Insight for Living

Speaker 1

To some, gentleness is viewed as a weakness. Too much gentleness makes us vulnerable or susceptible to manipulation. That idea will be challenged in the next 30 minutes because the Bible identifies gentleness as a virtue that flourishes when we're filled with God's spirit.

Today on Insight for Living, Chuck Swindoll is teaching from 2 Samuel chapter 9. In this passage, we find a heart-rending story about David, a mighty warrior who displayed tender compassion to a family in need.

Chuck titled his message "Extending Grace Ever So Gently." And we begin with prayer.

Speaker 2

We thank you, our Father, for looking upon us. Such grace that as we came to you, you invited us into your family and you promised us the privilege of being adopted and the joy of learning from you, from your word and the privilege of serving you for the rest of our lives. Thank you.

Thank you for your kindness to us and the gentle way you have come and taken charge of our lives. Thank you now, Father, for the privilege of giving to your work. Be pleased with the gifts and those who give. May our motives be pure and may these gifts be given.

Wings to fly to places we will never go to, minister to people we'll never meet in places we will never be. That there might be the glory of Christ revealed and the light of the Gospel set forth in all of its beauty and significance.

To your glory we pray these things and for your glory alone we ask them in the name of Christ our Savior. Everyone said amen.

Speaker 1

You're listening to Insight for Living. Did you know about the spiral bound workbooks for our Searching the Scriptures Bible studies to dig deeper into the fruit of the Spirit?

You can purchase a workbook today by going to insight.org.

And now, the message from Chuck called "Extending Grace Ever So Gently."

Speaker 2

Understand this. In those days, the days of the kings, when a new monarchy became the new dynasty, all those in the old dynasty were exterminated. And if not exterminated, driven out. Get out. The new king is now in authority. David never drove him out. That was the cultural tradition.

And get this. Mephibosheth is the grandson of Saul the king, the son of Jonathan, David's best friend. He's just a little boy. His nanny picks him up in her arms, knowing that both her life and his are hanging in the balance with this new dynasty. The Davidic kingdom has arrived. And she runs to escape, and she stumbles and falls, and his feet are broken. So he's living now as a disabled young adult. David knows nothing of that. He's now come to the throne, and Mephibosheth, in hiding in the little cabin owned by another, knows nothing of David's thinking. The thing he fears the most is being found. So he lives in this anonymity, this obscurity, in a place that is revealed in the Scriptures as Lo Debar.

David, alone with his thoughts, calls in anyone from the family of Saul. And he meets Ziba, Saul's servant. And he says to him, "Is there anyone to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan's sake? Do you know of anybody from your master's family that may still be alive?" Ziba ponders the thought for a moment. And he said, "Well, there is one. But King David, he's crippled. Both feet. He's disabled." David hadn't asked what condition he was in. David simply asked, "Is there anyone?" That's what Grace asks. I'm interested in anyone. I care about anyone because of my love for Jonathan and my respect for Saul, my predecessor. Is there anyone?

Ziba's answer, which was more than David asked, is a bit of a warning. "King David, he won't fit the royal palace. He's a cripple. Both feet. I mean, look at your family. Gorgeous daughters, handsome sons, brilliant Solomon. Your warriors are all like statues of muscular build. And Mephibosheth..." I love David's answer. "Where is he?" He doesn't say, "Well, how badly is he crippled? Or is it permanent? Where is he? Go get him." You see, David understood what it meant to be second class, third class. A son that's sort of pushed aside. Just stay out in the field. Well, he lives in a low debar. Go to Lo Debar.

David brings a chariot, puts two of his soldiers on a chariot, and they make their way to a little forgotten cottage in a land of dreadful desolation. The knock comes on the door. Mephibosheth looks out the window, sees the chariot from Jerusalem, and can see the profile of the soldiers. What do you think? He thought they found me. By now he's a young man, already begun his own family. He thought he would be safely hidden forever. He makes his way with his crutches to the door, pulls it open, and they speak forcefully. "The king requests your presence. Come with us."

Can you imagine? Of course you can. Mephibosheth had no idea about the heart of David. All he knew was that there's a new king and I was a part of an old dynasty, and I've got to stay out of his way. They help him under the chariot. They make their way to Jerusalem. He sees places he's never seen before in his life, having lived in Lo Debar since he ran and hid out. The next thing he knows, the door opens, and he's looking into the face of the king, the king of Israel.

