David’s kindness to Mephibosheth signifies the kindness of God; it is the kindness and the love of our Savior God that reached us, saved us and made us sons of God who enjoy Him together with the saints in His house at His table.
And this is not something that we experience initially when we believe into the Lord; this is something we experience and realize all throughout our Christian life.
Because of Christ who loved us and died for us, God has qualified us to be partakers of His divine life and nature, and He has spread a feast before us.
It is tempting, however, for us to look at our crippled feet, even as Mephibosheth had crippled feet and was sitting at the table of the king.
We need to lift our eyes from our situation, our condition, and our failures; our real situation is that we’re sons of God sitting at the table of the King, and we can feast on the riches of Christ on the table.
It is displeasing to the host when we are invited at a feast for us to look at our feet instead of enjoying the riches he has prepared and laid forth on the table.
Even as we could not save or improve ourselves before we were saved, so now we can’t improve ourselves and neither should we; we simply need to eat Christ as the riches of God.
The more we eat the Lord, the more we enjoy Him as the riches of God expressed and embodied, the more we are inwardly transformed, and our crippled feet will be healed.
However, this healing process, this process of transformation, takes time; we need to keep looking away unto Jesus and enjoying Him.
Our Christian life is really a life by faith; we do not believe in what we see – we don’t believe in our pitiful situation, we don’t believe in our low condition, and we don’t trust in ourselves to improve ourselves or our situation.
We simply believe into the Lord, for it is the kindness and the love of our Savior God that has reached us and brought us to a position where we can enjoy God.
Both before and after our salvation, there’s nothing we have to do to “save ourselves”; we simply need to enjoy God in Christ as grace, the riches on the table laid before us, and He will do everything in us and for us.
May we turn away from any self-introspection or self-analysis (which only leads to discouragement and even desperation) and simply look away unto Jesus!
He is the Author of our faith – He initiated our faith, He’s the source of our faith, and He generates faith in us; He is also the Perfecter of our faith – He increases our faith, He establishes us in the faith, and He infuses Himself into us to increase our believing ability.
It is the Kindness and the Love of our Savior God that Saved us, for we are Saved by Grace!
The story in 2 Sam. 9 is a type of our Christian experience, for David’s kindness to Mephibosheth signifies the kindness of God (2 Sam. 9:3; Rom. 2:4; Eph. 2:7; Titus 3:4-5).
What is kindness? Kindness is a benevolent goodness that issues out of the mercy and love of God (Eph. 2:4, 7).
The kindness and the love to men of our Savior God appeared (Titus 3:4); somewhat it was hidden before this time, but when the time came, the kindness and love of our Savior God appeared.
The kindness of God was revealed and seen; we have experienced it.
It is not out of works in righteousness which we did but according to His mercy that we are saved. It is by grace that we are saved through faith; it is by grace that we are justified.
When it comes to our salvation, grace is indispensable. We are totally unworthy of this salvation of God; we were unworthy of His love.
But God, being rich in mercy, reached us and saved us.
It is the kindness and the love of our Savior God that saved us and made us different from others.
On one hand, God is severe in His judgement; on the other hand, He is kind (Rom. 11:22).
God’s kindness is simply a benevolent goodness which issues out of His mercy and His love; it is in such kindness that the grace of God is given to us.
May we not despise the riches of His kindness and forbearance and long-suffering, knowing that God’s kindness is leading us to repentance (Rom. 2:4).
If we would know the kindness of God, we will not judge or condemn others; we will realize that it’s the kindness and love of our Savior God that saved us, and we’re simply saved by grace, therefore we can’t judge anyone.
We are not different from others by being better than them or more perfect than them; we are not stronger or better than anyone else – we were simply reached by God’s kindness and love.
All sinners are the same; the difference is that some experienced and received God’s kindness.
God reached us in His kindness and love, and this kind of grace has made us different from others.
God is rich in mercy; He loved us with great love, and He reached us in His love and kindness; for eternity, He will display the riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
The grace of God brings salvation to man; we have been saved by the grace of the Lord, not out of our works in righteousness (Titus 2:11; 3:7).
Even more, according to Titus 3:5, it was according to His mercy that God saved us. No doubt, we were saved by grace, but we are also saved according to His mercy.
His mercy reaches farther than His grace (Rom. 9:15-16, 18, 23; Heb. 4:16); His mercy reaches even to those in the lowest point, where God’s grace cannot reach.
And because of His mercy, we know the kindness and the love of our Savior God and have been saved. Mercy is the carrier of grace to bring God’s love to us.
Our pitiful condition created a wide gap between us and God’s grace; this chasm is so great that no one can cross it or bridge it.
But God’s mercy bridged this gap and brought us to His salvation of grace (Rom. 2:4; 9:23).
Only God could bridge this wide gap between the sinners and Himself; when the Word became flesh, He was full of grace, and of His fullness we received, even grace upon grace.
Grace came as a person to reach us, and we have received the kindness and the love of our Savior God.
How we thank God for His mercy, grace, and love, and for His kindness toward us!
