1 Samuel 20:1 – 17 “Then David fled from Naioth in Ramah. He came to Jonathan and asked, “What have I done? What is my iniquity? How have I sinned against your father, that he wants to take my life?”
“Far from it!” Jonathan replied. “You will not die. Indeed, my father does nothing, great or small, without telling me. So why would he hide this matter from me? This cannot be true!”
But David again vowed, “Your father knows very well that I have found favor in your eyes, and he has said, ‘Jonathan must not know of this, or he will be grieved.’ As surely as the LORD lives and as you yourself live, there is but a step between me and death.”
Then Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you desire, I will do for you.”
So, David told him, “Look, tomorrow is the New Moon, and I am supposed to dine with the king. Instead, let me go and hide in the field until the third evening from now. If your father misses me at all, tell him, ‘David urgently requested my permission to hurry to Bethlehem, his hometown, because there is an annual sacrifice for his whole clan.’ If he says, ‘Good,’ then your servant is safe, but if he is enraged, you will know he has evil intentions. Therefore, deal faithfully with your servant, for you have brought me into a covenant with you before the LORD. If there is iniquity in me, then kill me yourself; why should you bring me to your father?”
“Never!” Jonathan replied. “If I ever found out that my father had evil intentions against you, would I not tell you?”
Then David asked Jonathan, “Who will tell me if your father answers you harshly?”
“Come,” he replied, “let us go out to the field.” So, the two of them went out into the field, and Jonathan said, “By the LORD, the God of Israel, I will sound out my father by this time tomorrow or the next day. If he is favorable toward you, will I not send for you and tell you? But if my father intends to bring evil on you, then may the LORD punish me, and ever so severely, if I do not tell you and send you on your way in safety. May the LORD be with you, just as He has been with my father. And as long as I live, treat me with the LORD’s loving devotion that I may not die, and do not ever cut off your loving devotion from my household—not even when the LORD cuts off every one of David’s enemies from the face of the earth.”
So, Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “May the LORD hold David’s enemies accountable.” And Jonathan had David reaffirm his vow out of love for him, for Jonathan loved David as he loved himself.”
Jonathan and David are comrades in arms, warriors who recognize each other’s value and who love and respect each other deeply. Although there is no record of Jonathan’s spiritual state, it is likely that Jonathan does worship the Lord of Israel while his father has long since gotten caught up in idol worship.
It is amazing that up to this point, Jonathan still refuses to acknowledge his father’s fear and hatred of David. Saul has already tried to pin David to the wall with his spear at least twice; certainly, the news of that should have gone throughout the palace. Jonathan loves his father and wants to believe that his father is fundamentally a good man; however, Jonathan is enough of a realist to recognize that he might be wrong and that Saul really is out to kill David. Jonathan may also know about Samuel’s having anointed David to be the next king. At any rate, Jonathan makes a covenant with David.
“May the LORD be with you, just as He has been with my father. And as long as I live, treat me with the LORD’s loving devotion that I may not die, and do not ever cut off your loving devotion from my household—not even when the LORD cuts off every one of David’s enemies from the face of the earth.”
So, Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “May the LORD hold David’s enemies accountable.” And Jonathan had David reaffirm his vow out of love for him, for Jonathan loved David as he loved himself.” David honored this covenant for the rest of his life, and when he became king, he sought out Jonathan’s family members and cared for them.
APPLICATION: For centuries, the relationship between Jonathan and David has served as a model of devoted friendship. Not only are these two young men about the same age, but each of them recognizes the other’s sterling character. Jonathan’s description of the covenant indicates the possibility that someone in his household may become one of David’s enemies in the future.
How many of us have friends on whom we can really count? David and Jonathan are swearing loyalty to the death; do any of us have friends who are that devoted? Sadly, in this day and age, many of us have lots of acquaintances but very few real friends on whom we can count. Jonathan’s father was not a friend to either Jonathan or David, and sometimes our family members may also disappoint us.
Where can we turn for encouragement and support? Proverbs 18:24 tells us, “A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who stays closer than a brother.” But what if you don’t know anybody like that?
There is one man with whom any one of us can be friends, the man Jesus. Jesus was the Son of God and came to earth to live as a sinless man and to die for the sins of all those in the world who would believe in Him. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
Jonathan and David made a covenant to help and protect each other. Jesus has already carried out His part of the covenant; He has suffered, died, and has been resurrected. But covenants require two parties. What will your response be? Will you accept what Jesus has done for you and allow Him to become your friend?
PRAYER: Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for dying for our sins. Lord, we know that by ourselves, nothing we do is good enough to make it into heaven. But we also know that You have made a way for us. Lord, forgive us our sins. Help us to follow hard after You all the days of our lives. Amen.
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