You know, I love moments like this where the reader of the Bible knows things that the characters in the Bible don't know at the time. We know the story. They only know now, the moment now. And Mephibosheth must have been frightened beyond words. He bowed low, not knowing what to expect when he looked up. And you know what he saw? I'm convinced he saw open arms and a smiling face. "Come here, Mephibosheth."

Dr. Carl Menninger, in a fine work titled "The Vital Rights of Two Opposite Kinds of Personalities," describes one of them as the negativistic personality that immediately says no to almost everything. These troubled patients, writes Menninger, have never made an unsound loan. They've never voted for a liberal cause. They've never sponsored any extravagance in their life. They cannot permit themselves the pleasure of giving to anyone. He further describes them as rigid, chronically unhappy, bitter, insecure, and occasionally suicidal.

You know, people like this don't answer out loud. They might be sitting near you. You may have been raised in a home with a dad like that or a mother. You know, some people are happy, but their faces never found it out. Their face says no, and there's a deep frown that accompanies it. No, no, no, no, no, no. It's how they rear their children. It's how they handle their companions.

And then he describes the positive personality. To illustrate this, he tells the true story of President Thomas Jefferson, who was with a group of companions riding horseback across the country. I read that and I thought, when is the last time a president rode horseback and rode cross country with a bunch of his buddies? Maybe it was Thomas Jefferson's time.

And here he is riding with his friends, and they come upon a swollen river. There's a stranger standing nearby. He doesn't know them, they don't know him, and he can't get across. Several of those in the party make their way across. And then he finally asks one of them, who happens to be Thomas Jefferson, if he would carry him across. Jefferson smiled, reached down, grabbed his hand, and threw him up behind his saddle. They went across the river, and they got to the other side.

One of the companions said, "Tell me, why did you wait and select the president to ask this favor of?" The man was surprised and responded, "The president? I had no idea he was the president. All I know is that on others of your faces is the answer no, but on his face is yes. He had a yes face." I love that story. It goes on today. We've all met them, haven't we?

I usually stand down front and greet people, and today I won't because of the pain in my arm. But I normally do. And when I do, I often meet people that are, well, shall we say, serious. "Good morning. Hi. How are you? Fine. Good. Loving Jesus. Yeah, love Jesus." They're the kind of people who witness like this: "You wouldn't want to know Jesus, would you?" They have a no face.

Then there are those you just want to crawl in and let them hold you. They just smile from ear to ear. It just comes naturally. Must have been the kind of face Jefferson had. It's the kind of face David had. Mephibosheth looked up and suddenly lost his fear. With gentleness, David begins to tell him he'd been looking for him. He calls in Ziba. And with great grace, he says to Ziba, "All of Saul's property in this city will belong to this man. You make sure of that, Ziba."

"Yes, sir. All the produce will be his." And then he looks at Mephibosheth and he said, "But you, you will eat at the king's table for the rest of your life." I would like to think that he might have added, "My tablecloth will always cover your feet. You're not disabled to me. You're one of us."

I mean, imagine this. The dinner bell rings one evening. Here comes clever Amnon, along with handsome Absalom, the crown of his head, sole of his feet. Long flowing black hair, bright Solomon has left his books to join for supper. Beautiful Tamar. David waiting, Joab, the bronzed soldier and right-hand man of David, invited for the meal, along with a couple of other dignitaries.

And they all sit and wait as they hear the clump, clump, slide, slide, clump, clump, clump, till Mephibosheth makes his way to the table and joins the family. And again, I imagine David smiled, welcomed him as one of the family. You know, the story doesn't end. Oh, that story ends there. But even though Mephibosheth's life goes on as a part of the family of the king, it doesn't end for us.

Think about it. Just as Mephibosheth once enjoyed a wonderful, harmonious relationship with his grandfather Saul and his dad, Jonathan, so Adam and Eve once enjoyed a relationship with their creator, God, in the Garden of Eden, walking with him in the cool of the day, day after day, week after week, perfect harmony, beautiful innocence, lovely setting, the garden. But when disaster struck, Mephibosheth suffered a fall. And the fall became a permanent problem for him, for he was, from that time on, crippled in both his feet.

