Pensées Sentimentales

JEHOVAH'S LOVING KINDNESS!

by: Daniel Sydlik

I tell you now we are going to talk about something ....
You know very little about if you will ever........ understand it.. We are going to talk about Jehovah's loving kindness!


He said: There is a new king in Israel and it's king David.. Now usually whenever there is a new king, it's a joyful time for the new king and a horrible time for the old king because all the boys in the family of the old king would be wiped out for fear they would come back for revenge or reprisal. But it's a new king in Israel. And David did something that was shocking. No other king had done this before. It's unprecedented.


Turn to second Samuel chapter 9. Look at verse 1. This is what David said and he is picturing Jehovah God. "and David proceeded to say is there anyone left over from the house of Saul that I may exercise loving kindness to him for the sake of Jonathan?"


He is looking for someone of that household to show loving kindness to.


Next verse: "Now the house of Saul had a servant whose name was Ziba. So they called him to David, and the king then said to him: 'Are you Ziba?' to which he said: 'I am your servant.'
Now what Ziba is telling him is: I am your man. I have served in a house of royalty. I know what goes on in the house of a king.. I know how to run the house of a king. I know who belongs here..
Vs. 3 'Is there nobody of the house of Saul anymore, that I may exercise toward him the loving-kindness of God?' (You see it's Jehovah's loving kindness)


At this Ziba said to the king: 'There is yet a son of Jonathan, lame in the feet.'


Vs 4 Then the king said to him: 'Where is he?' So Ziba said to the king: 'Look! He is in the house of Machir the son of Ammiel at Lo-debar.' ...


Brother Sidlik said: Lodebar! that was the ghetto... No one but cripples and undesirables live there. No one else wanted to live there. Zi'ba is saying: Now hold on king! Don't go too far! I know what belongs in the house of royalty. The only one who's left of the house of Jonathan is his son. He's a cripple, he doesn't belong here. In fact he lives in Lodebar.


David said: That's the man that I am looking for. You go and get him and you bring him to this house. That's who I'm looking for to show loving kindness to. It's the loving kindness of God. Me·phibo·sheth was crippled because his nurse dropped him accidentally and from then on he was lame in both of his feet. The king is telling Zi'ba 'that's the man, go and get him because that's the man I am looking for.'
Next brother Sydlik picks up a bell and says 'dinner time in David's house..'


At dinner time at David's house who would you expect to see? Who dines at the table of a king? It would be David and all of his children.


Now beauty ran in David's family. His son Absalom was so good looking that they cut his hair only once a year and his hair alone weighed 5lbs. The Bible says that no man was as beautiful as Absalom. And he was sitting at David's table and it's dinner time at the king's table.


He had a sister named Tamar. The Bible says she was so good looking that her own brother raped her and beautiful Tamar was also at David's table.


Who else was at David's table? There was wise Solomon probably reading a book. There were David's 2 nephews Abishi and Joab, mighty warriors, courageous men. The Bible says Joab was cute! And they both take their seat at the table.


Then the next person comes in. It's a cripple! IN WALKS A CRIPPLE! With all of this beauty at the table, in walks a cripple!!!


That's when brother Sydlik lowered the boom on us... no one will ever forget that talk because it demonstrated Jehovah loving kindness.


He told us we are all crippled brothers. Adam and Eve dropped every one of us... we are all crippled.......... We are all messed up.


We have frailties and infirmities we don't want anyone to know. We make it hard on each other to stay at the table because we look at each other and say 'he doesn't belong at this table.' We are hard on each other. We make it hard to sit at the table. We say things like 'I know he's not coming to the table". "She needs to quit ". We look at a brother and say 'he's not gonna make it'. You see we are hard on each other at that table. And we live in Lodebar. No mater how much you pay for your mortgage, we are living in a filthy world. It's beneath Jehovah. It's the ghetto.


Now Mephibosheth, he couldn't understand how the king wanted him to sit at his table.
Isn't that the way we are? We can't appreciate Jehovah's loving kindness. We can't understand it. There are things about us we don't want anyone to know.. We compromised. We capitulated. We went back at times and we don't want anybody to know that. We don't understand Jehovah's loving kindness.
We tell people 'there are things about me you just don't know'. And when we receive commendation we tell people 'if you really knew how I was you wouldn't say that, so now I feel worse.'


