1 Samuel 20

Here are the notes and questions from Sunday's LightHouse:

Over the last few chapters we have seen that David is God’s anointed king and God is at work to ensure that he comes to the throne despite the opposition of Saul. But David isn’t immune from hardship and struggles but he is protected in the midst of them. That protection by God has come in various forms, dodging Saul’s unusually off target spears, military victories against the odds, Jonathan’s passionate defence plea, Michal’s lies and cover up using an idol, and God’s direct intervention as Saul’s posse all prophesy before Saul himself prophesies. But David is not safe yet, as ch20 opens David is still on the run from Saul.

So where he runs to is a bit of a surprise in one sense. As he flees Naioth you’d expect him to get away, get far away from Saul and his family. But David runs to Jonathan. But in another sense if we know the story it is not a surprise because we know the friendship and covenant between the two. This passage shows us the marks of covenant friendship and the hearts of two men on fire for God.

The faithfulness of a covenant friend seeks out sin (1-10).
Back in 18:1-5 Jonathan recognises David as God’s anointed king and enters into a covenant with him. They are kindred spirits, both love and are devoted to God and his kingdom, both have fought for it, both have risked for it, both live by faith and that unites them, that shared passion for God’s name, glory and kingdom. It is no surprise that David goes back to Jonathan.

What is a surprise is what David ask Jonathan, he wants to know what he has done to deserve Saul’s animosity, has he sinned that he is under pain of death(1-2, 8). Jonathan says that he has done nothing and that his father doesn’t want to kill David, the last Jonathan knew was 19v6-7 where Saul and David were reconciled after Jonathan’s mediation. So he undertakes to find out what has happened.

What binds David and Jonathan is a covenant, a solemn binding agreement built on love and lives lived for God and his kingdom. David can come confidently to Jonathan because his friend will treat him with “kindness”, that word is ‘hesed’ it means a loyal love, a devotion to the good of a friend. Their friendship is not flaky, its not changeable, it is committed, it is reliable, and it is focused on the heart. It is not about appearance but about reality. So David exhorts Jonathan to find out if he has sinned(8), and Jonathan agrees to do so(9).

What strikes you here is firstly David’s concern that he has sinned. How do we react when someone treats us wrongly? Do we assume it may be because of sin on our part or because of sin on theirs? When a relationship breaks down do we examine ourselves or quickly shift the blame onto others? Do we act indignant or are we concerned to find out if we have sinned without knowing it?

David could have reacted proudly and simply left, but he is concerned to see the relationship repaired is he has caused the breach. He will not let pride stop him and so he goes to Jonathan and asks him to examine the situation and determine the wrong. He lays his heart open to Jonathan’s scrutiny.

The faithfulness of a covenant friend exposes sin. It means we will be willing to invite another to examine our lives, our hearts and our motives. At the very least this should apply to our marriages, but it also ought to apply to our friendships in Christ, not every relationship will be able to take this weight, but we need some that go this deep. Where we can entrust ourselves and ask others to examine us because we know they are for us, they are loyal and faithful and love God’s kingdom.

Faithful friendship strengthens others in God (11-17)
Jonathan now takes the initiative, he acts and plans and trusts God. He undertakes to discover what is wrong, if David has sinned and if he is in danger. But he does so much more than that he strengthens David’s trust in God.

(13-16)Jonathan trusts God’s word to David; he trusts that God is with David, that David will become king, that David’s enemies will be cut off by God – even if one of them is his father, and asks David as king elect to treat him and his family with ‘hesed’ when he is king – not if!

That is faithful friendship; that is friendship like Gods. (17)Ends by telling us why Jonathan showed such friendship to David, because he loved him as he loved himself. Again remember 1 Samuel is a former prophet book – each event looks back to the law. Here Jonathan is fulfilling the law, showing us what a faithful Israelite looks like. Leviticus 19:18 “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbour as yourself. I am the LORD.” Jonathan is a faithful Israelite treating David as he should, as God would. Showing him kindness just as God is kind, and love just as God loves.

This sort of friendship is founded in faith, it is counter cultural. Culture would have Jonathan wipe out a threat to his kingship, cultural wisdom would have David wipe out Jonathans family when he comes to the throne so there is no one for any opposition to rally round with a legitimate claim to the throne. But faith in God, a concern for God’s kingdom, covenantal faithfulness conquers culture.

