nurse grabs young Mephibosheth to flee for their lives. But tragically, we this in Second Samuel, for for Jonathan, the son of Saul had a son who was crippled in his feed. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Israel. And the nurse took him up and fled, and as she fled in her haste, he felled and became late. And his name was look for the chef. Though the son of a prince, he has bunk become disfigured and disabled his life will never be the same again. But this is only part of his plight. The narrator actually mentions his current living situation, doesn’t he? Now we’re at about 1520 years after this tragic accidents, we find Mephibosheth in the home of a friend and low the bar east of Jordan. And whenever a biblical Narrator gives you details like this, you need to pay attention. Located in the wilderness region east of Jerusalem where B with a palace would be we find low to bar, which literally means no pasture, no land. This is about as far from the princely life that Mephibosheth would have been used to as a child. It’s not a place to build opulent palaces and gardens befitting the prints of a kingdom. It’s not the place to develop large farms that produce multiple crops. It’s not a place from numerous flocks of sheep, and goats to graze and feed. In fact, if not for the kindness of a family friend and took them in, probably at the risk of his own life, Mephibosheth is literally nothing but a dead dog as he himself states in verse eight. And then language similar to David’s own wilderness experiences Mephibosheth has been in hiding, fearing for his life with no future and no hope. No land means no income. No future means no hope he is living in hiding in a barren and unfruitful land essentially waiting to die. Is it today that David’s soldiers come? Is it tomorrow? Is it next week? Can you imagine what life would have been like for that with that looming over your head every day, every week, every month for years. And this is Mephibosheth plight, though the son of a prince he is physically helpless and hopeless, but also politically powerless and position lists. And again, I don’t know about you, but in wilderness situations like this isn’t an easy to grow depressed and despondent. Wondering when and where God will intervene. God, is it today where I die? Or is it today? Where you might rescue me? I mean, what kind of life could this be 15 to 20 years after this tragic accident, something that he couldn’t even understand God’s providence here. A five year old growing crippled. How many times did you have to go through the phase five stages of grief, right? denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance, if there is such a thing? We don’t know exactly. But this we do know. It couldn’t have been a joy filled life and a fulfilled Bichette was here and I told him remember your joy, my favorite shots? You say? What joy? I haven’t experienced joy in 1520 years of my life. Julius. I have no home. I have no family. I have no hope. And I have no piece. This is apt to refurbish shuts plight. But the drama continues and in verses five through eight we read the remarkable story of undeserved grace that enters in and reintroduces hope and joy and Mephibosheth life at three, David’s promise. Here we get to the heart of the story, literally the story of David’s heart, which in turn reveals the heart of our God, called by soldiers to present himself to the kingdom of the bishop has no choice but to reply. The day that he had been dreading for years was finally You’re all those years he could have escaped, he escaped the possibility of death. But now, the time had finally arrived. But then again, it’s not like his life was all that great to begin with. Yes, he was alive and even had a son. But has this been his, quote, best life now? A life filled with peace of joy. And so what would David do? The exact three opens, we are confronted with unexpected grace, because of sacrificial love that transforms. Well, what would David do? Let’s read verses six and seven again. And Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, son of Saul came to David and fell on his face and paid homage. And David said, Mephibosheth. And he answered, Behold, I am your servant. And David said to him, do not fear for I will show you hesed for the sake of your father, Jonathan, and I will restore to you all the land of saw your father, and you shall eat at my table, always notice at least at least four amazing realities of undeserved unexpected Grace here in David’s promise. First, did you notice how David began, this is King David, ruler of all the land the most powerful person alive. Notice the first word out of King David’s mouth is Mephibosheth. It’s his personal name, long shot and yours and hiding. Mephibosheth is now seen. Indeed, He is named. When he’s first mentioned, notice how he’s first mentioned in verse six, right? He’s introduced by the narrator as the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul. He’s being called out for being part of the rival regime by the narrator. But then David does someone no one expects a king to say to somebody who should be dead, eliminated. exterminator he calls him out by name, and with this intimate, welcoming, gracious gesture. But fib OSHA experiences, Grace. But there’s more. The second part of David’s promise is found in the words do not fear for I will show you how is it the second words out of David’s mouth are just a shocking, he tells Mephibosheth not to fearful I will show you covenant, kindness, even at the risk of my life. Did I hear that right? Did the king just tell this dead dog not to fear what in the world? You can kind of imagine what the servants are thinking what the staff were thinking what the soldiers were thinking. First he calls him by name. And now this again. This is an amazing display of grace upon grace. The king not only calls him by name, but he offers this unexpected promise, there will be kindness, not killing. There will be acid, not hatred. Though it was historically commonplace and politically expedient to wipe out all potential rivals to the throne, this king will break the cycle. He will not kill the last remaining members of Saul’s family and as hope replaces fear Mephibosheth. Experiences grace. Third,

