The return of the king: restoration.

The dark cloud begins to lift

In 2 Samuel, chapter 19, primarily, but we'll touch on 16 and 18 as well, as we continue our journey through the life of David. And honestly, this has been sort of an experience, walking through David. As we go through the experiences that David does, it gives us an illustration of how God deals with us. The last three Sundays, though, have been this focus on the sin between David and Bathsheba. The consequence of that being the death of her husband. We've also walked through the different fallout that came from that. The subsequent collapse of the reign of David, when his son Absalom decides that he should take over the throne and sends David into exile. Not a very uplifting three weeks of this story. But this week, we'll begin to see the light sort of creeping out from behind this dark cloud that's been following David around. This silver lining is coming.

Absalom, one of David's sons, the one that was trying to take the throne away, had died. We didn't get into the circumstances surrounding his death, so we're going to get into that a little bit, because it's a little unusual. But David, at the news of the death of his son, was distraught. He wept, and he mourned for his loss. Especially since they had not had that opportunity to reconnect. They hadn't had that chance to build new bridges, to put their differences aside. And so he mourned not just the loss of his son, but the loss of the chance to do that.

The death of Absalom

Absalom's death is recorded in chapter 18, and it's a little unusual. When David's troops were going out to fight, he said to them specifically, be gentle with the young man Absalom for my sake. In other words, go fight Absalom's army, but be gentle with that young man for my sake. And so when the throes of battle were raging in the forest of Ephraim, David's men versus Absalom's men, it says in chapter 18, verse 9, now Absalom happened to meet David's men. He was riding his mule, and as the mule went under the thick branches of an oak tree, Absalom's hair got stuck in the tree. He was left hanging in midair, while the mule he was riding kept on going. When one of the men saw what had happened, he told Joab, I just saw Absalom hanging in an oak tree.

There was a description written in scripture about what he looked like. And he was young, he was handsome, he was flawless from head to toe, and he had the most amazing hair. In fact, each year he cut off five pounds of his hair, because it would become too much to bear. So he had a great head of hair, which apparently was his undoing. Because his hair, as he's riding under an oak tree on his mule, gets stuck in the tree. The mule keeps on going, and he's left hanging by his hair from the tree, very vulnerable to attack. So when Joab hears what this man had said about Absalom hanging around, he said, in verse 11, what? You saw him? Why didn't you strike him to the ground right there? Well, of course, the man that had seen him had heard David's instructions to the army, so he wasn't about to be the one to kill the king's son. And so Joab just says, I'm not going to wait like this for you. So he took three javelins in his hand and plunged them into Absalom's heart while Absalom was still alive in the oak tree. Then ten of Joab's armor-bearers surrounded Absalom, struck him, and killed him.

So Joab was there to, once again, take care of business, eliminate the threat of Absalom for David. And later on, he was the one that snapped David out of this mournful routine. Joab says, you've got to snap out of this. The men that have been fighting for you, they feel a bit slighted, because you're not supporting them. You are still the king. You do need to go get back on the throne and do what you need to do. The job is not finished.

The return to the throne

At this point, after Absalom's death, you would think that David would triumphantly ride back into the palace of Jerusalem, the people cheering that the rightful king has returned. The sort of return that you would expect from somebody who had won the battle over the usurper who was trying to take the throne. But that's not exactly how it all happened. The people all across the tribes of Israel appeared to be in dispute. There was some division about returning David to the throne. And I imagine that was because some of the tribes would have been on Absalom's side. They would have been fighting with him. Others would have been defending David and helping fight Absalom on his behalf. But now Absalom was dead. They needed to all agree that David should be brought back to the throne.

The men of the tribe of Judah were kind of the last holdouts. And then David appealed to them, because he himself was from the tribe of Judah. And in chapter 19, verse 11, it talks about how that goes. He sent the priests and said, ask the elders of Judah, why should you be the last to bring back the king to his palace, since what is being said throughout Israel has reached the king at his quarters? He's heard what's going on. He's heard they are holding out. He says, you are my relatives, my own flesh and blood. So why should you be the last to bring back the king? And say to Amasa, are you not my own flesh and blood? May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if you are not the commander of my army for life in place of Joab. So I think he makes his point. He makes it very clear that they need to get on board, and that Amasa should take over in place of Joab. So they relented. In verse 14, it says, he won over the hearts of the men of Judah, so they were all of one mind. They sent word to the king, return, you and all your men. Then the king returned and went as far as the river Jordan. So a variety of people met him, to help him and all the people with him cross the Jordan, including Ziba. And you might remember Ziba from the story of Mephibosheth. We'll get back to him in a moment.

