Abide – 2 Samuel 9
Welcome everyone. Welcome to Abide. This is a time for us to step away from our daily comings and goings, and to pause. To be in the presence of our Savior more attentively. And so, whether that means you are in your room with the door closed, or whether you're out on a walk, or lying down. Begin to quiet the body, taking a nice inhale and exhale. Just settling into the quiet space. Our relationship with God is developed in these spaces where we give him our time and we give him our attention. We read his word and he speaks to us and we pray our prayers with words and silences and groans, and we speak back to him and this is how we develop our relationship with Jesus.
So I might I invite you now to just wherever you are, whether you're walking, sitting, or lying down, that you just open the palms of your hands as a gesture of openness, a desire to be fed, a desire to be nourished by God in your inner being. The desire that you have to ingest God's presence that it might take root in your being and continue to transform who you are in his loving presence. With these open palms, ready, desiring a deeper relationship with you, Jesus. You desire to be known, you want us to study you and know you and spend time with you and so we give you these moments.
I want to read you a poem by Wu-Men.
Ten thousand flowers in spring, the moon in autumn
A cool breeze in summer, snow in winter.
If your mind isn't clouded by unnecessary things,
This is the best season of your life.
If your mind isn't clouded by unnecessary things, this is the best season of your life. And so may this time of prayer that we've set aside. May it help to just clear away unnecessary things and thoughts. And to allow these most beautiful truths to enter in.
Today's gratitude practice: We're going to spend some time in a simple appreciation for the people that are most dear to us. The ones that sit at your table, the ones that walk in your hallways. The ones that sit across the room from you. And so, I invite you now to bring the faces of these people clearly before you. And take time to linger over each one of them. Maybe it's a roommate, or partner, or spouse, or a child, or a friend. Or maybe you live alone and it's who you see when you ride the elevator or walk up and down the steps, but it's someone that you see often. So let us take this time in simple appreciation. For these people that are closest to us, in our spaces. May we linger and take in the details of their presence.
And maybe the people that you see regularly, it's hard for you to be grateful for them. It's easy for you to think about what bothers you or upsets you or what annoys you. But I wonder if we can all invite the spirit of God to soften our hearts and to see even more closely the beauty of these individuals in our lives, the preciousness of these souls.
We are surrounded, surrounded by God's presence. The people in which he puts in our lives and the spaces that he allows us to dwell. He is everywhere and everything, and he is worthy of our praise, our gratitude, and our adoration. And let us just take in this deep breath of gratitude and exhale out gratitude. And as we read the Scriptures today, I just invite you to think about how the word of God is like food and it's meant to be taken into the mind, the heart, and the body, and it's meant to be chewed on and meditated on and digested and that the nutrients of these words would fill your mind, your soul, and your body. To then go out and live and love. These words aren't just ancient words, they’re words for us today. And so allow these words to come to your ears, to come to your imagination. And Spirit, will these words nourish us in this time.
And so we're going to read 2 Samuel 9:1-13.
David asked, “Is there any one still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan's sake?”
Now there was a servant of Saul's household named Ziba. They called him to appear before David, and the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?”
“Your servant,” he replied.
The king asked, “Is there no one still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show God's kindness?”
Ziba answered the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan; he is crippled in both feet.”
“Well, where is he?” the king asked. Ziba answered, “He is at the house of Makir, son of Ammiel in Lo Debar.” So King David had him brought from Lo Debar, from the house of Makir, son of Ammiel.
When Mephibosheth, son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, he bowed down to pay him honour. David said, “Mephibosheth!” “Your servant,” he replied.
“Don't be afraid,” David said to him. “For 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.”
Mephibosheth bowed down and said, “What is your servant, that you should notice a dead dog like me?”
Then the king summoned Ziba, Saul's servant, and said to him, “I have given your master’s grandson everything that belonged to Saul and his family. You and your sons and your servants are to farm the land for him and bring in the crops, so that your master's grandson may be provided for. And Mephibosheth, grandson of your master, will always eat at my table.” (Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.)
Then Ziba said to the king, “Your servant will do whatever my lord the King commands his servant to do.” So Mephibosheth ate at David's table like one of the king's sons.
Mephibosheth had a young son named Mika, and all the members of Ziba's household were servants of Mephibosheth. And Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, because he always ate at the king's table; and he was crippled in both feet.
Allow these words and the story to draw near to you. I'll read the passage again and see if any word, phrase, or even person sticks out to you in this reading.
David asked, “Is there any one still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan's sake?”
Now there was a servant of Saul's household named Ziba. They called him to appear before David, and the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?”
“Your servant,” he replied.
The king asked, “Is there no one still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show God's kindness?”
Ziba answered the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan; he is crippled in both feet.”
“Well, where is he?” the king asked. Ziba answered, “He is at the house of Makir, son of Ammiel in Lo Debar.” So King David had him brought from Lo Debar, from the house of Makir, son of Ammiel.
