JEHOVAH'S LOVING KINDNESS! |
Daniel Sydlik - (A Member of the Governing Body Who Has Received His Reward) ........He said: I tell you now we are going to talk about something .... you know very little about.... if you will ever........ understand it.. We are going to talk about Jehovah's loving kindness!
There is a new king in Israel and it's king David. Now usually whenever there is a new king (in most kingdoms), it's a joyful time for the new king and a horrible time for the old king because all the boys in the family of the old king would be wiped out for fear they would come back for revenge or reprisal. But it's a new king in Israel. And David did something that was shocking. No other king had done this before. It's unprecedented.
Turn to second Samuel chapter 9. Look at verse 1. This is what David said - and he is picturing Jehovah God: "and David proceeded to say is there anyone left over from the house of Saul that I may exercise loving kindness to him for the sake of Jonathan?"
He is looking for someone of that household to show loving kindness to. Next verse: "Now the house of Saul had a servant whose name was Ziba. So they called him to David, and the king then said to him: 'Are you Ziba?' to which he said: 'I am your servant.'
Now what Ziba is telling him is: I am your man. I have served in a house of royalty. I know what goes on in the house of a king. I know how to run the house of a king. I know who belongs here.
Vs.. 3 'Is there nobody of the house of Saul anymore, that I may exercise toward him the loving-kindness of God?' (You see it's Jehovah's loving kindness)
At this Ziba said to the king: 'There is yet a son of Jonathan, lame in the feet.'
Vs 4 Then the king said to him: 'Where is he?' So Ziba said to the king: 'Look! He is in the house of Machir the son of Ammiel at Lo-debar.' ...
Lodebar! that was the ghetto... No one but cripples and undesirables live there. No one else wanted to live there. Zi'ba is saying: Now hold on king! Don't go too far! I know what belongs in the house of royalty. The only one who's left of the house of Jonathan is his son. He's a cripple, he doesn't belong here. In fact he lives in Lodebar.
David said: That's the man that I am looking for. You go and get him and you bring him to this house. That's who I'm looking for to show loving kindness to. It's the loving kindness of God.
Me·phibo·sheth was crippled because his nurse dropped him accidentally and from then on he was lame in both of his feet.
The king is telling Zi'ba 'that's the man, go and get him because that's the man I am looking for.'
Next brother Sydlik picks up a bell and says 'dinner time in David's house.'
At dinner time at David's house who would you expect to see? Who dines at the table of a king? It would be David and all of his children.
Now beauty ran in David's family. His son Absalom was so good looking that they cut his hair only once a year and his hair alone weighed 5lbs. The Bible says that no man was as beautiful as Absalom. And he was sitting at David's table and it's dinner time at the king's table.
He had a sister named Tamar. The Bible says she was so good looking that her own brother raped her and beautiful Tamar was also at David's table.
Who else was at David's table? There was wise Solomon probably reading a book. There were David's 2 nephews Abishi and Joab, mighty warriors, courageous men. The Bible says Joab was cute! And they both take their seat at the table.
Then the next person comes in. It's a cripple! IN WALKS A CRIPPLE! With all of this beauty at the table, in walks a cripple!!!
That's when brother Sydlik lowered the boom on us... no one will ever forget that talk because it demonstrated Jehovah loving kindness.
He told us we are all crippled brothers. Adam and Eve dropped every one of us... we are all crippled......... We are all messed up.
We have frailties and infirmities we don't want anyone to know. We make it hard on each other to stay at the table because we look at each other and say 'he doesn't belong at this table.' We are hard on each other. We make it hard to sit at the table. We say things like 'I know he's not coming to the table". "She needs to quit ". We look at a brother and say 'he's not gonna make it'. You see we are hard on each other at that table. And we live in Lodebar. No matter how much you pay for your mortgage, we are living in a filthy world. It's beneath Jehovah. It's the ghetto.
Now Mephibosheth, he couldn't understand how the king wanted him to sit at his table.
Isn't that the way we are? We can't appreciate Jehovah's loving kindness. We can't understand it. There are things about us we don't want anyone to know. We compromised. We capitulated. We went back at times and we don't want anybody to know that. We don't understand Jehovah's loving kindness.