Did you know that there are some people who serve God yet pray that they can just die?
We feel we are not worthy to be at Jehovah's table.... We can't understand Jehovah's loving kindness. Mephibosheth, he couldn't understand it and many times he would look around the table and say to David 'let me leave, I can't measure up'.
And David would say 'stay at the table'. Mephibosheth looked at Tamar's beauty and asked to leave the table and David said 'stay at the table'. He looked at wise Solomon and said 'let me leave the table' and David said 'stay at the table'.
He looked at mighty Joab and felt unworthy and asked to leave but David said 'stay at the table'.
Now in Israel, one of the "worst" things was to be a dog. Mephibosheth said at second Samuel chap 9 vs.. 8 'And he said what is your servant that you have turned your face to the dead dog! Such as I am. I am not even a dog. I am a dead dog... why are you showing loving kindness to me?'


Do you ever feel that way? You see, if you only knew the love that Jehovah has for us, if you could only understand the work and effort and appreciation the faithful slave has for you, If you could only appreciate that it's not just a group of men printing literature in a building, they recognize the loving kindness of God.


Sure, you have done wrong and you have been disciplined. You have had hard times. Regardless of what you have done, regardless of how you feel.... just stay at Jehovah table. Jehovah is not limited. He's not like humans....


As humans we remember things and we will never let you live it down.. We say things like, 'I know what he did in 1983 and I knew him back in the day'. Girl... .. Jehovah's not that way. Manasseh did what was bad on a grand scale. He sinned against Jehovah. Jehovah not only restored him, he forgave him and made him king again. That's the God we serve! Jehovah says: 'don't be mindful of what these humans keep against you.' Jehovah says: 'I am not that way....' A struggling person is not a bad person ... We are just struggling. That's all.. You are not bad.. Just remain faithful and stay at Jehovah's table.


40,000 a year become inactive. They leave Jehovah's table. Are we making it hard for them to stay at Jehovah's table? Many try to come back. At the Memorial, are we making it hard for them to stay at God's table? Are we making them feel like a dead dog? You see we are all crippled brothers ... Adam and Eve dropped everyone of us. Let's make it comforting and encouraging to stay at Jehovah's table. Regardless of what you've done, regardless of how you feel never think Jehovah won't forgive you, because Jehovah is actively looking for people like us to show loving kindness to.


Now the thing about this table is they would usually have these long skirts like table cloths and the skirt would cover everything below the table. It would cover everybody's legs. When Mephibosheth as a cripple sat at the table it would cover his legs and he would be just like everyone else. All his frailties and infirmities were covered as long as he stayed at Jehovah's table!!


That skirt pictures the ransom sacrifice of Jesus Christ .... Jehovah's telling us that I have you covered at this table. Don't leave, just stay at the table. You have all the covering... You have all you need .... I don't even see your frailties. I have been looking for people like you to show loving kindness to.
2nd Samuel chap 9 vs.. 11: very encouraging, 'So Ziba said to the king: 'In accord with all that my lord the king commands for his servant is the way that your servant will do; but Mephibosheth is eating at my table like one of the sons of the king.' It was Jehovah loving kindess.


VS 13 'And Mephibosheth himself was dwelling in Jerusalem, for it was constantly at the table of the king that he was eating; and he was lame in both of his feet.'


Mephibosheth stayed at that table. He stayed at God's table. Mephibosheth said 'sure: I have had hard times and I am a cripple and I don't even understand this loving kindness, but he said I'll never leave this table.'


And the Bible says he never left the table although he was lame in both of his feet. You see the skirt covered his legs. It covered his problems, covered all of his sins.
Lovers of God, don't leave. We are almost home. Jehovah says 'you are covered at this table. I love you. Don't ever doubt it....' Jehovah says 'why have you ended a sentence with a question mark when I have ended it with a period?' He's telling us that his son died for us and he's been looking for people like us to show loving kindness to.


Always stay at Jehovah's table.

Subject: Isaiah 41:10

Some years ago on a hot summer day in south Florida a little boy decided to go for a swim in the old swimming hole behind his house. In a hurry to dive into the cool water, he ran out the back door, leaving behind shoes,
socks, and shirt as he went.

