May the mumbling commence!
BFF! (For those of you who do not know, that stands for “Best Friends Forever”.) In 1 Samuel 18-20, there is a remarkable story recorded about two unlikely best friends forever. After David defeated Goliath, Jonathan must have seen the Spirit of the Lord working in David. Jonathan, of course, was firstborn of Saul, who was the current king of Israel. The way of the world would have passed the kingship of Saul to Jonathan.
Jonathan must have noticed some of the same trust in the Lord to rescue that he had himself in David. Read from 1 Samuel 18:3-4: “And Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, and even his sword, his bow and his belt.” What love and sacrifice did Jonathan shower on David! Jonathan even gave David his sword. The sword was a costly gift that put the life of Jonathan in potential danger. Let’s remember what is recorded earlier in 1 Samuel:
Not a blacksmith could be found in the whole land of Israel, because the Philistines had said, "Otherwise the Hebrews will make swords or spears!" So all Israel went down to the Philistines to have their plowshares, mattocks, axes and sickles sharpened. The price was two thirds of a shekel for sharpening plowshares and mattocks, and a third of a shekel for sharpening forks and axes and for repointing goads.
So on the day of the battle not a soldier with Saul and Jonathan had a sword or spear in his hand; only Saul and his son Jonathan had them. (1 Sam 13:19-22)
Swords were not easy to come by. No one in Israel knew the craft of making a sword.
At first, Saul was also enamored with the youthful David. Saul lifted David up through the ranks of his army, because the Lord made David successful in all he did. But, then, jealousy (an evil spirit from the Lord?) began to creep in. When the army returned from a campaign, Saul heard the women sing a song, “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands.” Out of jealousy, fear grew. Would the kingship of Israel pass to Saul’s son Jonathan or would David seize the kingship?
Then Saul made a realization: the Spirit of the Lord that he once had was gone, and now he saw that Spirit resting on David. And the level of fear and paranoia increased. Saul, at first, tried to send David and his company into perilous battles, hoping that David would fall at the hands of the Philistines. When that didn’t work, Saul tried to control David through marriage to one of his daughters. When that failed, Saul openly told his attendants and Jonathan to kill David.
Jonathan, who remained BFF’s with David, tried to talk some sense into his father. Why would Saul want to kill someone who has done so much to benefit him? Saul at least pretended to have a change of heart, but the evil spirit had more hold over him. Either way, soon after, Saul was seeking the life of David again. First, the Lord protected David and Samuel through sending Saul’s mercenaries and then Saul himself into prophetic ecstasies.
Then Jonathan protected David. Jonathan loved David, even though Jonathan realized or was beginning to realize that the kingship of Israel would not be his – it would be David’s. Jonathan could not believe that his father was trying to murder David, so David and Jonathan set up a plan to see Saul’s heart in this matter. David would not show up at Saul’s table for the New Moon festival for two nights.
On the second night, Saul asked Jonathan about “the son of Jesse”. Throughout the exchange, Saul would not use David’s name; but Jonathan did. Jonathan was hoping to bring his father back to his senses again. No such luck, Saul attempted to kill his own son.
What madness! Saul was trying to kill his son, who he wanted to see as king. And David was a potential obstacle to this transfer of kingship. Saul ultimately was fighting the will of the Lord spoken through Samuel.
Jonathan had accepted God’s will. Read from 1 Samuel 20:13b-15: May the Lord be with you as he has been with my father. But show me unfailing kindness like that of the Lord as long as I live, so that I may not be killed, and do not ever cut off your kindness from my family – not even when the Lord has cut off every one of David's enemies from the face of the earth."
May we value God’s will and our Christian sisters and brothers as much!
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
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