And so it was with Adam and Eve; a fall occurred when they ate of the forbidden fruit. For as through one man, sin entered into the world, and death through sin, so death passed upon all men and women. For all have sinned. We're all disabled. We're all wrong with God. We're all born distant from Him. No matter what we achieve or what awards we earn or degrees mark our lives, we're still distant from God. And we live in fear. The day when we pass and we stand before the one to whom we are accountable, just as Mephibosheth lived in the fear of being found by the king.

But David, in grace and gentleness, reaches out and offers adoption to Mephibosheth. And all he has to do is accept it. And he does. And with him come benefit after benefit, never again to know hunger or fear for the rest of his life, one sumptuous meal after another, one joyous evening after another, surrounded by people he's only heard about. And now he's one of them.

So we, in trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ, are made members of God's forever family, adopted permanently as His because of His grace. Think about it. Mephibosheth did nothing, deserved nothing, earned nothing, could never pay back any of it. He simply showed up and bowed and said, "Thank you, thank you, thank you," as this gentle giant of a king welcomed him to his table and to the palace.

One day, that will be our place, the marriage supper of the Lamb. For the great lives that we've read about and studied about will gather one after another. The tablecloth covers all our feet because of God's grace. Why on earth would you ever not accept that? I can't imagine. Can't imagine.

He's found you. You cannot run and hide. You cannot escape his presence. The psalmist writes, "If I go into heaven, he's there. If I go to the grave, he's there. If I take the wings of the morning," meaning the... "If I could travel the speed of light and wind up in the remotest part of the sea and I get out of my boat, he is there with his arms open wide and a smile, saying, 'I'm waiting for you to come. You have a place at my table. Come now. Adoption papers are written. Your name is on them. You're in my family forever. Here and throughout eternity. You can't beat that. Say yes. Say yes.'"

Like Mephibosheth, let's bow low before our Lord right now. Are you sure there's been a time in your life when you've trusted in the Lord Jesus? When you've taken his offer, thanked him for it, and found yourself in the family? If you have not, he's given you today, and his arms are wide open, and he awaits your response.

"He who has the Son has the life. He who does not have the Son of God, hear this, does not have the life. God so loved you that he gave his one and only Son that if you would believe in his son, Jesus, you will never perish. Never perish but have everlasting life. Trust him now. Just say yes."

I'm grateful, Father, that you of all in existence, you have found us, you have reached out to us, you have called us by name, and you've welcomed us home. I pray for those who are still distant, living and hiding. I pray that you will stay with it, continue to pursue them. May the hounds of heaven find them and win them and bring them to you. I pray in the name of Jesus and for his sake alone. Everyone said, "Amen."

Speaker 1

After hearing today's message from Chuck Swindoll, perhaps you're thinking about someone in your family or in your neighborhood who needs a tender touch of God's grace. You can be the one to provide that expression of his love and mercy. This is Insight for Living, and you're listening to one of the final studies in Chuck's brand new series on the Fruit of the Spirit. To purchase all nine sermons on CD, just call us at 800-772-8888.

When we first planned to present this study on the program, Chuck asked his creative team to put together a spiral-bound Bible study workbook for you. His goal was to give you a place to study alongside him while jotting down your own notes and observations about the Fruit of the Spirit. This Bible study workbook is perfectly suited for your personal devotions or to use in a group setting, where it will definitely stimulate some great conversation among friends. This resource for the series on the Fruit of the Spirit is part of our Searching the Scriptures Bible Studies, and to purchase a copy today, go to insight.org/workbooks.

We're also pleased to offer you a brand new booklet from Chuck. It's called "How to Follow a Giant." Chuck describes what it was like to step into a leadership role following the footsteps of his mentors. It's deeply personal, and his booklet gives us a biblical lesson on how to pass the baton to the next generation of leaders. In addition to sharing biblical insights, Chuck includes some fascinating glimpses into his family of origin and how his family relationships impacted his future ministry. Again, his booklet is called "How to Follow a Giant," and you can request a copy right now when your request includes a donation to support the ministry of Insight for Living.

Friday is the very last day we'll mention these special offers, so go online to insight.org/donate. I'm Bill Maier, inviting you to join us when Chuck Swindoll describes the spiritual virtue of self-control Thursday on Insight for Living.

The preceding message, "Extending Grace Ever So Gently," was copyrighted in 2023 and 2024, and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2024 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.