Answers Bible Curriculum 2nd Edition Unit 8 Lesson 78
This week in Sunday school, we look at how God provided for David as jealous Saul turned against David. How did God use Michal and Jonathan—Saul’s own children—to protect David? What was the nature of Jonathan and David’s love for one another? And what can we learn for our lives today about loving those who are more successful than we are?
Our main text for this lesson is 1 Samuel 18:1-20:42.
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okay my clock is not hitting 9:30 so let’s get started good morning and welcome to the Calvary Community Church Sunday School class I’m David Koepp OSHA we’re continuing on our chronological study of the Bible and we are moving right now through the books of Samuel 1st and 2nd Samuel specifically we’re in 1st Samuel right now and last week we learned about the famous Battle of David and Goliath we saw how that account is not so much about David and his bravery but about the Lord and his power even through weak vessels like young shepherds this week though we’re gonna learn how everything just became roses fluffy bunnies and rainbows for David after that and how he lived happily ever after of course I’m just kidding no this week we’re actually gonna learn how God took his specially anointed one David this righteous hero of Israel and he put him into a period of continual hardship and danger you see even though David does nothing wrong he’s about to start living a life on the run in Israel now why is this it’s because David’s King King Saul the one that David loves and once a serve actually turns against David treats him as an enemy and tries to kill him but God has not only ordained these trials for David but he’s also ordained the deliverance not from the trials at least not initially but deliverance through the trials and a major part of the deliverance that God has ordained for David comes via a special friend that God raises up for David and that friend is Saul’s own son Jonathan today’s lesson is all about how Jonathan and others warn and protect David in the midst of his trials what was Jonathan’s relationship with David how did God use Jonathan to deliver David and what can we learn as the Spirit of God teaches us from this section of Scripture what can we learn and apply to our lives today that’s what we want to find out so let’s ask the Lord’s blessing on this time of study let’s pray Heavenly Father we thank you for this word which is our food we need it we need the encouragement of it and we need the encouragement of one another thank you Lord for this opportunity that I can share some encouragement and I can give some instruction but I pray for your empowerment I pray for your assistance I need your help to be able to declare this helpfully and accurately and clearly and spirit I pray that you would transform your people by it that’s what we’re meant to do in reaction to the word so I pray that you would work powerfully this morning and Jesus name Amen all right well please take your Bibles and open to the book of first Daniel chapter 18 first samuel 18 is where we’re starting today we were in 1st Samuel 17 last time that’s where we heard the account of David and Goliath remember that right after that successful duel Israel pursues the Philistines who had all fled and Israel kills many of them and plundered the Philistine camps you know at the end of that battle Saul brings David into his presence asks about David’s identity and lineage and we’re picking up right after those events in 1st Samuel 18 so follow along with me as I read the whole chapter first samuel 18 verses 1 to 30 let’s see what the Word of God says now came about when he had finished speaking assault that the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David and Jonathan loved him as himself Saul took him that day did not let him return to his father’s house then Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself Jonathan stripped himself for the robe that was on him and gave it to David with his armor including his sword and his bow and his belt so David went out whoever Saul sent him and prospered and Saul sent him or set him over the men of war and it was pleasing the sight of all the people and also in the sight of Saul servants it happened as they were coming when David returned from killing the Philistine that the women came out of all the cities of Israel singing and dancing to meet King Saul with tambourines with joy and with musical instruments that women sang as they played and said Saul has slain his thousands and David his 10,000th then saw became very angry for the saying displeased him and he said they’ve described to David ten thousands but to me they have ascribed thousands know what more can he had but the kingdom saw looked at David with suspicion from that day on now came about on the next day that an evil spirit from God came mightily upon Saul and he raved in the midst of the house while David was playing the harp with his hand as usual and a spear was in Saul’s hand salt hurled the spear for he thought I will pin David to the wall but David escaped from his presence twice now Saul was afraid of David for the Lord that his Yahweh was with him but had departed from Saul therefore salt removed him from his presence and then appointed him as commander of a thousand and he went out and came in before the people David was prospering in all his ways her Yahweh was with him when Saul saw that he was prospering greatly he dreaded him but all Israel and Judah loved David and he went out and came in before them then Saul said to David here is my older daughter Mira I will give her to you as a wife only be a valiant man for me and fight you always battles for Saul thought my hand shall not be against him but let the hint let the hand of the Philistines be against him but David said to Saul Who am I and what is my life for my father’s family in Israel that I should be the king sign law so it came about at the time when me Rav Saul’s daughter should have been given to David that she was given to Adrianza hath a light for a wife now Michal Saul’s daughter loved David when they told Saul the thing was agreeable to him Saul thought I will give her to him that she may become a snare to him and at the hand of the Philistines maybe against him therefore Saul said to David for a second time he may be my son-in-law today then saw commanded his servants speak to David secretly saying behold a king delights in you and all servants love you now therefore become the king’s son in law circe all servants spoke these words David but David said is it trivial in your sight to become the King’s son-in-law since I am a poor man and lightly esteemed the servants of Saul reported to him according to these words which David spoke Saul then said does she shall say to David the King does not desire any dowry except 100 foreskins of the Philistines to take vengeance on the King’s enemies now saw a plan to make David fall upon the hand of the Philistines when his servants told David these words it please David to become the King’s son-in-law before the days had expired David rose up and went he and his men and struck down 200 men among the Philistines then David brought their foreskins and they gave them in full number to the King that he might become the King’s son-in-law so Saul gave him Michael his daughter for a wife and Saul saw and knew the Yahweh was with David and that Michael Saul’s daughter loved him and Saul was even more afraid of David that Saul was David’s enemy continually and the commanders of the Philistines went out to battle and hapten as often as they went out that David behaved himself more wisely than all the