So if you would, please turn in your Bibles to 2 Samuel chapter 9. And we'll read all of chapter 9, which is not a long chapter, shockingly, Samuel. But we'll read that in just a moment. So in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Fellowship of the Rings, there's this scene where the Fellowship receives gifts from the elf Galadriel. She gives to the hobbits Merry and Pippin brand new daggers to carry. But when she comes along to another hobbit named Samwise Gamgee, she gives him some rope. Sam, not understanding why he was only getting rope, asked Galadriel, you don't happen to have any more of those nice shiny daggers, do you? But Galadriel just smiled at him and kept moving past him to the next person without answering. Now, at the time, Sam clearly thought he was being shortchanged. But as he and Frodo struck out along towards Mordor, that rope became an invaluable tool. They used the rope to travel through very difficult terrain. At one point, they even used it to scale down a cliff and they thought they'd have to leave the rope, which was tied at the top, behind. But Sam gives it a tug and then just comes falling down and then they're able to keep the rope. Later on, they use that same rope to tie up Gollum. And again, the magical qualities of the rope are evident as it burns the skin of Gollum and actually keeps him under control. So, this gift that Sam received, it was far from random. It had specific purposes in mind. Sam just didn't understand them at the time. Now, Christians receive all sorts of blessings and gifts from the Lord, both physical and spiritual in nature. But we often fail to recognize the value and the purpose of our gifts. We see someone else with a shiny new gift that we would rather have and we grow discontent with whatever gifts we have. But if we are patient and faithful to the Lord, we will in time see reasons for the gifts that he's given to us. And one of the main reasons for the blessings he gives us is so that we can then turn around and bless others with that gift. Are there many purposes to all of our blessings which we miss when we fail to be thankful for the gifts that we have? And so, God blesses us with gifts because He loves us. And because He loves you, He desires that you then be a blessing to others as well. And because God blesses you richly, you must bless others or you're misusing your gift. So, let's read 2 Samuel chapter 9. And David said, Is there still anyone left of 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 Ziba, and they called him to David. And the king said to him, Are you Ziba? 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? Ziba 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 Ziba said to the king, He is in the house of Mekir, the son of Amiel at Lodabar. Then King David sent and brought him from the house of Mekir, the son of Amiel at Lodabar. 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 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 show regard for a dead dog such as I? Then the king called Ziba, Saul's servant, and said to him, All that belong to Saul and to all his house I have given to your master's grandson. 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 Mephibosheth, your master's grandson, shall always eat at my table. Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants. Then Ziba said to the king, According to all that my lord the king commands his servant, so will your servant do. So Mephibosheth ate at David's table like one of the king's sons. And Mephibosheth had a young son whose name was Micah. And all who lived in Ziba's house became Mephibosheth's servants. So Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, for he ate always at the king's table. Now he was laying in both his feet. So, look at two points this morning, and the first is God's blessings. So, if we're to understand this section, this chapter correctly, then we have to remember what occurred in chapters 7 and 8. In chapter 7, God made the Davidic covenant with David, and He promised to David three things in that covenant. First, He promised that He would establish Israel firmly in Canaan, and that He would give them security in the land. Second, he would cut off all of David's enemies and he would make his reign strong over the land of Canaan. And then third, he promised a future descendant, a descendant that would come along and be like a son to God. And that descendants kingdom would continue on forever. And so David's reaction to those three promises was to go to the Lord in prayer and to beg him to bring those promises about. And the author of Samuel then included the content of chapter eight, largely to show how the Lord began fulfilling his promises to David, even in his lifetime. In David's lifetime, the Lord gave victory to Israel against enemies in every direction, bringing stability to the nation. So, as we dive into chapter nine, we need to recognize that God made rich promises to David, which he has already began working out to realize those things in David's life. Now, the events of this chapter took place a while after David became king over all of Israel, and commentators seem to mostly agree on the timing of these events. We can date these events based on Jonathan's son, Mephibosheth. Mephibosheth was probably only about five years old when Saul and Jonathan were slain on Mount Gilboa. That means when David finally took the throne, he was probably only about 13 years old. And in verse 12, we see here though, by this point, that Mephibosheth was married and that he had a young son, Micah. Now, that means that this chapter must have occurred a number of years after David fully took the throne. So, all those battles that are mentioned in chapter 8, they would have taken years probably to carry out. And in that time, David was growing stronger and Israel's borders were becoming increasingly secure. And if the book of Samuel so far has taught us