David a Man after God's own heart!
Question of the day: This question is a heavier, but this lesson is a heavier lesson. Have you ever said goodbye to a friend that you knew you may never see again?
This lesson is brought to you by you friendly neighborhood Mark! Beth sends her prayers to all of us and trust me we will need them.
1 Samuel 20New King James Version (NKJV)
Jonathan’s Loyalty to David
20 Then David fled from Naioth in Ramah, and went and said to Jonathan, “What have I done? What is my iniquity, and what is my sin before your father, that he seeks my life?”
2 So Jonathan said to him, “By no means! You shall not die! Indeed, my father will do nothing either great or small without first telling me. And why should my father hide this thing from me? It is not so!”
3 Then David took an oath again, and said, “Your father certainly knows that I have found favor in your eyes, and he has said, ‘Do not let Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved.’ But truly, as the Lord lives and as your soul lives, there is but a step between me and death.”
4 So Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you yourself desire, I will do it for you.”
Have you ever had a friend that loved you so much that they would do anything for you?
Maybe I have a jaded view, but if I would have been David I think that I may have been tempted to think that Jonathon may have turned against me. Maybe Jonathon was telling David that Saul wouldn't harm him to lure him into a trap...but how this passage reads, David doesn't accuse Jonathon, David puts the blame on Saul. David says that Saul is keeping this hatred for David a secret from his son.
So, David has to come up with a plan to reveal Saul's true feelings about David to Jonathon...
5 And David said to Jonathan, “Indeed tomorrow is the New Moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king to eat. But let me go, that I may hide in the field until the third day at evening. 6 If your father misses me at all, then say, ‘David earnestly asked permission of me that he might run over to Bethlehem, his city, for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the family.’ 7 If he says thus: ‘It is well,’ your servant will be safe. But if he is very angry, be sure that evil is determined by him. 8 Therefore you shall deal kindly with your servant, for you have brought your servant into a covenant of the Lord with you. Nevertheless, if there is iniquity in me, kill me yourself, for why should you bring me to your father?”
9 But Jonathan said, “Far be it from you! For if I knew certainly that evil was determined by my father to come upon you, then would I not tell you?”
10 Then David said to Jonathan, “Who will tell me, or what if your father answers you roughly?”
11 And Jonathan said to David, “Come, let us go out into the field.” So both of them went out into the field. 12 Then Jonathan said to David: “The Lord God of Israel is witness! When I have sounded out my father sometime tomorrow, or the third day, and indeed there is good toward David, and I do not send to you and tell you, 13 may the Lord do so and much more to Jonathan. But if it pleases my father to do you evil, then I will report it to you and send you away, that you may go in safety. And the Lord be with you as He has been with my father. 14 And you shall not only show me the kindness of the Lord while I still live, that I may not die; 15 but you shall not cut off your kindness from my house forever, no, not when the Lord has cut off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth.” 16 So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “Let the Lord require it at the hand of David’s enemies.”
17 Now Jonathan again caused David to vow, because he loved him; for he loved him as he loved his own soul. 18 Then Jonathan said to David, “Tomorrow is the New Moon; and you will be missed, because your seat will be empty. 19 And when you have stayed three days, go down quickly and come to the place where you hid on the day of the deed; and remain by the stone Ezel. 20 Then I will shoot three arrows to the side, as though I shot at a target; 21 and there I will send a lad, saying, ‘Go, find the arrows.’ If I expressly say to the lad, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you; get them and come’—then, as the Lord lives, there is safety for you and no harm. 22 But if I say thus to the young man, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you’—go your way, for the Lord has sent you away. 23 And as for the matter which you and I have spoken of, indeed the Lord be between you and me forever.”
So, there is the plan...In these passages we see yet again the closeness that David and Jonathon had.
This makes me think about how we can apply this to our lives. I think that it is important to have someone in your life that is close enough to you that you can share your thoughts and troubles with. I relate this too an accountability partner, someone who will pray with you and have your best interest in mind. Jonathon is next in line to the kingdom, but he is so close to God that he understands that God has other plans and he is okay with that. This relationship shows us how we are to have friendships. David and Jonathon were close to God and this automatically brought them closer together as friends. When God is first in any relationship, that relationship will thrive.