Thank You, Lord, for reaching us in Your mercy. Oh, the kindness and the love of our Savior God appeared, and we were saved! Hallelujah, we are saved not out of works in righteousness which we did but according to God’s mercy, through the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit! Thank You, Lord, for the benevolent goodness that issued out of the mercy and love of God and reached us. We do not despise the riches of God’s kindness and forbearance and long-suffering, for we know that God’s kindness is leading us to repentance. Thank You, dear Lord, for bridging the gap between us and You by Your mercy. Thank You for reaching us in Your mercy to make us partakers of Your grace. Hallelujah, we are saved by grace, through faith in Jesus Christ!
God’s Heart is Full of Love, Grace Issues from His love, and His Attitude in giving us Grace is Kindness
Titus 3:4-5 speaks of God’s kindness, love, and mercy in speaking about our salvation. Love is the source of grace; God’s heart is full of love, for God Himself is love.
In 1 John 12 we touch the love of God the Father as the source of grace (1 John 3:1; 4:9-10).
Grace issues out of God, the Father, who is love. In the heart of God the Father there is love; when this love is expressed through the Son, it becomes grace.
God is love; when this love is expressed in Christ the Son through His incarnation, it becomes grace, for when Christ came, grace came (John 1:14, 16-17).
When the Lord Jesus came, He was full of grace, and this grace is the expression of God as love.
And when God gives us grace, He doesn’t do it in a rude or unkind way – His attitude is kindness (Eph. 2:7).
Kindness is God’s attitude in giving us grace. He freely gives us grace, and He does it with a certain kind of feeling, with kindness.
This has to do with God’s inward parts; He has a heart of lovingkindness. Even in the Old Testament, we see again and again that God is full of lovingkindness.
He is full of love and full of kindness; this is the kindness that bears the love of God to us for our enjoyment.
It is the kindness and the love of our Savior God that have reached us to save us and make us sons of God, those who partake of Christ in all His riches at God’s table together with the saints in the house of God.
Love is the source of grace; in God’s heart there is love, and this love is expressed through the Son to become grace.
This is why we see in 2 Cor. 13:14 the grace of Christ and the love of the Father.
What about God’s mercy and kindness, how do they relate to us? God’s mercy reaches farther than His grace; if we are in a proper situation, God’s love will reach us as grace, but if we’re in a pitiful situation, it is only His mercy that can reach us.
Before we were saved, we were in a pitiful situation; actually, even today we may be in such a situation also.
What can reach us in our pitiful situation? It is only God’s mercy; the mercy of God can come to us even in our pitiful situation.
And the attitude of God in giving us grace is kindness.
Someone may give a gift but without having the proper attitude; they may give someone else a valuable gift but in a crude, insensitive manner. This is not proper.
However, if they give a gift with an attitude of kindness, this is very welcomed.
Our God and Father has shown us love, mercy, and kindness; it is all wrapped up in kindness, not merely in mercy.
Praise the Lord, we are saved people by His love, mercy, and kindness! When we have mercy, love, and kindness, we automatically have grace.
When we see this, when we see God’s mercy reaching us as an expression of His heart of love, and His grace coming to us to express His love, we will just appreciate Him and love Him!
It is all mercy, immense and free, for our God reached us and is continually reaching us to save us, give us grace, and cause us to enjoy the riches of Christ at His table!
And the way He comes to us is so tender, so gentle, and so filled with sympathy! He is so unjudgmental, for He knows that God judged Christ in our stead, so we can be here today.
Don’t you just love this One?
Thank You, God, for reaching us in Your mercy even in our pitiful condition and situation. Thank You for bringing us into the position of enjoying God in Christ as grace. We were not worthy of God’s love and grace, but mercy reached us and brought us to God. Thank You for coming to us in such a tender way, so gentle and filled with sympathy, to save us and bring us into the enjoyment of Christ. Hallelujah, we are now saved by grace through faith, and we are being continually saved by the enjoyment of Christ as the embodiment of the Triune God. How we appreciate love, grace, mercy, and kindness! We are so touched by Your mercy reaching us and Your grace supplying us in kindness. We love You, Lord Jesus!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother Minoru Chen, and portions from, Life-study of Titus, pp. 40-41 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization Study of 1 and 2 Samuel (2021 winter training), week 10, entitled, David, Mephibosheth, and the Kindness of God.
- Hymns on this topic:
– How we marvel at this mercy / So far-reaching and so vast! / It has reached us, e’en the sinners, / And will ever hold us fast. / From this mercy, from this mercy, / What can cause us to be cast? / For Thy mercy we are grateful, / ’Tis so rich, so plenteous! / Thru Thy mercy in redemption, / Thou hast richly favored us. / If without this, if without this, / How could we be favored thus? (Hymns #26)
– Father, Thy mercy with Thy love and grace / Did we obtain; / And in Thy mercy, with Thee face to face, / We’ll e’er remain; / And for Thy mercy we would worship Thee / Through all our days and through eternity. (Hymns #25)
– He left His Father’s throne above, / So free, so infinite His grace; / Emptied Himself of all but love, / And bled for Adam’s helpless race: / ’Tis mercy all, immense and free; / For, O my God, it found out me. / ’Tis mercy all, immense and free; / For, O my God, it found out me. (Hymns #296)
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