anything, it's that the Lord is the one who raises up and establishes rulers. In many ways, this is actually the beginning of the high point of David's reign over Israel. And as we look here, we see that God's blessings on David are very apparent. He was finally established on the throne. His enemies were subdued before him through battle or through willing submission. Jerusalem and Israel were flourishing under this time. And the hand of God had brought him security and brought him power and it had brought him prestige. The spirit of the Lord had given him great wisdom and the ability to organize the nation into a proper kingdom. The true divine warrior King Yahweh had gone before David and Israel and he had conquered gloriously. So with this new level of peace and security in the land, David appears to have had time to stop and to take a breath and to think. And he used that time to meditate on the glorious blessings that the Lord had bestowed upon him. And as he contemplated the generosity of God to him, he was driven on to thankfulness and a desire to glorify the Lord with everything he had. He recognized that the Lord had been faithful to bring about every promise in his own life. And that also meant that he would be faithful to bring about the promises for his children. And so David knew he could not repay God for what he had done for him. He didn't earn those blessings and he knew he didn't deserve them. While he could not repay the Lord, he did recognize that God's faithfulness was a model for how he should turn around and bless others. And so reflecting on the love of God for him brought David to wonder how he could then show the love of God to others. The greatest commandment to love the Lord with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind led to the second greatest commandment, to love your neighbor as yourself. And the power of believers recognizing the blessings of God on their lives cannot be overstated. Thankfulness to God is the fuel that enables the fires of selfless love to burn hot for our neighbors. That love must be your motivation. And we'll break that down more in the next point. But before we go to the next point, I have some diagnostic questions for you. Has God blessed you? Now, some of you may want to answer that passionately. Of course he has. I can't count the blessings God has given me. Some of you may not feel like you can even answer positively right now. I don't feel like he has. He seems to give me more trouble than blessing. Now, none of you have been made king over a nation. None of you are in charge of a country. You don't have abundant riches and a host of servants at your command. But if you are a Christian, you have been blessed richly. You've already received the most valuable gift God could possibly grant you. And despite things falling off the walls, no one who is united to Christ can complain of a lack of blessings. And so, the next question is this, how has God blessed you? Well, Jesus says in John 10 10, I came that you may have life and have it what? Abundantly. He's the only source of living water. He is the way and the truth and the life. He is the light of the world and the only Savior. So, if you are a Christian, you have already been granted to find the pearl of greatest price. You have found the treasure hidden in a field of such exceeding value that it's worth trading all you have in order to attain it. No one who is connected to Christ can ever rightfully claim that they have been ripped off by God. There's no greater gift God could grant you than that you be adopted as a son or a daughter through Jesus Christ. Having the most valuable blessing doesn't mean that other blessings in this life are superfluous though. Rather, we just need to challenge our hearts and minds in order to rank our blessings correctly. The joy of knowing Christ is a blessing that secures peace and joy in every situation, regardless of whatever is going on in our lives. But that does not mean that we fail to recognize and be thankful for the myriads of other temporal blessings that we have. Each one of us has been richly blessed in this life. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus speaks against anxiety by explaining that if God cares for the birds, He will certainly care for you, because you are a far more value than a bird. And so God provides for us. He provides the blessings that we need. But so often, instead of focusing on the things God provides for us, what do we do? We focus on the things that we don't have. And that spoils our ability to recognize our blessings. And far too often we think about the prayer requests that have not been answered and we become bitter over those things. But instead, we must recount the blessings that God has given to us. Everyone goes through seasons of poor health and some have it far worse than others. But the fact that your bodies keep going and that it could be far worse is something we should remember. God does nothing without a purpose, and that includes any physical suffering we may undergo. And so we should be thankful for whatever level of help that we have. God's physical provisions in our lives are also easy to overlook. Focusing on the new and the flashy, it leads us to discontentment with the gifts that we have now. But if you have a bed to sleep in, a roof over your head, and food to eat, then you are very blessed. Many in this world and even this country, they don't enjoy those comforts, at least not regularly. Additionally, how many of you own your own homes, own your own cars? You have extra spending money. You don't have to worry about where your next meal is going to come from. We live in a day where we have doctors, hospitals, health insurance. There are forms of entertainment and things that help us as we go about daily tasks, cell phones, technology. Those are just some physical things we can be thankful for now. We should also be thankful for the