When Men Trash You, God Will Stash You!

Transcription

1 Mephibosheth: When Men Trash You, God Will Stash You! By Dr. Dan Cheatham You can read the whole story of Mephibosheth in 2 Samuel chapter 9 beginning on page 4 of this booklet. But here is a clip below: 2 Samuel 9:6-8 KJV - Now when Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, was come unto David, he fell on his face, and did reverence. And David said, Mephibosheth. And he answered, Behold thy servant! And David said unto him, Fear not: for I will surely shew thee kindness for Jonathan thy father's sake, and will restore thee all the land of Saul thy father; and thou shalt eat bread at my table continually. And he bowed himself, and said, What is thy servant, that thou shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I am? Page 1 of 6

2 At different times in your life, men will trash you... either accidentally or intentionally. Invariably, sin inside of men leads them to mistreat you on occasion. People will sometimes misunderstand you, misinterpret you, and mistreat you. People naturally let one another down. It came with the fall of Adam and has been on the planet ever since. When you feel trashed by men, let God make you feel stashed by Him! When men TRAP you, God will WRAP you... in His strong loving arms. God has a special proclivity towards the downtrodden and mistreated. God likes to raise those who've been left behind and trashed on the dunghill. He sets them with the princes of His own people! Psalm 113:7-8 KJV - He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill; That he may set him with princes, even with the princes of his people. Whom man rejects, God accepts. Whom men throw away, God stows away. God loves taking the weak and making them strong! His specialty! God takes those who are behind and miraculously sets them ahead. God supernaturally makes paupers into princes. Joseph: From prison to palace in less than 24 hours. Rahab: From prostitute to princess in less than 60 seconds. Mephibosheth: From left behind to way ahead in 24 hours. Page 2 of 6

3 Mephibosheth: From forgotten and ignored, to favored and celebrated in 24 hours. Mephibosheth: From beggar to believer in a flash! Mephibosheth: Overnight, from eating scraps to eating at the King's table. Mephibosheth: From last place to first place by the stroke of a pen. Mephibosheth: From languishing to head held high. Mephibosheth: Once in tatters scorned, now in royal garbs adorned! Mephibosheth: From Dead Dog to Living Testimony! Mephibosheth: From drowning in self-pity to overwhelmingly grateful for the undeserved gesture of a king. Mephibosheth: From poor self-image to healthy self-image in a matter of days. Mephibosheth: From no-name to household name! Mephibosheth: From shame to fame in a split second! Mephibosheth: From everyone's disdain to everyone's envy. Mephibosheth: From being despised to being admired. Mephibosheth: From everyone looking away to everyone's jaw dropping. Mephibosheth: From poor to prosperous overnight. Mephibosheth: From rags to riches, not of his own accord. Mephibosheth: From abject poverty to wearing designer clothing each and every day. Mephibosheth: From walking with a limp to limping on the walk... in the king's courtyard. Page 3 of 6

4 Mephibosheth: From wholly forsaken to tenderly cared-for, at the nod of a head. Mephibosheth: From being on the outside looking in to being on the inside looking out, all because of being the apple of another's eye. Mephibosheth: From trying so hard to trusting so easy. Mephibosheth: From an unfair life to a lavishly unfair LIFE! 2 Samuel 9 KJV 1 And David said, Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul, that I may shew him kindness for Jonathan's sake? 2 And there was of the house of Saul a servant whose name was Ziba. And when they had called him unto David, the king said unto him, Art thou Ziba? And he said, Thy servant is he. 3 And the king said, Is there not yet any of the house of Saul, that I may shew the kindness of God unto him? And Ziba said unto the king, Jonathan hath yet a son, which is lame on his feet. 4 And the king said unto him, Where is he? And Ziba said unto the king, Behold, he is in the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel, in Lodebar. 5 Then king David sent, and fetched him out of the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel, from Lodebar. 6 Now when Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, was come unto David, he fell on his face, and did reverence. And David said, Mephibosheth. And he answered, Behold thy servant! 7 And David said unto him, Fear not: for I will surely shew thee kindness for Jonathan thy father's sake, and will restore thee all the land of Saul thy father; and thou shalt eat bread at my table continually. 8 And he bowed himself, and said, What is thy servant, that thou shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I am? 9 Then the king called to Ziba, Saul's servant, and said unto him, I have given unto thy master's son all that pertained to Saul and to all his house. 10 Thou therefore, and thy sons, and thy servants, shall till the land for him, and thou shalt bring in the fruits, that thy master's son may have food to eat: but Mephibosheth thy master's son shall eat bread alway at my table. Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants. 11 Then said Ziba unto the king, According to all that my lord the king hath commanded his servant, so shall thy servant do. As for Mephibosheth, said the king, he shall eat at my table, as one of the king's sons. Page 4 of 6

5 12 And Mephibosheth had a young son, whose name was Micha. And all that dwelt in the house of Ziba were servants unto Mephibosheth. 13 So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem: for he did eat continually at the king's table; and was lame on both his feet. I m Mephibosheth! You re Mephibosheth! We re nothing but BROKEN, NEEDY and LONELY souls with no hope at all in the natural. You and I ve been left behind, forgotten by men, trashed by men, and tossed out. We re nothing but poor, broken, limping, handicapped vessels. All we can offer the King is raw materials to work with. We have nothing to offer the King but ourselves our real selves. Sin has done a number on is! The world we live in has depleted us and drained us dry! BUT THE KING! BUT THE KING!!! BUT THE KING!!!!!!! I shout it from the rooftop BUT THE KING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But the King has lifted us out of despair! But the King has given us hope! Page 5 of 6

6 Well, Pastor Dan, you just don t understand how needy I am and what hardships I m facing! To that I reply, BUT THE KING! LOOK TO THE KING! THE KING IS LOOKING TO YOU, SO LOOK BACK. But the King has invited us, no, rather commanded us to eat from His table to partake of His rich fare to our hearts delight. The King has said, Step right up! Have a seat! The King has spoken! Take all you want! Have as many portions as you wish! Why are we living beneath our privileges when the King has placed us up front? Why are we acting like PAUPERS when we should be living in the PALACE? Why are we missing some of our meals with the King? Why do we hesitate to ask and enjoy what belongs to us? The King s table and everything on it is our inheritance! We may be poor and broken and NEEDY, but THE KING has spoken I WILL MEET YOUR EVERY NEED! I WILL FILL YOUR HEART WITH MY COMPANIONSHIP until it overflows at floodtide! I will supply your every need! I will even give you the desires of your heart if you will share them with me. Please bug me! I want to be bothered! You belong at my table. You re part of the King s court now. You re royal family now! Ask! Seek! Find! Enjoy! Share! You re in covenant relationship with me now. All mine is thine. My strength is now your strength. My resources are yours. My wisdom is yours to enjoy. You are the apple of my eye! You are the object of my love. I want to see you at every meal. The dinner table is yours, my friend, yours! Page 6 of 6