True Friends (4)
But Jonathan Saul’s son delighted much in David: and Jonathan
told David saying, Saul my father seeketh to kill thee: now therefore,
I pray thee, take heed to thyself until the morning, and abide
in a secret place, and hide thyself.
1 Samuel 19:2
Read 1 Samuel 19:1-7
Have you ever taken your friend’s side against someone else? Did you do so
when you had no idea how things would end? Jonathan was faced with this
situation. He tried to defend David’s innocence before his father, though he
knew about his father’s angry, jealous nature. What inclined him to take
David’s side? Jonathan could not bear the injustice being perpetrated; his
father was dealing unjustly with his friend. This moved him. Jonathan secretly
kept in close contact with David. At the same time, he sought to publicly
uphold David’s name and character. Note that Jonathan did this selflessly,
without seeking personal gain. He could have allowed circumstances
to run their course without being affected. In fact, this would have been to
his own advantage in his relationship with his father. But Jonathan chose for
David while trying to maintain a bond with his father.
Maybe you can relate to this scenario. Perhaps you are not allowed to be
friends with an individual because your parents have something against
him or her. This something however is not just some secondary thing; it has
to do with whether they serve the Lord or not. Unbelieving parents may not
want you to hang around with Christian friends and vice versa; believing
parents may not want you to be friends with people of the world. Or, perhaps
your parents have something against the family of your friend. Such
situations cause tensions.
But Jonathan points his father to his sinful attitude in contrast to David’s
honorable life. David had not committed any evil; on the contrary, he only
did that which was admirable. Jonathan and David tried to overcome evil
with good, and they did this, not for their own benefit, but to bring their father
and father-in-law to repentance. How great was their self-denial!
Question: What part does self-denial play in your life?
Psalter 330:1, 4 (based on Psalm 119)
Thou, Who didst make and fashion me, O make me wise Thy law to learn
Then they that fear Thee shall be glad When they my hope in God discern.
Let those that fear Thee turn to me, Thy truth to them will I proclaim;
Instruct my heart to keep Thy law, That I may not be put to shame.