way that God blesses us through other people. Parents, children, siblings, friends, church family, they're all gifts from God, even though they can be difficult at times, just like each one of you can be difficult at times. So, I encourage you to use today to think about all the details of how God has blessed you temporally, here and now. But don't limit your meditation and thankfulness to only now. Don't forget about the future blessings either. I'm not referring to just the future blessings in this life, although those are true. But really think about the next life and the blessings promised there. Your current joy and peace in knowing Christ is just a foretaste of the blessings to come in glory. We have immense blessings now, but part of the wonder of glory to come is that we will come into our full inheritance in Jesus. So just imagine the blessings to come and meditate on those as well. We will have bodies that function perfectly forever, never to fall apart, never to give way, never to age or break down. So that creaking knee, that achy shoulder, the fading mind, the damaged heart will all be transformed and replaced with glorious versions. The things of this world that fade, break and leave you dissatisfied will give way to the ages where your work will always be fruitful and delightful to you. You will enter into a world where your contentment will be perfect. But most gloriously of all, all of your heart's desires will be fully met and surpassed by perfect communion and fellowship with Christ, with your creator. We shall see Christ and we shall be made like him because we shall see him as he truly is. The fellowship that Adam and Eve lost in the garden, it will be restored to a better state than it was at creation. We will walk with God in fellowship and we will not be ashamed. Those are rich blessings which are certain and real, though we must wait to enjoy them. And if you meditate on all these blessings, then I guarantee you that you will be more grateful and content with what the Lord has called you to in this life. And if you dwell on these things, you will want to do something out of thankfulness to the Lord. But what can you do for the Lord? Let's move into the second point. I just titled this your obligation. So, remember that David's blessings were the motivating power behind his actions in this chapter. As he contemplated his blessings in a stable and secure situation, he remembered a way that he could be a blessing to somebody else. Because long before this moment, David had separately promised Jonathan and Saul to spare their descendants. The promise to Jonathan added that David would show kindness, chesed to his children, not just spare them. But the first problem in fulfilling his covenant obligations was to Jonathan was that he didn't know who was still alive to even show kindness to. Between a civil war in Israel, evil murders, Israel's other enemies, Saul's house had not done well after his death. But even before that, David had been forced out on the run by King Saul. And so, he may not have known what was going on with Saul's family, who had even been born. So, he had to find someone who knew what had become of Saul's family. And that's how David ended up in this conversation with this man named Ziba, who was one of Saul's former servants. Now, Ziba, we learned from the text, was clearly a wealthy and powerful man. It seems that he was in control of all of Saul's former assets in Gibeah, which was less than five miles north of Jerusalem. Now, we don't know for sure, but he may have been partly rich and powerful, thanks to the misfortune of his former master. But as David spoke with him, Ziba was clearly guarded and uncertain about David's intentions. Being the former servant of a king, standing before the new king does present some risks for you. And so perhaps there was that reason behind it. Could be out of self-interest. It could be concern for Saul's house. And so when we see his answer to David's questions, they're rather guarded. They're qualified. Ziba informed David that Jonathan's son, Mephibosheth, was still alive on the other side of the Jordan in exile. But he also made sure to note a detail about this man, Mephibosheth, that he was crippled in his feet. And that information we see repeated in the chapter. In the ancient Near East, a cripple could not be a king. One of the primary requirements for kingship at this time was that you had to have the ability to actually lead your people, lead your armies into battle. And that's something where someone who is crippled on their feet will not be able to do. And so that really meant that Mephibosheth, he was not a contender for the throne. He could not challenge David and was not a threat. Now, there does seem to be some concern for Saul's family here from Ziba, though he may have had other motives as well. But regardless, David found one who, as the text says, he could show the kindness of God to. So, he sent his men out to find Mephibosheth and to bring him to Jerusalem. And likely unsure of why he was being brought to the king, Mephibosheth prostrated himself on the ground out of respect for the king. Now you have to imagine this scene a little bit, but don't forget here that he's crippled in his feet. Going down to the ground would not have been an easy task for him. It would have been very awkward and probably very painful. And so really, when David looks on his humility, we can see David's shock. He doesn't just say Mephibosheth's name, it's an exclamation. Mephibosheth! There's no telling what this poor man thought was about to happen, but David put his fears at ease right away. He had brought Mephibosheth there to bless him through two pronouncements. First, David was going to give him all of his father's lands back. That would be a considerable amount of land and wealth less than five miles away from Jerusalem. And then second, he was given the honor of eating from David's