He flew into the water, not realizing that as he swam toward the middle of the lake, an alligator was swimming toward the shore. His mother in the house was looking out the window saw the two as they got closer and closer together. In utter fear, she ran toward the water,
yelling to her son as loudly as she could. Hearing her voice, the little boy became alarmed and made a U-turn to swim to his mother.

It was too late. Just as he reached her, the alligator reached him.

From the dock, the mother grabbed her little boy by the arms just as the alligator snatched his legs. That began an incredible tug-of-war between the two. The alligator was much stronger than the mother, but the mother was much too passionate to let go. A farmer happened to drive by,
heard her screams, raced from his truck, took aim and shot the alligator.

Remarkably, after weeks and weeks in the hospital, the little boy survived. His legs were extremely scarred by the vicious attack of the animal. And on his arms, were deep scratches where his mother's fingernails dug into
his flesh in her effort to hang on to the son she loved.

The newspaper reporter who interviewed the boy after the trauma, asked if he would show him his scars. The boy lifted his pant legs. And then, with obvious pride, he said to the reporter, 'But look at my arms. I have great scars on my arms, too. I have them because my Mom
wouldn't let go.

You and I can identify with that little boy. We have scars, too. No, not from an alligator, but the scars of a painful past. Some of those scars are unsightly and have caused us deep regret. But, some wounds, my friend, are because Jehovah has refused to let go. In the midst of your struggle, He's been there holding on to you. He wants to protect you and provide for you in every way. But sometimes we foolishly wade into dangerous situations, not knowing what lies ahead. The swimming hole of life is filled with peril - and we forget that the enemy is waiting to attack. That's when the tug-of-war begins - and if you
have the scars of His love on your arms be very, very grateful. He did not and will not ever let you go.

Be Obedient and Push

Jehovah told a certain man that he had work for him to do. This certain man had a large rock in front of his house and Jehovah explained that the man was to push against the rock with all his might. The man did this, day after day. For many years he toiled from sun rise to sun set, his shoulders set squarely against the cold, massive surface of the unmoving rock, pushing with all his might. Each night the man returned home sore, worn out and feeling that his whole day had been spent in vain.

Seeing that the man was showing signs of discouragement, Satan decided to enter the picture and place a few thoughts into the man's weary mind: "You have been pushing against that rock for a long time, and it hasn't budged. Why kill yourself over this? You are never going to move it." This gave the man the impression that the task was impossible and that he was a failure.

These thoughts discouraged and disheartened the man. "Why kill myself over this?" he thought. "I'll just put in my time, give the minimum effort and that will be good enough." And that is what he planned to do until he decided to make it a matter of prayer and
take his troubled thoughts to Jehovah.

"Jehovah, I have labored long and hard in your service, putting all my strength to do what you have asked of me.. Yet, after all this time I have not even budged that rock by half a millimeter. What is wrong? Why am I failing?"

Then Jehovah responded compassionately, "When I asked you to serve and you accepted, I told you that your task was to push against the rock with all your strength, which you have done. Never once did I mention to you that I expected you to move it. Your task was to push. And now you come to me, with your strength spent, thinking that you have failed. But is that really so? Look at yourself. Your arms are strong and muscled, your back is sinewed and brown, your hands are callused from constant pressure, and your legs have become massive and hard. Through opposition you have grown much and your abilities now surpass that which you used to have. Yes, you haven't moved the rock but then all I ever asked was that you be obedient and push. It was through your works that you exercised faith in me. This you have done, and now I will move the rock for you."

At times, when we may tend to think little of ourselves and our service to Jehovah and we become disheartened and discouraged, we need to remember what Jehovah asks of us and that is just simple obedience and faith in him.

By all means, exercise faith that moves mountains but know that it is still Jehovah who does the moving. When everything seems to go wrong, just PUSH.. When your job gets you down, just PUSH. When people don't react the way you think they should, just PUSH. When people don't treat you kindly, just PUSH. When people reject you in the ministry just PUSH.

PUSH = Pray Until Something Happens!!!

In this time of the end with trials amounting we need all the encouragement we can get and support from our fellow Brothers and Sisters. To "incite love and fine works" and help hold each other up so we can walk victoriously into the new system. pass this on to those you love.