More Than Anything, I Want The King
II Samuel 19:24-30
I.. Absolute trust
II. Absolute devotion
III. Absolute abandonment
We have before us a right moving text. Miphobesheth was one of the sons of Saul. He was born with crippled legs and had won a special place in the heart of King David who had spared his life and had even allowed him to remain on in the palace and sit at his table as tho he were part of the royal family still. During all the difficulty David had undergone, Miphobesheth had been led out of the palace and he and his servant had been granted a portion of land by the king. When David was coming back to the palace again he had waited to hear from Miphobesheth but didn’t. David had thought that perhaps he had turned against him as well. It turns out that what had happened was that Miphobesheth’s servant had tricked him and had stolen his pack animal for himself and had left him alone. Now David comes back and there is some uncertainty as to what is going to happen. There is a most beautiful parallel here that helps us see something about our desire for Jesus that I want you to see as we look into this passage today. When David said you go ahead and take the land, Miphobesheth says that now that the king is back, he does not want any land, all he wants is to sit at the kings table. What a profound statement. I am wondering today if that is a statement that you could make about Jesus?
As we follow this parallel we want to see first of all the absolute trust. Miphobesheth says to David, "you do what is right" He knew that his very life was in David’s hands, as it had been all along and he expressed that to the king as he told him that what ever the king chose to do was fine with him. Are you in that place with Jesus? When it comes to your every day existence, to the things that go on in your life have you come to the place that you do trust Jesus enough that you leave all those details to Him. Are you aware that your life really is in His hands anyway and you are willing to allow Him to make those decisions and choices for you? Are you in that place of absolute trust? I recently read this story, one day, while my son Zac and I were out in the country, climbing around in some cliffs, I heard a voice from above me yell, "Hey Dad! Catch me!" I turned around to see Zac joyfully jumping off a rock straight at me. He had jumped and them yelled "Hey Dad!" I became an instant circus act, catching him. We both fell to the ground. For a moment after I caught him I could hardly talk. When I found my voice again I gasped in exasperation: "Zac! Can you give me one good reason why you did that???" He responded with remarkable calmness: "Sure...because you’re my Dad." His whole assurance was based in the fact that his father was trustworthy. He could live life to the hilt because I could be trusted. Isn’t this even more true for a Christian?
Then secondly, we see absolute devotion. Miphobesheth says to David, we were like dead men. He is acknowledging that David had his life in his hands, but David spared him and showed him mercy and grace. Out of that act came a deep sense of devotion. In the similar manner out of what Jesus has done for us should come a deep sense of devotion. A sense of longing for Him and caring for Him to the point of devotion. A wife who is 85% faithful to her husband is not faithful at all. There is no such thing as part-time loyalty to Jesus Christ. How would you count your loyalty to Jesus? In 1912 William Borden, a graduate of Yale University, left one of America’s greatest family fortunes to be a missionary to China. He got as far as Egypt and died of cerebral meningitis. He died--and was only in his 20s--but there was "no reserve, no retreat, no regrets" in his consecration to God. In this day when we are so tossed about with allegiances, we move form who can do the most for us now to the newest one on the scene, are you devoted to Jesus and how could you tell? What would you find around as an indication? Could you tell you were devoted to Jesus by the music that you listen to? Could you tell by the reading material that you have? Could you tell by your conversation?
Then thirdly, there is the level of absolute abandonment. David has given Miphobesheth land and security for himself, but he says, what do I need with that, now that you are here. "My King is back in peace." Here is the abandoning of all that is his own for all that he really needs in the king. May I ask you, have you come to that place when you can say, what do I need with anything else, I have the king. What a life that invites us to. At a meeting of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Bobby Richardson, former New York Yankee second baseman, offered a prayer that is a classic in brevity and poignancy: "Dear God, Your will, nothing more, nothing less, nothing else. Amen." Oh my friend why should it be so unusual to find so few among us who have come to that place int heir life? After all can we not say that for all the years that He was on this earth that Jesus was absolutely abandoned to the will of His Father and to us as He gave all of His life for us? I recently read this story A Chinese man in his 6Os opened the door. His smile was radiant, but his back was bent almost double. He led us to a sparsely furnished room. A Chinese woman of about the same age came in to serve tea. As she lingered, I couldn’t help but notice how they touched and lovingly looked at each other. My staring apparently didn’t go unnoticed, for soon they were both giggling. "What is it?" I asked my friend. "Oh nothing," he said with a smile. "They just wanted you to know it was OK--they’re newlyweds." I learned they had been engaged in 1949, when he was a student at Nanking Seminary. On the day of their wedding rehearsal, Chinese communists seized the seminary. They took the students to a hard-labor prison. For the next 30 years, the bride-to-be was allowed only one visit per year. Each time, following their brief minutes together, the man would be called to the warden’s office. "You may go home with your bride," he said, "if you will renounce Christianity." Year after year, this man replied with just one word; "No." I was stunned. How had he been able to stand the strain for so long, being denied his family, his marriage, and even his health? When I asked, he seemed astonished at my question. He replied, "With all that Jesus has done for me, how could I betray Him?" My dear friend I pray that you will allow the Holy Spirit to pierce inside you and see if there is any way that you would want to move to the level of seeing that now that the King is here, at His table is all your need.
Let us pray, Dear Father, we praise you Sir, that indeed, you are all we need and you are the desire of our soul. Forgive us sir for the many times that these are only words and not the expressed action of our souls, we pray in Jesus dear name,
Amen