When Mephibosheth, son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, he bowed down to pay him honour. David said, “Mephibosheth!” “Your servant,” he replied.
“Don't be afraid,” David said to him. “For 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.”
Mephibosheth bowed down and said, “What is your servant, that you should notice a dead dog like me?”
Then the king summoned Ziba, Saul's servant, and said to him, “I have given your master’s grandson everything that belonged to Saul and his family. You and your sons and your servants are to farm the land for him and bring in the crops, so that your master's grandson may be provided. And Mephibosheth, grandson of your master, will always eat at my table.” (Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.)
Then Ziba said to the king, “Your servant will do whatever my lord the King commands his servant to do.” So Mephibosheth ate at David's table like one of the king's sons.
Mephibosheth had a young son named Mika, and all the members of Ziba's household were servants of Mephibosheth. And Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, because he always ate at the king's table; and he was crippled in both feet.
Allow us, Lord, to be still in your presence and in your word. And maybe we have a lot of thoughts about this passage and about ourselves and about who you are. But we can also just sit here together in stillness and in quiet and beheld.
This story has so much kindness in it. I don't know if you heard that word so often said. And it's a word that's often written in the Psalms, and it describes the character of God that he is kind, steadfast, loving, loyal friend, generous. And we see here that David is successful, and he has power, and he longs to share it. He longs to extend his wealth and God's favor on his life to others. Not many do that.
When some are successful or acquire a lot of things, they keep them to themselves, but here we see David wanting to share. We see that this kindness began in David's relationship with Jonathan years and years and years ago, their love, and their connection, and their covenant with one another. It's almost as if that love planted many, many seeds and they weren't quite sure how those seeds would germinate and flower and grow. But they had a covenant and a commitment to one another. And so here we are, years later, David longs to open up his household and to see if any of Jonathan's sons or relatives, any of Saul's relatives are needing care. And yes, one needs care, one needs compassion and concern. And this is, it's a very difficult name to say 8 times. If you'll notice this passage, they say his name 8 times, which makes us really notice this boy, this man's name. He's crippled, he's hidden, and he's been brought forward before the king. Mephibosheth is brought low and David says his name. He says, “Do not be afraid. I want to invite you to my table and to want to care for you and your family for the rest of your life”
I don't know about you, but the generosity of David reminds me of God. It reminds me of Jesus, how Jesus calls us by name. How, he says, “Do not be afraid.” And so, I'm wondering if all of us could spend a few moments pondering the kindness of God to us. We are weak, we are broken, we are disabled, crippled, and we come and bow down low.
And we get to sit and ponder how God has provided for us physically, mentally, spiritually. What friends and family members has God provided? How was he provided financially? How is he provided for you intellectually? Take this time now to open yourself to see the kindness of God all over your life.
It's pretty amazing to ponder the care, the kindness, and the concern of our Father over our lives, he's given us everything. And I wonder now as we've put ourselves in the position of the crippled, Mephibosheth, being on the receiving end of generosity, I wonder if we now can put ourselves in the position of David. That our lives are full and abundant, and we have a lot to offer and give. To give kindness. And this isn't just in a word, or in a phrase. This is in concern; this is in compassion. This is also very daily, and this kindness has substance, it physically makes room at the table. It physically cares for the dailiness of life. It calls others by name. It says, “Do not be afraid.”
And so, let's take this time to see where we might be able to extend this kind of kindness. This kind of loyal friendship, steadfast, kind of real stuff into our lives, into the people around us. Take this time now to imagine that.
I wonder if you might return to the beginning of our prayer today and how we had our gratitude practice around those people that are in our walls that are close to us. And I'm wondering if you can remember their faces again now. And as we leave this time of prayer, when we go out and we see those faces, I wonder if our gestures, our looks, our simple words, I wonder if they might be more infused with generous love, extending the hand of kindness.
And maybe we can begin that by just right now, just praying a prayer of blessing and generous love; love that we can't conjure up on our own, but that God can. If we can just pray that over these faces and these lives that we have been thinking about.
God, you are a generous God. You have fullness of life to give us. You are a well that never runs dry. You are food that we daily get to eat. And so, God may we not just take this time in prayer for ourselves and for our own well-being, but may we take it out in the midst of our lives.
Allow me to read that that poem again to you. It reminds me of such generosity and a way in which we're able to enjoy that of God and extend that to others.
Ten thousand flowers in spring, the moon in autumn
A cool breeze in summer, snow in winter.
If your mind isn't clouded by unnecessary things,
This is the best season of your life.
We'll close this time of prayer by saying: Glory be to the Father and glory be to the Son and glory be to the Spirit. As it was in the beginning, as it is now and ever shall be. World without end.
Go in peace, my friends with kindness and generous love that's being poured out on you and meant to be shared in abundance.