Shimei, and grace handed forward

But there is someone else that hurries down to meet the king with the men of Judah, and that was Shimei. And we need to set this up, because we didn't cover chapter 16, when he first appeared. Shimei was not exactly the most friendly person back then. In fact, he was pretty hostile. In chapter 16, we first meet him, and it says he pelted David and all the king's officials with stones, though all the troops and the special guard were on David's right and left. As he cursed, Shimei said, get out, get out, you murderer, you scoundrel. The Lord has repaid you for all the blood you shed in the household of Saul, in whose place you have reigned. The Lord has given the kingdom into the hands of your son Absalom. You have come to ruin because you are a murderer. He was part of Saul's household, so he was very upset, very opinionated about David at that time. It's the first time he'd met David, and he ends up throwing stones and throwing names at him.

And now you can see him approaching David again in chapter 19, but this time he's just a little less combative. And it says, when Shimei son of Gera crossed the Jordan, he fell prostrate before the king and said to him, may my lord not hold me guilty. Do not remember how your servant did wrong on the day my lord the king left Jerusalem, which was only several months before that, and may the king put it out of his mind. For I your servant know that I have sinned, but today I have come here as the first from the tribes of Joseph to come down and meet my lord the king. A little bit different attitude this time. Not throwing stones. Very, very humble in front of the king.

But I want you to notice the wording that he uses here. He says, I your servant, I have sinned. I have sinned. You remember when David first sinned with Bathsheba, and the husband was killed in the process. About a year later, the Lord God prompted the prophet Nathan to confront David about that. And at that point, David said, I have sinned against the Lord. So now these are familiar words that are coming back towards him. And Abishai, who's with him, is ready to punish Shimei. He's ready to put him to death. But David's response to Shimei was a reflection of the grace that God had given to him. So first of all, he told Shimei, you will not die. In fact, he gave his word. He gave an oath.

No need to talk about what is past

And if you've read C.S. Lewis's book The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, there's a particular scene in it where Edmund had betrayed his siblings, his brothers and sisters. He was goaded on by the White Witch and his love for Turkish delight. And after an entire narrative that kind of leads the reader to despise Edmund as a sort of treasonous brat, Aslan the lion, the rightful ruler of Narnia, appears. And he walks this very sheepish and defeated Edmund back to his siblings, and he says, here is your brother. There is no need to talk to him about what is past.

It's a great sentence, and it applies so well to the story of David, both what David now is doing with Shimei, and what was done for David. There is no need now to talk about what is past. David was forgiven by the Lord. He'd walked through some dire consequences of this sinful time in his life, but now he was on the brink of his return to Jerusalem, the return to the throne. And the Lord is now saying, here is your brother, or in this case, your anointed king. There's no need to talk to him about what is past. In turn, David is doing the same with Shimei. No need to dwell on the past. We're now just going to be looking to the future. This is restoration. And God was now restoring David to the place that he had originally been anointed to.

I think it's easy to miss the weight of this in our own lives. Because often, as we start out as believers in Christ, as disciples, we think of it as this progress chart, this sort of measurement all the time. How are we doing on this chart of becoming a disciple? It's almost like tracking calories when we're trying to be more healthy.

But the problem comes when we get further down our road in discipleship. We suddenly begin to realize how much sin there is, or was, in our life. Sin seems to be a bigger problem than we originally thought. It's not that we're necessarily sinning more. In fact, it might be less. But now the sin that we see in our lives comes to a point where it grieves us. It begins to grieve us in the same way that it grieves the Lord. And it should. But we begin to panic. How can we maintain this standard that the Lord wants from us? How can we be sinning, and how can we deserve the love of God at the same time?

