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KINGS | Week 6 | Full Service · Rewind

Rock Point Church

66 min

Pastor Bill Bush · May 22, 2023 · 4 min read · 66 min listen

The big idea

Quoting the message: Kingdom people are kind people, end quote. — biblical kindness (chesed) pursues mercy and provides grace to those who can never pay it back.

In this message

The big idea
Point 1 of 6Cultural kindness is a low bar; biblical kindness (chesed) is much deeper
Point 2 of 6David pursued Mephibosheth to show him God's kindness, not to protect his throne

Point 3 of 6Kindness pursues mercy and provides grace
Point 4 of 6Real kindness is shown to those who can never pay it back
Point 5 of 6David's kindness flowed from having received God's kindness himself
Point 6 of 6God's kindness is what actually changes people, not fear or threats
Take it into your week
Transcript

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Scripture in this message

2 Samuel 8:15
2 Samuel 9:1
2 Samuel 9:7
2 Samuel 7:18-20
Romans 2:4
2 Samuel 9:13

Rewind AI drafted the Big Idea and some point headings shown here from the sermon transcript. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

Pastor Bill Bush · May 22, 2023 · 66 min watch · 2 min read

KINGS | Week 6 | Full Service

In this message

Big Idea
Key points
Application

Scripture in this message

2 Samuel 8:15
2 Samuel 9:1
2 Samuel 9:7
2 Samuel 7:18-20
Romans 2:4
2 Samuel 9:13

Big Idea Key points Application

Big Idea

Quoting the message: Kingdom people are kind people, end quote. — biblical kindness (chesed) pursues mercy and provides grace to those who can never pay it back.

God's kindness toward us makes no sense by the world's math, but it changes everything. Because David had experienced God's kindness through Jonathan, he pursued mercy and grace for Mephibosheth, a helpless man who could give him nothing back — and that same undeserved kindness is what God offers us in Jesus, and what He calls us to offer others.

Key points

1
1Cultural kindness is a low bar; biblical kindness (chesed) is much deeper
Pastor Bill notes that both in The UK and the US the culture of kindness has declined, and what people call kindness — being cordial, not punching someone in the face — is a bargain-basement version of the Hebrew word chesed, which wraps up God's love, covenant faithfulness, mercy, grace, and loyalty into acts of devotion that go beyond duty.
2
2David pursued Mephibosheth to show him God's kindness, not to protect his throne
Working through 2 Samuel 9, Pastor Bill shows David, newly established as king, seeking out any survivor of Saul's line — not to eliminate a rival as culture would expect, but to show kindness for Jonathan's sake. Mephibosheth, crippled and hiding in Lo Debar, is brought before David expecting execution.
3
3Kindness pursues mercy and provides grace
Pastor Bill defines the two halves of kindness: mercy withholds deserved punishment, grace gives undeserved good. He walks through David's four statements to Mephibosheth — don't be afraid, I'll show kindness, I'll restore your inheritance, you'll eat at my table — as a template, while clarifying this is not a license to stay in abuse; boundaries can coexist with kindness.
4
4Real kindness is shown to those who can never pay it back
Mephibosheth had no benefit to offer David and was, if anything, a political threat, yet David restored his land and adopted him to his table as a son. Pastor Bill applies this directly to marriage, framing husbands leading like Jesus on the cross and wives submitting like Jesus in Gethsemane as mutual, undeserved kindness.
5
5David's kindness flowed from having received God's kindness himself
Pastor Bill points to David's prayer in 2 Samuel 7, where David is stunned by God's goodness and asks 'who am I?' — realizing God was not rewarding his merit but pouring out grace despite his sin. This same confusion, he says, is what the gospel produces in us.
6
6God's kindness is what actually changes people, not fear or threats
Citing Romans 2:4, Pastor Bill argues that God uses mercy and grace, not intimidation, to turn people from sin, and that once we stop fighting and receive His love we're empowered by the Spirit to extend that same kindness to others, especially the people closest to us.