24 Then David hid in the field. And when the New Moon had come, the king sat down to eat the feast. 25 Now the king sat on his seat, as at other times, on a seat by the wall. And Jonathan arose,[a] and Abner sat by Saul’s side, but David’s place was empty. 26 Nevertheless Saul did not say anything that day, for he thought, “Something has happened to him; he is unclean, surely he is unclean.” 27 And it happened the next day, the second day of the month, that David’s place was empty. And Saul said to Jonathan his son, “Why has the son of Jesse not come to eat, either yesterday or today?”
28 So Jonathan answered Saul, “David earnestly asked permission of me to go to Bethlehem. 29 And he said, ‘Please let me go, for our family has a sacrifice in the city, and my brother has commanded me to be there. And now, if I have found favor in your eyes, please let me get away and see my brothers.’ Therefore he has not come to the king’s table.”
30 Then Saul’s anger was aroused against Jonathan, and he said to him, “You son of a perverse, rebellious woman! Do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame and to the shame of your mother’s nakedness? 31 For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, you shall not be established, nor your kingdom. Now therefore, send and bring him to me, for he shall surely die.”
32 And Jonathan answered Saul his father, and said to him, “Why should he be killed? What has he done?” 33 Then Saul cast a spear at him to kill him, by which Jonathan knew that it was determined by his father to kill David.
Now, I have been upset with my children before, but I have never hurled a spear at them in an attempt to kill them...
How do you think this made Jonathon feel? His father just tried to kill him...
Ellen White writes in Patriarchs and Prophets chapter 63, that, "The Prince was grieved and indignant, and leaving the royal presence, he was no more a guest at the feast. His soul was bowed down with sorrow as her repaired to the appointed time to the spot where David was to learn the king's intentions toward him."
34 So Jonathan arose from the table in fierce anger, and ate no food the second day of the month, for he was grieved for David, because his father had treated him shamefully.
35 And so it was, in the morning, that Jonathan went out into the field at the time appointed with David, and a little lad was with him. 36 Then he said to his lad, “Now run, find the arrows which I shoot.” As the lad ran, he shot an arrow beyond him. 37 When the lad had come to the place where the arrow was which Jonathan had shot, Jonathan cried out after the lad and said, “Is not the arrow beyond you?” 38 And Jonathan cried out after the lad, “Make haste, hurry, do not delay!” So Jonathan’s lad gathered up the arrows and came back to his master. 39 But the lad did not know anything. Only Jonathan and David knew of the matter. 40 Then Jonathan gave his weapons to his lad, and said to him, “Go, carry them to the city.”
Jonathon stayed true to his friend. It would not have been hard for Jonathon to betray David at this point to gain his fathers favor back. He knew that the Kingdom would go to David because God said that it would. He trusted God to do what is best, but he also knew that this meant that him and David would have to part ways and that they may even have to fight as enemies.
41 As soon as the lad had gone, David arose from a place toward the south, fell on his face to the ground, and bowed down three times. And they kissed one another; and they wept together, but David more so. 42 Then Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, since we have both sworn in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘May the Lord be between you and me, and between your descendants and my descendants, forever.’” So he arose and departed, and Jonathan went into the city.
The grief that these two young men felt was unbearable. Have you ever felt such pain that you just buckled to the ground and cried, no sobbed? That is what both of these men did because they knew that they were parting ways forever.
Ellen writes further down in the same chapter that, "the dark passion of the king casts its shadow upon the life of these two young men."
This is a dark, heart wrenching story. What can we get from this story to apply to our life?
I have to be honest, I am having difficulty to pull much real life application out of this.
After reflecting and reading several other authors on David and Jonathon, I see what this story is trying to show up.
First - we have to be intentional in our relationships. Jonathon saw something in David. He was more than a hero who killed a giant. David was close to God and loved God. David was kind to Jonathon's sister after her father had disgraced her. David had many attributes that Jonathon admired and loved.
Second - Jonathon was available at all times for David, Jonathon listened to Davids needs, and Jonathon was willing to do anything for David. David could have asked Jonathon to Kill Saul, Saul did just attempt to kill Jonathon...But Jonathon knew David's character and trusted that David would not ask such a thing.
Third - We see who our true friends are when crisis comes. When there is a crisis, it costs and sometimes people have to sacrifice. The friends who show up and asks what can I do, those are the true friends.
Fourth - Our story may not end well, but that is okay. We may not get our way. David and Jonathon didn't end with a happy ending. David lost his best friend in the end. It may hurt while we are going through the lost, but with God in both lives, the end isn't the ending. I think that the meeting between David and Jonathon in heaven will be a sight to see.
Does anyone have any other thoughts on this story? How do you see this story applying to your life?
Comments
Post a Comment