In the back of our minds, we have this booming narrative of John 3:16. God so loved the world. But then there's also this sort of little disclaimer in the background, somebody speaking quickly, saying, void where prohibited, some restrictions may apply. The consequence of that is, we don't feel this full love of God, because we always feel like we've done something that will hold it back. And so people withdraw from discipleship. People withdraw from the church. People withdraw from worshiping God, until they feel like they've got their lives back in order, enough to deserve the love of God. It's like addiction to drink, or drugs, or even Turkish delight. But the idea that we need to be already doing well just makes the problem worse. This will cause some people to become very downcast, not only in the present stumbles and sins that they have, but also guilt from the past. Things that they've done. Things they might have said to people. Perhaps people that they've hurt.

And this picture that C.S. Lewis creates in Edmund's encounter really strikes at the heart of the problem. Because Aslan talks to Edmund quietly, away from the crowd. And Lewis writes, there's no need to tell you, and no one ever heard, what Aslan was saying. But it was a conversation Edmund would never forget. It's like this conversation that God has with us. You know you are forgiven, you are loved. Other people don't need to hear that. That's the conversation. But now we go in front of others, and we say, there's no need to talk about what's happened in the past.

The wording that David uses here echoes the kind of post-resurrection words of Jesus in the garden outside of the tomb. When Peter was still in anguish over his denial and his abandonment of Jesus, Jesus said to Mary Magdalene, go to my brothers and say, I am ascending to my father and your father, to my God and your God. Even at this weakest, most failing moment, Jesus was not ashamed to call them brothers. To remind them that God was their father too, and he was still their God. It's like saying, here is your brother, and there's no need to talk to him about what is past. If we could feel the weight of what's being said, if we could feel the weight of who is saying it, and why he's saying it, we would see the entire world differently. We would want to spread that good news, light up the world with that good news. Of course, Aslan was fictional. But there is a real Lion of Judah. And maybe he wants to remind us of a truth that we've forgotten, perhaps when we need it the most.

Restoration takes time, and starts at the root

So just as David has received, he has also given the same grace to others. It's like saying, here is your brother, and there's no need to talk to him about what is past. Galatians 6:1 says, brothers and sisters, if someone is caught up in sin, you who live by the spirit should restore that person gently. Restoration. Biblical restoration is a process. One that will bring a person back to the place that they were before they got bogged down by sin. Of course, still sinning, but now having the grace that the Lord provides. In fact, after restoration, they may be in a better place than they were before that.

It's kind of like old cars that get restored. Unless you're a classic car purist, people restore them back to what they were, with a little bit extra. Maybe some modern parts to it, to help just make it that little bit better. Sometimes older cars have the most beautiful body styles, but the engine's just not very good. Never was. Think about Jaguar V12s. So the restoration may include a more reliable engine. Preferably something that doesn't leak as much as the Exxon Valdez. But when we are restored biblically, we're restored better than we were before. Why? Because we've been through it. We've experienced the grace-filled love of God, and now we have a whole new appreciation of what it is to be in Christ. And just as these renovation projects that we take on, whether home or car, always seem to take a little bit longer than we expected. And sometimes a lot longer. Biblical restoration equally can take longer than we expect, but God works through that process, as he was for David.

Restoration begins, though, with this foundational knowledge of what caused the sin in the first place. What was the root of the sin? Healing and restoration begin when we address the cause of the trap we got into. Today, we tend to focus so much on distracting ourselves from the pain, rather than healing the source of the pain. Because of this, we often end up adding to the different vices that are already plaguing us, rather than reaching a true restoration. The worst thing that we can do is create one more trap just to get out of the one we were in. Healing occurs, and freedom from sin occurs, when we recognize the root cause of our pain, and we address it, and then we turn to God. Restoring others begins when we help them to identify the sources of their pain. You could say that it's a healing of the soul that we need most of all, before we can experience the improvement of any painful symptoms from that.

David was distracted from his mission from God. Boredom had crept in, and he found himself filling that void, a void that he created himself. And he used one snare, one trap, to get out of another, by escalating his sin instead of addressing the root of the problem. But David, once again, is on mission for the Lord. He was back on track for what God had for him, what God had anointed him to do. And his healing began, and over time, restoration as king was complete.