Application

Pastor Bill frames the charge as learning real kindness — chesed — the secret sauce that can fix a struggling relationship.

Identify who needs your kindness
Pastor Bill asks each person to name who in their life needs mercy and grace this week — a spouse, a kid, a coworker — and choose to extend it without expecting anything back.
Set boundaries without abandoning kindness
If you're in an abusive or harmful relationship, Pastor Bill says you can create distance and boundaries while still refusing to return evil for evil, following David's example with Saul.
Husbands, lead by going first in love
Pastor Bill calls husbands to love their wives sacrificially like Christ loved the church, going first even when it isn't earned or reciprocated.
Wives, respect even when it's hard
Pastor Bill calls wives to show kindness through respect, following the pattern of Jesus in Gethsemane submitting to the Father even in a difficult plan.
Sit at the Lord's table regularly
Pastor Bill urges believers to commune with God often, not just show up at church, because experiencing His kindness is what empowers us to express it to others.

Take it into your week

Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

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Scripture in this message

From the transcript
“matter of fact, in second Samuel eight fifteen, it says this about David at the beginning of this reign. It says, so David reigned over all of Israel and did what was just and right for all of his people”
Read the whole chapter →
From the transcript
“So that's what we're gonna pick a pick up here. In second Samuel nine, starting in verse one. It says, one day David asked, is anyone in Saul's family still alive? Anyone to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan's sake”
From the transcript
“And if you go back to verse seven, there's four statements I want to point out about how it shows pursuing mercy and providing grace. And the first one is what he says right there in verse seven. Don't be afraid”
From the transcript
“Matter of fact, if you go to chapter seven verse 18 through 20 when David's finally king, after spending decades, a lot of us would see, well, God said I'm gonna be king, and now it's been decades of running and hiding”
From the transcript
“Matter of fact, in Romans chapter two verse four, it says this, don't you see how wonderfully kind, same thing, tolerant and patient God is with you. Does this mean nothing to you? Can't you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin”
From the transcript
“And because of that the very last verse verse 13 of this whole chapter says this and Mephibosheth, who was crippled in both feet, lived in Jerusalem and ate regularly at the king's table”

Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

7-day devotional

A personal reading plan from this message — scripture, reflection, and prayer for each day.

Sign in to track your progress through this devotional.

Day 1

Most of us think of kindness as a reaction — something we show when someone earns it or makes it easy. But the opening of 2 Samuel 9 immediately reframes that. David doesn't wait for someone to come to him. He asks a searching question: 'Is there anyone still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness?' That word — kindness — is the Hebrew chesed, and it carries the full weight of covenant love, mercy, loyalty, and grace all at once. It is far richer than our culture's low bar of being polite or cordial. What's striking is that David is the king. He has nothing to gain. The house of Saul was, in many ways, a rival house. And yet he is the one doing the seeking. This is the shape of biblical kindness: it initiates. It goes looking. It doesn't sit back and wait for the other person to make the first move. As you begin this week, it's worth asking honestly — is there someone in your life you've been waiting on before you'll extend kindness? David's example invites us to reconsider who we're looking for, and why.

For reflection

Who in your life are you currently waiting on to 'deserve' your kindness before you offer it?

Pray

Pray for eyes to see the people around you the way David saw Mephibosheth — as someone to seek out, not wait on.

Day 2

When Mephibosheth finally stands before David — or rather, falls before him, face to the ground — his first words are self-erasure: 'I am just a dead dog.' He knows he has no leverage. No claim. No currency to offer. He is lame in both feet, the last remnant of a defeated house, and he is genuinely expecting the worst. And yet David's response is pure chesed: 'Don't be afraid. I intend to show kindness to you because of my promise to your father, Jonathan.' Not because of anything Mephibosheth brought. Not because of his performance or potential. Because of a covenant made with someone else. Pastor Bill made this parallel directly: this is how God loves us. We come to Him with nothing. Worse than nothing, actually — we come with a record and a limp. And the King doesn't condemn us. He calls us by name and says, 'Don't be afraid.' The kindness isn't earned; it flows from a covenant kept. This week, sit with the reality that when God sought you out, you were the dead dog on the floor. And He set a table for you anyway.