table in Jerusalem. And this is a lot more than just the promise of free meals for Mephibosheth. David gave him the honor of being a prince in the land, where he would have consistent access to the king and all the privileges of being part of the royal family in Jerusalem. Now, many years back, way back in 1 Samuel, Saul had honored David with nearly the same honor. And now David turns around and bestows this honor on Jonathan's son, going above and beyond his covenant promises to his friend. And in verse 12, we see that David's ascent towards Jonathan extended not only to his son, but also to his grandson. Micah also became a beneficiary of David's kindness and blessings. And Micah must have gone on to live a quiet life because he's never mentioned again in Samuel. And so with all these plans and details settled, Ziba is brought back in, he's given his orders. And in this chapter, it's David who speaks with Mephibosheth, Well, it was the king who spoke with Ziba. Did you catch that as we read through? The author makes it clear that David was genuinely warm and gentle with Mephibosheth, using the name David in the conversation. But as soon as he goes to speak with the shrewd Ziba, he was king once again. And so the order for Ziba was clear. His large family, his servants would manage Saul's household for Mephibosheth. And while Ziba doesn't seem particularly thrilled about this situation, he could not argue with the king's commands. In a few chapters later, we'll see just how sneaky Ziba is and how he appears to try to work things out a little bit better for himself. But here, this is all we see, just maybe some begrudging acceptance. But when we look at Mephibosheth and his son, all we see is thankfulness from these two. And so really what we see in this chapter is David at his best and you could argue perhaps his most Christ-like. He saw his blessings and knew that they allowed him the chance to bless his Israelite brothers. He took someone who, according to any other nation, any other culture, should have been counted an enemy and brought him into his own family. He didn't put any limits on Mephibosheth and he didn't demand any stipulations from him. Mephibosheth was brought out of exile into the very heart of Israel and made into a prince. And in these actions, we see a small picture of what Christ has actually done for each one of us. Ephesians 2.13 says that in Christ Jesus, you who were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. And we're not brought near as slaves, but as something far greater. Romans 8, 15, for you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry, Abba, Father. In David's generosity and faithfulness, we see a wonderful picture of what Jesus has done for each one of you. Therefore, for you who have been brought into the family of God and provided with rich blessings, how might you utilize those blessings? How could you take the gifts and blessings you have been given and use them in order to point others to Jesus as David did? How might you become a messenger by which unbelievers witness the kindness and the goodness of God through you? We need to be less worried about what gifts and blessings we may lack and more concerned with using the blessings that we have been given. Paul teaches this very concept in Romans 12. He says, for as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another, having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us. Let us use them. If prophecy in proportion to our faith If service in our serving, the one who teaches in his teaching, the one who absorbs in his exhortation, the one who contributes in generosity, the one who leads with zeal, the one who does acts of mercy with cheerfulness. Notice that our gifts are supposed to differ from one another or the church would not be equipped to minister as it should. But notice that we also all have gifts. Paul doesn't say that some have blessings and others don't. We all have ways that we can serve the church and minister to the world. So if every believer has been gifted with some blessing, how has God blessed you? How could you utilize the gifts that you have received from him? Well, if you're a prayer warrior, be constant in prayer. If you're good at encouraging, then build people up with the truth, not with lies, not with flattery, with the truth. If you've been gifted with skills of service, then go serve with joy. And don't think lightly of any blessing as if some matter and others don't. There isn't a tier list for our blessings. God has gifted his church according to his holy will and purpose. And who here wants to try to argue with God over these things? You may not like your own gifts, you may even be ignorant of what they are, but God gave them to you for a purpose. He has richly blessed each and every one of us so that his church might bear more fruit. So seek to learn how the Lord has gifted you and seek to utilize those gifts in the church. You have been blessed by the Lord. Seek to serve with the blessings he has given to you for his glory and for his kingdom. Let's pray. Lord God, we thank you that you have seen fit to bless us in many ways. Often we don't recognize what those blessings are right away. And so, Lord, we ask for patience and we ask for wisdom that you would guide us in learning what our gifts and blessings are, that we might use them for the sake of your church, that we might use them to encourage those who are discouraged, to build up those who need building up, to train those who are immature. Maybe it's just to serve. Maybe it's just to be faithful, to talk to people and make them feel welcome. Lord, whatever gifts you have given us, help us to seek to use them in obedience to your word that we might give you glory and that we might delight in doing so because you have blessed us with every good thing. So help us to turn around and seek to bless one another when we ask all these things in Jesus name. Amen.