We come back to Psalm 51. David wrote this during this time period. It says, create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence, or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me. This is a great prayer. When we wake up in the morning, this is a great way to start the day. Create in me a pure heart, and renew a steadfast spirit in me. In other words, daily make me a person after your own heart. Restore me to the joy of your salvation. The knowledge that we are working in God's kingdom, that we are working in step with the spirit, and in step with his desire for us. And this brings us great joy. So restoration is an important part of this time in David's life, and God honors that.

Mephibosheth, and how we receive our king

There's a second lesson we can learn from this time period, when he's going back to be king in Jerusalem, and it comes through the character of Mephibosheth. Because I enjoyed saying it so much, so many times, the last time we talked about Mephibosheth, I couldn't avoid it again. So a quick refresher. Mephibosheth was David's best friend Jonathan's son. That would also make him King Saul's grandson. And so David had sworn an oath, both to Saul and to Jonathan, that he would not slaughter the house of Saul after he took over. But what he did do was bring Mephibosheth to Jerusalem. He gave him the lands that Saul had before, and that would be worked by Ziba, who was Saul's sort of servant, and his family. And then he would be in David's court. Mephibosheth was very grateful and humbled by this gesture. He ate at the king's table. He lived in Jerusalem. He was like a son to David in the palace. But his legs were disabled, due to an accident when he was very young, and so he did have trouble getting around.

Well, we see Mephibosheth appear back in the story a couple of times, and this becomes important to us, because we can see a good illustration in his actions. In chapter 16, David leaves Jerusalem when Absalom overthrows him. He's weeping as he climbs the Mount of Olives, and all the people that are with him are equally weeping. He's barefoot. He's covered his head. His clothing is torn. And he gets over the summit. A little bit beyond it, he comes across Ziba. Ziba, who he'd given to Mephibosheth as a servant, to work the land that he'd given him.

Well, Ziba brings many provisions for David. He gives him all the good stuff that David needs for his exile. And David casually asks him, in chapter 16, at the beginning of verse 3, where is your master's grandson? In other words, where is Saul's grandson, Mephibosheth? Ziba responds to that, but not in a very truthful way. He says, he's staying in Jerusalem, because he thinks, today the Israelites will restore to me my grandfather's kingdom. David obviously doesn't like that answer, and reacts the way you would expect. He's like, oh yeah? Well, we'll see about that. So he says, all that belonged to Mephibosheth is now yours. In other words, all the land that I gave to Mephibosheth, that was Saul's originally, I'm now going to give to you.

Because we don't want him to take all of Saul's land, plus the throne as well. Because he had every right to take the throne. Mephibosheth was a grandson of a king. And Ziba said, I humbly bow. May I find favor in your eyes, my lord the king. And so he did pretty well out of that, Ziba. He went to the king, gave him provisions, told him a lie. In modern terms, that would be referred to as sort of sucking up to the king. But it really paid off for Ziba.

And so the story comes back to Mephibosheth again in chapter 19. Now David is not happy with Mephibosheth. It says that Mephibosheth, Saul's grandson, also went down to meet the king. He had not taken care of his feet, or trimmed his mustache, or washed his clothes, from the day the king left until he returned safely. So he turns up to see David as he's about to come back into Jerusalem, but he's very unkempt. He looks a little disheveled. David left, and he just kind of let himself go. And so in verse 25, it says, when he came from Jerusalem to meet the king, the king asked him, why didn't you go with me, Mephibosheth? So now the king knows. He's got the information from Ziba. Ziba's told him, he's going to stay in Jerusalem, see if he can take over the kingdom. But now David wants to hear it firsthand from Mephibosheth. So Mephibosheth responds to this. He says, my lord the king, since I your servant am lame, I said, I will have my donkey saddled and will ride on it, so I can be with the king. But Ziba my servant betrayed me, and he has slandered your servant to my lord the king. My lord the king is like an angel of God, so do whatever you wish. All my grandfather's descendants deserved nothing but death from my lord the king, but you gave your servant a place among those who eat at your table. So what right do I have to make any more appeals to the king?