servants of Saul so his name was highly esteemed all right well in studying this text as always we are employing the inductive Bible study method which is observed interpret and apply so we’re going to start with just observations just looking at the details that appear in the text so let’s see what we can observe there just then in verse one we meet a new person a new important person in the Bible and that is Jonathan the son of Saul actually Jonathan is not new at this point in 1st Samuel Jonathan actually first appears in 1st Samuel 13 and 14 and we’ve looked at those passages before that we weren’t able to cover the section specifically about Jonathan but it is important that we get some of the background from those chapters because we learn in 1st Samuel 13 and 14 first of all that Jonathan is Saul’s oldest son which means according to the custom of kingship at that time who should be the next king in Israel after Saul well Jonathan the the oldest son he should be the next king he was basically the crown prince and Jonathan probably wore garments and equipment befitting such status I mean you’re not gonna make the Crown Prince walk around like a basic peasant soldier no she’s gonna be he’s gonna look like a prince we also learned from these chapters that Jonathan is a man of bravery and faith faith in Yahweh if you remember first samuel 13 is where saul fails in a big way before Yahweh because he is not willing to wait for Samuel at Gibeah he’s very fearful and so he offers the sacrifice without Samuel it’s in the very next chapter that we hear a an account of what Jonathan does Jonathan actually initiates deliverance from this Philistine horde that is gathering to attack Saul in Israel through a courageous action with Jonathan and his companion an armor bearer what they do is that well Jonathan says God is able to deliver by many or by few why won’t he be able to deliver with us so he in his armor-bearer they both climb up a steep cliff to the Philistine garrison at McMann and once they once they climb all the way up this cliff they then killed 20 Philistine warriors all by themselves and that’s quite a self that’s a feat considering they just climb this this cliff but then they kill these 20 warriors and this slaughter sets off a panic in the Philistine army who all flee and begin to attack one another I miss all the rest of Israel realize what’s taking place they gather up and they pursue the Philistines and God brings about a great victory now I report that event to you because doesn’t it sound familiar you have one guy who is willing to trust y’all way and he he accomplishes a remarkable but small victory and it leads to an even greater victory in which all felicity is defeated isn’t that exactly what just happened with David and Goliath same thing I had already happened with Jonathan now these details about Jonathan then should be in our minds as we see him again here at the beginning of 1st Samuel 18 now we see in verse 1 – first samuel 18 that Jonathan has special regard for David it just seems to appear out of nowhere but it says here in our verse that Jonathan’s soul was knit to David’s and that Jonathan loved David as himself now this is pretty poignant this description of soul knitting obviously metaphorical it’s the idea that Jonathan feels a kinship a closeness to David it’s just someone had taken their two inner selves and tied them together or actually knit them together so that the threads of Jonathan and the threads of David as it were that could no longer be separated they’re interwoven with one another that’s how close they are this expression goes along with the second description given here Jonathan loved David as himself that is Jonathan cared for David just like a person cares for himself and for his own body Jonathan has a deep and genuine affection for David and by the way the Torah commanded that all Israelites were to have that kind of love for one another you were to love your neighbor as yourself Jonathan definitely feels that for David now notice what this love from Jonathan to David causes Jonathan to do in verses 3 and 4 says Jonathan makes a covenant with David that is a solemn agreement of love and faithfulness and care to one another Jonathan also takes off his own robe he taking off his armor his belt a sword his bow and he puts them on David but Jonathan isn’t the only one with new regard for David verse 2 says that Psalm makes David a permanent member of Saul’s Court and we had heard about this in summary fashion in previous chapters in 1st Samuel but now we see how it actually happened it was after the Battle of David and Goliath he not only makes him so that he can’t go home anymore but he appoints David as a commander in Saul’s army and what’s the result according to verse 5 whoever David goes he prospers when for battle you send him he just does well and all the people approve of David and they approve of Saul’s appointment of David as commander but then notice verses 6 & 7 it says that something take place after David killed the Philistine now who’s this Philistine singular well with the one we just talked about in 1st Samuel 17 that has to be a Goliath so right after the Battle of with Goliath right after Israel has returned from slaughtering the Philistines that that battle that victory that was initiated by David’s action the armies return to the cities of Israel and the lady folk who literally had been guarding the fort at home all the men were fighting they were they were at home in the cities they come out of the cities singing and dancing I mean it’s a great time of joy why wouldn’t they want to do that but what is it that the women say while they sing this little song with the words Saul has slain his thousands and David his ten thousands now is this literally true has David slain tens of thousands at this point uh probably not I mean there’s just been one battle that David’s in part of he did initiate a great victory but as far as we know he didn’t kill tens of thousands but still what is the idea of this song well it’s that David is a greater and more important warrior than salt miss Alden missed that message in fact what’s his reaction according to verses eight nine it says he became very angry and he also became suspicious of David as a threat to the kingdom as a threat to Saul’s kingdom pointedly verse 10 we see the very next day that evil spirit of God from God it comes mightily upon Saul causing him to rave now David attempts to do what David had done previously for Saul he plays the harp to try and soothe Saul’s troubled mind but what ass all attempts to do verse 11 we hear that Saul has a spear in his hand and he decides I’m gonna pin David to the wall with this spear and David’s gut and of the verse actually says Saul tries to do this twice but both times David is able to escape I notice verse 12 it says that Saul became afraid of David and we can even we even hear the reason it says because Yahweh was with David but had departed from Saul even Saul can tell this is true you’re always with him but he’s not with me anymore I’m afraid of that guy so in verse 13 Sol decides upon a new action he decides I’m gonna get David away from me I’m gonna put him over the army you know send him way over there hopefully he’ll just disappear into obscurity not really be a bother to me anymore make David go fight well this tactic for getting rid of David doesn’t really work because what happens David just becomes more successful whoever Saul sends him and this only makes all even more afraid people visual meanwhile they’re only loving David more and more and we know how dr. house all feels about the support of the people he craves it and they seem to