For reflection

What does it do to your heart to picture yourself in Mephibosheth's position — face down, expecting judgment, and hearing 'don't be afraid' instead?

Pray

Pray for a fresh sense of what it means that God's kindness toward you is covenant-rooted, not performance-based.

Day 3

Before David could show chesed to anyone else, something had to happen inside him first. In 2 Samuel 7, God makes sweeping promises over David's life and legacy — and David's response isn't pride or self-congratulation. He goes and sits before the Lord and asks: 'Who am I, Sovereign Lord, and what is my family, that You have brought me this far?' There's a humility here that isn't performed. It comes from a man who genuinely understands that he didn't build his way to the throne — that everything he has was given, not earned. Pastor Bill pointed to this passage to show that David's generosity toward Mephibosheth wasn't random. It grew out of a posture before God: I have received something I didn't deserve. That inner reckoning changes a person. When you know — really know — that your standing before God is a gift and not a wage, it reorders the way you relate to everyone around you. Entitlement fades. Generosity has room to grow. The kindness you show others becomes an overflow of what you've already received, not a transaction you're hoping will pay off.

For reflection

In what areas of your life are you most tempted to feel like you've earned what God has given you?

Pray

Pray for the kind of honest humility David showed — a willingness to sit before God and let Him remind you of what grace actually looks like.

Day 4

There's a version of change that's driven by fear or guilt — you modify your behavior because the consequences of not changing are too painful. That kind of change tends to be brittle. It holds as long as the pressure holds, and then it snaps. Paul points to something different in Romans 2:4: 'Don't you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can't you see that His kindness is intended to turn you from your sin?' The engine of real transformation isn't threat — it's kindness. God's patience and goodness are themselves the invitation. They are meant to lead us somewhere. Pastor Bill drew on this verse to make a simple but important point: behavior modification through guilt or fear is not the goal. The goal is a changed heart, and changed hearts come from encountering the genuine kindness of God. This has real implications for how you relate to the people you're trying to love. Lecturing, guilting, or applying pressure rarely changes someone's heart. But the steady, unearned, persistent kindness that mirrors what God has shown us — that is the thing that can actually reach a person.

For reflection

Think of a relationship where you've been relying on pressure or frustration to change things. What might it look like to lead with kindness instead?

Pray

Pray for a deeper experience of God's patience toward you — and for that experience to shape how you treat someone who frustrates you.

Day 5

Once David makes his declaration of kindness toward Mephibosheth, he doesn't stop at words. He calls Ziba, assigns him land, workers, and a charge: 'You and your sons and servants will farm the land for him and bring in crops, so that your master's grandson will have enough food.' The restoration is complete and concrete. David gives back what was lost and provides for what was needed going forward. This is the two-part movement Pastor Bill described: mercy withholds the punishment that was deserved, and grace provides the blessing that was never earned. Both are active. Neither is passive. Chesed is not a warm feeling — it's a decision that puts feet on the ground. And notice: the provision didn't stop with a meal. Mephibosheth ate at the king's table 'as one of the king's own sons.' He was re-placed, re-named in the story, given an identity not based on what he came from but on who had claimed him. That is what God's kindness does for us. It doesn't just pardon — it restores. It gives us a seat, a name, and a family. Sitting with that this week, ask yourself: is there someone in your life who needs both the mercy and the grace — not just the absence of punishment, but an active act of provision?

For reflection

Is there someone in your life who needs you to actively provide something — time, help, a kind word — not just stop withholding it?

Pray

Pray for the creativity and courage to act on chesed concretely — to move from intention to a real, specific act of kindness this week.

