Boyd's Commentary. R.H. Boyd Publishing Corporation

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       II. JONATHAN’S INTERVENTION FOR DAVID’S LIFE (1 SAMUEL 19:5–7)

      Because of Jonathan’s respectful demeanor, cogent logic, and impassioned appeal to his father to spare his friend’s life, Saul heeded his son’s voice and swore an oath before God that he would not kill David. Oaths were statements by which a person promised or guaranteed a vow would be kept or that a statement was, in fact, true. In the Old Testament, the name of God was invoked as the One who would guarantee the results or veracity of a statement. So, Saul’s oath was in fact invoking God’s hand to ensure David’s protection, even when Saul eventually changed his mind.

      One who has read the text knows Saul was a man who broke oaths made to God (1 Sam. 14:24–46). Saul had made an oath for the entire army to fast during a battle against the Philistines. Jonathan did not know his father had made an oath and ate some honey. The penalty for breaking the fast was supposed to be death, thus Saul was supposed to kill his son. Saul did not follow through on his word. Instead he acquiesced to the crowd that pressured him to let Jonathan live. Saul gave in and they ransomed an animal in Jonathan’s place. This earlier story gives us insight to the current story in two ways. (1) As was mentioned, Saul was not a man of integrity. He broke his word. (2) Saul was a leader who lived for the approval of the crowd. He needed the praise of his people even if that caused him to be unfaithful to the oaths he swore in the name of God.

      Having negotiated the reconciliation, Jonathan went at once to inform David of his success and completed his mission by escorting him back to Saul. Because of Jonathan’s intervention, David was restored to court. David’s service to the king also was restored as in times past. David resumed his post as a military chieftain and lived within the court of the king. He also continued to be Saul’s son-in-law.

      The interaction between Saul and Jonathan demonstrated Saul had no clue Jonathan had pledged his loyalty to David. This moment between the two showed how much Saul had lost touch with the reality that the kingdom truly had been torn from his hands. Even his own son had defected to his rival. The text is fraught with tension because as Saul had no idea about his son, Jonathan still had his father’s trust. This is but one possibility.

      The other possibility is that Saul knew Jonathan and David were close friends. With his knowledge of their friendship, by agreeing to relent from his pursuit of David, he was hoping Jonathan would report back to David. Once the report reached David, David would return to the royal court, making it easier to kill David. Given the narrator’s absence of details regarding the inner worlds of the protagonists, either theory can be supported. What is clear is that David and Saul were on opposing sides with Jonathan stuck in the middle.

      THE LESSON APPLIED

      Jesus is our true friend. As believers, we recognize Jesus Christ as our Savior, our Mediator, the ultimate sacrifice for all of humanity. But do we also see Him as a friend? It’s easy to lose sight of the more practical nature of Jesus’ humanity in the light of His great works and sacrifices for the world. But regarding Him as friend implies a more intimate connection, one that involves the heart. When we consider Jesus as a friend, He makes Himself available for us to experience Him at the deepest levels of our greatest need. In other words, when we make Jesus our true friend, He intervenes in the most complex chaos of our lives and brings order. Like Jonathan intervened on David’s behalf, Christ has done so on ours. He is our true friend. The question is, are we a true friend to Him?

      Think about how you might be a better friend to Jesus. He stated in John 15:14, “You are my friends if you do what I command you” (NRSV). Friendship with Jesus is simple, but we must desire, like Jonathan, to be people of integrity and loyalty. We should be able to sing along with the hymnologists, “What a friend we have in Jesus” or “There’s not a friend like the lowly Jesus.”

      LET’S TALK ABOUT IT

       What was Jonathan’s motive for his friendship with David?

      Further evidence of Jonathan’s devotion to his friendship with David is implied when one considers what he gave up to spare David’s life. Being the rightful heir to the throne of Israel, Jonathan had more reason than his father to get rid of David as he was a more imminent threat to his future claim to the throne. Whether it was his sincere love for David or that deep down he knew God had anointed David as the next king, Jonathan’s motivation to be a true friend to David was pure. He had no ulterior motives for befriending David outside of wanting to see David do well in life. Real friends are more concerned about what’s best for you even at the expense, at times, of their own well-being. The love of a friend can and should be sacrificial. Jesus taught that a man can have no greater love than to lay down his life for his friend (John 15:13).

      This story should be able to give us some insight to our own relationships. Jonathan was loyal to David not only when it was easy to do so but also when it was to his own detriment. In our friendships, we should evaluate whether or not we have ulterior motives when engaging others. Furthermore, we should take others at their words and actions. It would have been easy for David to dismiss Jonathan simply because he was Saul’s son. But David trusted Jonathan because through his words and actions, Jonathan proved himself trustworthy. The question becomes, what is our friendship worth?

      Lastly, we should delight in our friends. Friendship is essential to human flourishing and necessary for the difficult journey of life. The depth of our friendships rests solely on our ability not just to be nice, but to be people whom our friends can count on and who will hold their darkest secrets. We are to love them and they us. The secret to real friendship is to love God first as a priority and then to love one another. It is the more excellent way (1 Cor. 13).

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       OCTOBER 5–1 1, 2020