be loving David more well in verses 17 to 21 Saul comes up with a new plan a clever plot to get rid of David via the Philistines I won’t kill David I’ll let the Philistines kill David the way I’m gonna do this Saul says to himself is I’m gonna try and get David to be my son-in-law and in obtaining that position and maintaining that position he’s gonna put himself in danger and hopefully get killed that’s all stinking don’t forget to Saul previously promised that he would have David marry into the royal family as a reward for killing Goliath but David protests at the idea of marrying into Saul’s family the royal family of Israel why is that doesn’t David want to notice verses 18 and 23 where we see the same sentiment expressed David’s response is basically Who am I that I should marry into the royal family I don’t come from a great prestigious family in Israel and I’m poor how could I present a proper bride price for Saul’s daughter who’s basically a princess remember in that culture it was customary for a husband’s family to provide a lavish gift or bribe price for the wife’s family upon the two getting married the idea was to provide compensation for taking away a productive member a productive and valued member of the household so David says how could I ever provide a proper bride price for Saul’s daughter when I’m nobody but it turns out that Saul’s daughter Michael loves David and wants to marry him so Saul comes up a way to deal with David bride price concerns and we see that in verse 25 he communicates to David via messengers the only bride price I want David is a hundred dead Philistines you go kill those Philistines and bring me their foreskins as proof of your deed and what kid will consider the bride pie settled this plan please Saul because he thought David was surely died trying to obtain this bride price but verse 26 says that the proposal please David to and what happens verse 27 David and his men they go out and they kill not a hundred Philistines but two hundred Philistines and they bring back double the bride price to Saul and so Saul marries off his daughter Michael to David as promised for the bride price and what does he realize after at all verse twenty-eight sees Michaels love for David sees how a scheme turned out and it realizes again for the third time in our passage Yahweh is with David and this just makes Saul again the third time in our passage even more afraid of this rising star in Israel really everything that Saul tries to hurt David only ends up helping David Jonathan Michael the people of Israel Saul servants they all love David more and more and God blesses David more and more to all right now that we’ve made observations on this passage let’s go to the second step of inductive Bible study and that’s interpretation we want to bring together these basic details we’ve observed and try and answer questions that are not explicitly or directly answered by the text so let’s ask a few questions first why is it that everyone loves David I mean it’s pretty clear in our passage but why Oh clearly part of the reason is because David is such a success everyone loves a success especially someone who’s successful on their behalf David’s a hero to Israel and he successfully fights Israel’s battles he’s making Israel’s secure and people like that but of course it’s more than David merely being successful it’s also that David clearly has God’s favor I mean that’s what Saul’s noticing that’s what other people are noticing people can’t help but realize that David’s success doesn’t come from himself this is God bringing it about there’s an aura of divine blessing that just seems to follow David and permeate everything’s he’s involved with and for God’s for David wouldn’t you want to be also but what is it that connects David success with divine favor is this random no it’s the manner in which David attains his success I think this is probably the greatest reason why people love David it’s because he’s a righteous man he’s a brave man he’s a man of faith I mean think about it have you ever been around a truly righteous person a faith-filled person hopefully you have if you’ve been in our church if you’ve been around mature Christians there’s something so attractive even beautiful about a righteous person a person of faith this person’s not perfect but he’s characteristically loving he’s humble he’s gentle he’s patient he’s steadfast amid difficulties he faces challenges head-on by faith and dependence on God and he persevered through times of temptation and trial to attain victory in the Lord have you ever met someone like that if so how do you regard that person don’t you love that person don’t you just find yourself enjoying just being around that person that’s because if you love God and you meet someone else who loves God to some degree and of course is going to vary in the different relationships and different people but some degree your soul becomes knit to that person I mean your soul says to itself that person loves what I love that person loves whom I love therefore I love person that’s why I’m sure many of you can attest this when you meet a true Christian who’s like from the other side of the country or even the other side of the world just spend a few moments talking together and you suddenly feel like you’ve known them all your life that’s your family that’s because of that soul connection that believers have with one another in the Lord you see what’s really happening when you behold genuine faith on display in a person’s life is that should be holding the beauty of God himself because let’s face it there’s no good in any of us in and of ourselves right it’s actually God in us or to refer to Galatians 2:20 Paul says it is no longer I who live but Christ in me so when people seek good when they see faith when they see righteousness they’re not really be holding you they’re beholding Christ in you they’re beholding God in you and God is the Father of lights is he not going to be attractive Christ is the glorious and beautiful son is he not going to be delightful to witness it surely is the people of God but of course Christ is repulsive to the people of darkness so even from the rest description our own experience we can see why so many would be drawn to david jonathan especially I mean Jonathan also as a man who loves God and is full of courageous faith and then when he meets David he beholds that David has that same spirit he’s a man of God he loves God and he’s bold for the Lord so Jonathan just feels so close to David he loves David if he was knit to David and he wants to see David succeed and I’m sure David felt the same way toward Jonathan it’s a beautiful friendship and it’s a friendship that’s based in the Lord of course this is in great contrast to Saul Saul fears David but what is it that Saul fears most about David why does he dread David so much well Saul sees David as a threat and a threat to what in particular Saul’s kingship Saul fears that David will take away the kingdom and so what does this reveal about what Saul values and treasures most it’s the kingdom it’s his position as king over Israel he thinks if I lose this then I’m undone remember and we’ve talked about this before whatever you fear most it points to what your heart loves most what you value most many times we can just call that by an alternative title and that is it is an idol your fears pour point to what you idolize what you worship Matthew 6:21 says and this is a very biblical concept that’s why I’m bringing up this other verse Matthew 6:21 says where your treasure is there your heart will be also Saul’s treasure was the kingship he says I must have the kingship and I must have it from my