David promises that He will quote, restore to you all the land of Saul. Again, though not formally required, nor socially expected, David continues to shock and surprise those around him. He calls him by name, promises not to kill them, and now restores the land that once belonged to his enemy, the enemy that wanted him dead, the enemy that he fled for three years. The enemy that tempted him to revenge. The Dave David staff and servants and soldiers must have thought that the king was acting crazy again. There it goes, David. Friends, David is not crazy. He’s revealing the heart of grace, the grace that the Lord showed him when he was younger, the grace that experience Jonathan, and now he’s just paying it forward. He’s remembering that grace and revealing that grace, he’s remembering joy and sharing joy. By restoring the land rights of Saul David is making sure that much Mephibosheth will never Don’t be hungry or homeless ever again. Friends Mephibosheth as a recipient of extravagant grace, and then fourth and last, this is amazing. As if it wasn’t amazing enough, right? This is amazing grace when David declares his final promise you shall eat at my table always. Here’s the invitation that must have shocked everyone. This undeserving crippled former child of Saul’s son has now been invited to dine at the Kings table. And not just for one meal that would have been nice enough. But always and forever reserved only for those in the royal family. This was no ordinary promise. It is a new reality from a Fibber chef. Though the grandson the previously vanquish king, he has now been adopted back into the royal bloodline. This was unheard of, let alone one that’s been cursed with crippled feet and yet such was the amazing grace displayed to one undeserving child. And this is because ultimately, sacrificial love transformed David. Just this sacrificial love, transformed earnest Gordon. Though the string of captivity many of these prisoners had degenerated into barbarous behavior. One afternoon a miracle happened that would forever change this camp. The Japanese guards carefully counted tools at the end of a day’s work, and on this day, the guards shouted that a shovel was missing. He walked up and down the ranks of the prisoners demanding who had stolen it. And when no one confessed, he began to scream then all die all die, and he raised his rifle to fire at the first man on the line. At that one instant one prisoner stepped forward stood at attention and said, I did it. The guard fell on him in a fury kicking and beating the prisoner who despite the blows, still managed to stand at attention. Even more enraged, the guard lifted his weapon high in the air and brought the rifle but down on the soldier skull. The man sank to a heap on the ground, but the guard continued kicking his motionless body. When the assault finally stopped, the other prisoners picked up their brother’s dead body and marched back to camp. That evening, when the tools were countered, again, the work crew discovered a mistake had been made. No shovel was missing. And it’s at this time one of the prisoners remembered the verse. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Word spread like wildfire through the camp, an innocent man had been willing to die to save the others. The incident had a profound effect the man who for months lived like animals trying desperately to strive began to treat each other, again like brothers. With no prompting, prisoners began looking out for each other rather than themselves. Although to be caught meant death, prisoners undertook expeditions outside the camp, just to find a little bit of food. For the fellow brothers who are sick, thefts grew increasingly rare. Men started thinking less of themselves finding ways to help others sacrificial love was transforming this camp. As a newly appointed chaplain to his fellow prisoners, Ernest Gordon experienced firsthand the transforming power of sacrificial love. One day he and his fellow camp prisoners saw a group of wounded Japanese soldiers, Japanese soldiers entering the camp on the back of trucks. They could see that their uniforms were encrusted with mud, blood and even excrement. Their wounds were sorely inflamed and full of pus crawling with maggots. Clearly, they had been left in this predicament for weeks without any treatment. And the British prisoners were so immediately moved by compassion for these men. Without hesitation, one of the prisoners grabbed a pail of water and began to clean the wounds of a dying Japanese soldiers. Soon other prisoners began to join in offering food and precious water. The Japanese Gods actually tried to prevent them from helping the sick man who are clearly no longer fit for action. Apparently, whenever one of them died on Route, he was just simply thrown off into the jungle. The prisoners finally understood why the Japanese were so cruel to them. They barely cared for their own. Well, Gordon and his fellow prisoners ignored the guards and knelt by the side of the enemy to Give them food and water to clean and bind up their wounds to smile and to even say a kind word. Weak but grateful cries of Thank you were uttered. On being rebuked by another British officer the simple yet powerful words of Jesus came to Gordon Love your enemies. sacrificial love has transforming power. Such was the transformative power of grace that when liberation finally came, the prisoners treated their sadistic guards with kindness and not revenge. With hesed and not hate, I added that he didn’t put hesed when the victorious ally is finally swept into survivors, looking like human skeletons lined up in front of their captors, the liberating Allied soldiers were so infuriated by what they saw that they wanted to shoot the Japanese on the spot. Only the intervention of the victims prevented them. The captors were spared by their captives. The exhausted were forgiving men said, No. Let mercy take the place of bloodshed. Not an eye for an eye or a limb for a limb. They said, No more hatred, nor more killing. Now what we need is forgiveness. This is the transformative power of sacrificial love, the sacrificial love that transformed David the sacrificial love that transformed the Muslim a chef and the sacrificial love that can transform you and me. Friends, this is the promise. This is the grace that points forward to me. And you for this drama is not just about David’s promise here, but ultimately about the promise of David’s greater son Jesus. You see friends long before Mephibosheth became disabled by his fall. We were crippled by the sin of our father Adam. And as a result we were utterly hopeless and helpless, powerless and positioned list to do anything about it. Indeed, we have become enemies of God, children of wrath, trying desperately to survive and our loads of bar unable to bear fruit or to even have any semblance of joy or peace. Like Mephibosheth we are far from home, living and hiding, just waiting for the day when we are to die. But thanks be to God David’s David’s promises here to Mahisha come to ultimate fulfillment in Christ, out of faithfulness to his hesed promise God promises to us. In never stopping, never giving up unbreaking always and forever love in and through Jesus you see for those that repent and believe for those that just rest. Rest and rely on what Jesus has done for you on the cross for your sins. Jesus calls you by name. Life is received, land is restored and a table is reserved. You are given the promise of life and forgiveness and salvation, you are given the promise of a land Heaven itself and you have eternal fellowship with God as you are invited to feast at the table of the king. Friends because of God’s covenant faithfulness, he recognizes his own sons sinless life and receives his own sons payment for our sins on the cross friends Christ became disfigured and disabled on a Roman cross. He became crippled by our sin even to the point of death. So you never ever have to.