Covenant commitment ought to mark our friendships with other believers and our commitment to church. A love for one another than is committed, that is determined to resolve, to reconcile, to forgive, to repent readily rather than sulk in pride. That is determined to help one another expose sin but also to deliberately strengthen one another’s faith in God. That is counter cultural – our cultures idea of love is liquid, it comes and goes, it is no more permanent that a sandcastle on a beach. But our friendship with one another in faith is to be of a different nature all together. People from outside the church should look at the church and marvel at our love for and commitment to one another. Our service and practical care for one another, our willingness to forgive, our grace filled words, our love for one another even when we disagree should be amazing the watching world. David and Jonathan don’t jack it in when it gets hard. Their love and friendship is just like God’s. And it is aimed at strengthening one another’s trust in and living for God and his kingdom.

A Faithfulness the world can’t understand(24-34)
What did Jonathan dream of as he grew up? What had he been trained for his whole life? What did people ask him if he was looking forward to? Being king of Israel. Yet what is amazing is that he is prepared to give it all up for God’s kingdom. Jonathan is not all words, he acts too. He goes to the feast and observes his dad, and faces the fury of his father when he says he has given permission to David not to be there. Then he confronts his Dad’s sin because David has done nothing wrong and yet Saul wants him dead. And Jonathan’s anger (34)is not because his dad threw a spear at him but because of the injustice done to David and Saul’s sin.

Jonathan’s righteous anger is in contrast with Saul’s angry explosion; how can Jonathan choose David over his family, choose David over dynasty. But the issue is that he is not just choosing David, he is choosing God and God’s king and kingdom over his own kingdom. And Saul cannot understand how Jonathan can give up.

Jonathan seeks God’s kingdom and that liberates him to give up his rights and his rule. You can’t help but see the parallel with Jesus, who gives up his rights to pursue God’s kingdom, to win us for God’s kingdom. It becomes the pattern of discipleship, seen in Jesus to seek first God’s kingdom, to carry our cross, to deny ourselves. It may be the call to give up a promotion in order to keep on serving in church, in may be a call to not have the things culture says we need in order to be a stay at home mum, it may be a call to give generously rather than live in luxury, it may be a call to be excluded and set apart for our concern for God’s kingdom and his word on marriage or family or faith or salvation, or the call to forgive someone who has hurt us and love those who are opposed to us.

And we are to expect people outside the church not to understand just as Saul didn’t get why Jonathan would give up his kingdom and rights in pursuit of God’s kingdom. We are to expect opposition when we do even from our family as we see here. But we are to be faithful.

A Faithfulness that trusts God for the future(35-42)
David’s words to Jonathan seem a bit incongruous don’t they? He reports everything and David is now on the run, a hunted man. There is great sadness as they part, the tears flow, but there is also a steely faith and confidence in God(42). “Go in peace” is not what you expect Jonathan to say given what he has just told David, but there is peace between David and Jonathan, there is friendship between them because of the covenant and their mutual love for God. They part entrusting one another to God. This peace is not a vague, hopeless, wish for peace and quiet, but a steely eyed sense of right relationship with God and one another even amidst the turmoil. Enjoying God’s favour, seeking God’s kingdom places you at the eye of the storm even as it rages around you.

The future may be bleak but they act now in the light of who they know God to be. The future is in God’s hands Saul will not stop it, David will be king and Jonathan will live in the present in the light of God’s future. As David goes and Jonathan heads back to town to the worlds eyes the future looks uncertain but in David and Jonathan’s hearts God’s kingdom will come and there is no doubt because of God’s character.

They leave having strengthened one another’s faith in God, with their hearts lifted by the reminder of God’s faithfulness, that the kingdom is in God’s hands along with their futures, and there is no safer place for them to be.

Notice that this is not a commiserating friendship, it is not a vague “there, there it will all be ok” friendship. This is a committed covenant friendship based on the character of God, it is a robust friendship, a Godward focused friendship, a kingdom fixated friendship. Trust in God is the glue that binds, the passion that fires this friendship.

There is security in the covenant, the promises made, not to each other but based upon the character of God and one another’s love for God. For us our security is in the new covenant, made in Christ. But it is a security that then is to flow out into our other relationships our friendships of faith. As we show others the committed, sin exposing, faith building, love of God which the world cannot understand, because that is how God in Christ loved us.

1. How is Christian friendship different to the cultures view of friendship? What stops us building those relationships?

2. How many of those things we listed as things which stop us building them are excuses for laziness? How can you practically facilitate the building of such relationships?

3. What other things are you tempted to trust in for security? Why will they fail? How can we better point one another to Jesus and the new covenant as our security?