sons David was not trying to take away the kingship from Saul but Saul feared that it could happen and therefore he turned against David but again looking at the contrast between Jonathan and Saul what is the significance of Jonathan putting his robe and war equipment on David well certainly this is an act of love it’s a gift I mean any gift is gonna be an act of love this is a gift from Jonathan to David here take these things it’s also an act that affirms peace between the two of them unlike his father Jonathan’s not gonna fight against David even gives us weapons and equipment over to David but the most significant aspect of this action is Jonathan is symbolically we relinquish the kingdom itself to David because after all think about it Jonathan’s robe his armor his equipment they surely would have stood out from the rest of the clothing and equipment in Israel Jonathan was the heir apparent after all he was the Prince but now David is wearing the princes clothing and armor and it can’t be that Jonathan is merely trying to affirm David as a memory the royal family here let me put this arm on you because you’re one of us now because remember that development doesn’t take place until later in the passage this happens immediately after David’s victory over Goliath really Jonathan’s covenant with David and this handing over of these these articles to David is an expression of love and support to David as God’s next anointed king now we might ask well how did Jonathan know the Dave would be the next king I mean he’s basically just met the guy well the text doesn’t say perhaps Jonathan is aware of certain things that have been told to Jonathan about Saul and about David maybe Jonathan is aware of Samuels words that the kingdom would be taken away from Saul and given to a better man or maybe he heard from David himself what Samuel had done for David or it may be that Jonathan has a lover of God he just sensed he just seemed to understand that God was doing something special in him through this man David and that David surely was the next rightful king Jonathan will say to David later pretty directly in 1st Samuel 23 verse 17 First Samuel 23 17 Jonathan says you will be king over Israel and I will be next to you this is something that Jonathan realizes and so he symbolically hands the kingdom over to David but we might ask in addition what would motivate Jonathan to do so how could he give away something as important as the kingdom to this scrappy Shepherd lad from Bethlehem well again it must come back to Jonathan’s love for God his contentment in God and this manifests and a love for David Jonathan doesn’t need to grasp for the kingship because Jonathan already has God and He wants God’s will to be done above all so Jonathan went I mean if God wants David to be the next king Jonathan is all for that please let it be because if God wants it it’s got to be good Jonathan actually rejoices to see David become greater and Jonathan become less because it pleases God and advances God’s purposes there’s this attitude remind you of anyone else in the Bible surely John the Baptist’s in Jesus right people John the Baptist disciples came to him and they say hey you know he the one you baptized but he’s got he’s baptizing more people now than you are John the Baptist says I’m glad I want him to increase let him become greater and let me become less that’s the way it must be let me see the same thing with Jonathan and again in such a a big difference such a strong contrast between him and his father Jonathan unlike Saul does not become fearful or jealous over David because Jonathan knows that David’s blessing really is ultimately Jonathan’s blessing if David succeeds then that pleases Jonathan really broadening out what we’re seeing here it’s amazing how liberating contentment in God is when it comes to seeing the success of other people because how did the world react to others being more successful than they are people the world casually characteristically hate to see this they hate to see others succeed in place in themselves and for the same reason that Saul does because they fear the loss of their own treasures and position the Christians should be different Christians are those who gladly give up their treasures and their positions for the sake of the gospel and for the sake of others and why Christians able to do this because they already have secured never can be taken away the greatest treasure of all which is the Lord Jesus himself they have the life giver so why should they fear to lose anything in this world or to not achieve what someone else achieves I say that should be true of Christians it is it true of you when you think about contentment and you see Saul and Jonathan which one are you more like are you like Jonathan who rejoices to see someone else become successful especially when it pleases the Lord in a direct way or you like Saul you just really can’t stay in it when someone is more successful because you fear what it might mean for you yeah Roy that’s an interesting comment you say Jonathan was a righteous man it appears he would have made a great King but that was not God’s plan God is sovereign and you can see again how the flesh could really twist that hey why can’t I be a king I’d make a good king I’m a righteous guy but if he so truly righteous guy then he says I’m not my will but God’s be done the Lord is clearly with this guy he’ll be a great king for Israel he’s the one that the Lord once so he’s the one that I want I want to see David become King and I’m gonna do everything I can to support him well Saul’s fear and hatred of David it only grows as we go into the next chapter we’re not gonna take the time to read first name on 19 for the sake of time but I do want to summarize some of the details that we see from this passage in verses 1 to 7 we see the friendship of Jonathan at work on David’s behalf because Saul all of a sudden he commands Jonathan and his servants to kill David hey everybody I’ve decided that David needs to die but Jonathan instead warns David he tries to reason with his father to call off this sinful and unjust command Saul relents after hearing Jonathan’s intercession and he swears by Yahweh not to kill David so David is safe and he returns to Saul’s court then verses 8 to 10 just after David returns after from another great victory against the Philistines the evil spirit is on Saul again he’s got the spear nearby David’s trying to play music for Saul and Saul again throws the spirit David but David flees from the palace and it goes into the night this is the third time David has escaped from a spear attack and in verses 11 to 17 Saul’s daughter Michael also saves David’s life a memory he’s Michael as David’s bride at this point David escapes back to their home but Michael warns David you get out here immediately or else they’re gonna come and capture and kill you so Michael let’s David down out the window and then she sets up a ruse to prevent or to delay Saul’s pursuit of David and then at the end of the chapter verses 18 to 24 Polly the most interesting way that God delivers David David flees to Samuels hometown rayma Samuel still there and he’s there with a group of prophets and Saul sends messengers after David to sees David but when these messengers arrive God’s Spirit comes upon the messengers and they start prophesying uncontrollably they just start praising God and teaching the truth about God and they can’t pursue David anymore Saul sends three messengers the same thing happens to them all and then soft some comes himself to Rhema and Saul experiences a similar a similar taking over by the Holy Spirit except for saw actually as he prophesized the ends up