So Ziba turned on Mephibosheth in order to gain favor with the king, and now this is being cleared up. Not only does he deny it, but then he lays it on thick. He goes on to describe David as an angel of God, pulling him from an obscure place, Lo Debar, and bringing him to the palace. And he makes sure David knows he understands that he deserved nothing. In fact, even death was on the cards, because he was related to the previous king. Death would have been something that, in that culture, would have been normal. But he acknowledges the grace that's been offered to him at David's own table. All of this to say, why would I mess that up? Why would I try to take more? It makes no sense. I'm just so grateful for where I am at this point.

And then David responds, why say more? I order you and Ziba to divide the land. So he's saying, okay, fine, I believe you. You can have half, Ziba can have half, we'll just go with that. But here's the key. Because Mephibosheth says, let him take everything, now that my lord the king has returned home safely. He doesn't want it. He says, Ziba can have it all. If it means that much to him that he's slandering me to the king, then let him have it. I'm just happy that you returned home safely.

Devotion, dedication, delight

So the lesson in this for all of us is, how do we receive our king? How do we respond to the King of Kings? As we see in these verses, the reunion of David is with a man who loved him more than his own life. And through the testimony of Mephibosheth, we get a clear-cut example of how we, as God's redeemed children, are to love the Lord Jesus Christ. We often talk about how we love God, how we love Jesus. We often talk about how we commit ourselves to him. But is that really a reality in our lives? Do we do what we should be doing in those circumstances? So let's quickly take a look at what it is to love the king of our lives. Three ways we can show absolute love, without the expectation of anything in return.

First of all, we love him with absolute devotion. Absolute devotion. Mephibosheth had been spared. He'd been saved from this desolate place and brought to the palace, where he could live a transformed life. Not what he deserved. In that culture, the previous king's family would get death, to make sure that they didn't decide to come back to rule in any way. But he got life instead of death. David gave him everything. He could have stayed with nothing, but he had everything.

So think about it. As a disciple of Christ, what God did for us through his son, Jesus Christ, makes it plain that we have a reason to love him with every fiber of our being. First John 4:19 reminds us that our love for Jesus is rooted in the fact that Jesus first loved us. We love because he first loved us. Think about where we were in our lives, what we had done, prior to having a relationship with Jesus Christ. Submitting constantly to the way of the world. Think about where we were. Think about how we were, and what we deserved from that. It was not eternal life through Jesus, I can tell you. But we owe Jesus a great debt of love. We owe Jesus a great debt of devotion. And if we start to think about the fact that Jesus willingly suffered all that he did for us, and that we could be saved by grace because of it, it stirs our heart. Or at least it should stir our heart. If it doesn't, there may be something wrong with your heart.

But Mephibosheth loved the king. It showed in his life. It was a life of absolute faithfulness, of absolute devotion. And when we love our king, it should show in our lives. In other words, we shouldn't just be out there yelling and shouting about it. That's a good thing to do. But it should also just show in our lives, in everything that we do. It should be seen in our prayer life. It should be seen in the attention that we give to scripture, to our worship, to gathering together with others, to every manner of life. It should be to the extent that we cannot hide it, even if we wanted to.

The second thing is that we should love him with total dedication. Mephibosheth showed his dedication in a few ways. First of all, he shed the ways of this world. He had every right to claim the throne of David, because it was the throne of Saul before that. All the relatives had died, and he was rightfully the next in line to the throne after Saul. But he refused to get caught up in this worldly culture, and he dedicated himself to the king and put aside any selfish ambition. There's always a danger in our connection to this world, that it will override our own dedication to our King, Jesus Christ. The love for this world can sometimes be more alluring than our love for Jesus. We have to live in this world, but we shouldn't let this world live in us. We should always have a heart for Jesus.

Mephibosheth also showed this dedication by forgetting himself. In verse 24, it says that in the time period that David was gone, a matter of several months, Mephibosheth just neglected his own well-being, because he was mourning over David. We simply come to a place where we say, Jesus is more important than we are. Jesus is so large in our life that we forget ourselves, hand it all over to him. And Mephibosheth also showed his dedication by following the king, or at least trying to. He had every intention of going with David. He was disabled, but he was set to leave alongside David and support him in any way that he could. But Ziba poisoned the water for him. But his heart was following David.

