Keith Battle - You Are Not Forgotten

Do you know what it’s like for somebody you were depending on to let you down? I mean, they let you down so, so hard that it left you crippled. You may not be physically crippled, but you’re still limping; your heart is limping. Do you understand what I’m saying? You don’t trust people the way you used to because someone did something, and maybe you were dependent upon them to hold you, to have you. You thought they had you, but they dropped you. And now he, having been dropped and crippled through no fault of his own, is living in a place called nothing. Yet God had not forgotten him. The Bible says King David said, «Go get him.» So they sent for this man. They sent people, and they brought him. In verse five, they go and bring him from Lo Debar, from the house of Machir, son of Ammiel. Then verse six says, «Remember Mephibosheth, son of Jonathan, the son of Saul?» He came to David, bowed down to pay him honor, and David said, «Mephibosheth!» He answered, «Your servant.» David said, «Don’t be afraid.» The reason Mephibosheth is afraid is because, remember, David is the king. But Mephibosheth, as we will see later on in verse 12, has his own son. He went from being five years old the last time we heard from him to becoming crippled; we didn’t hear from him again until 2 Samuel chapter nine, and now he’s old enough to have his own child. After all this time, he gets a message saying King David is looking for you. Now keep in mind, Saul, his grandfather, used to always try to kill David, so his assumption is, «That’s it! They found me. I was in a place called nothing, minding my business, and now I gotta die! I’d rather be crippled in Lo Debar than lose my life.» So he comes before the king, terrified, and David says, «Don’t be afraid!» Watch this; he’s thinking, «I’m gonna kill you, right?» But watch this: verse seven says, «I will surely show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will restore to you all the land that belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will always eat at my table.» Now, you see, that’s what you call a God shocker! This man came near to dying, and he just got his father’s property and will eat at the king’s table every day. Here’s how shocked he is; in the next verse, he says, «What? Who am I that you would even notice a dead dog like me?» He said, «I’m not even a dog; I’m a dead dog, and you recognized me.» Look at what David says in verse nine: David said to Ziba, «Summon Ziba, Saul’s steward.» Now, Ziba wasn’t just Saul’s servant; he was Saul’s steward. Stewart means a person who takes care of another’s estate when they die. He oversaw Saul’s property. Ziba, his family, and his servants took care of Saul’s inheritance, and when you take care of someone’s stuff and they don’t have a successor, you become sort of like the owner of it; you get accustomed to the amenities. But here’s what he hears from King David in verse nine: «I have given your master’s grandson everything that belonged to Saul and his family. You and your sons and your servants ought to farm the land for him and bring in the crops so that your master’s grandson may be provided for. And Mephibosheth, the grandson of your master, will always eat at my table.» Now Ziba had 15 sons and 20 servants, which means not only did Mephibosheth not get killed, he got his grandfather’s property, he’s going to eat at the king’s table, and he just gained 35 employees that he didn’t even have to hire or take through an onboarding process or HR processes. He is now over 35 people who are working for him, farming the land and bringing him money and food. God can turn the situation around; that’s incredible! I’m telling you, I know Ziba was mad because later on, Ziba tried to convince David that Mephibosheth was going to revolt against him. He was lying about Mephibosheth because he was jealous; he wanted what David was giving to Mephibosheth. But y’all may not like this, but you must understand: God will make people serve you even if they don’t like you! They can’t stand you, but they can’t stop you! If God is for you, don’t make me stop! If God is for you, I’m just reading the passage. Let me keep reading. So now we embrace verse 11. Ziba said to the king, «Your servant will do whatever my lord the king commands.» So Mephibosheth ate at David’s table like one of the king’s sons. Verse 12: Mephibosheth had a young son named Micaiah, and all the members of Ziba’s household were servants to Mephibosheth. Verse 13: Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem because he always ate at the king’s table. He was lame in both feet. I want you to stand up for a second, put your Bible on the seat for a moment, or as you stand, I want someone to go around to three or four people, and you’re going to give them the title for my sermon today. See, I understand here’s a man who was royally born. He was born in royalty but dropped by somebody and crippled.