taking off his clothes and taking off his arm and he lies there naked which is kind of a humiliation all throughout this chapter then we see that King Saul is supported in every attempt to kill David first by his own family and then by the Spirit of God himself but Saul’s not giving up like wily coyote Saul’s cooked up another scheme to get that road runner and we see it in the next chapter first samuel 20 verses 1 to 9 we’re gonna start with that row look at the whole chapter but we’ll start with just verses 1 to 9 we’re gonna read this together follow along with me as i start reading in verse 1 then david fled from naya and Rhema and came and said to Jonathan what have I done what is my iniquity and what is my sin before your father that he is seeking my life he said to him far from it you shall not die behold my father does nothing either great or small without disclosing it to me so why should my father hide this thing for me it is not so david vowed again saying your father knows well that i found favor in your sight and he said to know that jonathan know this or he will be grieved but truly as yahweh lives and as your soul lives there’s hardly a step between me and then Jonathan said to David whatever you say I will do for you so David said to Jonathan the old tomorrow is the new moon and I ought to sit down to eat with the King but let me go then I may hide myself in the field onto the third evening if your father misses me at all then say David earnestly asked leave of me to run to Bethlehem his City because it is the yearly sacrifice there for the whole family if he says it is good your servant will be safe but if he is very angry know that he has decided on evil therefore deal kindly with your servant for you have brought your servant into a covenant of yahweh with you but if their Arsenic wa t in me put me to death yourself for why then should you bring me to your father Jonathan said far be it from you provide indeed learn that evil has been decided by my father to come upon you and would I not tell you about it we’re gonna pause there for a second to make some more observations notice in verses 1 to 3 that Jonathan does not believe that Saul really intends to kill David again but David swears this is the case and notice what he says in the end of verse 3 David says as Yahweh lives and as your soul lives there’s hardly a step between me and death oh no that statement really sticks out to me because David’s trying to bring across just how dire this situation is just one misstep one delayed pace and David will be captured and executed I mean don’t get the impression the David is just so happy go-lucky through all this you know Saul’s trying to kill me again I guess I got a run that’s all I get over and I’ll be back in the palace soon enough that’s not Dave’s attitude this is a high stress very much a fear inducing situation I don’t think any of us know what it’s like to be hunted by someone in power who wants to kill you but that’s David’s situation and it just keeps on happening this is hard hard experience but how to know whether Jonathan is right or wrong maybe it’s not that bad maybe Saul has regained his senses he’s not coming after me anymore how to know verses 5 to 8 Jonathan asks um David asked Jonathan to implement a ruse to discover Saul’s true intent David will be absent from certain feast celebration before the king the king is going to ask where David is Jonathan is to say the David asked permission to celebrate a feast with David’s family in Bethlehem and is therefore absent if the kink accepts this excuse all is good David’s safe but if the king is angry the king wants David dead personally and Jonathan agrees to do was David asks now we’re gonna summarize verses ten and twenty nine again for the sake of time but the two men they arranged to stealthily communicate the result of this ruse they’re gonna use arrows and certain code phrases and Jonathan will communicate to David whether it is safe for David to return to the court or not and when the feast begins Saul indeed notices that David is absent on the first day but Saul says nothing on the second day of the feast though Saul asked Jonathan where David is Jonathan gives David’s excuse just as David told him to do and let’s see how Saul responds look at verses 30 and we’ll read to the end of chapter in verse 42 first samuel 20 verses 30 to 42 then Saul’s anger burned against Jonathan and he said to him you son of a perverse rebellious woman do I not know that you are choosing the son of Jesse to your own shame into the shame of your mother’s nakedness for as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth now that you know your kingdom will be established there for now send and bring him to me for he must surely die but Jonathan answered his saw his father and sent him why should he be put to death what has he done then Saul hurled his spear at him to strike him down so Jonathan knew that his father had decided to put David to death and Jonathan arose from the table and fierce anger and did not eat food on the second day of the new moon for he was grieved over David because his father had Tucson now came about in the morning that Jonathan went out to the field for the appointment with David and a little lad was with him he said to his lad run find out the arrows which I’m about to shoot as the lad was running he’s shot an arrow past him when the lad reached the place of the arrow which janta net shot Jonathan called after the lad and said is not the arrow beyond you and Jonathan called after the lad hurry be quick do not stay in Jonathan’s lad picked up the arrow and came to his master but the lad was not aware of anything only Jonathan and David knew about the matter the Jonathan gave his weapons to his lad and said to him go bring them to the city when the lad was gone David rose from the south side and fell on his face to the ground and bowed three times and they kissed each other and wept together but David wept the more Jonathan said to David go in safety and as much as we have sworn to each other in the name of Yahweh’s saying a Yahweh will be be between me and you and between my descendants and your descendants forever then he rose and departed while Jonathan went into the city let’s make a few final observations on this last section notice Saul’s reactions to Jonathan’s words on David’s behalf in verses 3234 saul curses and berates Jonathan hae-won’s Jonathan your kingdom will not be secure while David lives and when Jonathan demands a just reason for David to be executed Saul hurls the spirit Jonathan his own son so as we moved to verses 35 to 40 we see Jonathan give the signal to David warning David to flee and not stay because David’s life is indeed in danger the notice verse 41 says after the boy leaves one who retrieved the arrows David doesn’t flee but he instead reveals himself to Jonathan and falls on his face bowing three times before Jonathan then the verse says that the two kissed each other and wept together now you should know that men kissing an ancient Hebrew culture it means something different then it typically does in modern American culture it was considered appropriate from men to kiss in that culture as an expression of love and affection without any overtones of romance or sexuality and we see this all over the scriptures if you just look at the word kiss if you go to Bible Gateway for example and you just type in kiss and you look where it appears in the Old Testament you’ll see actually that men are kissing men more often than men are kissing women in the Old Testament and it’s not because there’s some funny business going on it’s just that’s what their culture did you’ve got Jacob