True devotion doesn't ask how, or why, or where, or what, or when. True dedication to the Lord Jesus Christ simply responds by saying yes. If you feel the Lord tugging on your heart to do something that he is calling you to do, ask yourself, have you just been putting it off? There have been times in my life where I felt called to do something, but I just kind of put it off, because I feel like I just want to make sure it is absolutely what I think it is. But this is the call of God. He wants something from us. And if he wants us to move on something, we should take it seriously. He's not kidding. The move is simply to say, Lord, I love you, and I will do whatever it is that you're asking from me. It's about being available to him, for his work and his glory in the kingdom.

So we're to love him with absolute devotion, love him with absolute dedication, and the third one is to love him with delight. Absolute delight. Mephibosheth may have looked a little rough on the outside, especially at this point, but inside, he was glowing with this love for the king. What a great example of the kind of glow that we should have for Jesus inside of us. We may not look much better than Mephibosheth, but fortunately, Jesus doesn't care about how we look on the outside. It's all about what's going on in our heart.

Our king Jesus is the one who died for us, and he's in heaven with the Father. And the day is coming, the day is coming soon, when he will return to this earth. He will be seen by all of us, his children. Mephibosheth eagerly anticipated the return of David, his king, and he spent his days waiting for messengers to declare, the king is coming. And we should have the same attitude in our hearts, and eagerly await the return of our king. We should be waiting for that announcement, that our king is coming. The question is, are we ready for his return? Are we ready to face him? Well, the good news is that if we don't feel like we are, we can be.

Mephibosheth wasn't concerned about land or money anymore. He merely wanted to see the face of King David. Does this describe our hearts for Jesus? Are we too concerned about the things of this world to be longing to be in his presence? Mephibosheth gave up all the worldly trappings. He didn't want the land that David was going to reinstate to him. He gave everything up, because he had a sole reliance on David. Because David had everything that he needed. He entrusted himself to David. He loved him enough to be able to do that. And do we love Jesus enough to entrust ourselves to him? Because he will provide. He is sufficient. We don't need to be enamored with the things of this world. We just need to trust in our king. Not that we can't have the things of this world. I'm not saying that. But when we become so enthralled with these things that we become blind to the king in our own lives, then we should refocus. We should redirect our hearts.

One of my favorite pieces of scripture ever is Psalm 37:4. Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. It gets misinterpreted sometimes. People say, what, if I just delight in the Lord, then I get everything I want? Well, the interesting thing is, when we take delight in the Lord, when we connect our heart, when we glow in our heart the way that we should for Jesus, then we want the same things that he wants. So he will provide those. But just as Mephibosheth's dream became a reality, this can be a reality for us. Without a doubt, one glorious day, we will stand in the presence of the one who took on the sins of the world. He took on our sins. And we can receive grace. We can receive eternal life with him. And this prospect means that we should delight in the Lord.

Do you know the king? The first step for you is coming to him, and asking for him to be in your heart, to be your lord and savior. If you come to him, I promise, he will save you, and he will forgive you of your sins. If you're already in relationship with Jesus, what state does that relationship look like? Does your life demonstrate genuine devotion, genuine dedication, and delight in serving him in his kingdom? If not, then Jesus always allows us this great opportunity to start again. If we come to him, if we confess our failures and confess our sins, he will forgive us, and he will restore us to the place of blessing. All of us usually want to do the right thing. And the right thing is coming to Jesus Christ. Let him have your life completely. Let him have your life fully. If you do this, he will bless you in ways that you never thought possible. Because this decision will determine eternity, and it will provide a peace in this life, a joy in this life, and provision in this life, beyond anything that this world can provide.

Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we're so grateful. We are so grateful to you, because we know that if we just dedicate ourselves to you, you will be our king. You will provide for us. You will be there for us. So Lord, give us the wisdom to understand that the connection with you brings us peace and joy and provision like nothing else this world can. Help us not to be blinded by the things of this world, blinded by other things that distract from you. So Lord, open our eyes. Have the Holy Spirit move in us to understand that you are on the throne, and you will return, and we will have life in eternity with you. So Lord, we just pray that we will take this example of Mephibosheth today, and we'll understand that as he was so dedicated to David that nothing else mattered to him, that we can give ourselves wholeheartedly, feel that glow of passion for you in our hearts, and then move on that, to work in your kingdom, to serve in your kingdom, and to glorify you in all that we do. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.