Day 6

Related passage

Pastor Bill made the connection explicit: the Lord's table isn't just a ritual to observe — it's the place where God's chesed becomes most visceral and personal. When we take communion together, we are doing exactly what Mephibosheth did. We are sitting at the King's table not because we earned our place, but because of the One who made a way. Jesus' body broken, His blood poured out — these aren't just symbols to acknowledge. They are the most concentrated expression of mercy and grace the world has ever seen. Paul's instruction in 1 Corinthians 11 is that we do this 'in remembrance' — and the word implies an active, repeated calling-back into the reality of what happened. You don't just acknowledge it once and move on. You return to it. You let it sink in again. Pastor Bill's challenge this week was straightforward: you cannot sustain chesed toward difficult people on willpower alone. You need a regular seat at this table. In Word, in prayer, in communion with the King — that's where the capacity to love the unlovable is renewed. Not because you worked up enough resolve, but because you let the reality of what Jesus did reach you again.

For reflection

How regularly are you 'sitting at the King's table' — in His Word, in prayer, in communion — and how is that rhythm (or the lack of it) affecting the way you treat people?

Pray

Pray for a renewed hunger to come to God's table regularly — not out of obligation, but because you need what only He can give.

Day 7

Coming back to the whole story on this final day, something stands out that's easy to miss: the chapter ends simply with Mephibosheth living in Jerusalem 'and ate regularly at the king's table.' Regularly. Not once, as a ceremony. Not occasionally, when he'd earned it. Regularly — as a permanent fixture of David's household. That rhythm is the point. This whole week has circled around a single, deepening truth: God's kindness toward you is not a one-time event. It is a steady, covenant-rooted pursuit that continues every day you are alive. And because that is true, the kindness you extend to others — your spouse, your kids, your most difficult coworker — doesn't have to be manufactured from scratch every time. It flows from a well that is being continually filled. Pastor Bill's closing challenge was not complicated: stop waiting for the other person to deserve it. Start with whoever is hardest to love. And keep coming back to the table. Not because you have to, but because it's there that you remember who you are — someone who was sought out, brought in from nothing, and given a permanent seat. That reality is more than enough to change the way you treat everyone else.

For reflection

Looking back at this week: where do you most need to let the reality of God's chesed toward you sink in — and who might be changed because it does?

Pray

Pray for the grace to make chesed a rhythm, not a resolve — returning regularly to God's table so that His kindness becomes the most natural thing you carry into every relationship.

Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

Small-group discussion guide

For leading a group conversation about this message.

Open

This message takes us into one of the quieter corners of the Old Testament — 2 Samuel 9 — and pulls out a word that changes the way we think about kindness. Before we dive in, what's one thing from the message that stayed with you?

Discussion questions

1
In 2 Samuel 9:1, David asks, 'Is anyone in Saul's family still alive — anyone to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan's sake?' What do you notice about what drives David's search? What does it tell us that David is the one doing the seeking?
2
Pastor Bill drew a distinction between mercy and grace — mercy as withholding deserved punishment, grace as giving unearned blessing. Looking at how David treats Mephibosheth in 2 Samuel 9:7, where do you see both of those at work in what David does?
3
In 2 Samuel 7:18–20, David responds to God's promise with deep humility — essentially asking, 'Who am I that You would do this?' How does that posture shape the way people understand where kindness comes from, and why they can offer it to others?
4
Romans 2:4 says it is God's kindness that leads us to repentance — not fear, not guilt. How does that reframe the way we think about what actually changes people?
5
Pastor Bill described communion as a regular seat at the King's table — a place where God's mercy and grace become real to us again. What is the connection he was drawing between that experience and our ability to show chesed in the relationships that are hardest for us?
6
Pastor Bill challenged us to stop waiting for the other person to deserve it, and to start with whoever is hardest to love. What makes that kind of kindness different from just being polite or keeping the peace — and what would it look like in practice for a community trying to live this out together?

Pray together

Gratitude that God sought us out in our brokenness and seated us at His table — and an openness to carry that same mercy and grace into the relationships where it costs us the most

Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

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KINGS

Week 6 · 6 messages

Where these passages are preached

2 Samuel 8 2 Samuel 9 2 Samuel 7 Romans 2

Explore related topics

Biblical Kindness Covenant Mercy Difficult Relationships God's Grace The Lord's Table

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