kissing Esau you’ve got family members like a son or a father kissing one another and the same thing appears in the New Testament that effusion elders after Paul tells them I’m not going to see you anymore because I’m gonna be put in prison it says in Acts chapter 20 that they fell on his neck and kissed him and wept jesus is betrayed by a kiss from Judas in Matthew 26 49 and at the end of many letters in the New Testament Christians are commanded to kiss one another greet one another with a holy kiss it says now again that that command and all these different things they’re part of the cultural context of that part of the world and at that time it was considered fine it was considered a even a beautiful expression of affection for men to kiss one another and that’s what we see happening here with Jonathan and David and as for the weeping let’s remember that weeping is not considered unmanly in ancient cultures men weeping was actually a great sign of love and that’s why the New Testament records that Jesus when he weeps over Lazarus is death what do the people say in response John 11 36 see how he loved him he weeps because he clearly loved him and Jonathan and David they’re showing their love for one another partly and just how they weep at the idea of being parted in verse 42 Jonathan and David before leaving one another they affirm a covenant of peace and faithfulness between the two of them before Yahweh in between their descendants well with these offers on chapter 20 let’s go again to interpretation what is the significance of david bowing three times before jonathan of course any bowing is going to be an expression of humility it’s also going to be an expression of honor toward the one that you are bowing toward so david is sowing humility before jonathan trying to honor jonathan the bowing is also what one does toward a rightful ruler so in a kind of symmetry with what Jonathan did for David before David here he seems to be acknowledging that he is not at all looking to usurp Jonathan’s place as Prince of Israel he rather seeks to be completely faithful and supportive of his dear friend I’m not trying to take your position Jonathan I want you to be supported exactly where you are I’m your friend now I need to bring up a question that maybe has been in your mind just because of what people say about this passage do doniphon and David have a homosexual relationship I mean let’s look at the details Jonathan takes off his robe in front of David they talked to one another about their love a lot they kiss each other and David says of Jonathan later on in second Samuel 1:26 this is after Jonathan dies second samuel 126 david says oh Jonathan you have been very pleasant to me your love to me was was more wonderful than the love of women it’s just a homosexual relationship hopefully as you were following long as we did those observations you can see that this is not the case certainly there are many today especially those who are ignorant of the Bible who try to use Jonathan and David has a validation of homosexuality in the Bible oh you condemn homosexuality don’t you see that big homosexual relationship right in the middle of the Bible it’s not the case this pro-homosexual interpretation is basically eisegesis it’s reading meaning into the text by not paying attention to the context of the details that appear and paying no attention to the cultural background of the accounts that we read as we saw about kissing and has we even saw about Jonathan taking his robe off this was not stripping down naked this was a symbolic transfer of royal insignia and we could explain those other details in a similar way the Bible clearly condemns homosexuality as a sin just as the Bible condemns many other sins but the Bible does also make clear that two people of the same gender can love and care for each other in a deep way that is not romantic or sexual in fact this should be the case among believers of course it’s gonna vary between different people and different relationships but Christians should have deeply caring and affectionate relationships with one another without these overtones of infidelity the world often just doesn’t get this they can’t understand that kind of relationship and it’s because they don’t know the Lord you know it’s kind of funny but throughout history certainly true today but even in the early church Christians were slandered for immoral relations just because Christians had genuine love for one another Christian’s in the early church they had what they called love feasts which is basically just a time of fellowship after the Lord’s Supper where they ate together and they tried to express affection and fellowship together but when the people the Roman Empire heard about it the pagans they’re like oh those clearly that must be when they’re having likes an orgy or something they just landed they’re Christians because they couldn’t understand that kind of love it’s the same thing with Dave and Jonathan here there’s nothing homosexual going on between these two this is just a true friendship a deep friendship now it is kind of interesting now why do we hear so much about this friendship why does the author First Samuel take so much time to tell us about Jonathan and tell us about Jonathan’s relationship with David well part of the answer has to be because of how instrumental Jonathan was in David’s life especially in protecting and encouraging his friend I mean think about it where would David have been if not for Jonathan multiple times Jonathan intercedes for David’s life or warns David to prevent David from being killed by Saul from a human perspective if David did not have Jonathan David would have died David would have been killed it was very important that David had Jonathan in his life but it wasn’t just the physical protection Jonathan was important for David for spiritual encouragement and fortification David was refreshed by the fellowship that he experienced with Jonathan David was encouraged by Jonathan’s care he was Chang strengthened by Jonathan’s reminders about Yahweh and about Yahweh’s faithfulness again if we just take a human perspective God could have done something different but if we just say you take out Jonathan from David’s life what happens to David well even if David did somehow survive he would have been spiritually very low he probably would have become discouraged maybe even despairing perhaps even turning his back on your way because who’s there who was there to strengthen David in the law work if not Jonathan you see David really needed Jonathan and Jonathan was there for David both to provide practical protection and spiritual encouragement I mean David was quite fortunate to have someone like Jonathan in his life wasn’t he but was it really a matter of good fortune why did David experience the goodness of Jonathan’s friendship was that just a happy circumstance a random chance no this was the faithfulness of God on display in David’s life in a very tangible way the kindness that David experienced from Jonathan was ultimately God’s kindness to David God had said I’m gonna raise you up David and I’m gonna bless you and I’m gonna be with you and Jonathan is part of God fulfilling that word God not only raised up Jonathan but he gave Jonathan a righteous heart and he knit Jonathan’s soul to David’s this was the kindness of God this was the love of God for David through Jonathan and isn’t this also true for Christian companions today think about those Christians who have been so encouraging in your life of has such an impact on you where do they come from was it just chance that you ran into those people no it was the love of God it was God’s care and kindness to