And so for anyone in this room who have ever felt helpless and hopeless, powerless and position LIS, utterly lonely in your wilderness. God our King has a message for you today. He wants you to remember the joy of your salvation because your salvation is in His Son Jesus. And this is an invitation to dine with him at the Kings table as his very own royal daughter and son. Friends David’s promise is a promise for you. In David’s greater son cheeses, Friends Life is received land is restored and a table is reserved. This is act three David’s promise. So we conclude with act for Mephibosheth peace. The text and simply enough, doesn’t it resolving the tension of the narrative by describing how David’s promises were fulfilled in the life of Mephibosheth but Unless we to quickly pass over the drama of this final act, allow me to reveal a little bit of its nuances as we close. You know, when I first heard this sermon preached for the first time at my church, it was actually through a guest preacher and I’ll never forget it. Because he asked us to imagine the scene when Mephibosheth first responded to the king’s invitation, that fateful day when they walk into the palace, and sit among all the royal princes and princesses. But that’s when he first finally realized that he can have peace in his heart because of sacrificial love Patriot with me. After hours in the kitchen, the kitchen staff noticed the king’s attendance, and notify the Kings attendance that the meal was ready and the table was set. Now they did have to make a few adjustments to create a little bit more room at the Kings table. But that wasn’t too hard. The table was pretty large. What was more shocking to the staff was the person occupying the new place at the table. And one by one all the royal sons and daughters made their way to the kings table in came magnificent epsilon. Straight again with such confidence and poise, not one blemish on him from head to toe. Behind him was stunning Tamar, arguably more beautiful than any maiden in the land. They were so proud of epsilon and TMR and running late like usual with Solomon, who was further away in the library, trying not to trip as he continued to read his book, while making his way to the palace to his place at the table. And then came the sound. Clack shuffle, clap, shuffle, clap, shuffle. Everyone in the room turned to watch the newcomer enter. Slowly making his way in, heads down, head down, eyes down was Mephibosheth. As he finally came in view of the King, the servant stared and wonder, as the king actually began to smile, for his last son had arrived. And as Buffett Bichette carefully put his crutches aside, and sat in the designated spot. The tablecloth covered his feet. Friends, our story concludes with this statement in verse 13. Psalm, a Fibber chef lived in Jerusalem, for he ate always at the Kings table. Now he was laying in both his feet. On the one hand, the narrator reminds us that he was still laying in both of his feet that hasn’t changed. His circumstances haven’t changed. But everything changed. For he finally found peace. He looked up sheepishly, still finding it difficult to look at the other princes and princesses around him. But he was finally able to catch the eyes of the king. The king nodded and acknowledgement. And it seemed like his eyes smiled, as if to say, I see you Mephibosheth you’re not alone anymore. For you or not my child. Welcome to might, both now and forevermore. Friends, we have been invited to the kings table, through the sacrificial love of our King Jesus, and they’re at his table, He will wipe away all your tears. Remove all your bitterness, and fill your hearts with hope and peace. So come, come to this table. Taste and see, taste and see that your Lord is good. Amen. Amen. Let’s pray. Father, thank you for the amazing, sacrificial love of Jesus that changes everything, for all of life for all the world. And we pray that as we remember this sacrificial love, this amazing grace, that that will change our hearts to be filled now with hope, with peace, with joy. And then out of that amazing grace and gratitude. Share that joy. share that hope and share that peace with so many that is our desire to remember our joy, but also to share that joy. Would you help us to do so? So that ultimately King Jesus would be glorified? For we asked him in his matchless name, amen.