We tell people 'there are things about me you just don't know'. And when we receive commendation we tell people 'if you really knew how I was you wouldn't say that, so now I feel worse.'
Did you know that there are some people who serve God, yet pray that they can just die?
We feel we are not worthy to be at Jehovah's table... We can't understand Jehovah's loving kindness. Mephibosheth, he couldn't understand it and many times he would look around the table and say to David 'let me leave, I can't measure up'.
And David would say 'stay at the table'. Mephibosheth looked at Tamar's beauty and asked to leave the table and David said 'stay at the table'. He looked at wise Solomon and said 'let me leave the table' and David said 'stay at the table'.
He looked at mighty Joab and felt unworthy and asked to leave but David said 'stay at the table'.
Now in Israel , one of the "worst" things was to be a dog. Mephibosheth said at second Samuel chap 9 vs.. 8 'And he said what is your servant that you have turned your face to the dead dog! Such as I am. I am not even a dog. I am a dead dog... why are you showing loving kindness to me?'
Do you ever feel that way? You see, if you only knew the love that Jehovah has for us, if you could only understand the work and effort and appreciation the faithful slave has for you, If you could only appreciate that it's not just a group of men printing literature in a building, they recognize the loving kindness of God.
Sure, you have done wrong and you have been disciplined. You have had hard times. Regardless of what you have done, regardless of how you feel... just stay at Jehovah table. Jehovah is not limited. He's not like humans...
As humans we remember things and we will never let you live it down. We say things like, 'I know what he did in 1983 and I knew him back in the day'. Girl... .. Jehovah's not that way. Manasseh did what was bad on a grand scale. He sinned against Jehovah. Jehovah not only restored him, he forgave him and made him king again. That's the God we serve! Jehovah says: 'don't be mindful of what these humans keep against you.' Jehovah says: 'I am not that way....' A struggling person is not a bad person .... We are just struggling. That's all. You are not bad.. Just remain faithful and stay at Jehovah's table.
40,000 a year become inactive. They leave Jehovah's table. Are we making it hard for them to stay at Jehovah's table? Many try to come back. At the Memorial, are we making it hard for them to stay at God's table? Are we making them feel like a dead dog? You see we are all crippled brothers ... Adam and Eve dropped everyone of us. Let's make it comforting and encouraging to stay at Jehovah's table. Regardless of what you've done, regardless of how you feel never think Jehovah won't forgive you, because Jehovah is actively looking for people like us to show loving kindness to.
Now the thing about this table is they would usually have these long skirts like table cloths and the skirt would cover everything below the table. It would cover everybody's legs. When Mephibosheth as a cripple sat at the table it would cover his legs and he would be just like everyone else. All his frailties and infirmities were covered as long as he stayed at Jehovah's table!!
That skirt pictures the ransom sacrifice of Jesus Christ .... Jehovah's telling us that I have you covered at this table. Don't leave, just stay at the table. You have all the covering... You have all you need .... I don't even see your frailties. I have been looking for people like you to show loving kindness to.
2nd Samuel chap 9 vs.. 11: very encouraging, 'So Ziba said to the king: 'In accord with all that my lord the king commands for his servant is the way that your servant will do; but Mephibosheth is eating at my table like one of the sons of the king.' It was Jehovah loving kindness.
VS 13 'And Mephibosheth himself was dwelling in Jerusalem, for it was constantly at the table of the king that he was eating; and he was lame in both of his feet.'
Mephibosheth stayed at that table. He stayed at God's table. Mephibosheth said 'sure: I have had hard times and I am a cripple and I don't even understand this loving kindness, but he said I'll never leave this table.'
And the Bible says he never left the table although he was lame in both of his feet. You see the skirt covered his legs. It covered his problems, covered all of his sins.
Lovers of God, don't leave. We are almost home. Jehovah says 'you are covered at this table. I love you. Don't ever doubt it....' Jehovah says 'why have you ended a sentence with a question mark when I have ended it with a period?' He's telling us that his son died for us and he's been looking for people like us to show loving kindness to.
Always stay at Jehovah's table. |