you that he put those Christians in your life maybe their family members maybe the people outside of your family but God an undeserved favor to you he brought them into your life why did he do that because he knew you needed it because he chose to set his love on you but Jonathan’s not some random Israelite I mean God could use a whole bunch of people to encourage David but he chose Jonathan Saul’s son why why is that so significant well don’t you see doesn’t it emphasize God’s total control over David over Saul and over their whole situation I mean every scheme that Saul devises against David fails and usually at least this portion of the scripture it’s due to Saul’s own family turning against Saul and interceding on David’s behalf I mean what are the chances of that happening Saul’s own family turning against him and supporting somebody outside the family this is God at work God saying look I’m in control look I take Saul’s own son the person who should be most committed to keeping the kingdom for himself and I’m gonna make him David’s best friend I’m gonna make him get into a covenant with David recess I’m gonna support you no matter what and I’m gonna make sure that you become King that is the sovereign power and grace of God on display God will bring his word to pass even if he has to turn the most unlikely people and and then move their hearts in surprising ways that’s what our God does he is such a god I’m reading the comment Roy that you mentioned this friendship was ordained by God oh yeah and just in a very practical perspective having Jonathan somebody’s so close to Saul was part of David’s protection Jonathan could be the eyes and ears that could give David the information he needed to survive so God is being very purposeful in raising up Jonathan as a friend to David I’m looking at marks comment to the unity of the word and the Holy Spirit mentioned in Philippians 2 verses 1 to 4 but also effusions the beginning of the Ephesians for that is the work of God on behalf of his people and a very gracious way and we need it that’s why we are to be grateful for the unity and work to preserve that unity and to nurture our relationships with one another I’ll say more about that in just a second as we go to application but I hope you see here just a response to this last question the faithful sovereignty of God specifically displayed and how God used Jonathan to help David so already you’re probably saying we’ve got several lines of application that we can draw from this text the Spirit is showing us many different ways that we are to be encouraged and transformed by what God did with David and Jonathan there are lessons here about Christian contentment about Christian friendship about God’s sovereignty and about God’s love so how are we to be changed what are some specific ways that we can apply the passage that we’ve just looked at first name about eighteen to twenty of course this is the third step in the inductive Bible study we’ve got to talk about application we can’t just know what the text means we need to see how it’s supposed to work out in our lives so let me suggest a few ways of application to you these are not exhaustive of course but hopefully these will stimulate your thinking and get you thinking about what we talked about today one main application is that we must brothers and sisters we must trust God through troubles I mean God love David but God did not spare David from trouble David actually he did a i D work on God’s behalf and then things got really hard for David Haye he’s now a man on the run there’s someone an evil man who was seeking David’s life and only because David was doing the right thing God ordained these things for David because God was going to use them to grow David but also because God is going to display his glory through those difficult circumstances by bringing amazing deliverances like Michael like the Spirit of God coming upon Saul’s messengers and saw himself and like Jonathan David wouldn’t have seen those wonderful and mighty deliverances if God had not brought him into the trouble and the same is gonna be true for us brothers and sisters when you do right you will not be free from trouble jesus promises his disciples in the world you will have trial and tribulation in fact the more righteous you are the more you try and stand up for me perhaps the more trials you’re going to experience because the world typically hates a righteous witness but I’m with you jesus says and I have overcome the world I’ll deliver you I will give you perfect provision during those times trust me I’ll bring you through brothers and sisters you’ve got to believe that do you believe that stop just praying to the Lord God get me out of this trial it’s okay to pray for that but you need to be praying Lord if you will it bring me out and if not God give me the grace to endure during the trial accomplish those glorious purposes that you have ordained for this trial you’ll bring me through you might not see how your flesh will tell you I don’t know how this is gonna work out I don’t think you can trust God but you gotta persevere by faith you got to take the word over your own feelings and say God doesn’t lie he showed himself faithful with David he will show himself faithful with me this is clearly one application trust God through the troubles but part of God’s provision for you during those troubles is the friends that he’s put around you so number to seek out Christian friendships develop those nurture those this of course starts with the most important friend of ology Christ if you don’t have Christ as your friend as your savior as your Lord then you are in a dire situation you’re worse than David would be without Jonathan because you have no one to protect you from the wrath of God your sin your rebellion your pursuit of your own way instead of obedience and worship to the Lord it has brought the wrath of God down upon you his anger his eternal punishment hangs over you but Christ as a friend has a true friend he came as a man to the earth he lived a perfectly righteous life and then he died a substitutionary death on behalf of his friends on behalf of his people and he paid all their sin and he gave His perfect righteousness to them he imputed it to them so that they would be acceptable to God if Jesus is your friend if you love Jesus you trust Jesus then you are eternally secure and you have eternal life it starts there do you have Jesus as your friend because you need him but if you do have Jesus as your friend and you need the friendship of the others that are in the body of Jesus the the church your soul was designed by God to receive the ministry and fellowship and encouragement that is from the other believers in Christ’s body you need it and they need it from you you say oh man I sure could use a Jonathan in my life yeah well nurture those relationships seek out those relationships that will provide the same things that Jonathan did for David but you know what you can also be a Jonathan for somebody else there are some people who really need encouragement and instruction and maybe even correction and you know what God is raising up you yes you wherever you are in the body to be a minister to that person you say oh I don’t have any friends I’ve been in the Church of why I don’t have any friends well part of it might be is because you haven’t really sought them out you do need to act you do need to be it can’t be passive about this a part that also might be because you need to first be a good friend there’s something about just as people are attracted to David because of his righteousness we’re often repulsed by people who are unrighteous we see their selfishness we see their impatience we see how they they boil over and anger and it’s just like oh I don’t know if I really really want to be around that person of course as believers we still want to reach out to those people and help them but if you’re saying uh I’m looking for friends well you’ll find it a lot easier to find friends if you start being a good friend and by the way it’s the same thing for you young ladies and young men who are looking for a spouse you should be more concerned about being the right spouse being the right potential spouse then finding the right potential spouse and you’ll find that one you are person who’s truly loving the Lord and content in him you’re gonna you’re gonna find yourself attracted to those who are like that and those people are gonna be attracted to you and you’ll find yourself in a good Christian relationship so certainly from this passage the Spirit is telling us we need to trust God through troubles we need to seek out Christian friendships we need to be also and this goes with number two thankful for the Christian companions that we have or that we have had these were God’s kindness to us in our lives I can think of many different people that maybe they’re not around me anymore but God brought them into my life and a particular time but I’m so thankful for that because I needed the instruction I needed the discipleship I needed the encouragement that these men and these people in my life provided and the same is true for you shortly thank God praise God for all the kindness he provided in bringing certain people into your life at certain times because just as God showed kindness to David in that way so he has shown kindness to you and then finally one other application for this passage surely is that we need to rejoice and other successes for God’s sake I mean this is Christian contentment at its core if you know God you ought to be content you want to say it doesn’t matter whether others succeed and I don’t succeed as well because I’ve got God and if God wants them to succeed praise the Lord God has a good purpose in that if God doesn’t want me to succeed in that way well then I accept that of course I’m not talking about when it comes to sanctification like oh I don’t need to worry about overcoming this sin I’m talking about just the prosperity of your life or maybe the the scope of your ministry I remember hearing a story one time I thought was pretty poignant about a Christian pastor who was ministering in the in the same time and in the same area as Charles Spurgeon Charles Spurgeon was of course with a great preacher from the 1800’s in England powerful preacher many people were drawn to his church many people were saved through Spurgeon’s ministry but this other pastor he had a church near Spurgeon’s it was a small church and one Sunday he’s preparing for his sermon but preparing for the service and he looks out the window and you see all these people walking by his church walking by they’re not stopping in his church they just keep on walking and he knows exactly where they’re going they’re going to Spurgeon church because Spurgeon such a great preacher and you can imagine the temptation that comes with that how this man might respond in his heart but you know how he responded he stopped and he prayed and he praised God he said Lord thank you thank you for raising up such a servant like Charles Spurgeon Lord use him make him even more effective make even more people go to his church God because that’s what I want to see I want to see people go into your kingdom and whether they go through Spurgeon or they go through somebody else your will be done lord I want to be more faithful help me to be more faithful but lord I praise you for what you’re doing through that man brothers and sisters we need that same perspective when we see others succeeding becoming effective for the Lord praise God even if they’re more effective than us of course we always want to improve but we say God thank you make that person more effective or even just the other little things maybe not related to ministry specifically in our lives you say God was trying so hard and my job but this other believer in the church he’s doing really well and his job thank you God thank you for being so kind to him or God I really wanted this this one house you know it looked like it had everything that we wanted but somebody else bought it before we could Lord thank you thank you for showing kindness to that person by letting them enjoy this house Lord you provide something for us and you’re in your perfect way in your perfect time we’re not gonna miss out really on anything that we need thank you for the grace that you’ve shown to others we can do that the world can’t do that but we can do that because we have the Lord already have the greatest treasure so we don’t have to worry about others obtaining more of a particular earthly treasure than we have yeah mark mentioned Psalm 84 10 to be a mere doorkeeper in the house of God is a greater honor than anything else and Welling and even the the luxurious tents of wickedness we should be surprised actually we should be amazingly grateful when we like my vivid chef who actually is Jonathan’s descendant who David shows kindness to when my favorite chef experiences that kindness he says Who am I Who am I that I should experience such kindness from you and so it should be in our lives we shouldn’t say oh why didn’t I get with that person God instead of not to peel or thank you for any of the kindness that you’ve shown me I’m not worthy of it all of any of it and yet Lord I know that whatever you’ve given me is exactly what I need for this time in this place because you’re a good father I can trust that so hopefully you’ll consider these applications that the Lord would also move you in your life to put them into practice well that’s all for this week if you have more comments or questions about what you heard today please post them in the chat I’d love to interact with you about them afterwards or you can send me an email and daph Coppola at gmail.com next week well we hear more about the life of David Saul he’s not given up on trying to kill David he’s gonna hunt David even in the wilderness and God is gonna bring Saul right into David’s grasp so that David has the opportunity to kill Saul but will David do it and if not why not talk about that next time let me close our time in prayer Lord we thank you for this word we thank you for the friends we thank you for the Christian friends and Lord even the non Christian friends but especially their Christian friends that you’ve brought in our lives people who could help us especially in spiritual ways just like Jonathan helped David that was your kindness to David and it is your kindness to us it would help us to have that same perspective as Jonathan did which is I don’t need to grasp anything in this world if I would succeed and I don’t that’s okay because God’s purposes are being fulfilled I want the Lord’s will and God would provide from me Lord you will provide for us perfectly at the perfect time in the perfect way I pray Lord that we would be men women and children of faith who would actually believe that and live like that or Jesus Spirit of God accomplished this in the lives of your people and those that don’t know you God those who don’t even have you as a friend I pray that they would even today that they would repent and believe in the only Savior and only God Jesus Christ amen thank you all again for joining me in this time of study today if you’d like to post something to chat I love to talk with you more but otherwise I’ll see you next time I hope to see you in the livestream service at 11 o’clock